Food: Starting with Wonton Noodles

This man's name is Sun Zhigang. He is from Chaoshan. Because his family was poor, he dropped out of high school and went to work.

He started by working at a restaurant owned by a fellow villager, but after the restaurant went out of business, he started setting up his own stall.

As for Zhou Yu himself, he had neither likes nor dislikes.

But he dislikes the increasing number of people who come into the restaurant business without any knowledge of it.

Especially since, like him, it mainly serves staple food dishes.

Aside from the declining state of the internet industry, where Zhou Yu used to work, other industries are not faring much better.

Therefore, the catering industry, which seems to be the easiest to enter, is actually attracting more and more people.

When Sun Zhigang worked at a restaurant owned by someone from his hometown, he witnessed firsthand countless newcomers to the catering industry.

This group of people knows nothing but money.

Some people might think that since they are new to the catering industry, what is there to be afraid of when facing seasoned veterans?

Indeed, if you only look at the operation and competition of a single store, novices are not so scary.

However, the impact of these newbies becoming more numerous is catastrophic.

First, this group of restaurant novices quickly established a number of brand franchise stores.

For example, in coffee, there are brands like X幸 (X Lucky), X库 (X Library), and X咖 (X Coffee).

The X-Snow of the milk tea world, X-Tea.

The main dishes included XX bullfrog, XX pickled fish, and XX hot pot.

With Xiaobai's support, these stores have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, not only seizing the already limited market share, but also driving up the rents of all the surrounding stores.

When business is slow, this group of shops is the ones that offer the steepest discounts and are most willing to take losses.

The scariest thing about this group of newbies is that even if you survive until this batch collapses, a new batch will immediately follow.

Costs have doubled and profits have been squeezed to the minimum. Few legitimate restaurants can withstand such waves of shocks.

The restaurant where Sun Zhigang used to work eventually went out of business.

Therefore, Sun Zhigang harbors resentment towards those who entered the catering industry halfway through their careers.

Zhou Yu, on the other hand, looked refined and gentle, and you couldn't tell at all that he was a chef, so naturally he wouldn't win his favor.

The original stall at Haojiaxuan convenience store was selling soup noodles, which was inherently incompatible with their fried noodles business.

He had been looking forward to it for a while, thinking that after the noodle shop left, other snack vendors would come in.

Now that he discovered Zhou Yu wasn't just a novice in the catering industry, but also made noodles like him, he disliked him even more.

He didn't think Zhou Yu's food would taste better than his stir-fried noodles.

But Zhou Yu's pricing was the same as his own fried noodles, which made him very wary.

He was well aware of how much tolerance restaurant novices had for price reductions.

He was quite certain. If Zhou Yu couldn't continue, he might even lower the price to five yuan a bowl in order to keep the business afloat.

By then, his fried noodles will be in a very difficult state.

Unlike Zhou Yu and other catering novices from other industries, he didn't have the money to engage in a price war with Zhou Yu; he couldn't afford to waste the time.

Therefore, the best approach would be to speak harshly to Zhou Yu and scare him away.

......

But Zhou Yu just smiled in response to Sun Zhigang's sarcastic remarks, neither angry nor responding.

I'm almost forty now, and I've long since developed a refined mindset.

He didn't need to get angry with a young man who was just plain sarcastic.

No need.

Only those who lack confidence care about verbal disputes.

"Hey, Gang, don't let his good looks fool you into thinking he can't cook. This handsome guy is a master at making wonton noodles."

Instead, the shop owner spoke up for him.

"Actually, he's not a bad person. He just has a sharp tongue," Gao Jing'an said to Zhou Yu in a low voice.

For Gao Jing'an, harmony brings wealth, which has always been his principle. He was also afraid that Zhou Yu would lose his temper and cause a conflict.

"How do you know it's good? Have you eaten it?" Sun Zhigang mocked. "I'm doing this for the old man's own good, to help him face reality sooner and lose less money, right?"

"I haven't tried it yet, but the wontons this guy makes have been approved by Lao He Ji on Zhongshan Road," Gao Jing'an said.

Sun Zhigang pursed his lips and said nothing more.

He Ji Bamboo Noodles on Zhongshan Road is so famous in G City that almost everyone in the local catering industry knows it.

Although Sun Zhigang did not believe that Zhou Yu had truly gained the approval of the owner of Heji Restaurant, he still showed him some respect and did not refute him.

"Boss, would you like a bowl of wonton noodles? I'll bring it to you." Although Zhou Yu didn't care about Sun Zhigang, he still accepted Gao Jing'an's kindness.

"No need. You just opened, how can you give it away for free before you've even made a sale? Just give me a bowl, I'll pay the normal price. Old He said your wonton noodles are even better than his, I'll just have to try them." Gao Jing'an became embarrassed.

He didn't really think highly of Zhou Yu either. If Uncle He hadn't kept praising Zhou Yu, he wouldn't have rented the land to him.

After all, a tenant who seems unreliable and unstable is also a loss for him.

But since Zhou Yu was introduced and guaranteed by He Jiafu, he couldn't help but speak up for Zhou Yu now, so he couldn't very well go and freeload off Zhou Yu's meal.

Business people are very superstitious about auspicious omens.

Zhou Yu did not yield either.

He turned the heat up to the maximum, lifted the lid, and started cooking.

Wonton noodles are not actually cooked directly in broth. They are first boiled in boiling water, then rinsed in cold water and boiled again. Once cooked, they are drained, mixed with lard, and placed in a bowl before the broth is added at the end.

Therefore, the broth is always covered to keep it warm.

At this moment, as Zhou Yu turned on the fire, the soup base of the wonton noodles gradually boiled, and the unique aroma of dried flounder and river shrimp simmered together began to waft out on the evening breeze.

"Ugh, what's that smell?"

The first to notice the aroma of the soup base were several female college students shopping at a convenience store.

They couldn't help but put down their snacks and groped their way in the direction of the aroma.

When they saw that the source of the aroma was right at the door, at the stall of a man who looked mature and handsome, not at all like a street vendor, they were all surprised.

Actually, they noticed Zhou Yu from the beginning, but Zhou Yu's temperament was really out of place with setting up a stall.

If it's a young, handsome guy, even if they don't like the food, they'll still boldly order a bowl just to meet him.

Although Zhou Yu, at thirty-five, did not look old, time and experience had still left their mark on him.

For these college students, his demeanor was too mature, too much like a seasoned gamer, and too aggressive.

But at this moment, the aroma of the broth completely broke through this barrier.

"Hey boss, what are you selling? It smells so good!"

"Wonton noodles." Zhou Yu was busy cooking noodles and didn't notice that the person asking the question now had a different attitude than the person he had asked two hours earlier.

After being politely declined several times, he lost his initial enthusiasm and didn't offer much more information.

"How much? Give me a bowl."