1996: Starting from a bankrupt farmhouse restaurant

Chapter 143 Mooncake Gift Boxes Sell Well

The same scenario unfolded in the offices of the chairmen of several other companies.

The gift box that Lu Hua sent felt like a holiday present from an old friend who was an equal to him.

It was full of respect for customers and blessings for friends, something that was not present in their previous consumption habits.

Most of the business owners who are not based in Wuxian are based in the provincial capital.

The next day, Lu Hua made a special trip to the provincial capital to deliver gift boxes to the CEOs who frequently patronized his private banquets.

Lu Hua's first stop was Xu Jianjun's company, where he was a low-key and pragmatic entrepreneur.

Apart from business partners, there are generally not many friends or other people who visit the company.

He was quite surprised to hear that the people from Xiao Lu's Farmhouse Cuisine came.

Just like President Wang, he also thought that Lu Yuan was in some kind of difficulty and needed his help.

He was somewhat surprised to find that it was Lu Yuan who sent someone to deliver holiday greetings.

As far as I can remember, Lu Yuan wasn't the type of person who actively sought connections.

However, upon seeing the gift box, he understood that this was merely a festive blessing from Lu Yuan, expressing his sincere wishes.

Even if Lu Yuan didn't deliver, Xu Jianjun would still frequently order food from him, as the quality of Lu Yuan's dishes was simply irreplaceable.

But Lu Yuan still presented such an exquisite gift, which shows that he is sincere in his attitude towards diners. This may be the reason for his success!

However, he had some reservations about VIP number 002. Although he was a low-key person, it did not mean that he was inferior to others.

The Xu family's distinguished guests included not only Xu Jianjun, but also Old Master Xu.

However, Mr. Xu is no longer with the company; he retired long ago and now lives a carefree life at home, tending to his flowers and birds.

Lu Yuan had specifically instructed Lu Hua not to let Xu Jianjun present the gift on his behalf.

When Lu Hua came to visit, Old Master Xu was a little surprised.

With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, many people will send him gifts, but Lu Yuan is definitely not on his expected list.

Essentially, Lu Yuan was just running a restaurant he frequented, and their relationship didn't seem to warrant gift-giving.

But for Lu Yuan, this was simply his way of showing respect and giving back to his loyal customers, nothing more.

After seeing the incredibly exquisite gift box, Old Master Xu understood Lu Yuan's thoughts.

I thought to myself that this kid was not satisfied with running a regular restaurant, or even a high-end restaurant.

He wanted to create the most exclusive private banquets, similar to private clubs.

Mr. Xu has received many gift boxes in the past two days, but this is the first time he has received such an exquisite gift box.

Even throughout his life, this was the most exquisite gift box.

Among them, some people resorted to deception, replacing mooncakes with banknotes or gold bars.

But Old Master Xu felt that Lu Yuan's gift box was the purest, as it was rare for someone to leave right after giving the gift box without talking about anything else.

Like an old friend, they just send you some good food to try during the holidays, which makes Grandpa Xu feel very comfortable.

Xu Jianjun was in a good mood today. He suddenly received a wonderful gift, and he felt much lighter as he walked.

When he carried the gift box home, intending to subtly show off, he discovered that everyone had already opened the gift box and started eating mooncakes.

When Grandpa Xu saw him return, he asked with a smile, "Jianjun, you must be Boss Lu's VIP number 002, right?"

As soon as Grandpa Xu mentioned it, he remembered that Grandpa Xu had made a separate reservation, so he asked, "So you're number 003?"

"That's right!" Old Master Xu still smiled, not angry at being outdone by his son.

Mr. Ding's company is very large, and Lu Hua had to go through a lot of registration before he could get in.

Mr. Ding was quite surprised by Lu Hua's visitor.

Receiving holiday gifts from other companies is not unusual; it's mostly a matter of reciprocity.

But this is the first time I've received a blessing from a small farmhouse restaurant.

After having his secretary see Lu Hua off, he couldn't help but curiously open the mooncake gift box.

As an entrepreneur in the construction industry, he is very sensitive to things like structure.

He was instantly drawn to the mooncake gift box when it unfolded into a three-dimensional shape.

He immediately called the security guards and told them not to let Lu Hua go, as he wanted to order a batch to give as gifts to his business partners.

Lu Hua was invited back into President Ding's office, feeling somewhat flattered.

