Chapter 2 002 Takeout
Wen Fan, holding his rice bowl, belatedly replied, "I didn't put anything in it, just simple seasonings."
Time was tight, and she didn't have time to collect spices one by one to make her own. Fortunately, the packaged seasonings she bought, although not as tasty as the ones she made herself, were rich enough that she could easily make a decent dish with a simple combination.
Yang Hong was skeptical. Was it really that simple?
This food smells abnormally good!
The deliciousness of this fried rice instantly brought to Yang Hong's mind various short articles that she had read and forwarded.
Delicious cold noodles are all the rage, but who knew they contained this stuff?
This one Chinese herbal medicine is actually the root cause of addiction.
Want to eat more after eating? Police warn against accidentally consuming prohibited substances.
...
Seeing that Wen Fan ate it naturally, Yang Hong no longer had such worries.
The only thing that saddened her was that the bowl was too small. Watching the rice grains dwindle at the bottom of the bowl, Yang Hong's heart was breaking.
How can fried rice be so simple and delicious?!
Seeing that she still wanted more after finishing a full bowl of rice, Wen Fan tactfully offered to give her some more.
Yang Hong finally managed to pull her eyes away from the pot of fried rice, and she waved her hand dejectedly, "I...I'm not eating..."
There wasn't much left in the pot; it was clearly something the Wen couple had made especially for their daughter. She ate one bowl and felt too embarrassed to ask for another.
As if she had lost something important, Yang Hong left in a daze.
Before leaving, he didn't forget to ask Wen Fan.
"I remember your parents sell noodles? Are you planning to put this fried rice on the shelves?"
Speaking of this, Yang Hong was also speechless: "Tell me about your parents, why don't they take their excellent fried rice cooking skills and do all this mess instead?"
She had also visited the Wen family's small restaurant, which mainly served rice and noodles with toppings. Businesses near schools are all about speed, as students are in a rush. As long as the dishes are prepared in advance, mealtimes are not a problem.
After Yang Hong ate there, she knew what to expect. It was indeed very clean, but the taste was just average.
Students are so picky eaters. The dishes are just average, not spicy or flavorful enough, so they're not competitive at the school gate.
Yang Hongping was always outspoken, and when she thought of the gentle and mild-mannered Wen couple, she couldn't help but say a few more words.
"Advice your parents to stop being so stubborn and to take advantage of the summer vacation to make the necessary changes..."
Halfway through her sentence, Yang Hong added dejectedly, "Of course, you still have to pay the rent as usual, one week... within half a month. If you don't pay, I really have to take the place back. I have elderly parents and young children to support..."
Wen Fan listened carefully and finally showed a genuine smile.
"Thank you, Auntie. I will tell my parents."
She didn't mention that she cooked the rice herself, but instead thanked Yang Hong sincerely. This exceptionally sensible and well-behaved demeanor changed Yang Hong's opinion of her.
Yang Hong left, and Wen Fan quickly finished his meal, leaving the remaining rice in the pot to simmer, and washed the dishes.
Wen Fan's parents hadn't returned yet, so he opened his schoolbag and started reading a book by himself.
After less than half an hour, Wen Fan collapsed onto the bed in distress.
Whether it was a problem with the memory fusion, or because she had only learned her own name in her previous life, Wen Fan finally came to a realization after reading for a while.
That is—
Apart from Chinese and history, she had difficulty even reading the other subjects smoothly, let alone understanding them.
Especially in mathematics, the various letters like sin and cos made Wen Fan carefully flip back to the cover to check if he had picked up the wrong textbook.
Why are there foreign words in mathematics?
Why is X called an unknown?
Why do we need to draw diagrams when learning math?
...
Wen Fan suddenly remembered the little eunuch in the Imperial Study who was in charge of the entry and exit of materials. She used to not understand why he would be disheveled and chasing after everyone to check the amounts at the end of each month.
Now that he has studied mathematics, Wen Fan has a sense of empathy.
It's too difficult.
Math is too difficult.
Completely defeated, Wen Fan was dejected and didn't even notice when his parents returned.
Wen Tao and Xia Yingzhi entered the room, which was quiet, and the breakfast on the table was gone.
The two thought Wen Fan had gone out, so they stopped speaking in hushed tones.
"Why did you buy so much Erjingtiao tea? We can't use it all."
"Let's make some sauce, and pickle some chili rings too."
"...Prepare less today, and also, should we open an account on that food delivery platform?"
"Open it."
"You'd better think it through. At the beginning of the promotion, you'll be losing money."
Wen Fan put down his pen and stood up, just in time to hear his father let out a long sigh.
"What can we do if we don't open? Students won't be back in school for another month or so. We can't survive on this little bit of business."
Wen Fan paused as he opened the door.
The long silence in the living room was oppressive, and Xia Yingzhi's voice finally broke through after a while.
"How about... I go deliver takeout?"
Wen Tao became anxious: "How can I ask you to go? If anyone should go, it should be me."
Xia Yingzhi glanced at him sideways and said, "If you go, what will happen to the shop? I can't cook."
"That's still not allowed..."
"Shut up, it's settled then. I'll go out for a few hours during mealtimes, you stay at the shop and keep an eye on things. Make sure to pay Xiao Fan's tutoring fees in the next couple of days..."
