1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 357 How is this possible? (Bonus chapter for monthly votes: 755)

"Xia Yao, your internship ends next week and you'll be going back to school. What will happen to Zhou Yan then?"

"Are you going to work in a textile factory after you graduate? If so, all the problems will be solved."

"Look at the way he looked at you just now, tsk tsk, I've never seen him look at another girl like that before."

Wang Wei linked arms with Xia Yao as they walked into the factory, her mouth never stopping as she asked all the questions she had wanted to ask at the dinner table but couldn't bring herself to ask in front of the elders.

Xia Yao smiled. Wang Wei was outgoing, straightforward, and unpretentious. She was the best friend Xia Yao had made at the textile factory this month. They often ate together and would also sneak off to work together.

Of course, more importantly, she was the number one contributor to Zhou Yan's downfall of Wang Defa, the director of the factory canteen.

She is a very strong-willed and straightforward girl.

“When I go back to school, we will keep in touch by letter, which is great. I am very happy every time I receive a letter from Jiaozhou.”

"After graduation, I plan to work in a big city, like Shanghai or Hong Kong. Our major allows us to access more cutting-edge technologies and trends in big cities. Textile factories are nice, but they're not suitable for me."

Xia Yao answered Wang Wei's questions one by one, and when she talked about Zhou Yan, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up.

"Yes, you're so outstanding, you should prioritize your career." Wang Wei nodded after hearing this. She knew very well what Xia Yao had done since coming to the textile factory: eight pictures had secured a huge order for the factory.

To be honest, it would be a waste of her talents to keep her at the textile factory.

Just now at the dinner table, she even wondered if Zhou Yan was using his good looks to seduce Xia Yao, perhaps as a ploy by the textile factory.

Fortunately, although Xia Yao was infected, she remained clear-headed.

"But if that's the case, then... can you still be considered to be dating? You went to the big city, and Zhou Yan stayed in Suji. How are you going to be together?"

Wang Wei looked at Xia Yao and asked, her mind a little blank for a moment.

She had never been in a relationship, but she always felt that for a relationship to be valid, the two people should be together.

"Let's talk about the future when it comes," Xia Yao said with a confident smile. "We'll each work hard and meet again in a better future. I think that day isn't too far away."

"I believe you." Wang Wei smiled as she looked at Xia Yao's confident smile.

She always exudes confidence and poise, which makes people feel wonderful and assuring them that she truly is capable of achieving her goals.

"Weiwei, what about you? Are you really planning to go to Chengdu next year?" Xia Yao asked, looking at her.

"Yes, I also want to go to a big city. I'll go to Chengdu first, and then find an opportunity to go to the capital or Shanghai. Guangzhou is also fine. I've heard that Guangzhou is developing very well now."

"Big cities are good; there are more opportunities."

……

Compared to the packed Zhou Erwa Restaurant, the state-run restaurant was unusually quiet today, with only five or six tables of guests scattered around, lacking any of the lively atmosphere of New Year's Day.

Yan Wen looked at the deserted lobby, took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice, "If all else fails, we'll have to assign tasks. There are 26 people in our restaurant. Each person will invite one table of customers to eat, and the price will be calculated based on the cost of the ingredients. At least we'll make sure we don't lose money on paper."

"Huh?" Fan Qingfeng and Wu Danzhen were somewhat surprised to hear this.

"Director, as is customary, the leftover food is shared among everyone and taken home. We never have to invite people over or pay for it," Wu Danzhen said softly.

"The workers probably won't be willing," Fan Qingfeng said hesitantly.

"So you can just quit if you don't want to?" Yan Wen said coldly. "Either cooperate with the work, or wait for the restaurant to lose money and be shut down. I can transfer you to another place, you can think about it yourselves, see if you can find a job here that pays that much every month."

Fan Qingfeng and Wu Danzhen exchanged a glance and nodded, saying, "Okay, we'll go and inform them right away."

"Sigh." Yan Wen clenched his fist and slammed it against the office wall, feeling somewhat frustrated.

He has been the director of the Suji State-run Hotel for four years. With the economy developing better and better in the past two years, workers and farmers have gradually become more financially secure, and the business of the state-run hotel is booming day by day.

Last year, their restaurant was recognized for its outstanding performance in terms of turnover and profit among state-owned restaurants in various towns and townships of Jiaozhou.

So he turned a blind eye to restaurant employees taking some vegetables, oil, and salt home, and as the director, he himself took quite a few home as well.

However, starting last month, the business situation took a sharp turn for the worse, especially from Monday to Saturday, when fewer and fewer customers came to the restaurant, and some regular customers simply disappeared.

Revenue dropped by half, and profits went from being profitable to incurring losses.

Today is New Year's Day, and I was planning to make a big splash, but we only had eight tables of customers at noon and in the evening, half of whom were walk-in customers.

All of this is because of that privately owned restaurant called Zhou Erwa Restaurant.

The Suji State-run Hotel originally held a somewhat monopolistic position in Suji.

Those roadside stalls are not suitable for gatherings or meals; they're not respectable enough.

However, he still couldn't understand how a privately owned restaurant could steal customers from their state-owned restaurant.

He had visited that restaurant once before. It wasn't exactly a mess, but the decor was simple, there were no private rooms, and it was hardly respectable.

Where do state-run restaurants go wrong?

Over there, Fan Qingfeng and Wu Danzhen relayed Yan Wen's orders, and the kitchen immediately erupted in chaos.

"Inviting people to dinner? It's already past five o'clock, where are we going to call people?" "Exactly, if we can't sell them all, we can just share them and let everyone take them home to eat. We're all working in state-run restaurants, why should we pay for our own meals?"

"I don't have any friends, so I won't invite them."

