Chương 41: Seeing a crowd makes one itchy for shit!

"Uncle Lin, you're quite lucky. I was just about to change the menu tomorrow. We won't be selling noodles at noon and in the evening; we'll be selling stir-fries and braised dishes instead." Zhou Yan said with a smile,"Two braised dishes: braised pork ribs and beef with dried bamboo shoots. There's also a stir-fry of minced beef with double peppers, and a dish of crucian carp with mint. The 'Qiaojiao' beef can be served as a soup or a main dish.

Even if we have four dishes and a soup, it should be enough if there aren't too many people." The three noodle toppings and sauces tasted good and could stand alone as dishes. The 'Qiaojiao' beef was also delicious. Lin Zhiqiang pondered, "Xiao Zhou, is this 'Huoxiang' crucian carp something you learned to make? How does it taste?"

"Don't worry about that. As long as you like the flavor of mint, I guarantee you'll be satisfied with this fish." Zhou Yan said confidently.

"Okay, I trust you. There are seven of us, so we'll just order these five dishes," Lin Zhiqiang said with a smile.

"After work tomorrow night, I'll pick up the two kids and come over for dinner."

"Okay, I'll prepare the dishes for you tomorrow," Zhou Yan nodded, watching Lin Zhiqiang leave with a smile on his face. The menu hadn't even been changed yet, and he was already open for business. Uncle Lin really was his uncle. Back in the shop, Zhou Yan found a ten-centimeter-wide wooden plank, borrowed some tools from the security department next door, and cut the plank into twenty-centimeter-long wooden signs. He drilled a hole, hung a rope, and wrote the dish name and price on each plank.

He tore down the original menu, nailed a row of nails to the wall, hung the three noodle signs together, and the other dishes in a separate row. Zhou Yan pondered for a while while writing the prices. The braised beef with dried bamboo shoots and stir-fried beef with two kinds of peppers were priced at 1 yuan, but three liang (150 grams) of braised pork ribs seemed a bit too little, as this was a purely meat dish, and dried bamboo shoots made up more than half of the beef with dried bamboo shoots.

In the end, he increased the amount of pork ribs in one serving to half a jin (250 grams), and the price of braised pork ribs rose to 1. 6 yuan, with the cost accounting for 1. 1 yuan. Zhou Yan couldn't help but sigh at the pricing; it was too reasonable. This was the limitation of the times. If such delicious braised pork ribs were in later generations, he would dare to double or even double the cost price, selling them at a high price and for high quality.

Suji was an important economic town in Jiaozhou, and the Jiaozhou Textile Factory was the leading enterprise in the silk industry of southern Sichuan, earning more than ten million US dollars in foreign exchange annually. It was profitable and still expanding rapidly, with many workers and high wages. Many workers from Jiaozhou came to work at the factory every day. In an ordinary small town, it would be impossible to open a Sichuan restaurant at this time. Farmers wouldn't have money to eat your six mao (0. 6 yuan) bowl of noodles. The braised crucian carp with mint is 2 yuan a serving, and the braised beef with pork knuckles is still 0. 6 yuan a serving. The sign is hung on the wall, the red lettering eye-catching and attractive. The fixed menu has been replaced with wooden signs; this is Zhou Yan's preparation for introducing new dishes tomorrow. To reduce waste and ensure all the ingredients prepared each day are sold out, he controls the amount of ingredients purchased in the early stages.

When a dish is sold out, the sign is removed, and the dish is moved to the clearance section for customers to order from. This makes it convenient for customers to order and avoids the hassle of repeated confirmations between the front desk and the kitchen. Without a refrigerator, ensuring the freshness of ingredients is the best solution. Once business stabilizes and the daily consumption of various dishes becomes more consistent, the amount can be gradually increased until a balance is reached.

Ingredient waste is related to the restaurant's profits, and Zhou Yan would never think of eating the unsold food himself; that would be too unprofessional.

"Xiao Zhou, what's all this commotion?" Luo Weidong, the head of the security department, peeked inside from the doorway and asked with a smile.

"Section Chief Luo, I'm changing the menu. Tomorrow we'll start selling braised and stir-fried dishes," Zhou Yan replied with a smile, tidying up his tools. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"New dishes?" Luo Weidong entered, looking at the wooden sign on the wall, and said with a smile, "Not many options, quite cautious this time." A bowl of braised beef with ribs that Zhou Yan had given him had improved his relationship with the security department, and Luo Weidong had even tried the noodles once; the taste was truly excellent. However, when Zhou Yan's restaurant first opened, Luo Weidong had also eaten there once, and the cooking was, to put it mildly, terrible.

