"Yes, it's so convenient. In this hot weather, I don't need to go out, and I don't have to queue or wait. I can have a meal as soon as I get off work." The receptionist kept praising Xu's Fast Food Restaurant.
About half an hour after Xu An left, Awei came out of the photography studio, took off his protective suit and gas mask, went straight to the front desk, picked up the last remaining boxed meal, and casually asked, "Has the owner of Xu's Fast Food Restaurant already left?"
"The owner of Xu's Fast Food Restaurant?" The receptionist looked up blankly. "Do you mean the delivery rider for Xu's Fast Food Restaurant?"
"No, it's that boy who came to see me this morning, the tall one," Awei roughly described Xu An's appearance and clothing. The receptionist felt a bit exasperated. She realized that all the things she'd said about Xu's Fast Food to the owner were thankfully nice, otherwise she would have gone completely crazy.
Afterwards, the receptionist mentally made a fuss about Awei. He made an appointment with a guest but didn't inform them beforehand or disclose their identity. Today, your afternoon tea only includes fries, no Coke! No burger either! You'll have to settle for plain water and fries!
Xu's Fast Food Restaurant.
It was past noon when Xu An left Awei's company. The banks were also closed for lunch. So Xu An rode his bicycle back to Xu's Fast Food Restaurant and began working on the third thing on his plan for the day: finalizing the menu for the braised food shop.
I spent an hour with Zhang Dezhen studying the recipes. The four blank sheets of paper were covered with dense writing, containing at least seventy or eighty different dishes. Each dish had four flavors, which meant over three hundred different combinations! This had to be cut down, otherwise preparing several kilograms of ingredients every day would be a huge headache just thinking about it.
Shops like Zhou Baiya, which sell braised food, typically offer fewer than ten varieties on their counters. Aside from the main duck products, which may have two or three flavors to choose from, all other braised dishes are only available in one fixed flavor. Currently, the best-selling items at Xu's Fast Food Restaurant are various vegetarian dishes. While meat dishes also have a target audience, they are less popular and don't sell well.
Although vegetarian dishes are inexpensive, the profit margin is quite high; once sales pick up, the earnings can be comparable to those of meat dishes. Furthermore, Xu's Fast Food Restaurant is known for its high-quality, low-priced boxed meals, so Xu's Braised Food Shop naturally follows suit. Therefore, Xu's Braised Food Shop's main product is braised vegetarian dishes!
Afterwards, Xu An and Zhang Dezhen cut most of the dazzling array of dishes. But when they were reduced to only twenty-six, they felt that every single one was indispensable, and their pens hovered over these dishes, unable to settle their ink.
Ugh! This is so difficult!
Xu An put down his pen and stared blankly at the four sheets of paper with the dishes that hadn't been crossed out. If he were a customer, he would definitely want the restaurant to have as many dishes and flavors as possible to choose from; but as the owner, he had to consider issues such as cost, transportation, and preservation.
With more dishes but the total quantity remaining the same, the amount needed for each dish is less. Less quantity means higher purchase prices, increasing costs and reducing profits. Xu An has already invested so much money in the braised food shop, so naturally he wants to earn as much as possible. Once the Xu's Braised Food Shop gains traction, perhaps he can consider gradually adding more dishes; preparing so many items right after opening isn't a good idea.
However, each of these twenty-six dishes is mouthwatering just by looking at their names; it would be a shame to remove any of them. How sad it is that customers can't enjoy such delicious food!
As Xu An pondered, his peripheral vision caught sight of a notebook lying open to the side. Several pages had been flipped by the wind, landing on the challenge he had conceived at noon for the opening day of Xu's Braised Food Shop. A sudden inspiration struck Xu An: why not hold a pre-opening event for the shop, where customers could choose their ten favorite braised dishes, with the one receiving the most votes officially being sold at the shop?
Following this line of thought, Xu An found it increasingly feasible, with minimal cost and the added benefit of generating buzz beforehand, letting regular customers know that Xu's Fast Food Restaurant also had a shop specializing in braised dishes. This event could also serve as a way to thank loyal customers—a win-win situation! And the total cost was less than a thousand yuan!
Xu An took out a new sheet of paper and began preparing for this event, which was another decision made on a whim. Twenty people were a bit few, and a hundred wouldn't fit in the shop, so sixty-six would be a good number for good luck. The theme was—Xu's Braised Food Shop is about to open! You decide what braised food to sell! As for the time, Xu's Fast Food Shop's target audience is mainly 9-to-5 office workers, and most people only have time in the evenings from Monday to Friday. To be on the safe side, setting the time for Saturday evening is best.
Even those who work on Saturdays have their rest time. After coming here for the event in the evening, they can go back and get a good night's sleep, and the next day is still a day off. So, let's set the time for 9 pm on Saturday night, which is perfect for a late-night snack.
After some writing and drawing, Xu An quickly finalized the time, location, number of participants, and format of the event. Having reviewed the plan from beginning to end and confirmed there were no issues, Xu An took out his phone, opened QQ, edited a post, and published it.
"Xu's Fast Food Restaurant's newest branch—Xu's Braised Food Shop—is opening soon! You decide what braised dishes to sell! Join us this Saturday night at 9 PM at Xu's Fast Food Restaurant on Zijing Road South to sample 26 different braised dishes! To participate, comment '1' under this post. The first 66 replies will be selected! Limited spots available, first come, first served!"
Xu An also attached a picture with the words "Activity" in black on a white background, simple and straightforward. Just like today, so many people were slacking off at work. The moment the post was published, while Xu An was still checking for typos, there were already five replies. Xu An was very familiar with these five names: Liu Tong, Liu Zhaowen, Luo Min, Ding Nan, and He Gu?
What to do if you catch an employee slacking off at work? Need help urgently!
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com