Food Intelligence King

Chapter 123 Local Face-to-Face Delivery.

On Tuesdays, Comrade Wang Meng regularly appears at the Sunshine City Community Canteen.

But he arrived earlier than usual today. And in addition to his briefcase, he also had a paper bag in his hand.

When it was his turn in the line, Wang Meng placed his briefcase at the food counter.
"Master Chen, I brought you some good food."

Briefcase? Chen Zhou gestured with his eyes.

Wang Meng quickly put the paper bag back on, saying, "I took the wrong one, haha."

Still a little nervous, Chen Zhou joked with him, "Did you bring this for me?"

Wang Meng: "I bought quite a lot, you can share it."

"Okay, I'll come over again when I have time."

On the other hand, the junior sister can no longer stand Chen Zhou's jokes.

However, she would still blush and explain why there were cream puffs in the bag:

"I happened to pass by a dessert shop after dinner that day. I just glanced at it and didn't really want to eat anything. If I wanted to, I would have bought it myself. Besides, eating too many cream puffs will make you fat. I've actually gained two pounds recently. Senior, the food at your shop is pretty good."

Chen Zhou could never stand her chatter.

He quickly interrupted the other person's spellcasting: "Alright, alright. My teeth hurt from eating sweets, take it back and eat it yourself."

"Then give some to your sister-in-law and Tao Tao." The junior sister turned to Aunt Zheng, "Auntie, save some for you too."

"No, it won't work, your blood sugar is too high."

Aunt Zheng's blood sugar is indeed slightly high.

Moreover, regardless of how it tastes, this cream puff is definitely too sweet.

Looking at the two shop assistants, Chen Zhou thought: I'll get you a large mixed salad tomorrow morning, that's good.

Around lunchtime, Old Zhang, who sells pork, came by.

I ate a steamed bun at the shop.

And since it was mid-month, the two even checked their accounts.

Chen Zhou used to always settle accounts on the same day, but now that business is stable, Lao Zhang thinks it's enough to settle accounts once a month.

Nearly half a pig is consumed daily, making the community canteen a consistently large and stable customer.

While giving Chen Zhou a positive review (+1), Zhang Jinsheng said:

"I really have to thank you, bro."

Old Zhang is a big, burly man, a bit intimidating to children. But he's very meticulous, even somewhat delicate.

Fearing he might do something sentimental, Chen Zhou quickly changed the tone of the conversation:

"Don't try that on me. We've been doing business for so long, it's not like we're new to it. If your meat is good, of course I'll buy from you."

"Ahem," Old Zhang said, trying to calm himself down.
"Besides you buying meat every day, some customers also come from far and wide. They come to me and ask if I bought your steamed buns from here."

Chen Zhou chuckled, "That's what I've told people, and I hang all the meat I buy on the wall every day, so I guess some people will see it."

It's all legitimate business; the two of them earn the same amount of money.

"I won't say much more," Old Zhang picked up his bowl of porridge, drank it all in one gulp, "Let's grow bigger and stronger, and create new glories!"

“Create more glory!”

Putting aside personal feelings, Lao Zhang's actions actually reflect the progress and growth of the small shop in terms of cash flow and food procurement.

The store's business has been relatively stable recently.

Business is particularly good during the two meal times, with daily turnover reaching over three thousand. On the only day the business is open, a weekend, turnover can even exceed four thousand.

Moreover, Chen Zhou optimized the cost of ingredients through intelligence gathering.

Although the difference might not be noticeable on each individual bun, the overall profit margin will increase as more buns are sold.

In terms of customers, in addition to the regular customers they had already accumulated, students from No. 2 Middle School were also frequently seen at lunchtime. While consolidating their core customer base, they also attracted new customer groups.

Snack categories are gradually being developed.

This week's new minced meat pancakes actually brought Chen Zhou into contact with several elderly people who used to work at the chemical plant. The improved recipe was quite well received.

As for talent development, there's a great opportunity right now to help Aunt Zheng regain her peak form. The Beihai flea market, open on Tuesday and Friday evenings, will be selling rolling pins from the old Bianliang soup dumpling shop.

Chen Zhou planned to go over there for a stroll that evening.

After dinner, Chen Zhou had just picked up his car keys when he suddenly realized that he might not need to go shopping in person this time.

When he was searching for information online, a live stream of "Old Ma's Secondhand Goods" popped up.

The address and stall number correspond one-to-one.

Chen Zhou sat down and typed, "Boss, do you have a rolling pin?"

Lao Ma's secondhand goods have been doing live streams these past few days in order to complete a promotional task involving a reduction in booth fees at the event.

He didn't expect there would actually be someone in the live stream.

Seeing the questions in the live chat felt quite novel.

Ignoring what the other person was asking, he simply replied, "We have everything, feel free to browse."

Old Ma, a connoisseur of secondhand goods, had a loud voice, which attracted Chen Taotao to sit next to her father and watch.

Chen Zhou maintained basic online politeness: "Could you please help me find out if I have a rolling pin?"
-
"Okay, let me check for you. I remember there is one."

Chen Zhou quickly typed a few words: "Host, let's connect via microphone, it'll be more convenient that way."

"Okay." It wasn't the right time for anyone else to join, so Lao Ma accepted the invitation to connect via live stream.

The screen started shaking; the other person must have picked up their phone.

Chen Zhou saw that long face gradually fill most of the screen, and the other person opened their mouth and said:
"Just tell me which one you like."

"I can only read your face right now," Chen Zhou said with a smile. "Boss, flip the screen so I can only see you here."
-
"Okay, just a moment, let me see how to do it."

I don't know how Old Ma checks old stuff, but on Chen Zhou's side, after the screen went black for a moment, Old Ma's long face turned around.

The mouth is on top, and the nose is on the bottom.

It's so awkward.

Chen Taotao, standing nearby, was amused by what she saw on the screen and kept giggling. She thought it was a variety show.

Chen Zhou felt a little regretful: it would have been better to drive there.

He explained to the other party:
"Please turn your phone back first, then tap the screen. There's a button in the top left corner that flips the camera."

"Okay, okay."

Old Ma spent a long time working on the ball, and finally got the picture back on track.

The camera focuses on the goods on his stall—

Old Ma's way of displaying his secondhand goods is quite interesting; he puts square items together with square items and long items together with long items.

Inside a large cardboard box, there was a pile of small, short sticks standing upright.

Chen Zhou could only call them that for now, because the items were different, including a flute, a selfie stick, and even a sugarcane.

Do you still sell fruit here?

"I'm eating this myself, I'm not selling it," Old Ma said.

As the other party rummaged through the items, Chen Zhou spotted the two rolling pins.

"Stop for a second, boss, it's right here."

"These two are a pair." Old Ma remarked, noticing the rolling pins were indeed of poor quality.

"Give me ten yuan. It's made of jujube wood. I think I can use it to make a few pairs of chopsticks when I get back, but it's definitely not good for rolling out dough."

Chen Zhou readily accepted the quote. "Can you ship this by express delivery?"

"Sure, but shipping isn't included."

"Cash on delivery is fine."

It's a local delivery; I expect to receive the goods tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)