This food festival was no different from those I had attended before. Apart from the venue being a bit unfamiliar, everything else—the stalls, their setups, and even the stall owners—was quite familiar. Even if I didn't know their names, I had become familiar with their faces through repeated food festivals.
Just when everyone thought so, two dark horses suddenly emerged from the stalls that were doing reasonably well.
One of the dark horses was the stall selling crispy potato chips. Perhaps because this dish was appearing for the first time, it tasted good and was not expensive, and it was loved by many customers. Among the customers attending the food festival, one in three was holding a plate of crispy potato chips, which was an amazing proportion.
Another dark horse was a stall set up by a company called 'Xu's Catering', which mainly sold braised food and lemon tea. With a wide variety of food to choose from, the sales of the braised food were neither good nor bad, barely reaching the average sales of the food festival.
However, another product, lemon tea, is extremely popular!
I don't know if it was because there weren't many beverage stalls in the food festival area, or because most of the food was on the savory, salty, and spicy side, but almost everyone had a cup of lemon tea in hand, and everywhere you looked, you could see the flamboyant character "Xu".
Some vendors envied the popularity of lemon tea; some were considering switching to selling drinks for the next food festival; and others, looking at Xu's lemon tea, were already calculating their next move.
The Jiangyuan City Food Festival lasted for three days. On the evening of the third day, many vendors began to pack up their stalls at 8 p.m., chatting with the vendors of the surrounding stalls as they did so.
"Hey Chen, where's your next gig? Let's see if we can bump into each other. We can chat together." The stall owner next door suddenly patted Chen Feng on the shoulder and asked in a very familiar manner.
"Ah," Chen Feng paused for 0.01 seconds upon hearing this, then readily replied, "Next, we're going to the food festival in Pinggui Town, Dongqing City."
“Pinggui Town!” The stall owner next door thought for a moment, then asked with a puzzled look, “The food festival isn’t until a week later, what’s the schedule for the time in between?”
"I don't have any plans in between, I'm planning to rest for a few days," Chen Feng said with a smile. "I've been traveling all the way here from other provinces since September, either setting up a stall or on my way to set up a stall. I'm exhausted, so I'm planning to rest for a few days to avoid ruining my health, right?"
"That's true." The stall owner next door believed Chen Feng's words and comforted him, "Health is the most important thing. It's good to rest. There are only two or three months left until the New Year. There will only be more and more food festivals coming up. If you don't rest, you really won't be able to cope."
"Yes," Chen Feng echoed a few times, then took the opportunity to put his things back in the car to end the conversation.
Chen Feng said he was just taking a break, but at 10 a.m. the next morning, he took a car to Haishi and appeared in front of the Xu's Catering headquarters.
"Hello sir, this is Xu's Restaurant. How can I help you?" The receptionist immediately stood up and started a conversation when she saw someone come in.
"Hello, this is Chen Feng. I'd like to speak with the owner about franchising opportunities."
"Mr. Chen, do you have an appointment?"
"Oh, do I need to make an appointment?" Chen Feng was stunned for a moment, then rubbed his hands and said embarrassedly, "Um... no. So do I need to make an appointment first? How do I make an appointment, and how long after the appointment can we meet?"
"Mr. Chen, let me check first. If the boss doesn't have time, can we make an appointment then?"
"Yes, yes, thank you for your trouble." Chen Feng nodded repeatedly.
"Okay." The receptionist led Chen Feng to the meeting room, took a bottle of mineral water from the refrigerator and handed it to him, saying, "Mr. Chen, please wait here for a moment, I will be right back."
"Okay, okay, thank you, thank you." Chen Feng thanked her repeatedly, and only breathed a sigh of relief after watching the receptionist leave the room and leave the door slightly ajar, her footsteps fading into the distance.
When Chen Feng finally decided to come to Xu's Catering headquarters to inquire about franchising, he thought the so-called headquarters was just a cubicle in a dilapidated office building with no more than ten employees, and most likely a family business.
To my surprise, the headquarters of Xu's Catering actually looks quite impressive, with a reception desk! You even have to make an appointment to visit the boss!
Generally speaking, companies with such complex and mature processes typically charge exceptionally high franchise fees.
Chen Feng suddenly felt a dryness in his throat. He carefully unscrewed the bottle cap and took a small sip to moisten his parched throat, his nervousness evident in his expression.
"You mean someone came to our door wanting to inquire about franchising?"
"Yes, boss, would you like to meet with him, schedule another time, or perhaps I can find a reason to refuse him?"
"Yes, he mentioned wanting to franchise that store. Is it Xu's Fast Food, Xu's Braised Food, or Xu's Lemon Tea?"
"Ah!" Xu An's question touched on a blind spot in her knowledge. A hint of annoyance flashed in the receptionist's eyes as she quickly replied, "Sir, I'm sorry, I didn't ask for the specifics."
"It's alright, we've never offered a franchise program, so it's normal that you're not aware of it."
"Should I turn Mr. Chen down?" the receptionist asked uncertainly.
The moment Xu An nodded, his resolute heart wavered slightly. After hesitating for two seconds, he finally called out to the receptionist, who had already stepped out of the office, saying:
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