The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 277 Price Increase
"You killed four chickens! Who did it? Were the chickens damaged? If they weren't, then Boss Hu should make some spicy chicken for us!" Annie shouted as she walked into the shop.

More precisely, at around 4:30, while Hu Biao and his group were chatting and laughing with Ling Lanfang.

Anne, the shop owner, walked into the store with her newly installed and dyed pink long hair; paired with a Chanel-style dress, she looked truly fashionable and beautiful.

As they walked in, they overheard Ling Lanfang's broken Mandarin and immediately started saying this, causing the crowd, who had just stopped laughing, to burst into laughter again.

Of course! That's not important.

When Annie saw Ling Lanfang, her eyes lit up immediately.

When he learned that his former comrade-in-arms had now joined Deyuelou and that they would be able to see each other more often in the future, he was overjoyed.

After thinking of something, he quickly invited her:

"Lanfang, we're about to have our staff meal. Dinner will start after that. Since you're already here, you're all one of us now."

Why don't you enjoy the employee benefits beforehand and have dinner before leaving?

Oh, by the way! We're having braised pork and bamboo shoots with salt and tofu tonight, I think you'll love it.

Unexpectedly, when she heard the first half, Ling Lanfang had a rather excited expression on her face; but when she heard "Yan Du Xian", she shook her head so hard it flew off her cheeks.

He said, "Forget it! I won't eat it."

If it's mainly about eating bamboo shoots, I prefer the pickled bamboo shoots from Guangxi province, or bitter bamboo shoots if that's not possible; but I'd rather not have the 'pickled bamboo shoots with pork and bamboo shoots' style, I just can't get used to it.

Annie: "Ah..."

Although Annie really couldn't understand why Ling Lanfang in this modern world didn't like eating 'Yan Du Xian' (a type of stew).

But it didn't affect her at all. While eating her staff meal, she would occasionally take a sip of mineral water filled with Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) and pick at the bamboo shoots in the pickled bamboo shoot soup, looking quite pleased with herself.

Halfway through the meal, he suddenly remembered something and brought it up with Hu Biao:

"Mr. Hu, my cousin Mina has a vacation in a few days and she plans to come to the capital for a visit."

"It's okay! You can go play with her then. We have enough staff at the shop now. Let me know in advance when she comes so I can prepare the ingredients and cook her a welcome meal."

Upon hearing this, Hu Biao answered easily.

After all, she's just a future sister-in-law, not the future father-in-law and mother-in-law.

Then, Hu Biao casually asked, "Holiday? How old is Mina? Is she still in school?"

“No, Mina is only a little younger than me. We’ve been very close since we were little.” As Annie spoke, she took out her phone, found a photo, and handed it to her.

When Hu Biao took the phone, he saw a photo of Annie and Mina together.

To his surprise, Mina, apart from being slightly shorter, bore at least an 80% resemblance to Annie in terms of face and figure.

The only obvious difference is that Mina's outfit is more daring.

That cleavage! Wow.

Of course, Hu Biao only glanced at it briefly before returning the phone to Annie; otherwise, why would he keep staring at his future sister-in-law's photos?

He then put down his chopsticks and bowl, and went out of the shop to smoke.

******
Despite her outwardly calm demeanor, Annie was secretly quite pleased that Hu Biao hadn't kept staring at her sister-in-law's photo.

After Hu Biao went outside, he took out his ever-present Shazi cigarettes and saw the landlord.

More precisely, it was the landlord's husband, who had spoken to him that morning, carrying a large pile of groceries, walking towards him from the other side of the sidewalk.

Hu Biao immediately started teasing the landlord from afar: "Landlord, why didn't you go on a trip with your wife? Are you really comfortable letting your wife go out alone?"

While greeting them, he was even about to offer them a cigarette.

Well, don't be fooled by the fact that the landlord is a typical Beijing tycoon, with several storefronts and a lot of money; he doesn't smoke Hua Zi cigarettes at all, but rather Zhong Nanhai cigarettes, which are similar to Sha Zi cigarettes.

