Chapter 222 - 192: Topple the Local Tyrants and Divide the Land

Chapter 222: Chapter 192: Topple the Local Tyrants and Divide the Land

"Only twenty-nine jin of braised food are left today. Customers past number twenty-five in line, please leave in an orderly fashion. Customers from number twenty to twenty-five may choose whether to leave or stay. I repeat, the shop’s braised food..."

"Boss, didn’t you say you’re open until ten at night? It’s not even seven-thirty!"

"Yeah! I came right over after work and dinner and have been waiting in line this whole time. How can you be out already!"

"Boss, how dare you advertise everywhere when you prepare so little food? Let me tell you, if I can’t buy any braised food today, I’m definitely going online to trash-talk you!"

"..."

"I’m so sorry, everyone. We prepared five hundred jin of braised food today, but I didn’t expect you all to be so enthusiastic. All five hundred jin are completely sold out!" Xu An apologized with a strained smile, but the thirty-some people past the twenty-fifth spot in line were still refusing to let it go. Ultimately, Xu An had no choice. He pulled out a notebook, began writing down their names one by one, and promised to reserve their orders for the next day. Only then did the indignant crowd gradually quiet their protests and obediently go to Xu An to register their names and the amount of braised food they wanted.

Some people had just been joining in the commotion for fun, but now that things had come to this, it would be too embarrassing to just turn and leave. The vegetarian braised food was only five yuan a jin anyway. ’Can’t get ripped off, can’t lose out.’ ’Oh, whatever,’ they thought, ’let’s just pay and sign up.’

And so, those thirty-odd people registered for a total of eighty-one jin of braised food, with orders ranging from one jin to as many as four or five.

Of the twenty-five people at the front of the line, the braised food was already sold out by the time the sixteenth person’s turn came. The remaining nine didn’t want their trip to be for nothing. Two of them bought up the last two boxes of Hellish Braised Flavor, and the other seven came over to Xu An to register the amount they wanted to purchase, bumping the total pre-orders up to a whopping ninety-three jin.

Flicking his notebook, Xu An wrote the three words "five hundred jin" on the first page. ’Even if sales are a bit worse tomorrow, selling four hundred jin over the eight hours from 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM shouldn’t be a problem. After all, the grand opening event isn’t over yet. There are still two hundred fifty-seven third-place prizes left, and a three-hundred-yuan cash prize is equivalent to three days’ wages.’

Old Wu took in the entire scene. After watching Xu An go inside and pull the rolling shutter halfway down, he shook his head and returned to his own shop. He once again felt that the times had truly changed. ’So many people actually like a simple side dish for drinks. This stuff doesn’t fill you up or stave off hunger. What’s the point of eating it?’

Watching the crowd outside finally disperse, Zhang Dezhen let out a sigh of relief. He plopped down onto a chair, rubbing the fingers that had stiffened from pressing the cash register keys all day. Though his body was exhausted, his spirit was unusually ecstatic.

’We prepared a full five hundred jin of braised food today! Five hundred jin! And it all sold out! The total revenue for Xu’s Braised Shop today is eleven thousand two hundred yuan!’ Just thinking about that number made him tremble with excitement.

’The net profit from eleven thousand two hundred yuan should be around three thousand. I get a five percent cut of the net profit, which is a hundred and fifty yuan! A hundred and fifty yuan in a single day—that’s four thousand five hundred a month! Add that to my 3,200 yuan salary as the braised food chef and my 3,000 yuan salary as the shop manager, and my monthly income could reach a staggering 10,700 yuan!’

When that number appeared in Zhang Dezhen’s mind, he felt his heart skip a beat. Over ten thousand yuan... back in his hometown, that was almost what an entire household earned in a year. And now, he could make that in just one month!

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but feel grateful to his past self. ’If I hadn’t joined the Hai City hometown group, hadn’t seen that slightly boastful message Zhou Qi posted, hadn’t privately messaged Zhou Qi, hadn’t come to Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant to work as a delivery driver...’

If none of that had happened, he would, at best, be a back-of-house worker in some restaurant, making around two thousand yuan a month and worrying about money every single day. ’Thank goodness. Thank goodness I made the right choice at the right time!’

’I have to find some time to treat Zhou Qi to a meal and thank him properly. After all, it was only after seeing his message that I found out about Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant and got to work for such a great boss like Xu An. I absolutely have to thank him properly!’

「In a narrow apartment building somewhere in Hai City.」

After dinner, Old Xia was gathering his kitchen trash to take out when he saw the tall, thin Old Sun walk past his door, humming a tune. He couldn’t help but tease, "Old Sun, what’s got you so happy today? Did you step in dog crap and get lucky?"

"Haha, there isn’t that much dog crap around for people to step in," Old Sun said with a laugh. "The weather’s just nice today, so I’m in a good mood."

With that, Old Sun hurried upstairs back to his own apartment. He pulled out a brand-new bankbook hidden at the very bottom of his wardrobe, opened it to the single printed line of numbers, and when he saw the balance of ten thousand yuan, his already smiling face bloomed into an even wider grin.

’I can be as happy as I want at home, but I still have to be more reserved when I go out. I can’t let anyone know I got a ten-thousand-yuan windfall!’

Old Xia watched Old Sun’s retreating back, then turned his head to look at the thermometer taped next to his door. It was already 6:50 in the evening, and the thermometer read thirty-eight degrees Celsius. ’The weather, the temperature... it’s no different from yesterday. What’s so nice about it?’

Shaking his head in confusion, he went out, threw away the trash, and walked two laps around the residential complex for some exercise before meandering back toward the apartment building. When he was still over a hundred meters away, Old Xia could see a crowd of people sitting in a circle under the large banyan tree in front of the building, chattering away about something. The atmosphere was incredibly lively.