At this moment, Ning Haiping, who rented Song Bo's house, felt very bad.
He originally thought that he had studied at New Oriental for more than half a year and worked in a restaurant kitchen for more than a year, so his skills and experience were definitely good. He thought that if he opened a fast food restaurant here and replicated He Wenlin's model, the business would definitely be good.
Unexpectedly, the opening went so poorly!
Not only did we not sell a single set of vouchers, but no one even placed an order for fast food! No one even ordered free drinks!
“I’m so tired of doing this, sigh.” Ning’s mother sighed and said, “How come other people’s businesses can be built up so quickly? It looks so simple, but when it comes to doing it yourself, it’s so difficult.”
“If that doesn’t work, we can make some and set up a stall. That girl started out by setting up a stall too,” Ning Haiping’s wife, Zhu Qingmei, suggested. “We can’t just quit now that we’ve rented the place and bought everything. It would be so embarrassing if word got out.”
Her relatives and friends all knew she was going to open a fast food restaurant, but the first day's sales were zero. It was so embarrassing if word got out!
Ning's mother suggested, "Let's make some tonight. If it doesn't work out, and we don't make any money for the next three days, we can make some and sell them at the factory gate at half price, or even give them away, so they know what our taste is like. Then we can go back to the normal price later."
Ning Haiping frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "Alright, let's go tonight!"
...
In the evening, Ning Haiping prepared three dishes: shredded pork with green peppers, eggplant and green beans, and spicy and sour chicken giblets. Each boxed meal contained two dishes, and he prepared a total of forty boxes, which sold for two yuan each.
At 10 p.m., Ning's mother and Zhu Qingmei went to the gates of Bosi Factory and Hongda Factory respectively.
The two men were too embarrassed to hawk their food, so they each carried a loudspeaker and played a loop: "Delicious boxed lunches, two yuan a box! Delicious boxed lunches, two yuan a box..."
It was rush hour, and the workers heard the noise and rushed over...
"A boxed lunch is only two yuan a serving?"
When Ning's mother saw someone asking, she immediately replied, "Yes, it's two yuan a serving. We're selling it at a loss because it's two yuan, just so everyone can try our cooking. Why don't you buy one and try it? It's a great deal, and it's nice to change things up once in a while."
What kind of dish is this?
"This side has shredded pork with green peppers and spicy chicken giblets, and this side has shredded pork with green peppers and eggplant and green beans. Although there are only two dishes in one box, the portion is quite generous."
"Okay, give me a serving of shredded pork with green peppers and chicken giblets."
"I'll have one too..."
...
Ning's mother's stall was quickly surrounded by a crowd.
Zhu Qingmei was in the same situation, surrounded by layers upon layers of people.
When Peng Wei came out of get off work and saw this, he immediately ran to the fast food restaurant and told He Wenlin and the others, "They're selling boxed lunches over there at the factory gate, two yuan a serving."
Xia Lijuan also rushed over to report: "There are some at the factory gate too. It's that woman who came to the factory today to get orders and sell vouchers. She sells them for two yuan a set, and a lot of people have bought them."
"What?" Mr. He exclaimed in surprise, "Two yuan!!! They're selling it at a loss."
Lin Fei said, "No wonder there are fewer people coming here for late-night snacks tonight."
From 10:05 to 10:45 every day, He's father and Lin Fei basically don't stop for 40 minutes. They sell about 70 servings of fried noodles and fried rice every night.
But there were noticeably fewer people today.
“It’s so cheap, someone will definitely want to try it,” He Wenlin said. “Let’s buy one and give it a try.”
He Wenlin and the chefs in the shop have to taste every competitor's product; this is an unspoken rule.
He Wenlin gave Xia Lijuan four yuan and asked her to buy two portions.
"If you sell out, see which customer has some, buy it from them, and then invite them to our store for a late-night snack and drinks."
"Okay." Xia Lijuan readily took the money and ran out.
Not long after, she brought back two fast food meals for He Wenlin. Ning's mother and Zhu Qingmei had indeed sold out of their goods, and she had bought them from two familiar customers.
"Brother Fei, stir-fry some noodles for these two fellow villagers." After saying that, He Wenlin handed each of them a box of orange juice.
The fellow villager laughed and said, "You run your own shop, why are you buying other people's fast food?"
"We should try other people's food and compare them."
The fellow villager laughed and said, "You call this knowing yourself and your enemy, and you will win every battle."
He Wenlin smiled and said, "You could say that."
They made a special effort to sell at a low price at the factory gate today in order to open up the market, so they must have made their specialty dishes.
He Wenlin and her father tried the food. They found the dishes less flavorful than those at He Wenlin's fast food restaurant. Her father didn't particularly like it, feeling the stir-fried green peppers with pork wasn't salty and spicy enough, and the spicy and sour chicken giblets weren't spicy and sour enough.
He Wenlin thought the taste was alright, especially the eggplant and green beans, which were very good.
People from Hunan, Jiangxi, and Sichuan prefer the stronger flavor of stir-fried pork with chili peppers over stir-fried pork with green peppers; these two dishes are different.
The green pepper and shredded pork he made tasted very similar to the green pepper and shredded pork that He Wenlin had eaten at a street food stall in Shengcheng in her previous life. It wasn't that it was bad, but people from regions with strong flavors didn't really like it.
Speaking of Shengcheng snacks, He Wenlin remembers that they were everywhere in Shaoxing, but it seems that they are not there now, and neither are they in Shaxian County.
"It's not as delicious as yours, so there's no need to worry," Xia Lijuan said after trying it.
He Wenlin: "That's not necessarily true. It will take away some customers, but we opened earlier and have a certain customer base. Also, the house next door will be renovated next month and people can move in around the summer vacation. It's like we have a clean and spacious physical store, which gives us an advantage over them."
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