There were dozens of dishes on the menu, but no one seemed to have anything to say about how good any of them were. But this time, he'd learned his lesson, changing the toppings to braised dishes and the sauces to stir-fried dishes, aiming for stability. The prices, well, they weren't cheap. The canteen's braised beef was 80 cents a serving with a ration coupon, 20 cents cheaper than Zhou Yan's.

Last time he had the beef and bamboo shoot noodles, the taste was undeniably better than the canteen's, so the extra 20 cents was acceptable.

"I'll take the tools back with me. I'll try your fish next time I come back," Luo Weidong said, taking the tools from Zhou Yan.

"Thank you, Section Chief Luo," Zhou Yan said with a smile, seeing Luo Weidong out. After sweeping the floor, Zhou Yan went out and found a reliable fish stall, arranging for twenty crucian carp to be delivered to the restaurant by noon tomorrow. He wanted eight-ounce crucian carp, good quality farmed fish, the perfect size for making crucian carp with mint. Zhou Yan also wrote a notice and posted it on the wooden board, stating that starting tomorrow, Zhou Erwa Restaurant would only serve noodles in the morning.

All the preparations were complete, and the sun was already setting. Zhou Yan lay down on the recliner by the door to rest. The textile factory was closed today, and there were no stalls at the entrance; it was empty. Only the newly moved-in stall across the street, where Zhou Liangliang and his wife were busy wiping down the tables and chairs. A sneer appeared on Zhou Yan's lips. This guy was really quick; he came to inspect yesterday, and today he had moved his stall over.

Zhou Liangliang also noticed Zhou Yan sitting at the restaurant entrance and said with a smile, "Zhou Yan, we've moved here to set up a stall. We're family, you shouldn't mind, right?"

"Why would I mind? It's the textile factory area. If you want to set up, then set up. Do you think I can stop you?" Zhou Yan laughed. He didn't have that kind of scheming brother. Zhou Yan glanced at the stall's sign: soup pot + noodles. This guy wanted both, so he was being taken advantage of. But the more it seemed like this, the less optimistic Zhou Yan was. This guy hadn't even been able to get soup at Zhou Jie's and Zhou Hai's stalls, and he thought moving to the textile factory entrance would kill him?

Besides, he hadn't seen him selling noodles before; he probably added it on the spot because he saw Zhou Yan's noodle business was good. This was within Zhou Yan's expectations. Even if it wasn't Zhou Liangliang, it would have been Zhou Mingming or Zhou Tiantian. That's how it always is with street vendors. Zhou Yan enjoyed the breeze for a while before going inside to cook dinner.

"I don't see Zhou Yan is nervous at all. Is our business really better than at the dock selling hot pot here?" Zhou Liangliang's wife, Wu Guihua, whispered.

"Don't worry, Zhou Yan sells for six cents a bowl, and we sell the same hot pot and noodles for five cents, one cent cheaper than him. Business will definitely be good!" Zhou Liangliang was full of confidence. He finished the preparations today and contacted the noodle factory, which would deliver the noodles to him tomorrow morning. On the first day, he didn't need much—thirty catties of noodles, enough for a hundred bowls....

The next day, at the crack of dawn, Comrade Zhou rode his old bicycle out to buy groceries. Today, he only made enough noodles, toppings, and meat sauce for eighty people. If they didn't sell out in the morning, the rest would be their work meals. He ordered an extra three jin each of beef brisket and hanging tenderloin, enough for ten servings of braised beef with bamboo shoots and double-pepper beef. He also ordered an extra four jin of spare ribs, enough for eight servings.

Braised spare ribs are delicious, but most people prefer the oily and fragrant twice-cooked pork; the bones are purely superfluous and expensive, not worthwhile. On the first day, he was conservative, considering it a success if he could sell all the prepared dishes. Anyway, he still had a hundred servings of braised beef as a safety net, so customers would always have something to order. Aunt Zhao had no objection to the new menu and fully supported Zhou Yan's plan.

However, sitting on the back of the bicycle at the restaurant, looking at Zhou Liangliang and Wu Guihua, who were simmering bone broth across from them, she frowned: "When did they move here? They're just itching for a bite! They want to fly after someone else jumping off a cliff! Aren't they afraid of getting burned?"