Have you ever seen glowing food? That's why you draw a food-themed anime.

"Me too, me too!"

Not to be outdone, the man with glasses beamed with delight and said impatiently, "Boss Xu, bring out the beef first! I've been craving this beef for days!"

Xu Zhou glanced at them, his gaze lingering on Jiang Mingzhu for a moment, then said quite naturally, "Yes, it's a modified version of beef stew in Burgundy red wine, priced at 12,800 yuan, you all know that, right?"

"How many!?"

Jiang Mingzhu was shocked by the price. Her voice rose eight octaves, her soft tone becoming somewhat shrill: "Twelve thousand eight! You're asking twelve thousand eight for a small shop like this?"

Could I have misheard?

What kind of small shop owner sets such crazy prices?

Are you made of gold?

You're a small, low-end store, yet you're more expensive than an eight-star store?

Jiang Mingzhu could hardly believe her ears.

"Correct."

Xu Zhou calmly opened the shop door, walked in, casually pulled an A4 sheet of paper from his pocket, and wrote on it: "[Burgundy Beef Stew / 12888 per serving]"

After you've finished writing it, hand the menu over.

The A4 menu was so wrinkled from being folded so many times in my pocket that the words were almost illegible.

Jiang Mingzhu was devastated when she received this menu.

"Isn't this menu a bit too perfunctory?"

"I must be crazy to spend 12,800 yuan to eat here!"

damn it!

What the hell made you come here to eat?!

Jiang Mingzhu prepared to turn around and leave.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the two people next to him were not deterred by the price at all. On the contrary, their eyes were shining and they were breathing rapidly, looking excited.

"Very good!!"

"?"

Jiang Mingzhu was stunned, thinking, "No way... are these two crazy? Are they even normal? What are you so happy about the price increase?"

"Finally, some vegetables have gone up in price!"

Cai Cai was extremely excited: "At this price, I'm not worried about not being able to eat it because it's limited."

"That's great!"

"Young Master Xu, one order, please!"

The two chatted excitedly as they walked into the store, their eyes sparkling with bright excitement.

Jiang Mingzhu's mind went blank when she saw the way they were looking at her.

Are they crazy?

Twelve thousand eight hundred and still limited edition…

If anyone buys it, he'll limit the quantity.

The most crucial point is that some people are actually excited about the price increase?

托？

Chapter 29 Are you crazy with this VIP card?

Xu Zhou ignored Jiang Mingzhu outside. Even though the bowls on the table hadn't been cleared away, he glanced at them but hadn't said anything. Xu Kai, who was next to him, raised his voice eight octaves.

"I come!"

"Regular customers love helping Mr. Xu clear the tables!"

"Boss Xu, do you have any dishes to wash? I'll wash them! You can cook!"

Although Chen Yan was lazy at home, he didn't dare to bring those habits to Xu Zhou's side.

The two of them were even more like shop assistants than the shop's staff, even though there were no shop assistants in the shop now.

Jiang Mingzhu was completely stunned.

It's not that she doesn't know how to appreciate things.

Although Xu Kai and Chen Yan were dressed very casually, seemingly just in simple T-shirts and trousers.

However, the diamond-encrusted watches that occasionally dangled from their wrists while they were wiping tables and washing dishes revealed that they came from wealthy families and were not ordinary college students.

Even after Chen Yan finished washing the dishes, he pulled out a stack of obviously designed VIP cards from his pocket.

"Mr. Xu, take a look at this VIP card. I'll have someone design it for you."

“We VIP customers still need a card to show our status.”

This card is useless!

But he can't live without it!

A mature customer should also learn to share the burdens of their boss.

...

The card is pure black, with the three large gold characters for "VIP" on the front and Xu Zhou's store name faintly appearing on the black background on the back.

It looks very high-end and classy, ​​and even has gold trim.

"Boss, how about it? A gold-plated card!"

"Not bad." Xu Zhou glanced at it and thought it was indeed very well designed.

It's much better than my own A4 paper.

Chen Yan said smugly, "We VIP customers didn't even have a VIP card before, how could that be!"

"Hmm, but what is the purpose of this card?"

Xu Zhou asked a thought-provoking question: "My store doesn't have a system or machine for swiping membership cards, so this card can't be swiped... Doesn't it still mean I have to manually deduct the amount each time?"

Since the store was previously renovated by my parents, they naturally didn't understand the membership system.

This meant that every time fees were deducted from Xu Kai's membership card, they had to write it down on an A4 sheet of paper, deduct the fees manually, and then manually enter the information into the computer.

