By linking my account to the check-in system, I became a leisurely traveler.

Chapter 104 Check-in complete, hot pot restaurant open for business! [6.2 thousand words!]

The days passed leisurely once again.

Li Younan's renovation plan did not include painting, plumbing, or masonry work; he focused entirely on dealing with a pile of wood.

Every day, he would come to the shop to do woodworking, carefully processing each piece of wood into a piece of the hot pot restaurant's wall.

As time goes by, the once somewhat dilapidated hot pot restaurant is gradually showing a new look.

Throughout this process, Chen Kunjie was always there to film him.

It's important to know that Chen Kunjie's studies in fine arts and sculpture are interconnected in many ways.

Li Younan is also quite skilled at sketching, since carving can be considered a form of sketching in a certain sense.

However, he lacks systematic painting skills, and he becomes rather clumsy when it comes to things like soft brushes and paints.

Chen Kunjie is not only able to carve various objects or directly create uniquely shaped boards, but he also often has sudden inspirations and takes a bunch of paints to paint or add color to them.

Of course, a hot pot restaurant that is too flashy will not look good. If it is painted, it will contain formaldehyde, so it is not appropriate to open for business immediately.

Therefore, they chose to apply only one coat of anti-oxidation paint and then use pigment instead of oil paint, which is a much better approach.

Chen Kunjie certainly understands how to strike the right balance—not too flashy, yet still novel and aesthetically pleasing.

The two worked together very well, and the renovation progressed very quickly.

The two waiters in the store have also started working officially.

During this period, there weren't many complicated tasks, so they helped out in the store with odd jobs, such as cleaning and moving things.

Both girls came from rural Chongqing. Chen Kunjie and Li Younan were both quite handsome. During the renovation, they would occasionally chat with each other and the girls would blush.

They are very hardworking. If you ask them to help you get a tool or sweep up the sawdust on the ground, they always run away quickly.

Although they work as waitresses, they also help prepare dishes in the morning before officially serving customers.

The two seemed quite experienced, so Chen Kunjie didn't need to remind them much.

They quickly became very familiar with each other.

Li Younan was extremely efficient, and in just a few days, the hot pot restaurant had been completely transformed.

At the same time, Chen Kunjie's technique for making hot pot base has become increasingly sophisticated and mature.

During this period, sampling Chongqing hot pot in various places naturally became a daily routine.

For Li Younan, visiting those 10 hot pot restaurants at the check-in points was quite a challenge at first.

After all, if a person doesn't eat much chili from a young age, their tolerance for spiciness will be relatively low.

Li Younan often drank milk frantically because of the spiciness, but as he tried it more often, he gradually grew to like the unique feeling of his taste buds being stimulated by the spiciness, and he used boiling water to rinse his food less and less.

Seeing this, Chen Kunjie, who was having hotpot with him, was very pleased and gently patted Li Younan on the shoulder, saying, "You're finally acting like a Sichuanese."

Li Younan frantically gulped down a mouthful of ice water while letting out a cold laugh: "Heh."

Things went exceptionally smoothly, and just before Li Younan was almost finished with the store renovation, he successfully completed the check-in task.

This made Li Younan love his system even more.

The system does not set up tasks that require intense conflict, but instead allows users to experience the unique features of a place in a relaxed manner.

Of course, these things may not be the most representative or best highlight the characteristics of that place, but they are certainly interesting.

Even the seemingly boring tasks that Li Younan had completed before, such as sitting on a park bench for 6 hours and checking in at Duoyun Academy, were actually quite interesting.

It is precisely because of this task setting that Li Younan does not need to be chased by the system's check-in tasks, and can always maintain a leisurely and carefree state of mind.

Having too strong a purpose when traveling can often ruin the atmosphere of the trip, and Li Younan cares a lot about the atmosphere and feeling during the trip.

Next comes the reward section for the daily check-in task.

[Check-in complete!]

[Random rewards are being distributed...]

[Gain Chess Ability +1]

[Chess Ability Lv.1: Whether it's Chinese chess or international chess, you can compete with the top players... although you'll likely lose, below the top level, most other players probably can't beat you.]

Li Younan sometimes plays chess, but he has never received systematic training.

He relies more on his calculations when playing chess, while for truly professional chess players, memorizing chess scores is a fundamental skill.

There are only a few basic opening moves in chess, and the different strategies and tactics that evolve from each opening move are recorded in great detail in various chess manuals.

After Li Younan acquired this skill, his mind was instantly filled with all sorts of chess scores.

He then began to understand the meaning of the skill description's claim that it could compete with top-level chess players.

Although he has mastered a large number of chess records, his calculation ability is still only at the level of an average science student. Only in the middle game or even the endgame, when the situation changes relatively little, can he truly bring out the advantage of this skill.

