Chapter 165 Big Brother, what do you think? If you like it, then it's fine. ...
An Fusheng encountered a problem when buying groceries.
Previously, the takeout business was good; orders were almost constant during business hours, and we could cut off orders at any time once we had enough. Estimating the amount of food needed each day only required considering everyone's workload. But now it's different. Based on yesterday's situation, it's difficult to predict when customers will arrive and how many will come. If we buy too much, the food won't be fresh by the second or third day. If we buy too little, there won't be enough food if many customers come. However, the restaurant is currently in its trial operation period, and Anfusheng doesn't want customers to come to the restaurant to order only to find that this dish is unavailable and that dish is unavailable, resulting in a poor experience.
After thinking about it, An Fusheng decided to buy more so that if there were any left over, he could try making sauerkraut.
An Fusheng knows how to pickle all kinds of sauerkraut. No, it should be said that the people of Chenzhou know how to pickle all kinds of sauerkraut.
Although Chenzhou is located in a remote area with inconvenient transportation, it is mostly mountainous, with a humid climate and fertile soil, allowing vegetables to be grown all year round. Because of the distinct seasons, each season's vegetables have their own unique flavor, which is enough to be self-sufficient. But for some reason, the people of Chenzhou know a lot of ways to preserve food. In winter, they smoke fish, meat, and tofu; in summer, they make soybean paste; and in autumn, when vegetables and grains are harvested, they make all kinds of pickled vegetables, such as corn pickled vegetables, chili pickled vegetables, green bean pickled vegetables, and pickled vegetables made from dried or fresh vegetables, each with its own merits. In spring, fresh vegetables are everywhere. Do you think the people of Chenzhou only eat fresh vegetables? No, even wild vegetables are made into all kinds of pickled vegetables.
In any case, An Fusheng learned how to pickle various kinds of sauerkraut through observation and imitation; he could pickle vegetables as well as fish and meat.
"I just don't know if the people here will be used to the food."
...
When An Fusheng returned to the restaurant after buying the groceries, everyone was already at work. "So early? It's not time to start work yet."
Zhaolin yawned widely. "Let's get ready early, so we don't end up in a rush like yesterday afternoon when there are too many guests."
“Alright,” An Fusheng said. He had been busy late last night and hadn’t done many things yet.
An Fusheng then arranged for the boys to help unload and prepare the vegetables. Some fruits and vegetables had to be picked from the backyard vegetable garden, washed, and chopped. Vegetable leaves planted in the soil tend to have soil trapped in them, which takes quite a bit of time to process. When it gets busy during mealtimes, there is no time to process them, so they must be washed in advance.
"Yueyue, send a message to the customers who made appointments for the next two days and tell them they can cancel their appointments if they can't come to the store on time," An Fusheng called to Wen Yue, who was about to go to clean the fish.
Wen Yue felt a headache thinking about the low attendance rate of customers who made appointments yesterday. "Our appointments are free, so whether they cancel or not doesn't affect them. I guess even if we send out a notification, they won't bother to cancel."
An Fusheng: "Cancelling your reservation in advance will retain your discount eligibility."
"That's right!" Wen Yue exclaimed, suddenly enlightened.
To attract customers to make reservations, Little Star Canteen is offering a 15% discount for reservations during its trial operation period. However, the discount is only valid during the trial operation period and will expire afterward. Many of the reservations are from regular customers who previously ordered takeout and are satisfied with the food. Those who didn't come probably just didn't have time. If they could cancel their reservations and still retain their discount eligibility, many people probably wouldn't mind the inconvenience.
"Qingqing and Niannian, let's make a signpost," An Fusheng said. "That way, guests won't get lost."
"no problem!"
An Fusheng then solved a few minor problems by referring to the problems and solutions he had listed the night before, and began to get busy in the kitchen.
Before we knew it, it was lunchtime.
Perhaps because it was the weekend, or perhaps because of the signposts, customers were coming in droves as soon as the store opened today, creating a lively atmosphere. Awen and Ayao couldn't keep up with the orders, and customers at every table were urging them to hurry up. Zhaolin had no choice but to become a waiter, serving one table after another.
A moment later, Zhaolin rushed into the kitchen with five orders in his hand: "Master, there are so many people today, everyone is urging us to place our orders, please cook faster!"
“Okay,” An Fusheng said without turning his head, tossing the iron pot.
An Fusheng was worried about buying too much when he went grocery shopping this morning, but now he's glad he bought too much.
Business was good all morning, but by lunchtime when we closed, many dishes were sold out.
I was busy until after 1 a.m. before the number of customers in the store gradually decreased.
An Fusheng finally finished the orders in his hand. He was covered in sweat, and his clothes were already soaked through. He had been standing in front of the fire stir-frying for a long time, and the air conditioner in the kitchen was of no use to him.
An Fusheng grabbed a towel to wipe his sweat, and when he looked up and saw Ji Fengnian come in, he realized that he hadn't cooked any dishes yet. "Wait a moment."
An Fusheng put down the towel and prepared to cook.
Wen Yue said, "Big brother, you don't need to do it anymore. I'm almost done. The vegetables in the pot will be ready soon. I can't cook restaurant food, but I can cook at home."
An Fusheng: "Okay."
"How about I help out in the kitchen? I can also learn to cook from my older brother, and then I can cook for the family from now on," Ji Fengnian said.
An Fusheng used to ask Ji Fengnian for help with the takeout business, but now that they've opened dine-in service, they don't ask him for help anymore. Fine, he won't help, but he can cook at home, which at least reduces the workload for his older siblings.
"Have you finished your homework? You're already thinking about learning to cook. Your main priority right now is studying," Wen Yue said.
Ji Fengnian: "..." I don't want to do it, and I don't know how to do it.