Although it may not look special in a restaurant, seeing it in someone else's company makes you realize how impressive they are.

When President Ding expressed his desire to order the gift box, Lu Hua was delighted and immediately informed President Ding, as Lu Yuan had instructed, "President Ding, the collector's edition gift box is priced at 666 yuan per box, but it is slightly different from the gift box that was given to you."

"What's the difference?" Mr. Ding asked.

"The three sauces you see at the bottom of the gift box are only given to our distinguished guests at Lu Family Private Banquet due to their extremely precious ingredients. They are not sold to the general public. The gift boxes sold will have these three sauces replaced, but otherwise they will be identical."

After Lu Hua finished speaking, General Manager Ding picked up the sauce and examined it carefully. He found that the ingredient was indeed of a very high grade, and mass production was not feasible.

I thought to myself that this Mr. Lu is indeed a down-to-earth businessman. No one would know the age of the ingredients if he didn't tell them.

However, he valued not only the quality of the ingredients, but also the design of the gift box.

So he ordered 50 copies and had his secretary take Lu Hua to the finance department to collect the money.

When Lu Hua returned with more than 3 yuan, everyone was stunned. They never expected that making mooncakes would be more profitable than running a restaurant.

However, although the price of 666 yuan is expensive, it cannot be offset by the high cost.

This handmade gift set costs 100 yuan per set. According to Lu Yuan's requirements, the Zhou family craftsmen would not agree to lower the price.

And these three bottles of sauce, even after being replaced, still have high costs.

In the end, the least valuable part of the mooncake gift box is actually the mooncakes themselves.

Lu Yuan could only earn half of this mooncake gift box with tears in his eyes, which was quite a generous gesture.

After receiving positive feedback from Lu Hua, Lu Yuan immediately assigned more people to make mooncakes, and Master Zhou also...

We ordered a batch of boxes.

Sales of mooncake gift boxes surged in the two days leading up to the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The first batch of high-end gift boxes sent out spread their reputation within a few days.

Mr. Wang and Mr. Xu ordered a batch of gift boxes as gifts for their business partners.

When the VIPs at the Lu family's private banquet learned that the gift boxes Lu Yuan had sent them could not be ordered, they were not unhappy at all. They even had a feeling: Do you deserve to receive the gift boxes I received?

Receiving a mooncake gift box would normally be an ordinary thing, but after learning about its special features, people are more willing to show it off to others.

Especially since they were numbered VIPs at the Lu family's private banquet, they were even more eager to show off after learning who the other VIPs were.

The message was: "Does Mr./Ms. X of XX Company know about this? This gift box was only given to a few of us; you can't buy it even if you want to!"

This is a typical example of leveraging someone else's success. Although the two companies are dozens of times different in size, a gift box links them together, making it seem as if their companies are equally successful.

This actually has little to do with the gift box; it's more about the personal relationships and social niceties of the business owners.

This, in turn, spurred a surge in private banquet orders. Some nouveau riche business owners astutely noticed this, even before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

It.

So if he can become a VIP at the Lu family's private banquet before the Mid-Autumn Festival, then he can go out and brag.

These days, nouveau riche bosses generally lack a sense of identity, so they have to seize this opportunity to be seated at the table.

These days, bosses can't afford to lose face. If you don't have something, I don't have it either, but if you have something, I must have it too!

In just a few days, more than 300 high-end gift boxes have been ordered.

The regular gift box has a wider audience. After Mr. Wang had his fill of showing off that day, he gave one to each of his full-time employees.

The most popular items were actually vehicles from out-of-town areas.

Gifts brought from out of town are valuable in themselves. Add to that the exquisite packaging, and Hermes Orange completely overshadows those outdated and tacky packaging options.

Sales were a given; by the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, more than 2000 units had been sold.

While this volume is still not comparable to that of large dessert shops in later generations, it is already a pioneering achievement at present.

During this Mid-Autumn Festival, the sales revenue from mooncake gift boxes alone exceeded 40 yuan, with a net profit of 40%.

This was completely beyond Lu Yuan's expectations; the impact of this disruptive force in the business world was simply too great.

He originally thought there was no such demand these days, but now he realizes that the demand has always existed, it just hasn't been fully developed.

This also served as a wake-up call for him, reminding him that he must pay close attention to this industry.

The most distinctive feature of China's business environment is its incredible ability to imitate.

