Rebirth 07: Starting with Saving a Bankrupt Restaurant

Shi Ying pursed her lips and waited a while before speaking, her face showing an embarrassed smile as she said, "Boss, let me try some more. I ate a little too quickly earlier, so I'll have another piece."

This time, Shi Ying's features were slightly contorted as she carefully savored the flavor.

"It gets greasy if you eat too much, but it's fine for me. Even though it's greasy, it tastes really good," Shi Ying said earnestly to Zhou Wen.

Zhou Wen knew in his heart that this was Shi Ying's truth, and that if this finished product were taken out, most of the diners would probably say it tasted good.

But Zhou Wen felt that since they could do better, why settle for less?

When it was time to open for business, Zhou Wen resumed production.

"Boss, I'll keep an eye on things for you. Why don't you go sit down and rest for a while?"

Having been around Zhou Wen at the restaurant every day, Shi Ying has transformed from a complete novice who knew nothing about cooking into a newbie who knows a little bit about it.

However, Zhou Wen declined, saying that he had to handle this himself.

The steps remain the same, except that when you put the chicken into the soup to simmer, you need to stay by your side and skim off the chicken fat that comes out during the simmering process.

Under Zhou Wen's focused attention, this pot of stew also brought out the flavor he envisioned, and the chicken was different from the previous pot.

At lunchtime, Shi Ying introduces the new dishes to customers who enter the store.

"Hello, we've just started serving pork tripe and chicken soup. Would you like to try it?" Shi Ying asked.

"Pork tripe and chicken soup? A new item in the restaurant?" asked a diner wearing a black plaid shirt.

"Yes, that's right," Shi Ying suggested.

"There are exactly three of you. The pork tripe and chicken soup comes in small and large portions, but a medium portion should be just right."

"How much is a medium-sized pork tripe and chicken soup?"

"Twenty-eight yuan per serving."

"How about we each get a fried rice or fried noodles to go with this soup?" suggested the diner in the black plaid shirt.

The other two nodded in agreement: "Sure, how can we not try Zhou's Restaurant's new dishes?"

Even though the customer ordered pork tripe and chicken soup, the restaurant still had to decide on the amount of soup served.

Shi Ying then asked, "Do you still need the soup the restaurant gave you?"

The diner joked, "No need, this soup costs twenty-eight yuan a serving. If I drink other soups later, the flavors will mix and I won't be able to taste them properly."

While waiting for the soup to be served, the group looked at each other.

"It smells so good." A diner wearing a black plaid shirt looked into the soup and said, "The portion size is still as generous as ever."

Another diner swallowed hard, clearly impatient: "Try it quickly."

As they spoke, everyone began ladling soup into their bowls.

No one said much, they just exchanged glances.

But soon, after trying the pork belly and chicken, everyone finally couldn't help but speak up.

"Making a soup taste good is very easy, but cooking pork tripe and chicken well is not so easy."

A diner wearing a blue shirt gave a precise review: "The pork belly was prepared perfectly, with not a trace of unpleasant smell. The chicken was tender and juicy, and all the ingredients were absolutely fresh. The owner definitely put in a lot of effort."

……

However, most of the diners at Zhouji Restaurant are either alone or workers, so pork tripe and chicken soup is not within their consideration.

Of course, many diners also asked if they could have a bowl of pork tripe and chicken soup served alone, or a single serving.

However, it's difficult to determine the price based on the provided ingredients.

On the first lunch break, we sold about a dozen servings, which was similar to the number of cold noodles we sold before.

However, Zhou Wen was quite confident about the pork tripe and chicken soup.

Besides, there's a significant price difference between a bowl of cold noodles and a serving of pork tripe and chicken soup.

It's worth mentioning that as the weather gets hotter, the sales of cold noodles in the store are gradually increasing, and Zhou Wen's decision to change the noodles was the right choice.

Wheat cold noodles are more acceptable to people, and the price of cold noodles has now reached ten yuan, after all, the price of beef is what it is.

When the shop closed in the afternoon, Shi Ying specially ordered a bowl of white rice and then poured the broth from the pork tripe and chicken soup over the rice, which is called soup-soaked rice.

Shi Ying is starting to have some worries now, or more accurately, happy worries.

With the restaurant offering more and more dishes, I don't know what to eat when I close up shop every day. I want to have shredded pork with garlic sauce over rice, but I also crave hot and sour noodles.

After all, she's a girl, so she can't eat much. Sometimes she eats a lot, but that's only because Zhou Wen's cooking is so delicious.

The number of customers at night is often much higher than during the day.

In the words of the diners, they can make do with a simple lunch, but after get off work in the afternoon, they must come to Zhou Ji Restaurant to enjoy the delicious food and relax.

Within half a day, even regular diners at Zhouji Restaurant knew that the new dish was pork tripe and chicken soup.

Outside the restaurant.

A somewhat thin diner spoke up: "If I remember correctly, pork tripe and chicken soup is Ruyi Restaurant's signature dish, right?"

The diner wearing black-rimmed glasses continued the conversation from the previous one, saying, "I heard that the owner of Ruyi Restaurant went to Guangdong Province specifically to learn how to make this soup. Does the owner of Zhouji Restaurant also know how to make this soup?"

The remaining diner, wearing a white shirt, rolled his eyes and said, "The boss's cold noodles are a specialty of the North, and the hot and sour noodles are from the Sichuan and Chongqing regions. Guangdong is a neighboring province of us. Do you think the boss can make them?"

Of all the dishes Zhouji Restaurant offers now, aside from the cold noodles which you might not like, which one has ever tasted bad?

No, not at all.

"What about the price? Is it expensive?" the diner in the white shirt asked.

"Not expensive."

"What about the portion sizes? Will there be too little?"

"Won't."

The diner in the white shirt clapped his hands and said, "That'll do then."

"Arguing here for so long is pointless. Why not go and try the food and see which place does it well?" A diner wearing black-rimmed glasses interrupted their conversation and suggested.

This group of diners left on a whim and immediately went inside the restaurant.

Half an hour later, the group walked out of the store, completely satisfied.

……

More and more people are learning that Zhouji Restaurant's latest new dish is pork tripe and chicken soup.

Everyone understands that the two stores are now at odds, and everyone is curious about which one tastes better.

Li Liang was one of them, and he brought several friends to Zhouji Restaurant to find out what was going on.

Upon seeing the guests arrive, Shi Ying took the initiative to greet them, maintaining all the proper etiquette: "Hello, what would you like to eat?"

How much does the pork tripe and chicken soup cost?

"It comes in small and large portions. The medium portion is suitable for two to three people and costs 28 yuan per pot; the large portion is for four to five people and costs 44 yuan per pot."

"Then bring us a large pot of pork tripe and chicken soup, and three servings of shredded pork with garlic sauce over rice."

"Okay." Shi Ying wrote it down in her notebook, then looked up and asked, "Would you like the soup that comes with the rice bowl?"

With a slightly oily face and a protruding belly, Li Liang waved his hand and said, "No need."