After a week of preparation, the Zhou family's boxed lunches were finally ready to be sold.
To Zhou Sui's surprise, Zhou Peng's cooking was actually quite good; although it was cooked in a large pot, the taste was not bad at all.
Because they couldn't find a suitable place, they temporarily cooked in the backyard of the snack shop. Smelling the aroma of the food, Li Qiuju praised, "When your eldest brother was only four or five years old, he would stand in front of the stove with a stool and cook. Your second aunt said back then that maybe he would become a chef in the future, and now he has become one."
Zhou Sui was unaware of this matter. She had never actually seen Zhou Peng cook before, and she was surprised to learn that he had this skill. It seemed that she should give her older brother a raise.
Today's stir-fried dishes are twice-cooked pork with potato slices, stir-fried cabbage, Mapo tofu, and a cabbage and vermicelli soup.
The hot food is placed in a pot, kept warm by a small fire underneath.
An hour before lunchtime, Zhou Dayong took his nephew and headed towards the construction site.
Before leaving, Zhou Sui went over the instructions again in detail: "The dishes can be portioned, one spoonful is enough, but the rice is free."
"Brother Song has already given the word. When you get there, don't be shy. You have to shout and call out, otherwise people won't know what you're selling."
The two nodded repeatedly, then walked confidently toward the construction site.
"Pengzi, you come and call him later," Zhou Dayong said as soon as the food cart was placed.
"Huh? I shouted?" Zhou Peng was stunned; he had never shouted before.
“Yes, you young people have such strong voices. It sounds terrible for an old man like me to shout. I’ll scare people away.”
Zhou Dayong kept bluffing.
"Uncle, my voice isn't that great either," Zhou Peng said, his face full of refusal.
He and Zhou Dayong are actually the same kind of people, they just talk more in front of their families. Now, asking them to shout to strangers is a huge test.
Li Qiuju, who was in the shop, was still saying, "Can you really send your dad and your older brother?"
He was really afraid that the two men would just watch the workers walk past the food cart because they couldn't open their mouths.
Zhou Sui was making honey grapefruit tea for the guests when she heard this and smiled. "Mom, don't worry. Dad and my older brother did everything from ordering the food containers, buying the groceries, washing the vegetables, to cooking. They know how much effort they put in."
"If they can't speak up today, their hearts will ache even more than ours."
Li Qiuju looked a little worried, so Zhou Sui simply found something to distract her, "Mom, can you make me some tea? I'll find a bag to put it in and deliver it to someone later."
The new honey grapefruit tea in the store has been very popular with girls lately. Just now, a regular customer came in and ordered ten cups, asking them to be delivered to someone after they were made.
With things to do, Li Qiuju finally stopped worrying about the father and son.
Zhou Sui felt much more at ease. Sometimes, you have to push people a little. Actually, she didn't have anything to do today. It was her first day setting up her stall, so she could have gone along to check things out.
But then I thought, if two grown men are around, and they can't sell the food properly and just get some boxed lunches, what will happen if they come up with any new ideas in the future? Wouldn't I have to do everything myself all the time? That would be so tiring.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
She genuinely wanted her father and older brother to take this step, because their business couldn't always be confined to this small county town.
She needs manpower whenever she goes out into the world.
Zhou Sui's guess was right. The uncle and nephew were initially being polite to each other, but when groups of people came out of the construction site, they didn't know where to put their hands.
"Pengzi, shout!" Zhou Dayong patted his nephew on the shoulder.
Zhou Peng stepped in temporarily, not knowing how loud he should speak, and blurted out, "Eat, food, lunchbox."
Because of nervousness, he not only stumbled over his words but also shouted the wrong thing.
Zhou Dayong hurriedly corrected, "It's not a lunchbox, it's a boxed lunch, a boxed lunch."
"Yes, a boxed lunch, a hot boxed lunch."
"Three dishes and a soup, plus rice."
The uncle and nephew acted like a two-person comedy duo, one saying a line and the other adding a line, until finally the person opposite them walked over.
"Is this the boxed lunch they were talking about?"
Zhou Dayong and Zhou Peng didn't know who "they" were, but they could answer the question: "Yes, this is a boxed lunch."
"Two yuan a serving, three dishes and a soup, and all you can eat," Zhou Dayong said.
"Two yuan?" The man hesitated upon hearing the price and looking at the food in the pot.
They walked a little further and went to a noodle shop where a bowl of noodles would only cost a little over a dollar.
"There's meat in it! Look at all the meat we've put in!" Zhou Peng was afraid he hadn't said anything right and the customers wouldn't buy it, so he quickly picked up a spoon and flipped the twice-cooked pork with potato slices over to show them.
"These are all freshly cooked, hot dishes, and there's even soup. Look at this soup, we added oil to it too." Zhou Dayong simply lifted the lid, letting the steam from the soup escape, with a layer of oil floating on the side.
These people had worked all morning and were already hungry when they came out. The aroma of food made them even hungrier.
"Try it, try it, boss, give me one serving and see how much there is."
"Okay." Zhou Dayong hurriedly took the box and began scooping the food out spoonful by spoonful, silently reminding himself, "Steady, I must be steady, my hands must not shake."
"Looks like quite a lot." The man took the food and handed over two yuan. Zhou Dayong winked at Zhou Peng, signaling him to take the money quickly.
Zhou Peng reached out and took the money, putting it into the money box that had been prepared beforehand.
Once someone starts buying, others will naturally follow suit, especially after hearing that it tastes good; basically, everyone coming out of the gate will gather around.
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