The chefs and waiters were all incredibly tough, each with their own unique style of being fearless and uncompromising.

Wu Danzhen was furious. She slammed the door shut and pointed at everyone, saying, "Let me tell you, this is not a request, it's an order! Director Yan said that if we can't break even today and continue to lose money this month, then our restaurant will be shut down by the catering company."

Director Yan will be transferred; he'll have somewhere to go. I'm the supervisor; I'll also have somewhere to go. And Chef Fan, needless to say, a level-two chef can cook anywhere. What about you guys? Where are the waiters and apprentices going to find jobs that pay only twenty or thirty yuan a month?"

As soon as he said that, the kitchen fell silent.

The group looked at each other, their faces showing a hint of panic.

"Manager Wu, is it true? Is it that serious?" a waiter asked in a low voice.

Wu Danzhen said coldly, "Don't think you have a secure job. There are more and more private businesses now, and customers are being taken away. The government won't spend money to support you. The state-run restaurants in Linjiang have already closed down. Do you want to go and find out where those waiters are now?"

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed, and one of the waiters was so anxious he was almost in tears.

Fan Qingfeng took out his watch and glanced at it: "Crying also counts as time. If we wait a little longer, everyone will have eaten, and we'll just have to pack up and go home to eat leftovers tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, everyone hurriedly dispersed to find someone to eat with.

Only a few people were left to watch over the place.

"You guys watch the restaurant, I'm going out for a bit." Yan Wen put on a felt hat, pushed his bicycle, and went out.

"Director Yan, where are we going?" Fan Qingfeng asked.

"Research," Yan Wen replied without turning his head.

"Huh?" Fan Qingfeng asked, puzzled.

"It's official jargon. Last week, Zhou Erwa went to check on things at the restaurant," Wu Danzhen translated for him.

Fan Qingfeng frowned deeply: "Was this customer really snatched away by Zhou Erwa's restaurant? Even Xiao Lei doesn't have that kind of ability, how could his apprentice possibly do it?"

"Why don't you go and take a look too?" Wu Danzhen suggested.

"If I didn't have to cook, I'd really like to go and take a look," Fan Qingfeng said.

Yan Wen rode his bicycle to the entrance of the textile factory, just in time to see the workers and their families watching the cultural performance. It took him a while to arrive at the entrance of Zhou Erwa's restaurant.

I don't know when the restaurant expanded to two storefronts, and it was packed with people, roughly twenty-seven or twenty-eight tables.

Moreover, each table had quite a few people, some with five or six people, and some with as many as ten. Judging from the number of plates, it was clearly a banquet.

The guests were chatting and laughing, creating a lively atmosphere.

The dishes on the table were almost all gone. Now they were sitting there either drinking or chatting, and it was easy to tell from the smiles on their faces that they were very satisfied with their meal.

"Twenty-eight tables, how could they all have almost finished eating? There must be an order in which the dishes are served, right?" Yan Wen craned his neck and looked around, finding it increasingly strange.

He had learned about the basic situation of Zhou Erwa's restaurant last month. It was a small family restaurant where the son was the chef, the father was in charge of cutting braised meat, the mother was in charge of taking orders and handling cash, and they also hired a sister-in-law to run errands.

He was already surprised that they dared to take on 28 tables of guests, but it was only 6:30 o'clock, how come all the guests had finished eating?
He's been in the food and beverage industry for over ten years; this situation is simply impossible!
Just then, a group of guests who had booked a private banquet came out after finishing their meal. Yan Wen forced a smile and stepped forward, saying, "Comrade, how was the food at this restaurant? What time did you come to eat? How come you're almost finished already?"

The guest was a kind-hearted person. Tonight, he brought his fiancé and her family to the banquet. Everyone said it was good after the meal, and he felt very proud.

In a good mood, he stopped and said with a smile, "The taste is absolutely fantastic. I'm not bragging, but both the taste and the service are miles ahead of state-run restaurants."

"Really? I think state-run restaurants are alright." Yan Wen's smile froze. How could they be so much better than their restaurant?

The customer scoffed: "Those waitresses in state-run restaurants, the moment I walk in, I feel like I owe them 20,000 yuan. I have to be careful what I say, afraid they'll hit me."

Needless to say, the food at state-run restaurants is only slightly better than what we eat in our canteen, but not by much. We only went to state-run restaurants for meals when we had nowhere else to eat.

The restaurant on Tuesday was different; the aunties all had smiles on their faces and were very polite, giving me a warm feeling of coming home.

Needless to say, the taste was superb. Boss Zhou's culinary skills were simply superb; the dishes were even better than those served in the grand restaurants of Jiaozhou. Dishes like the Snowflake Chicken Soup and the Braised Rock Carp were high-end banquet dishes—where could a state-run restaurant possibly serve them? They'd be too much of a classy affair.

Yan Wen was stunned and felt a little uncomfortable, but he couldn't refute it.

The restaurant's waiters are all incredibly shrewish; even the manager sometimes gets a beating from them, let alone the guests.

He was surprised to hear that the banquet at Zhou Erwa's restaurant featured snowflake chicken soup and braised rock carp. Should these dishes be served in a restaurant in town?

The customer smiled and said, "By the way, we arrived at five o'clock, and the restaurant was packed around the same time. The pace of serving the dishes was perfect; there were hot dishes even at the end, and we finished everything. How could the food be bad?"

"Let's go, let's grab a spot!" His girlfriend pulled him away.

Yan Wen stood there, stunned, his wide eyes filled with confusion and shock.

The guests at all 28 tables arrived together and have almost finished eating!
How is that possible?!

　Finished writing ahead of schedule~~ Please vote with a monthly pass!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)