If you can calculate everything perfectly from the very beginning, that's the level of a master or even a legend.

Of course, Li Younan never intended to achieve anything extraordinary through playing chess.

For him, chess is simply a mental game.

He felt pretty good about reaching such a high level in this game.

He thought to himself with amusement that maybe the next time he saw the two old men playing chess at the village entrance, he could go up and tease them a little.

……

Then, the day before the official opening.

Li Younan posted the video of the renovation and refurbishment of his hot pot restaurant on his homepage.

Everyone is still making jokes like, "Yo yo yo, the apprentice's hot pot restaurant is open!"

Li Younan, of course, just laughed it off.

pretty good.

The video I posted before about stir-frying hot pot base also got a lot of attention.

In just a few days, the number of likes has increased to tens of thousands.

The area is particularly popular with people, and many have said they will come to try it once it officially opens and definitely want to check it out.

Chen Kunjie was even more excited when he saw the enthusiastic response online.

He passionately gave a pep talk to his three employees—the dishwasher and two young waitresses.

"Our hot pot restaurant is opening tomorrow. Mr. Li and I are both people with ideals; making money is something that comes second."

"Mainly, we want to fulfill our dream of opening a truly delicious hot pot restaurant."

"Li Younan and I both hope that everyone can truly treat the hot pot restaurant as their own home. I hereby announce that in addition to your salary, you will also receive 1% of the daily turnover as commission."

The two little girls were still a bit confused; they didn't have a direct understanding of what 1% meant.

Chen Kunjie smiled and said, "Let me do the math for you. We have a total of 8 tables, all of which are large tables that can seat 8 people. If we include table turnover, let's calculate based on 15 tables of food served per day."

“Let’s say we charge at least 60 yuan per table, that’s 6000 yuan a day. We’re not even counting water, electricity, gas, or any other miscellaneous costs. Just looking at the revenue, even 1% is 60 yuan! What does that mean? This is the minimum calculation. Every month, you can get at least 1,000 to 2,000 yuan more on top of your base salary.”

Li Younan and Chen Kunjie paid the two waitresses 3500 yuan per month. With commission, they could easily earn more than 6000 yuan a month.

This is already very high for a waiter/waitress job.

The two little girls originally had no concept of 1%, but when Chen Kunjie explained it so clearly, they were both stunned.

Both of them dropped out of vocational school and started working. They worked in factories and as waitresses in other places, so they had a good understanding of the wages in the catering industry.

They couldn't help but exchange a glance, both seeing disbelief, and even more so, surprise, in each other's eyes. The base salary of 3500 yuan was already quite high; they hadn't expected to receive additional commissions.

Seeing the expressions on their faces, Li Younan smiled with satisfaction.

He and Chen Kunjie shared the same idea.

Recently, Pang Donglai has become very popular, with supermarkets across the country claiming to learn from it. However, the vast majority of supermarkets have failed to grasp its essence.

Simply demanding that employees raise standards and optimize processes is not effective.

The fundamental reason for Pang Donglai's success is the treatment it provides to its employees.

If you give your employees 3000 yuan, they will do the work for 3000 yuan. What does it matter to me whether the company lives or dies? If it doesn't work out, I'll just find another one.

But if you pay your employees 6000 yuan a month, the company's status will be different, and the employees will have to work hard to improve their performance.

A good job is hard to come by, and employees cherish it, so their service standards will naturally improve.

This experience is certainly not only applicable to supermarkets; this basic underlying logic can be applied to all industries.

Then, Li Younan chimed in, "Right now, we're still in the trial operation phase, and everyone is on probation. If business is good in the future, we'll also provide everyone with the five social insurances. If we can take over the shops next door in the future, we might hire even more people, and we'll try our best to accommodate everyone's rest time."

After they finished speaking, Li Younan and Chen Kunjie looked at each other and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

The reason for the laughter...

To be honest, Li Younan knew very well that he and Chen Kunjie were both novices in business.

Neither of them was sure if this salary system was reliable. Their decision was partly driven by passion and partly by sentimentality.

I did a rough calculation, and with the current way of paying salaries, the two of them will definitely earn much less money, but it will still be quite a lot.

Even if monthly sales reach 20, the net profit of a typical hot pot restaurant is between 20% and 30%, while their business model only yields a net profit of around 15%.

They can only earn about 1 yuan a month. Chen Kunjie also has to work as the head chef and store manager, so he gets paid. Therefore, his income will be higher. This salary is included in the cost. Chen Kunjie can get about 2 yuan. Li Younan does nothing and gets about 1 yuan.

However, this is a rather conservative calculation; the actual sales figures might be higher once the business is actually in operation.

Inspired by Chen Kunjie, everyone in the store is filled with hope for the future.

