As soon as Meng Zhao finished speaking, Manager Zhou quickly started calculating the costs in his mind. Although braised pork is more of a commoner's food, it is still mainly meat, so low-income farmers don't buy it much. It should either be opened in a place with high traffic or in a place with more wealthy people in the surrounding area.
The shops in these places are not cheap to buy, and if you add the 50 taels franchise fee, it will cost at least 300 taels, which is quite a large investment.
Moreover, besides the franchise fee, there is another cost that cannot be ignored: "Madam Meng, how much will you charge for the spice packets in your shop?"
Although braised meat has a good profit margin, if the spice packet is too expensive, then joining Mengji might just result in a loss for him. It would be better to use his own spice packet, even if the taste is just average, at least he can ensure profitability.
Knowing that Manager Zhou would ask, Meng Zhao had already calculated the cost in his mind and quoted a very attractive price.
However, this price does not include the spice packets for beef and venison. After all, these two have already been sold to the Xiao family. Ordinary braised food shops cannot afford such high prices. If the same thing is sold at two different prices, it would cause another uproar if Xiao Youzhi found out. It is better not to sell them at all.
After hearing Meng Zhao's quote, Manager Zhou secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although it was much more expensive than homemade spice packets, it was still enough to guarantee a considerable profit. Moreover, Meng's spice packets tasted good, and selling more at a lower profit margin was a good strategy.
When setting the price of the spice packets, Meng Zhao had many considerations in mind. The biggest fear for franchise stores is quality control. If the stores are far away, the headquarters' control over the franchise stores will be reduced, and it will be difficult to supervise them at all times.
Driven by profit, some franchisees will inevitably take risks in pursuit of higher profits, thereby damaging the brand image.
Therefore, Meng Zhao did not set the price too high, giving franchisees a certain profit margin and preventing them from lowering the product quality due to insufficient income.
At the same time, Meng Zhao had also given careful consideration to the olive branch extended by Manager Chao Zhou. When Zhao Ji Braised Pork first opened, the ingredients used were vastly different from those used when Tian Hongwu was in charge.
The fact that the head of the household, Zhao Shida, remains unchanged is enough to show that Steward Zhou has a clear understanding of the importance of ingredients; it's just that the taste is a bit lacking.
Now that they have their own spice packet, the taste problem has been solved. Meng Zhao believes that as long as Manager Zhou doesn't want to retire, he will seriously consider this matter.
Although Manager Zhou didn't make a decision on the spot, saying he needed to go back and think about it some more, Meng Zhao could tell from the many questions he asked about the operational details that he was definitely already considering various issues after opening the store.
Meng Zhao understood that it was not advisable to appear too eager at this time, lest he be put on the defensive during the negotiations. So, he smiled and saw the two of them off from the shop.
These days, due to the impact of the opium scandal, business at the shop has been somewhat slow. However, another great thing has been successfully completed: the village school in Shenjia Village finally officially opened in March.
On this day, the sky was azure and the sunlight was gentle. Meng Zhao took Shen Qinghe and Wei Jinglan back to Shenjia Village.
As soon as he jumped off the donkey cart, the sharp-eyed village head greeted him. "Meng Zhao, we've been waiting for you! Come this way quickly, everyone's been waiting for you."
A large group of villagers, young and old, had already gathered in front of the school. Meng Zhao walked over with a smile and said, "Village head, didn't I tell you not to wait for me? I need time to get here from the county, so I just came to join in the fun."
"How can that be!" The village head quickly waved his hand. "You are the number one contributor to our Shenjia Village. If it weren't for you, this school wouldn't have been built. This important unveiling ceremony must be done by you."
Although they run a school, everything should be done in a festive and auspicious way. The village head had already had red silk cloth bought, and was just waiting for Meng Zhao to come.
With so many people gathered around, Meng Zhao couldn't refuse any longer. Instead, he called over the village head, Master Wei, and Wei Jinglan, and together they each grabbed a corner of the red cloth. Amid cheers from the crowd, they unveiled the red cloth covering the plaque.
"Shenjia Village School has started!!!"
Although the school had just started and no school uniforms had been prepared, the ancients believed that a neat appearance was a sign of respect for learning.
Therefore, the first step of the opening ceremony is to straighten one's clothes. As the saying goes, "Straighten your clothes first, then understand the principles." The children who have already registered for the village school are tidying up their clothes at the school gate.
Seeing that her son Shen Dali's clothes were all crooked, Li Xing'er was immediately worried. She squatted down to straighten his clothes and said earnestly, "Dali, your mother went through a lot of trouble to send you to school. You must make your mother proud. If nothing else, at least you must be better than your parents in the future, understand?"
Shen Dali didn't understand why his mother insisted on sending him to school, and even argued with his grandmother about it. But he knew his mother wouldn't harm him, so he nodded seriously, "I know, Mother, I will be good."
Looking at her daughter, who was almost a head taller than the other children present, Song Yuniang said, "Daniu, from today onwards, you don't have to do any housework. If your grandma dares to ask you to do any more work, just say you want to go to school and can't do it. From now on, you can focus on studying and learning to read and write. You'll definitely have a bright future."
Back then, when Song Yuniang wanted to send her daughter to school, the whole family objected. After all, her daughter was already quite old and, in the eyes of the farmers, was a capable laborer. Spring plowing was about to begin, and if her daughter went to school, who would cook for the family?
Her mother-in-law even suggested that the youngest grandson should start school first, and the eldest daughter would be sent over after the spring planting season, but Song Yuniang rejected that idea with a single sentence.
“The eldest daughter’s tuition at school doesn’t cost the family a single penny. If the children from the second branch want to go to school, I can’t interfere, but I’m making it clear beforehand that I won’t contribute a single penny.”
These words infuriated her mother-in-law and the second wife's husband, but no one could do anything about it. After all, she worked in the workshop and earned the most money in the family. If it weren't for that, she wouldn't have a chance to speak at the dinner table.
Meng Zhao stood at the back of the crowd and watched some other opening ceremonies, seeing the children first pay respects to their teachers and then to Master Wei.
Then, led by Master Wei, they orderly came to the basin to wash their hands, symbolizing the removal of distracting thoughts from their minds, so that they could devote themselves to learning from then on.
Finally, there was the cinnabar enlightenment ceremony, where Master Wei would place a red dot of cinnabar on each student's forehead, hoping that they would have clear eyes and minds and be able to understand things easily in the future.
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