Therefore, Hu Biao felt no psychological pressure whatsoever about sending such cheap sand cigarettes to the other party.

Unexpectedly, the landlord, who usually smoked and joked with Hu Biao before leaving, said today, "Little Hu! You really know how to joke."

We're an old married couple, what's there to worry about? I won't joke with you today, we have guests coming over for dinner tonight, so I'll be leaving now.

After saying that, he left in a hurry.

Everyone has relatives and friends who come over for a meal, right? Therefore, Hu Biao didn't take the landlord's behavior to heart.

What he didn't know was that after returning home, the male landlord started complaining to his wife, the female landlord who had claimed to be on vacation, who was lying on the sofa scrolling through her phone:

"Honey, why don't we just rent the children's clothing store to Xiao Hu as soon as possible?"

Anyway, that shop has been vacant for two or three months now; Xiao Hu is quite honest, even if you want to raise the rent by 10% or 20%, he can probably agree if you talk to him nicely.

Besides, it's not good for you to always stay home and avoid going out.

Upon hearing this, the landlady immediately sat up from the sofa and began to berate her husband:

"What do you know? Xiao Hu's business is doing so well because his skills are indeed very good, but there are plenty of shops in the capital that have good skills but poor business."

It's only because our store has a good location and high customer traffic that our business is so good.

Since his business is so good and he earns so much every day, how can raising the fees by 10% or 20% be enough? This time, since he is expanding his business and the original sublease contract is about to expire, I'm going to give him a good talking to.

Therefore, this time the rent will at least double, and I also need to learn from the practices in eastern Guangdong and ask for 50,000 yuan as a "tea money" fee.

After hearing his wife's explanation, the male boss was somewhat taken aback by her enormous appetite.

He instinctively wanted to argue something, but he had always been afraid of his wife, and she always made the decisions about everything in the family.

In the end, all he could say was, "With such a huge price increase all at once, be careful that Xiao Hu doesn't refuse to rent in a fit of anger. Then we'll see what you do."

This year, brick-and-mortar businesses are having a tough time; there are empty shops everywhere.

Faced with the man's doubts, the landlady confidently said:
"Don't worry, I know everything! I just saw in Xiao Hu's foodie group that they sold out over 200 jin of braised food in just one lunchtime. Business is booming."

They even just hired a few new waiters, ready to make a big splash.

In this situation, he would definitely agree to my demands for a rent increase and a tea fee; it's not like he can't make money, what's wrong with giving me a little something since he makes so much?

Alright! Stop rambling. If this family relied on a nice guy like you, they probably wouldn't be able to make ends meet.

"Hurry up and cook some food. I've been starving all day smelling the aroma of braised food from Xiao Hu's shop."

Seeing that his wife wouldn't listen to reason, the landlord had no choice but to take the groceries and cook...

And so, with the addition of braised dishes and other new products, Deyuelou's business became increasingly booming.

The staff was easy to manage. With the addition of six new employees, including Ling Lanfang, the workload for everyone was slightly lighter than before.

However, the number of dining spaces is far from sufficient.

However, Hu Biao has always been quite unenthusiastic about several platforms; to clarify, this refers to the platforms that take a high commission rate, not the delivery drivers themselves.

Also, takeout options like oil-splashed noodles have a huge negative impact on the dining experience, so I have absolutely no intention of offering delivery services.

As a result, during peak dining hours, not only are there not enough tables and chairs in the restaurant, but there is also no place to put the makeshift tables made of stools of various sizes.

This led to scenes of many customers squatting on the curb, eating their food with bowls in hand.

Deyuelou, a small shop, is quite a famous sight in Majuqiao.

Although eating while squatting seems to make the food taste better, this situation is not a long-term solution; the problem is that Hu Biao calls his landlady every day, and she always says that she will be back in two days.

I wanted to discuss it, maybe we could start renovations by opening up the adjacent children's clothing store and then sign the contract when she gets back, but she still wouldn't agree.

After making two or three phone calls, Hu Biao finally came to his senses...

(End of this chapter)