……

In the afternoon, Li Younan made arrangements to transport the rented woodworking equipment back.

After completing the handover, he went to Chongqing University to visit his cousin.

Li Younan's cousin had already officially started participating in student military training. When he arrived and didn't see her, he wandered around a bit out of boredom.

Compared to his alma mater, Chongqing University is slightly inferior in both ranking and facilities.

However, the atmosphere at the university was the same. Strolling around here, Li Younan couldn't help but think back to his own university days, and it felt pretty good.

When Li Younan returned to the hot pot restaurant, he found two more people there.

A young man who bore a slight resemblance to Chen Kunjie, but appeared to be a bit chubby, older, and honest-looking.

The other one was an auntie. Li Younan didn't even need to guess; without a doubt, this auntie was Chen Kunjie's mother, and the young man was his brother.

Chen Kunjie's mother has a lot of say in their family.

According to Chen Kunjie, she is very capable. When her family wanted to open a hot pot restaurant, she was the one who overcame all opposition and got it started.

Chen Kunjie's father often plays a supporting role.

Capable women are often not gentle. If a woman is both gentle and capable, she is unlikely to be very beautiful.

Chen Kunjie's mother has good features; she is a beautiful and capable woman.

As soon as Li Younan arrived, he heard Chen Kunjie's mother say in fluent Chongqing dialect with a hint of disdain, "Wow, the decoration is beautiful."

Although the decoration is mentioned as beautiful, there is little sense of admiration; instead, it gives the impression of being flashy but ultimately useless.

However, Chen Kunjie didn't argue with his mother. Instead, he said with a grin, "If the taste isn't good enough, we can make up for it by renovating the store. There's still some potential for success."

Chen Kunjie's mother snorted irritably, "I told you to stay where we are and do your job properly. You had to run away and waste so much money. But we've given you enough opportunities! We've given you the chance to start your own business."

Chen Kunjie nodded quickly: "Yes, yes, what brings you here today?"

"I'm not doing anything, just looking at your place."

Chen Kunjie's mother looked around, glancing here and there, then tapped the table casually before slowly becoming serious and saying, "However, since you talked back to us before, I still hope you can make this business a success."

She pointed to the shop's decor, "Your decor is quite unique, but the location isn't great. To make your business successful, you need good taste and reasonable prices. Where do you buy your hot pot ingredients?"

Chen Kunjie said smugly, "Who's going to buy it? I'll cook it myself!"

Before Chen Kunjie's mother could say anything, his seemingly honest older brother couldn't help but laugh: "With your skills, you think you can even make hot pot ingredients?"

Facing his older brother, Chen Kunjie was far less polite, calmly retorting, "It's more accurate to say that to my father; he's the one who cooks all the hot pot ingredients for the family. As for you, forget it, you can't even keep proper accounts..."

Li Younan found it somewhat amusing.

Chen Kunjie previously stated that his brother does not participate in the kitchen operations; in the hot pot restaurant, his brother is mainly responsible for managing the dining area and accounting.

Of course, Chen Kunjie's claim that others can't even keep track of accounts is a bit of an exaggeration.

Their own hot pot restaurant is quite large, spanning two floors, so it's understandable that minor mishaps occasionally occur.

His brother smiled and didn't seem to mind: "When you're frying the hot pot ingredients, be careful not to burn yourself."

They chatted for a while before noticing Li Younan.

Chen Kunjie quickly went over to introduce the two parties.

Li Younan greeted them politely and said, "Auntie, Brother Chen, I'm now Chen Kunjie's partner. We're officially opening tomorrow, and you're welcome to come and support us. We'll be holding an event where we'll set up a big pot at the entrance and cook the hot pot broth on the spot, all live-streamed. The live stream will be in the afternoon, and we'll open as soon as the hot pot broth is ready."

This live-streaming event was planned in advance.

Li Younan is now quite adept at doing live streams, and has already done some pre-event promotion in his fan group.

This is, after all, his own business, so when it comes to promoting products, Li Younan is clearly much more dedicated than when promoting other brands.

Chen Kunjie's mother looked amused: "You young people just love doing all this fancy stuff. I've even hired internet celebrities to help us with promotions, but honestly, it didn't do much good. Let alone your self-organized live streams, who's going to watch them?"

Li Younan and Chen Kunjie were in perfect sync and neither chose to explain. Chen Kunjie simply smiled and said, "This kind of traffic-driven thinking is all the rage now. Anyway, let's just follow the trend."

Chen Kunjie's mother sighed, "Anyway, you never listen to me. You have to hit a wall a few times before you understand why the moon is round. So I won't try to persuade you anymore. Tomorrow afternoon, the three of us will come over together. We can help you if you need anything."

Chen Kunjie, of course, said without any hesitation, "Well, that's great. We're short of a chef to prepare the ingredients, so the three of you can help me prepare them."