"Didn't your mother say you should go for tutoring? Why haven't you gone yet?" Wen Yue continued to poke at his heart.
"I... I haven't finished picking the corn yet..." Ji Fengnian stammered.
Wen Yue also knows when to stop, saying, "There's a lot of work to do at home, but it's not your job. Don't let your studies fall behind."
Ji Fengnian's academic performance was only average when he was in his rural hometown. The pace of learning in the city was even faster, and he couldn't keep up at all. If it weren't for two or three classmates who were determined to stay at the bottom, he would have been at the very bottom. His opportunity to study was hard-won, and he felt guilty for his poor grades.
Ji Fengnian thought for a moment and said, "My teacher suggested that I become a student with a special talent in sports."
The teacher had talked to him about this at the end of last semester. He was actually very interested, but students with athletic talents have to train for at least two hours every day after school, and they also have to participate in intensive training during winter and summer vacations. Ji Fengnian just wanted to go home quickly after school to help with chores, so he didn't immediately agree to the teacher's request.
During the summer vacation, Ji Fengnian was so busy at home that he had almost forgotten about this matter. But when Wen Yue mentioned studying today, he remembered it again and blurted it out without thinking.
"A student with athletic talent? What kind of talent? Running?" Wen Yue became interested.
Ji Fengnian nodded.
"Not bad! I didn't expect that your daily running habit, despite your fear of motion sickness, would turn into a special skill." Ji Qingqing said, "Didn't your teacher tell you this before? Why are you only saying it now?"
"I haven't thought it through yet." Ji Fengnian scratched his head awkwardly and looked at An Fusheng: "Big brother, what do you think?"
Ji Qingqing: "What's there to consider? You're absolutely perfect for this!"
An Fusheng nodded and said, "If you like it, that's fine."
Ji Fengnian was a little excited. He picked up the dishes that Wen Yue had packed and said, "Then I'll go back and discuss it with Wen's mother and Lou's mother."
“Go ahead, go ahead,” Ji Qingqing said.
After Ji Fengnian left, Wen Yue said, "Physical education students need to spend a lot of time training. He probably hesitated because he was afraid of delaying his help with chores at home."
Ji Qingqing: "Little brat, worrying about nothing."
...
Yesterday afternoon was a chaotic mess, but everyone learned a lot. In addition, An Fusheng made many arrangements today to address yesterday's issues. Although this morning was busy, it wasn't too chaotic. However, everyone was exhausted by the end of the morning.
"Ah! I'm exhausted! The customers have been coming in non-stop all morning. The day that Aunt Lou chose was really auspicious. Our store has a fantastic start!" Ayao said, rubbing his stiff back. "It's just a bit hard on my back."
Awen: "Brother Yao, you're not going to make it."
Ah Yao slapped Ah Wen on the head: "You little brat, you want to die? You're the one who can't!"
Ah Wen chuckled for a while and said, "I have to say, there are a lot of people today. It seems like everyone passing by has been drawn into our shop by some mysterious force."
A-Guang: "Because it's Saturday today, everyone's off."
Awen: "Taking a break is fine, but not everyone has to come to our restaurant to eat."
A Guang: "Of course it's because our boss's food is so delicious, who can resist drooling when they see it?"
Awen: "The key is that you can't even see them outside, can you?"
Xu Sannian and Ji Qingqing exchanged a glance.
"If they can't see it from the outside, we'll bring them in to see it," Xu Sannian said.
After saying that, Xu Sannian led everyone to the signpost outside: "Ta-da! The data plan password is here!"
All the people saw were words written on the road signs along the way, in addition to the arrows pointing the way.
The first sign says: There's a newly opened restaurant here, and yes, it's right in the direction of the arrow.
Second piece: Does it seem like there aren't many people? That's right, there really aren't many. I guess you're doubting the chef's cooking skills.
The third point: Actually, the chef's cooking skills are quite good, it's just that the boss doesn't have the money to advertise.
Fourthly: By now you can probably smell the delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen. Why not come in and have a taste? There are opening discounts available!
Everyone: "This works?"
Xu Sannian: "If we had more time, the copy could be a bit more abstract. Just say, if you saw a road sign like this, would you follow it?"
"meeting!"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
An Fusheng didn't quite understand, but he nodded nonetheless.
City dwellers are always sensitive yet childlike, with strange and wonderful interests that he hasn't quite figured out yet, but he's surrounded by city dwellers and trusts them completely.
Just like yesterday when a customer was pleasantly surprised to find that their shop allowed pets, in An Fusheng's childhood memories, the people of Fushan Village would bring their dogs with them when they went up the mountain, down to the fields, or to the market. They would also bring their dogs to any restaurant in town. It seemed that no restaurant would turn away a person because they had a dog. He never expected that bringing a pet to a public place in the city would become a rare thing. It is clear that city people love pets more, but they are also less tolerant of them.
...
The afternoon was even busier than the morning; we didn't finish work until after 10 p.m.
The number of guests on Sunday was no less than on Saturday.
The three-day trial period was a bit quiet on the first morning, but the rest of the time was spent in a busy rush, which made An Fusheng both happy and worried.
He was happy that the restaurant was doing well, but worried that he would have to hire waiters and chefs immediately.
These past few days, everyone has been busy from eight in the morning until ten at night. This level of busyness is manageable for two or three days, but it's simply unsustainable in the long run. Service staff are relatively easy to recruit, but chefs are really hard to find!
Another issue is buying groceries.
After the restaurant officially opens, there will be more and more customers. It is obviously not feasible to buy groceries in small batches. On the one hand, I don't have time to buy groceries every day, and on the other hand, it is difficult to control the quality of ingredients purchased in small batches.
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