If you stagnate, someone will do better than you next year.

My mooncake gift box has been so popular this year, especially after I visited high-end executive circles, it's bound to have attracted attention.

These past few days have been exhausting for Wei Yinghong. All she does is bake mooncakes, bake mooncakes, and bake mooncakes non-stop.

The whole village has almost become a mooncake village, with the aroma of mooncakes wafting through the air from morning till night.

At first, it smelled nice, but later the smell became stronger and stronger, and it lingered for a long time. As a result, no one in the village wanted to eat mooncakes this year.

On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the private banquet was unusually fully booked, with a total of 6 private rooms.

This was the most tiring day for Lu Yuan. Six whole roasted lambs and dozens of roasted pigeons left him feeling completely exhausted.

Fortunately, all the dishes were prepared perfectly, and the banquet was successfully completed to a high standard.

o

When Lu Yuan visited Director Liu, one point the latter mentioned prompted him to reflect.

The village is now mainly populated by farmers, and there is a lack of people who can connect with higher-ups.

Simply put, they are cultured people, preferably those who have attended university.

But this is extremely difficult to find for Luwangtan Village.

After all, even a junior college degree guarantees a job, so why would someone go to university and then come to the village to work? Isn't that nonsense?

After returning from Director Liu's place, Lu Yuan went directly to see Lu Wen and Old Master Lu.

"Family business?" Lu Wen and his grandfather were puzzled by this unfamiliar term.

Lu Yuan explained in a different way: "Grandpa, to put it simply, it means that the Lu family can completely get rid of their status as farmers, and that everyone can earn money and live a good life."

"Grandpa understands what I mean." Grandpa Lu nodded, signaling Lu Yuan to continue.

Lu Yuan continued to explain, "Grandpa, you've seen my skills and my ability to run a shop."

"What I plan to do is teach all the Lu family members to open shops and make money. I will teach them the skills and pay for the shops."

"But I need someone to help me arrange this. First, Brother Lu Wen must come and oversee things for me. Second, our Lu family's scholarly..."

Okay, everyone needs to help me arrange this. I'll pay you a salary that even the provincial capital wouldn't offer.

"Otherwise, I'd have to run my own shop, handle the paperwork, and teach the trade—how could I possibly manage everything?"

Lu Yuan made himself very clear. Old Master Lu's deep gaze paused for a moment, then he waved his hand and said directly to Lu Wen, "Xiao Wen, from now on you should go and help Xiao Yuan. Things are different now. If the Lu family keeps guarding these lands, they'll just be a bunch of peasants. It's not easy to have such a capable person like Xiao Yuan, so we must help him properly."

Lu Wen hadn't agreed to Lu Yuan's request these past few days because he was worried about the old man. Now that the old man had spoken, he firmly replied, "Grandpa, I understand. Xiao Yuan, just tell me what needs to be done here."

Lu Yuan didn't stand on ceremony and immediately assigned the task: "Brother Wen, I won't be polite with you either. I need a lot of people right now. First of all, college students and junior college students, as long as they have finished high school and can continue their studies, call them all back."

"Secondly, there are the young people, mostly boys. I want to send them to the provincial capital to open shops. Also, I need to assign them an older brother or uncle who can keep them in check. The provincial capital is far from the central government, and if they go astray, it could be disastrous."

"Of course, the most important thing is character. Our Lu family isn't without bad people, but let the hardworking young ones earn money first. We'll deal with the bad ones later."

As Lu Yuan spoke, Lu Wen took careful notes, but the old man Lu, who was standing to the side, burst out laughing.

"Xiao Yuan, you keep calling yourself a young person, anyone who didn't know better would think you're seventy or eighty. Your kid's only 20 this year, right?"

"Uh..." Lu Yuan was also a little dazed. He had been so busy lately that he had almost forgotten that he was still a handsome 20-year-old, and even Zhao Yan was 3 years older than him.

Grandpa Lu stroked his beard with a look of satisfaction and said, "Back in the day, people said that the Baiyang River makes a special bend because the River God is coming to visit the God of Literature. Could it be that you, kid, are the God of Literature reincarnated?"

Lu Yuan dared not agree. After chatting with the old man for a few more minutes, he returned home first.

Upon returning, Lu Hua immediately found Lu Yuan and told him that Lu Hai had been beaten up the previous night.

