Chapter 200 The Significance of Opening a Canteen
"The scoring for our cooking competition is divided into two parts: one is the taste of the dish, and the other is cost control."
"As everyone knows, the reason why our department store wants to open its own canteen is to provide convenience for our employees and to allow them to eat well and affordably."
As he spoke, Yan Guohua made some space so that everyone could see the dishes on the table clearly.
There are a lot of meat dishes here that people usually don’t want to eat.
Sweet and sour pork tenderloin, braised beef, sweet and sour spare ribs, etc., all made the big guys who were starving for oil and water in their stomachs drool.
"Do you see what's wrong?"
"These meat dishes are something people usually don't want to eat, and can't afford. They require money and tickets. Who would be willing to eat such good food every day? Even if they only eat it once a week, many people wouldn't be willing to spend it. If everyone can't afford it by then, what's the point of opening this canteen?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the surroundings suddenly became as quiet as a chicken.
Indeed, even if these meals appeared in the cafeteria, most people would not be willing to buy them.
The main reason for people to eat in the cafeteria is that it is convenient and affordable. If the price is too high, it is more cost-effective to bring your own food.
Yan Guohua pointed at Liu Cuilan's group's dish and said, "Everyone, take a look at this."
There were two dishes on the table, one was stewed cabbage with tofu, and the other was stir-fried meat with shredded potatoes.
It's a very simple home-cooked dish, but it's delicious and tasty.
It looks neither too luxurious nor too shabby, and both the dishes and prices are within everyone's acceptable range.
Yan Guohua then raised his voice and said, "Does anyone have any opinions on this result? If not, let's move on to the next group."
After the words fell, no one refuted them this time.
The following groups also finished quickly, and finally two groups were selected to tie for first place. One was Liu Cuilan's group, and the other was Zhang Dongmei's chef brother-in-law Wang Jianmin.
Yan Guohua looked at the two of them. Of course, Wang Jianmin was better in terms of cooking skills, but if he wanted to contract a department store cafeteria, in addition to the taste of the dishes, the most important thing was cost control.
After several judges discussed it, they finally decided to let the two compete again, but this time the competition was not about cooking but about buying groceries.
Yan Guohua gave each of the two men a dozen thin banknotes and asked them to use the banknotes to buy enough food for ten people, including vegetables, meat, and soup.
Wang Jianmin looked at the dollar in his hand with some disbelief: "General Manager, this dollar is enough to cook for ten people, and it requires vegetables, meat, and soup. Are you serious?"
Yan Guohua coughed twice and said, "If you can't do it, you can choose to abstain now."
Upon hearing this, Wang Jianmin clenched the money in his hand. He had spent so much effort and didn't want to give up now. If he gave up, wouldn't those two country bumpkins get the money?
Thinking about it, he took the money from Yan Guohua: "General Manager, I have no problem."
But he was thinking in his heart that if he couldn't do it, those two people might not be able to do it either, and of course he couldn't let the other party get away with it for nothing.
Thinking of this, he regained his confidence.
Yan Guohua glanced at his watch and said, "There's a vegetable market nearby. You two can go buy some vegetables now."
As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Jianmin couldn't wait to take Zhang Dongmei away.
Su Xiaoxiao was afraid that the two of them didn't know where the vegetable market was, so she followed them to buy vegetables.
Fortunately, the distance was not far and it took less than ten minutes to walk to the destination.
As soon as I arrived, I saw Wang Jianmin holding a piece of pork belly, which looked to weigh at least one pound.
A pound of meat costs 72 cents, and he spent more than half of it in one go. He was really generous.
Zhang Dongmei proudly waved a few potatoes and a handful of rapeseed in her hand at them and said, "See? These are gifts from my brother-in-law's friends. They don't cost any money."
"At this rate we can buy everything we need without spending a dollar."
Wang Jianmin was the head chef of a state-owned restaurant. He had many acquaintances in the vegetable market, and many people offered to give him vegetables. So even though he spent a lot of money on buying a pound of meat, he spent almost no money on the vegetables.
Su Xiaoxiao didn't bother to pay attention to them and pulled Liu Cuilan and Xu Zhaodi straight to the meat stall.
Liu Cuilan said, "For ten people, half a pound of meat is enough. Buy the fattier pork belly. The fat part can be used to make oil, and the lean part can be stir-fried."
Su Xiaoxiao felt that what her mother said made sense. The oil made from fat meat could also be used directly for cooking, and it was equally fragrant.
As they were talking, the three of them were already standing in front of the pork stall.
Su Xiaoxiao was about to speak when the other party saw her and smiled and said first: "Comrade Su, you are here."
The butcher was a middle-aged man who looked to be about forty years old. He had a little dark stubble on his chin. When he smiled, a row of big white teeth appeared on his dark face, making him look particularly honest and enthusiastic.
Su Xiaoxiao then remembered that this person was the salesperson at the pork stall in the market that Liang Guofu had introduced to her before.
I hurriedly smiled and nodded at him: "Hello, I want half a pound of fattier pork belly."
Hearing this, the middle-aged man picked up a knife and gestured back and forth on a piece of meat: "How about this one? It's fat and thick, very good."
Su Xiaoxiao tugged at Liu Cuilan, and seeing that she was very satisfied, she said, "Please weigh it for us."
The middle-aged man grinned at her again: "No problem."
As he spoke, he weighed it skillfully, and it was exactly half a pound, neither more nor less.
The middle-aged man held up the scale bar and showed it to the three people. While tying the meat, he also tied up a fist-sized piece of fat and handed it over.
"This fat meat is for you, no money required, and you don't need the meat ticket either."
As he spoke, he took out the meat ticket and stuffed it back to Su Xiaoxiao, then bent down to look for change in the drawer.
Liu Cuilan was a little confused. While the other party was looking for change, she lowered her voice and said to Su Xiaoxiao, "Such a big piece of fat meat is given away just like that? And it's meat and you don't even need a receipt. Could this person be a scammer?"
At this moment, the middle-aged man had just finished giving the change and happened to hear the last sentence. He asked in confusion: "Swindler? Where did this swindler come from?"
While he was talking, he was looking around as if he was looking for a liar.
"No liar, you heard it wrong."
She put the meat ticket down again: "But this time we bought the meat for the company, so the ticket will still be given to you according to the market price."
After saying that, she took the meat, took Liu Cuilan and Xu Zhaodi to thank them and left.
Only when they were a little further away from the stall did Su Xiaoxiao explain what had happened to the two of them.
"Does this mean we won't need meat coupons to buy meat from now on?"
Meat is a rare commodity these days. A family can only eat it a few times a year. It is really because meat coupons are too tight.
Su Xiaoxiao nodded: "That's right."
Liu Cuilan was so excited that she almost jumped up, but thinking that so many people were watching, she had to maintain her image for the time being.
He forced himself to suppress the excitement in his heart.
He only whispered excitedly: "Third brother, you are so promising. I must go to burn incense for your father someday."
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