Very old.

Chen Yan said matter-of-factly, "It doesn't matter if we can't use it, what matters is that it's a mark of our loyal customers!"

"No discounts on renewals," Xu Zhou couldn't help but emphasize.

"Brother, what you're saying is hurtful." Chen Yan's eyes were dark. Did he look like someone who needed a discount?

"Even if you ask for five, ten, or a hundred more times, I won't offer a discount." Xu Zhou felt it was best to be upfront about the unpleasant things beforehand, so that they wouldn't feel embarrassed to say it later when their relationship improved.

Although I'm sure I'll never feel embarrassed.

But it's better to say it in advance.

"No benefits at all?" Jiang Mingzhu couldn't help but ask.

“Yes, there are no benefits at all.” Xu Zhou thought for a moment: “The only benefit is that we will be notified of the opening time in advance.”

Jiang Mingzhu: "..."

What kind of benefit is this?

A serving of beef costs 12,000 yuan, who cares what time you open?

Can't possibly come every day?

Jiang Mingzhu's round eyes were full of doubt: "Then your card is completely useless, isn't it? What's the difference between this and fundraising?"

"What kind of fundraising?" Xu Zhou asked, puzzled.

"Illegal fundraising!"

"I didn't, don't slander me." Xu Zhou waved his hand, it was they who insisted on spending 500,000.

I didn't set that amount.

"Your card..."

Jiang Mingzhu's eyes widened when she saw the VIP list and the amount on the VIP card table.

[VIP Xu Kai: Top-up 500,000 / -3436]

[VIP Chen Yan: Top up 500,000 / -3436]

The counting method was very simple and crude, using paper and notes.

The amount of 500,000 was extremely conspicuous.

"Robbery? Five hundred thousand?"

Jiang Mingzhu's tender voice rose eight octaves as she shockedly took the A4 paper containing the member list. Looking at this simple counting method, she felt her understanding was being challenged, and her hand trembled slightly.

"Are you crazy?"

"Someone actually charged? You two were definitely shills!"

"Did you see that someone else's comic was quite popular, so you wanted to use that comic to create hype?"

Jiang Mingzhu originally thought that Xu Zhou might be the talented mastermind behind the scenes who provided cooking recipes to comic book authors.

But when she arrived at the store and saw this series of actions, she felt it was so outrageous that it seemed like a honey trap set up to gain attention.

I've definitely been set up!

...

Jiang Mingzhu was dumbfounded. Even in her own six-star store, the minimum top-up for a membership card was five thousand yuan.

Your scattered stores are worth 500,000?

The restaurant doesn't even have a junior chef, yet they dare to charge such high prices? Aren't they afraid of being investigated?

Jiang Mingzhu immediately thought of a whole bunch of similar cases where stores were shut down.

"Your membership card is useless and doesn't participate in any activities, yet it costs 500,000 yuan per card. If you have too many members, you'll definitely be suspected of illegal fundraising or... do you understand?"

"Once your membership exceeds a certain amount, I will report you, and you will definitely have to shut down your store and be thoroughly investigated."

"Unless you set up the benefits, discounts, and 100,000 bonus for every 500,000 membership card you receive, or other incentives that match the benefits of a 500,000 membership card, and you also have to take the store's star rating test."

"Well, you have a point."

"So your card..."

"Therefore, my membership card will not offer discounts or free money. Instead, I will hold a lottery every month and select one person from those who want to become a VIP to qualify for VIP membership."

If there are many members, there should be corresponding benefits; otherwise, they'll be investigated. What's the point then? Wouldn't that be like giving away money?

Xu Zhou couldn't help but think that having too many members would make it easier to be investigated, and if the daily dishes were always bought by ten members, it wouldn't be conducive to accumulating wish points.

Regular customers come every day and buy at the original price.

I even have to give members discounts and money!

Other stores use membership programs to attract customers, but I don't need that!

Looking at it this way, it seems that members who can get discounts are not as good as regular customers!

...

"Great! I'm so glad I did it in advance! I was so smart!"

My teammates may die, but I will!

It doesn't matter if others can't buy it, as long as I can!

Xu Kai breathed a long sigh of relief, clutching his VIP card to his chest like a precious treasure. Still feeling uneasy, he couldn't help but ask, "Boss, what if someone finds my VIP card...?"

"It didn't work." Xu Zhou smiled. "I only recognize your WeChat ID."

"I can rest assured that."