Wen Tao felt distressed. He couldn't bear to ask his wife to go out and suffer, but his daughter's tuition and tutoring fees were urgent.
"Dad, Mom, I'm not going to tutoring anymore."
Wen Fan opened the door and looked at the two people sitting on the sofa in shock.
Wen Tao was a refined and gentle man, and quite tall, while Xia Yingzhi was rather short. Both of them were wearing clothes covered in dust, which made Wen Fan's heart soften.
She had little family ties in her previous life, and she thought she wouldn't be able to say "Mom" or "Dad" because of the change in address. But just now, when Wen Tao and Xia Yingzhi were planning her studies and life, she naturally called them "Mom" and "Dad".
Wen Fan walked up to his parents and said firmly, "I can study on my own."
Given her current academic level, even if she went to a tutoring class, it's unlikely she would be able to keep up.
Xia Yingzhi was taken aback, then frowned: "What nonsense are you talking about? Your parents were just joking. Don't worry, although we don't have much money, it's definitely enough for your education."
Without saying a word, Xia Yingzhi pushed Wen Fan into her room.
"I thought you went to class. Hurry up and get ready. I'll have your dad take you to Teacher Wang's in a bit."
Wen Fan was urged by her mother to change her clothes, and then her father forced her to go to a tutoring center.
Wen Fan could not struggle and had no choice but to leave as arranged by her parents.
After her daughter left, Wen's mother opened the pot lid in the kitchen.
The cold fried rice no longer emitted a rich aroma. Wen's mother was in a hurry to open the shop, so she casually stuffed the remaining fried rice into a corner of the refrigerator.
Xia Yingzhi also complained to her husband: "Why are you making fried rice so early in the morning? Xiao Fan gets no nutrition from eating this."
Experts have said that milk and eggs are the best breakfast option.
****
Wen's mother went to open the store, and soon Wen's father also arrived at the store.
The salesman, who was promoting the food delivery platform door-to-door, fanned himself with a brochure and explained to Ms. Wen how to create a merchant account and upload pictures.
After much effort, Wen's mother finally got all the basic settings set up. The buttons for accessing the backend were complicated and confusing. Wen's mother then uploaded several types of rice bowls from the shop.
Stir-fried cabbage and beef over rice, 18 yuan.
Stir-fried chicken with green peppers over rice, 18 yuan.
Tomato and scrambled eggs over rice, 15 yuan.
Each item is five or six yuan more expensive than in the store. After deducting the delivery fee and the portion that has to be paid to the platform, the price is roughly the same as in the store.
The salesman told Wen's mother, "Just find a few pictures online and upload them."
After sweating profusely, Wen's mother set up the event, and the salesperson encouraged them to participate.
"Since you're opening a new store, how about participating in the 'spend 25 get 15 off' promotion? The promotion can boost traffic, and there's a one-week promotional period."
If you subtract 15 from 25, Wen's father instinctively wanted to deny it.
"If we deduct the delivery fee from this price, we'll have to pay out of pocket."
"It's a big opening promotion, so we need to attract new customers first to get repeat purchases."
Mr. Wen shook his head again: "No, we won't make any money if the price is too low."
The salesperson said with some regret, "Then you should be prepared that if you don't run any promotions, your ranking will drop."
Mr. Wen gritted his teeth: "Let's do this for a few days first. If it doesn't work out, we'll participate in the event later."
The salesman packed up his things and left, but before leaving, he didn't forget to ask for two servings of tomato and egg rice to take away.
"Of all the shops I've dealt with, yours is impeccably clean."
It's not a pre-made dish.
You have to understand how many shops these days don't even have a kitchen. They just have two induction cookers, a large basin filled with hot water, and bags of pre-cooked meal kits soaking in it. They also cook rice in several rice cookers, and when an order comes in, they just pack it up and open the bags.
The process is so smooth that it takes less than three minutes to prepare a meal.
The salesperson himself has stopped ordering takeout regularly.
After seeing the salesman off, Mr. Wen cooked five or six portions of each dish to prepare the meal.
A few people arrived sporadically around noon, mostly acquaintances from the same street. The food delivery platform was open, and Wen's mother anxiously watched the backend, but not a single order was placed.
It was almost lunchtime, and there were still seven or eight servings of the dishes I had cooked at noon.
Mr. Wen glanced at the clock: "Xiao Fan will be back soon. I'll cook two more dishes, and we can eat too."
Business is bad, there's nothing we can do about it. For businesses catering to students, summer and winter vacations are a major hurdle.
There is also a large shopping mall about one kilometer away.
It's fair to say that they don't have much of an advantage, whether it's dining in or ordering takeout.
Mr. Wen smiled helplessly, wondering if he should hold the event tomorrow.
Seeing that the sun outside was getting hotter and hotter, Mr. Wen told his wife to turn off the takeout.
Mother Wen exclaimed with delight, "Someone's here! Someone's here!"
With two ringing sounds, the food delivery platform responded.
When Wen's mother opened the backend, she was dumbfounded.
Someone ordered three rice bowls, but wrote in the notes, "Please make three fried rice dishes, thank you."
Wen's mother looked at it again and again, making sure she wasn't seeing things.
"No, what does this person actually want?"
A note from the author:
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