He finally understood the true meaning of the fat man's often-repeated saying, "Restaurant owners are businessmen, and cooks are workers. How can they be the same?"
Take Sha Zhu for example, he's just an employee.
Yan Jiecheng and his wife provided him with a workplace and raw materials, and paid him a monthly salary of 2,000 yuan.
All he cares about is cooking delicious dishes to make Chunfeng Food Stall even more popular.
Other things like costs and profits are not things he needs to consider.
Let me tell you something upsetting.
Since Beijing is not a coastal city, due to transportation limitations, most of the seafood that comes in is frozen.
Take shrimp, a common ingredient in restaurants, for example. They come in frozen, and a single package can weigh a pound.
But after thawing, there were only 6 liang left. Sha Zhu used 4 liang for cooking, but when Yan Jiecheng came and saw it, he questioned him: "How come there are only 2 liang left from 1 jin of shrimp?"
They practically said outright that Sha Zhu had cheated him out of 4 ounces of shrimp, which made Sha Zhu so angry that he almost quit!
How could Yan Jiecheng not know what was going on with the goods he brought in?
What does this mean? It means that Yan Jiecheng is starting to think Sha Zhu is too expensive...
The second thing brings us to the Third Uncle.
Sha Zhu and he don't get along! They've been at odds since 1965; you could even call them enemies.
The Third Uncle had suffered a lot of mistreatment from Sha Zhu over the years, and now that he had finally made a fortune, he felt quite proud of himself.
Especially after understanding how doing business works, they disliked Sha Zhu even more.
Three-legged toads are hard to find, but two-legged cooks are everywhere?
Sha Zhu, that silly guy, how could he possibly cook?
The third uncle went to Yan Jiecheng to discuss: "Eldest brother, your money didn't grow on trees, you have to be careful with your spending."
Yan Jiecheng said impatiently, "Dad, just say what you want to say. I'm busy."
The third uncle was furious: "Hey, Sha Zhu! Good heavens, how come he earns 2,000 yuan from our family every month?"
Yan Jiecheng said, "Stop, stop. I'm the one paying Shazhu's salary. It has nothing to do with you. So don't worry about my business. You wouldn't understand anyway."
Hey, it's that same old thing again! Why doesn't he understand? What level of education do you have, trying to act like a cultured person with your father?
This is not to say that Yan Jiecheng has a long-term vision; otherwise, he wouldn't have done something as foolish as killing the goose that lays the golden eggs in the TV series.
Right now, he and Yan Jiedi are working together, and the new store is almost finished with renovations; they're just waiting to set a date to move in.
For those in the restaurant business, moving is the worst thing to do, especially for some old restaurants that are always packed before they move, with long queues outside at any time.
After moving everything, the number of customers dropped to less than 10% of what it used to be. It was like opening a completely new store and having to rebuild its customer base.
There are many reasons, of course, but the most important one is simply laziness.
Customers are lazy.
Especially considering the original advantageous location of the old restaurant, now if you ask him to walk a long way to eat there, he is unwilling to go.
Why not eat it?
Therefore, right now, Yan Jiecheng not only cannot leave Shazhu, but on the contrary, he must try his best to win him over.
Their "Spring Breeze Restaurant" still needs him.
But the Third Uncle didn't understand these things. Yan Jiecheng wouldn't listen to him, so he went it alone.
When he got off work in the evening, Uncle San blocked Sha Zhu at the gate of the courtyard again.
Sha Zhu was annoyed by him and completely ignored him.
Just as he was about to step into the courtyard gate, the third uncle called out to him, "Shazhu!"
Sha Zhu didn't even turn his head. The Third Uncle got impatient: "Hey, Sha Zhu, what are you so arrogant about? You're just a dog we keep!"
Sha Zhu got angry: "What? What did you say? You want to be beaten up, don't you! Fine, you're seventy or eighty years old, I won't dare to hit you, but you have a son. You just wait, tomorrow I'll go and have a word with those two brothers, Yan Jiefang and Yan Jiekuang."
It's true that the Third Uncle is in his seventies or eighties, but aren't you, Sha Zhu, fifty too?
Why do you resort to violence at the slightest disagreement?
The third uncle didn't tolerate his bad habit either, and said arrogantly, "Silly Zhu, I'll have the boss fire you later! I don't believe there's any other place that would pay a stupid cook like you 2,000 yuan a month!"
"..."
Back to Shazhu, now that he's in Great Sage Mode, his mind is exceptionally clear.
Each and every event flashed through his mind like a movie.
Sha Zhu would never have considered his personality issues before.
However, after reuniting with Ran Qiuye and recognizing his son, the time they spent together truly made him realize some of the problems in his own personality.
If someone gets old and their personality remains unchanged, then that person is really lacking in common sense.
Sha Zhu began to seriously consider the possibility of leaving the Yan family and working for someone else.
First of all, a salary of 2,000 yuan is too high; not many companies can afford that.
Unless it's a big hotel or a fancy restaurant. But those places really wouldn't even consider him!
This is a truth that Sha Zhu only understood after Fatty became Lu Xingbang's apprentice.
With the fat man's abilities, he could win both the Huai and Lu gates.
The term "two roles" is derived from traditional Chinese opera, referring to a character who can play two different roles; or a character in a particular scene can be played by actors from different roles.
Just like Lu Wenlong in "Eight Great Hammers", he can be played by either a young male lead or a martial arts actor.
For example, there are two versions of "Yan Yang Lou": one with a male martial arts role and the other with a female martial arts role.
The fat man is already so capable, why does he still want to become Lu Xingbang's apprentice?
It was just like what the old man said back then: "You and I are a network of connections; you and I are a legacy passed down through generations in the martial arts world."
Contrary to what some idiots outside say, that the fat man was eager to fawn over others.
Sha Zhu now understands: even though he's a chef and has a certain reputation, if you're not in this industry, people just won't hire you.
Just like when he was young, he worked as a waiter at Fengzeyuan and Hongbinlou restaurants; later he learned his craft at a pickle factory and a noodle shop...
But in the end, he still ended up in the kitchen of the Red Star Factory.
I have no connections and I'm not good at networking, so people don't want me.
Secondly, even if Sha Zhu were willing to lower his standards and cook at a small restaurant similar to Chunfeng Food Stall,
Whether others will interfere in his kitchen, whether they will give him pointers on how to cook, whether they will ask him to use inferior ingredients, etc., these are all problems!
"..."
So, if you don't want to be mistreated but still want such a high salary, the only option left is to go out on your own.
We don't have enough manpower!
Don't get me wrong, Sha Zhu has no shortage of kitchen staff. Over the years, he's trained quite a few apprentices, like Ma Hua. Getting them laid off and to come work for him is just a matter of a word. Sha Zhu is confident in that much.
What he lacks are people like Yu Li, Yan Jiecheng, and no one like Liu Lan and Aunt Pang!
She is a person who understands business, is good at management, and can move seamlessly between the kitchen and the front of house.
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