Chen Kunjie's brother's expression immediately changed: "Who's going to prepare food for you!"

Chen Kunjie said indifferently, "So what are you going to do? Just come and eat! I won't even prepare chopsticks for you!"

"I can do the math for you."

"I want you to do my calculations!"

Li Younan watched the two brothers bickering with great interest.

His mother said irritably, "What's all the fuss about? Humph, you sure know how to find free labor."

Chen Kunjie said in a cheeky tone, "You brought it up yourself."

Although Chen Kunjie's mother's words implied dislike for Chen Kunjie, Li Younan could sense that their family relationship was actually quite harmonious.

They disliked each other and had disagreements, and Chen Kunjie went out to work on his own, but they still helped and supported each other in crucial moments.

Li Younan could even sense that, in a sense, their family's hot pot restaurant was still Chen Kunjie's fallback plan.

Finally, his mother said, "Get aprons ready for the three of us!"

Then his brother complained: "You really want me to go to the kitchen?! I'm not cutting anything!"

"Don't talk too much!"

……

The carriage was stuffy, like a freshly opened griddle. The heat, mixed with the humidity of July, made people's faces feel sticky.

The air conditioner was working hard, but the air it was blowing was only slightly warmer than the residual heat of the hot pot.

Old Chen gripped the steering wheel, staring at the string of red taillights blocking the way ahead.

Chen Kunjie's brother was sitting in the back.

"Where's Chen Kunjie over..." Old Chen said slowly, as if testing the water temperature, "Is everything prepared... all done (ok)?"

"Return to Oneness?"

Chen Kunjie's mother raised her voice slightly, with a tone characteristic of Chongqing people who have seen through the ways of the world.

"Damn it! I went to see his stall yesterday, and hey, it was all decorated properly, all shiny and bright. Young people, always doing fancy stuff!"

She pursed her lips, her fingers unconsciously drawing circles on her knee. "When the two of us went over yesterday, we didn't say anything to him, afraid of hurting his pride. Seriously stir-frying the ingredients and making the oil requires real skill, but he was so engrossed in chopping clouds."

"He also said he and his partner are going to do live streaming. Wow, that's interesting!"

"Just shout 'Hey bro, folks,' into your phone screen and expect the peppercorns to start dancing on their own? What can those onlookers smell or taste through the screen? It's like taking off your pants to fart—completely unnecessary!"

She deliberately dragged out the last syllable, conveying a sense of disappointment and frustration.

The air conditioning in the carriage seemed even louder.

Chen Kunjie's brother, standing behind, let out a barely audible chuckle.

"What are you laughing at?" Chen Kunjie's mother glanced at him and said indifferently, "Anyway, no matter what he does, we shouldn't say anything. He'll learn his lesson after hitting a wall."

Chen Kunjie's brother shrank back, his gaze drifting to the old banyan tree with its gnarled roots outside the window.

Old Chen quickly tried to smooth things over, his voice softening: "Oh, don't say it's unpleasant... Chen Kunjie is young and has a quick mind... trying something new is... well, it's fine..."

"Lively? More lively than the bubbles in a hot oil pan?" Chen Kunjie's mother snorted, with the certainty of someone who'd been there before. "Hot pot, hot pot, what's the essence at its core? It's the heat! It's the flavor!"

"That stubborn brat! We tried everything to persuade him to stay at the old shop and learn some real skills, to be on the safe side! But he wouldn't listen! He wants to fly before his wings are even fully grown! Now he's at ease, isn't he? The pot is made of iron, let's see how well he burns his first fire today. The taste?" She deliberately dragged out her words, with a hint of deliberate disdain, "Tsk, I could guess with my eyes closed, his pot is probably still a bit undercooked."

Despite her complaints, Chen Kunjie's mother glanced at the two large buckets of hot pot base in the trunk and sighed, "From now on, I'll just have to make more hot pot base."

That unlucky kid...

If you keep being stubborn and keep coming up with those incomprehensible tricks...

Today is also his first day of business.

The first day.

The stove is cold, and people's hearts are adrift...

Without something to keep the place in check, how can you maintain order?
Those gourmets outside have very discerning palates. If they can't taste anything from the first bite, then... things are in trouble.

When the car slowly pulled up in front of the hot pot restaurant, Old Chen paused for a moment and quickly asked, "Wife, what's going on?"

Chen Kunjie's mother was also taken aback, because the entrance to the hot pot restaurant was crowded with people.

At the same time, a rich aroma of the base sauce wafted over.

The eldest brother quickly got out of the car and squeezed into the crowd. After a while, he ran back, looking like he'd seen a ghost: "Chen Kunjie really is stirring hot pot ingredients!"

(End of this chapter)