Chapter 963: Entertaining Guests (Thanks to the tip from book friend "Al Pacino")
Feng Zongping drank some wine, looked around, then turned to Bai Shan and asked, "Where is Miss Zhou?"
"In the kitchen."
Feng Zongping smiled and nodded, then asked, "Is this shop run by the three of you together, or does she run it on her own?"
Bai Shan said, "Her shop is open separately, what's wrong?"
"Nothing much, I just think it's amazing. Few outsiders who have just arrived in the capital can open a shop here."
Moreover, everyone downstairs was having a great time, and no one came to cause trouble.
His grandfather is now the Minister of Justice, and earlier he was the Vice Minister of Justice. He grew up in the capital and has heard about many cases from his grandfather, both big and small. Among them, the most common ones in the capital are fights.
Feng Zongping looked at Bai Shan curiously. Wasn't it said that the Bai family had no backers and only had one meritorious official, Bai Qi? Not to mention Zhou Man...
Speaking of Zhou Man, Feng Zongping suddenly remembered that he seemed to have not asked about Zhou Man's family background yet.
Could it be that their family is the one with the better family background?
Feng Zongping was about to ask again when Manbao had already finished helping in the kitchen. After washing his face and hands, he ran upstairs to greet the shopkeeper Zheng.
Shopkeeper Zheng greeted her with a smile, "Your food is delicious and goes well with rice. I think your business will be good in the future."
Manbao smiled and bowed, "Thank you, Mr. Shopkeeper, for your kind words. Did you enjoy your meal?"
"Great! I rarely get to eat food with such a strong Sichuan flavor, especially after meeting someone like Mr. Zhuang today..."
After just a few words, Manager Zheng started bragging about business with Mr. Zhuang. Manbao listened on the side and after they finished, she entertained everyone. Of course, she couldn't drink alcohol, but she could offer everyone a glass of tea instead of wine.
From the table of Zheng Da Manager and his friends, they moved to the table at the Imperial College. None of Bai Erlang's classmates knew Manbao, and neither did Peng Zhiru and Lu Xiaofo. But Feng Zongping knew him, and he greeted Manbao very warmly.
Then he asked, "Last time you said that you looked very similar to a friend of yours. Who is he?"
Manbao didn't expect that he still remembered this incident, so he asked, "Why do you have to know who he is?"
"If I don't ask clearly, I won't be able to sleep," Feng Zongping said, "From what you said, I know that person? But I don't seem to have any impression of him."
Manbao thought for a moment and said, "You really do know him."
Man Bao smiled brightly at this and asked happily, "Does Tang He know him?"
Feng Zongping: ...
Yun Xinxuan and Yi Ziyang: ...
Manbao was even happier when he saw their expressions and asked, "Do you know each other?"
Feng Zongping felt his throat tighten. He coughed lightly and asked, "How did you recognize Senior Tang?"
"We used to study in Yizhou City. What do you think?"
Feng Zongping turned around and asked Yun Xinxuan, "Senior Tang has been sent to Yizhou, right?"
Yun Xinxuan: "It seems so."
Feng Zongping sighed, "No wonder."
No wonder she could turn around and trick him. She must have been tricked by Senior Tang many times before, and...
Feng Zongping glanced at the Zhouji Restaurant, which was doing good business and seemed to be safe, and asked with a smile, "Are you on good terms?"
Manbao said: "It's just average, just average."
Feng Zongping didn't believe it, so he asked someone to find out why no one had bothered the newly opened Zhouji Restaurant today.
Not long after, the servant returned and said, "I asked the thugs on that street, and they said that the Yang family's steward spread the word that Zhouji Restaurant was under their protection, so no one dared to cause trouble."
"The Yang family? Isn't it the Tang family?"
"Which Tang family are you talking about, Master? I haven't heard of any Tang family."
Feng Zongping asked, "Which Yang family?"
"The Yang family of Wutong Lane."
Feng Zongping was surprised. After a moment of silence, he remembered that the senior brother Yang from the Yang family seemed to have gone to Mianzhou?
Feng Zongping tapped his head and said, "They really know a lot of people."
"Master, has Zhouji Restaurant offended you? Should we report this to the patrolling yamen officers?"
Feng Zongping waved his hand and said, "Don't talk nonsense. That's a restaurant opened by a friend. I just want to ask more questions. I hope everything is fine."
The servant understood immediately and said with a smile, "I understand. I will spread the word right away that we are protecting their shop and that those hooligans are not allowed to cause trouble."
Feng Zongping: ...No, you misunderstood, that's not what I meant.
But seeing the servant's smiling face, Feng Zongping couldn't say no. He couldn't say that he was not very familiar with this friend, right?
He waved his hand and let him go.
The servant went down to pass on the message.
As a result, Zhouji Restaurant got on track very quickly. All he had to worry about every day was buying vegetables and meat, cooking, and attracting customers.
Besides that, they didn't encounter any of the problems that other newly opened stores encountered.
After being busy for three or four days, fewer people came to the restaurant to eat, and Zhou Wulang and his friends finally took the time to settle the total bill for the past four days.
Before, they were too tired, getting up early and going to bed late, and basically fell asleep as soon as they lay down on the bed. They had no time to calculate the ratio of expenditure to income.
According to the account books, they made the most money in the first two days of opening. The guests invited on the opening day were given to He Yin, and there were also many strangers who came in to eat.
There were even more on the second day, but Zhou Wulang felt that these people were not ordinary customers. Most of them were colleagues from nearby who came to inquire about the business. However, he also made a lot of money from them.
Moreover, the door of the store was wide open, allowing people outside to see so many people in the lobby. It was obvious that the food was well cooked, so it attracted many customers to come in.
Zhou Lijun finished the calculation, checked the money, and nodded with satisfaction, saying, "It's still a profit, if you don't count the cost of the house."
Zhou Wulang said, "Then it's included in the labor cost."
Zhou Lijun deducted the current labor cost and nodded, saying, "It's not a bad profit, about 60%."
"Then after accounting for rent, there's not much left. As time goes on, there will definitely be even fewer people. It all depends on how many repeat customers there are." Zhou Wulang rubbed his back and said, "I'm exhausted. Even good business has its difficulties."
Zhou Lijun closed the account book and asked, "My aunt said she's been looking for a way to make wine. When she finds it, do you want us to make wine?"
"Let's wait until she finds it."
Zhou Lijun still had great confidence in his aunt and said, "My aunt asked Bai Shan to look for the book in the Imperial College, and she even took the time to look for it in the bookstore. I think my aunt is very obsessed with this."
Zhou Wulang was troubled. "You said she has never drunk wine, so why does she want to make wine so much?"
Zhou Lijun said, "My aunt said she saw a poem in a book about wine. It was very well written. What was it called? 'Fine grape wine in a luminous cup, the pipa urges me to drink. Don't laugh at me sleeping drunk on the battlefield, for how many men have ever returned from battle since ancient times?'"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com