Rebirth 07: Starting with Saving a Bankrupt Restaurant

However, this feeling faded quickly, and after a few days, Shan Wei was back to normal.

Perhaps Shan Wei was also worried that if he didn't work hard, Zhou Wen might fire him.

Although there is a significant salary gap between Zhouji Restaurant and Shi Ying's, it must be said that working in a place like Zhouji Restaurant is indeed much better than working in a typical place.

She gets to eat delicious food every day, and Shi Ying takes care of most of the work.

As the restaurant's business improves, the amount of ingredients needed each day also increases.

Zhou Wen was also preparing to come to the market to have a good talk with the meat vendors about prices.

In the early morning, as dawn breaks, the sun rises not long after the first light of day in May.

"Hey, the boss's here again?"

Zhou Wen first went to the place where he usually bought beef and beef heart, and naturally, he had to negotiate the price of the sliced ​​beef and tripe in chili sauce first, since it was the best-selling dish in the store.

The speaker was a female stall owner, who looked to be around forty years old.

Her skin was dark yellow and rough, with deep wrinkles around her eyes and sunspots on her cheeks, but her eyes were quite bright, and she had a head of permed curls.

This beef stall was a regular haunt of Zhou Wen's, simply because the beef was fresh.

The freshly slaughtered beef on the stall was still bobbing.

Zhou Wen nodded and said, "Boss lady, I've come over to talk to you about something."

The proprietress was more outgoing, saying, "What do you need, boss?"

"Boss lady, I'm buying a lot, could you give me a discount?"

The proprietress looked somewhat embarrassed: "Boss, I know you're a regular customer and you buy a lot. Others sell beef for 12.8 yuan a pound, but I'm only offering you 12 yuan. I really can't go any lower."

Zhou Wen naturally understood that although it was only 80 cents less, the difference between wholesale and retail was only one or two yuan, so this 80 cents price was already very favorable.

However, Zhou Wen thought he should try to negotiate a little more: "How about this, I'll buy a few more kilograms each time, and you can give me a discount."

The proprietress said with a wry smile, "Boss, I really can't go any lower."

"How about this, boss, whatever you buy each time, I'll round it down to the nearest tenth, okay?"

After thinking for a while, Zhou Wen nodded, understanding that this was the most concession others could make.

He nodded and said, "Okay, boss lady. Then if I'm late sometimes, please save it for me."

"Okay, boss, no problem." The proprietress readily agreed.

Afterwards, the two exchanged contact information.

After negotiating a discounted price for the beef, Zhou Wen went to the pork vendor.

Zhou Wen, a pork vendor, doesn't have a fixed location; he often changes where he sells his pork.

First, we arrived at the stall of a vendor who was somewhat thin and had a stubble on his face.

"Boss, can I get a discount if I buy more pork?"

The stall owner glanced at Zhou Wen, then asked, "How many do you want?"

After Zhou Wen gave a rough estimate, the stall owner didn't say anything immediately, but instead started taking care of the other customers.

Only after finishing her work did she look at Zhou Wen again and ask, "How much do you need?"

Zhou Wen wasn't annoyed and repeated it again.

The shopkeeper chopped the pork with a knife, and after several seconds he slowly said, "I'll give you a discount of a few cents."

Zhou Wen nodded without getting annoyed, and then said, "Okay, I'll go take a look at other places first."

After finishing his sentence, Zhou Wen went to other stalls.

"Boss, you've come to buy meat?" a short, stocky vendor asked.

He had broad shoulders, thick arms, and wore a dark, thick apron.

Zhou Wen smiled and nodded: "Boss, can I get a discount if I buy more?"

"A discount? What kind of discount do you want, boss?" the fat butcher asked.

"It's just that if I buy more, the price will be cheaper."

The fat butcher nodded. He remembered Zhou Wen, knowing that the boss always left with bags and packages after his visits.

He was a fairly generous person: "No problem, boss. I'll give you seven yuan per jin."

Zhou Wen was still somewhat dissatisfied with the price.

The stall owner also noticed Zhou Wen's...

"Boss, how about this? You give me your address, and I'll drive over and deliver the meat to you early every morning. Is that alright?"

Zhou Wen didn't hesitate: "Okay."

When the fat butcher saw that Zhou Wen had agreed, he grinned, revealing his large teeth.

Zhou Wen glanced around again and saw the pork knuckles and trotters on the stall, and an idea popped into his head.

"How much are these pig's forelegs and hocks, boss?"

The front hoof of a pig is also known as a pig's foot.

"The price has gone up a bit now. Pork forelegs are 7.5 yuan per jin, while pork hocks are much more expensive, costing 11 yuan per jin."

Zhou Wen nodded and said, "How about this, also give me one small piece each of pig's foreleg and pig's shank."

"Okay, sure." He then picked out suitable pig's forelegs and trotters for Zhou Wen.

"This pig's foreleg weighs a little over a pound, so I'll charge you ten yuan. As for the pig's shank, that's already the smallest one; we don't have any smaller ones. It weighs a little over two pounds, so I'll charge you twenty-five yuan."

Zhou Wen nodded and said, "Boss, please burn off the hair on it again."

"OK."

Scorching the pork hock can destroy the sweat glands and remove the porky smell.

Zhou Wen plans to use this pig's foreleg and shank to make a pig's feet rice dish.

I was just wondering what to do these past few days.

Looking at that braised pork knuckle reminded me of a saying from my past life: "A bowl of Longjiang braised pork knuckle brings out a man's romance."

The preparation of braised pig's feet is quite particular; otherwise, a bowl of pig's feet rice will be too greasy. Although Zhou Wen had made pig's feet rice in his previous life, he still wanted to try the taste first.

If the taste is satisfactory, then we can officially consider adding it to the store.

When Zhou Wen returned to the restaurant, Shi Ying was already inside.

Because the amount of food that needed to be braised was increasing, Zhou Wen specifically told Shi Ying about it.

Now Shi Ying starts working much earlier every day, and of course Zhou Wen doesn't skimp on her salary.

However, Shi Ying is not very good at this kind of braising. Although she usually watches the process, watching is one thing and doing it is another.

Zhou Wen stood aside and watched, offering guidance if Shi Ying got stuck or didn't quite understand something.

"Can the boss just throw these in?"

Zhou Wen glanced at it and said, "No rush. Let it cook for a little longer, about five or six minutes."

Shi Ying nodded, then took out her phone to check the time. Clearly, Zhou Wen had said five or six minutes, and Shi Ying had to keep track of the time precisely; not a minute more or less would be acceptable.

As a newcomer, this is normal.

Zhou Wen withdrew his gaze and began to prepare the pork knuckle.

Because it had been grilled before, the pork knuckle, which was originally quite white, now has a dark outer layer on its surface.