Rebirth 07: Starting with Saving a Bankrupt Restaurant

Shi Ying, who is never late, surprisingly arrived at the store at almost 10 a.m. this morning.

"Boss, I'm sorry I'm late." Shi Ying lowered her head slightly, her cheeks flushed, her hands behind her back, a few fingers intertwined.

Since the hot and sour noodles were introduced, Shi Ying goes home every night and simply washes up, blow-dries her hair, and goes straight to sleep.

Zhou Wen nodded slightly and said only a few words.

Actually, you only need to arrive at the store half an hour or an hour before it opens.

Because the store recently opened half an hour earlier in the morning.

Like Shi Ying, who arrived at the store early, she would mostly just sit there waiting to start work. The cleaning was done after get off work the day before, and then she would do a quick check before starting work the next day. It didn't take much time.

She slept longer in the afternoon than usual, but after getting enough rest, Shi Ying's mental state was visibly much better.

On the third day after the hot and sour noodles were launched, the booming business brought in far more customers than before.

However, Zhou and Wen were still able to manage, since hot and sour noodles are not a food with a complicated production process.

The minced meat sauce only needs to be cooked in the morning and then stored.

The weather is gradually getting hotter, and hot and sour noodles are a food that makes you sweat a lot, so the store has already turned on the air conditioning.

After closing the store in the afternoon, Zhou Wen rode his bicycle, which was parked at the back door of the store, to the supermarket.

I don't usually ride a bicycle because the distance is short, and I don't have much time to exercise since I'm always eating at restaurants. I take advantage of the time I spend buying groceries to get some exercise.

However, this time they weren't going to buy groceries, but rather to purchase some tableware and supplies.

The bowls and chopsticks in the store have been purchased for some time, and they inevitably suffer varying degrees of damage over time.

As the number of customers increases, we need to prepare more bowls, chopsticks, and tableware in case of emergencies.

Buying kitchen utensils didn't take much time, and I also bought some seasonings while I was at it.

Zhou Wen had just returned to the restaurant after buying the tableware when he received a call that the water delivery had arrived.

After the hot and sour noodles are served, the shop provides hot water, but the hot water is used to cook the noodles and add spice.

Although water is poured in advance to cool down, how big can the restaurant's cups be? This leads many customers to go to the convenience store or mini-supermarket next door to buy a bottle of ice water or a drink when they are halfway through their meal.

Later diners also brought their own drinks so they wouldn't have to make another trip halfway through their meal.

Many diners have also suggested to Zhou Wen that he could add more drinks to the restaurant.

Otherwise, running back and forth like this would diminish the enjoyment.

Zhou Wen naturally had to listen carefully to the diners' suggestions.

Last night, I made a phone call to my former supplier.

At first, because we didn't order enough, no one wanted to come. Fortunately, we later received an order from a nearby restaurant, which meant we had to make a trip here.

Given that we had some prior acquaintance, I finally agreed.

A blue tricycle was parked at the entrance. When Zhou Wen walked out of the shop, the fat, dark-skinned man on the front of the tricycle honked the horn.

They were there to deliver drinks, of course. Zhou Wen, the chubby guy, was also familiar with him; his name was Li Chengjun.

"Boss, your restaurant is open for business again?" Li Chengjun wiped his sweat and asked, looking at the four signs of Zhou's Restaurant.

Zhou Wen replied, "It's been open for a while now."

Lee Seung-jun nodded, then got off the tricycle and began unloading the goods, carrying them into the store.

"Wow! Boss, your shop is so clean now?" Lee Seung-jun carried boxes of drinks while observing the shop's environment.

Zhou Wen smiled and said, "If the shop is kept clean, customers will be in a better mood when they come to eat, and they will feel more at ease about the food."

"That's true." Lee Seung-jun nodded in agreement. "Where should we put these?"

"Just put it in that corner over there," Zhou Wen said, pointing to a corner near the kitchen.

"Okay." After placing the goods in the corner, Lee Seung-jun glanced into the kitchen through the crack. He had only intended to take a quick look, but what he saw turned out to be quite something.

It's one thing for the front hall to be clean, but it's practically impossible to find a place as clean as the kitchen.

I've been to Zhou's Restaurant before, and I still have some memories of the environment back then.

The kitchen floor was covered in grime, with oil stains and sauce residue everywhere, and the front of the house also felt greasy as soon as you entered.

Back in 07, apart from some large hotels, people had almost no awareness of hygiene in self-operated restaurants like Zhou Wen's.

After finishing his work, Zhou Wen handed him a cigarette and then gestured to the water glass on the table: "Have some water."

Since they were acquaintances, Lee Seung-jun didn't stand on ceremony.

"Boss, how's business at your restaurant these days?"

"It's alright, but business isn't as good as before."

The two sat in a corner of the shop, chatting casually. Since there weren't many shops left, Lee Seung-jun was happy to sit down and rest for a bit.

"Boss, is the shop open yet?"

At that moment, a customer peeked in from the shop entrance and asked.

"Not yet, the store is currently receiving new stock, and we'll open around 5 PM," Zhou Wen replied.

The diner said with regret, "So that's how it is. I thought it was a shop opening when I saw it from afar."

Zhou Wen smiled and said, "Sorry for the usual opening hours, but thank you for coming."

The diner waved his hand and said, "Then I'll come again at five o'clock."

Lee Seung-jun didn't speak, he just watched silently.

However, before they could exchange more than a few words, they were interrupted once again.

"Boss, can we eat now?"

"We need to get supplies from the store, and we still have to open at five o'clock to eat."

The man looked inside and asked, "Boss, do you have any drinks?"

"There was no alcohol, only drinks and water," Zhou Wen said.

"That's enough..."

Lee Seung-jun blinked and said, "Boss, I won't bother you any longer. Just contact me if you need any more drinks in the future."

"I'll come and support you sometime." He glanced at Zhou's Restaurant one last time before leaving.

"This is troublesome."

After Li Chengjun left, Zhou Wen closed the shop door and then opened the box that was placed in the corner.

Nowadays, most restaurant drinks are packaged in glass bottles, unlike in later generations when cans and plastic bottles were the main types.

No sooner had Li Chengjun left than Shi Ying arrived at the shop.

"Boss, you've got some new drinks in the shop?" Shi Ying noticed the box in the corner.

Zhou Wen wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Well, the demand from diners is quite high right now, so we've stocked up on some drinks. You'll probably have more work to do from now on; you'll have to collect all the empty glass bottles."

"OK."

Afterwards, Shi Ying rinsed the newly bought dishes and chopsticks for the kitchen. Since the other freezer that used to store alcohol had not been used for a while, it also needed to be cleaned.

After cleaning, the two worked together to put the drinks into the freezer.

Zhou Wen stood still and turned around. The shop was getting better and better, but the electricity and water bills were terrible and not cheap at all.