Last night, someone tried to break into Uncle Lu's kitchen, but Lu Hai, who was on patrol, happened to discover it.

The other party had 3 motorcycles and 6 people in total.

The other security personnel on night shift were wandering around the greenhouse, leaving Lu Hai alone here.

Lu Hai wasn't intimidated and went straight for them.

The other person was wearing a mask and tried to escape on a motorcycle, but Lu Hai managed to stop one and pull the person off.

But the other side had more people and were armed with crowbars. After a few blows, Lu Hai was injured.

In order to see the face of the person opposite him clearly, Lu Hai didn't bother to take out his baton.

Although he was hit several times but couldn't stop the other party, he still managed to see the other party's appearance clearly.

Fortunately, Lu Hai's injuries were not serious; he only took a few blows to his back and would recover in a few days.

It has to be said that the people across the street have a good eye for location. Uncle Lu and Grandpa Lu are not living there. Sister Lu's house used to be occupied by Sha Xiaojuan and her daughter, but no one has been living there recently.

Old Man Lu's house is close to Lu Tao's house, and only Uncle Lu is in the middle, with no one on either side. If there is any noise at night, no one will notice.

The other party simply let go of Xiao Lu's farmhouse restaurant, which was the most popular, and specifically targeted Uncle Lu when he was alone. They must have scouted the place beforehand, otherwise they couldn't have been so precise.

Based on Lu Hai's description and Lu Hua's speculation, the other party is most likely from Tangguan Village.

They fled in the direction of Tangguan Village, and Lu Hua thought Lu Hai's description of the person sounded like that of the person who took over Wang Facai's shop.

Lu Hua also went to Tangguan Village in the morning, and Wang Facai's shop had been cleaned up again.

The signboard wasn't up yet, but he secretly peeked inside and saw that the menu on the wall still said "Old Lu's Farmhouse Cuisine".

It seems they still intend to open according to the model of Xiao Lu's farmhouse cuisine, but the reason they are not in a hurry to open is that, after thinking for a while, Lu Yuan said, "They don't know how to make stir-fried lamb."

Wang Facai was, after all, a cook, and he lived in Luwangtan Village, so he could find out some information.

Tangguan Village is different. There is less land there, and besides farming, most of the people there are migrant workers who go to Shaanxi Province to harvest wheat.

Aside from sheer physical strength, I've never heard of her having any special skills.

However, it is true that the people of their village are fierce and valiant. Relying on their unity, they often fought with other villages in the past.

Based on this, it can be inferred that they simply wanted to steal some seasoning recipes, try them out on their own dishes until they were almost identical, and then prepare to open for business.

After listening to Lu Yuan's analysis, Lu Hua felt that it was basically correct, so he asked, "Then what should we do? We have to avenge Hai Ge, right? Other villages may be afraid of them, but our Lu family is not."

"Of course we should avenge our grudges, but it's too low-class to just retaliate directly," Lu Yuan said with a smile, his eyes coldly fixed on the direction of Tangguan Village. "They want to open a shop, don't they? Then let's help them open one!"

Lu Hua looked incredulous and asked, "What?"

"Don't rush, Hua-ge, go do these things." Lu Yuan then assigned Lu Hua a few tasks, which left Lu Hua stunned for a while before he came to his senses.

After Lu Hua left, Lu Yuan realized that he hadn't paid much attention to Zhao Yan for several days. He hadn't even had time to ask how the girl had been eating these past few days.

He searched the courtyard thoroughly, but the car was parked at the entrance, while the person was nowhere to be found.

So he went to Sister Lu's shops, but the old lady said that Zhao Yan had eaten spicy hot pot there at noon, and there was no other information about her.

He simply hopped on his bicycle and headed towards the school. Although school had already let out, Lu Yuan couldn't think of any other possibilities.

The girl didn't know any other places, and most importantly, she didn't have a car, so it was inconvenient for her to go anywhere.

These days, public security isn't that good; kidnapping children and pretty girls on the street happens from time to time.

As he was thinking, Lu Yuan sped up. Just as he was about to cross the small bridge over the Baiyang River, he suddenly saw Zhao Yan holding a camera and taking pictures in his direction.

Lu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. He simply stopped the car, turned to the side, and gave Zhao Yan a peace sign.

Zhao Yan also captured this scene perfectly: sunset, small bridge, flowing water, and a villain.