Chapter 226 - 194: Overtime, I’m Genuinely Volunteering

Chapter 226: Chapter 194: Overtime, I’m Genuinely Volunteering

’...’

Watching the engagement data skyrocket, Yu Liang wished he could fly over to Xu’s Braised Shop and plant a couple of kisses on Xu An. With all the metrics up this much, he could jack up his prices for future business collaborations. ’Good thing I didn’t decide to leave today. I wonder if those who left are kicking themselves with regret.’

「In a rented apartment near the Silver Star Office Building.」

Deng Shan’s company was located about three hundred meters from the Silver Star Office Building. It was this short distance that made him gaze longingly at Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant, completely out of reach. At the moment, the restaurant only delivered to the Silver Star Office Building and wouldn’t accept any orders from outside it.

But it wasn’t long before he heard that Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant was planning to open a new branch near the Silver Star Office Building. Once it opened, they would deliver to any location within a two-kilometer radius of the office building. He had been wishing on every star since he heard the news, and today, that wish had finally come true!

Although the announcement was buried under the flood of promotions for Xu’s Braised Shop’s grand opening, he still managed to spot it. ℴ

To confirm the news, he even opened up the ordering page for Xu’s Fast Food, selected his boxed lunch for the next day, entered his company’s address, and hit the "Confirm Payment" button. The page immediately redirected to the payment screen, and his payment went through without a hitch! That annoying ’Outside Delivery Range’ notification was gone!

’Yeah! An eight-yuan, three-dishes-and-a-soup lunch, here I come! Mom doesn’t have to worry about me not eating enough or eating poorly at work anymore!’

Of course, he had to share such great news with his colleagues, who had been longing for this just as much as he had! Deng Shan opened his messaging app, clicked on a group chat named "Gossip Central," and sent a message.

’You guys hear? Xu’s Fast Food is making a big move!’

His colleagues replied instantly, but their reactions weren’t quite what Deng Shan had expected.

"Can we please not talk about that? No matter what app I open today, it’s flooded with sponsored posts about the grand opening of Xu’s Braised Shop. I’m about to puke!" wrote Colleague A. ℓ.

"Yeah, seriously," added Colleague B. "And I can’t even eat spicy food, so every time I see the first prize is ten thousand yuan cash, I feel like I’m losing a ton of money."

"Ugh, it looks like this is going to go on for several more days," Colleague C chimed in. "Instead of all this hype, they should just focus on their delivery service and start covering our area already!"

"..." from Colleagues D, E, F, and G.

’Alright, looks like everyone misunderstood me,’ Deng Shan thought. They all assumed he was talking about the grand opening of Xu’s Braised Shop. Instead of arguing, he simply posted a screenshot of his order confirmation in the group chat. The image clearly showed the "Payment Successful" message and his company’s address.

The group, which had just been complaining about the Xu’s Braised Shop event, fell silent. About fifteen seconds later, a dozen or so payment confirmation screenshots flooded the chat, one after another.

"Order placed! Lion’s Head meatballs, here I come!"

"Braised Pork Belly is the best! Woohoo! We can finally get delivery from Xu’s Fast Food!"

"..."

「The next morning, at Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant.」

Because Xu An was in a hurry, and because the vendor had them in stock, the supplier for the soup noodle warmers had readily agreed to deliver the units before the restaurant opened for the day.

So, Xu An, who had been coordinating with various people about different matters until 11:45 the previous night, arrived at Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant at 5:40 a.m., just in time to meet the delivery driver.

Some of the equipment from the back kitchen of storefront #1 had been moved to storefront #3 next door, leaving enough room for the two sets of soup noodle warmers. The warmers had just been installed when the restaurant staff began to arrive for their shifts. There were two new faces today—people with kitchen experience that Liu Daxi had found. Like the others on his team, they were also deaf and mute.

After delegating most of the tasks to Wang Fulong, Xu An yawned, sat down behind the cash register, and opened the admin dashboard for Xu’s Fast Food’s online ordering system. He wanted to see how many orders the new Silver Star Transfer Station had accumulated.

Xu An had recently asked Ye Ning to upgrade the ordering system. Now, orders from different transfer stations were automatically sorted onto their own pages and arranged chronologically starting from number one. To check the orders for the Silver Star Transfer Station, all he had to do was open the page labeled "Silver Star."

When the page first loaded, Xu An’s expression was neutral, his face etched with deep fatigue. After the second full scroll of his mouse wheel, his eyes widened slightly. After the third, he sat up straight, now fully awake. After the fourth, his eyes were as wide as saucers. But he was far from finished. He had to scroll a total of seven times to reach the bottom of the list. The number of the final entry in the table was—472!

This meant that the Silver Star Transfer Station, with no major promotion, had received four hundred and seventy-two orders on its very first day! And it was just a little after six in the morning. With over an hour left before the 8:00 a.m. cutoff, breaking five hundred was no longer just a dream!

Xu An vigorously rubbed his cheeks with both hands until his skin was almost raw. Finally, he calmed down, picked up his phone, opened his contacts, found the number for "Uncle Han Shangyang," and hit dial.

"Uncle Han, it’s Xu An. Sorry to bother you so early! Something’s come up regarding the purchase we discussed last night..."

"No, I’m not canceling the order! I want to add an automatic vegetable cutter. Do you have one in stock? Is there any way you can deliver it with the automatic vegetable washer before eight?"

"A rush fee? No problem, no problem at all. As long as you can get it here by eight and installed by eight-thirty, it’s not an issue!"

"Yes, yes, that’s right. I’ll have to trouble you then, Uncle Han. Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it!"

After hanging up, Xu An collapsed into his chair. There was no room for a fifth machine inside storefront #2, but he could run a power cable out the back door and set it up in the alley. It would be a tight squeeze, but it would fit. The only problem was that they’d have to haul it out every morning and haul it back in every night. It was a hassle, but with the orders piling up so quickly, it was their only option.

Tang Wen had to manage their social media accounts and guide public opinion online. She wouldn’t be free until after the grand opening event for Xu’s Braised Shop concluded.

Lu Ziyue was busy urgently contacting suppliers to coordinate shipments, thanks to the sudden need for another five hundred and fifty pounds of braised ingredients and the five hundred extra orders from the Silver Star Transfer Station. He also had to compile the next day’s procurement list in the afternoon, so it was clear he wouldn’t have a moment to spare.

Wang Fulong was busy communicating with companies that had shown interest at the trade show. He was also sorting through materials to select qualified companies for bidding. In fact, he had to attend a bidding presentation for an elementary school that very afternoon...

Tallying it all up, Xu An realized that out of all his employees, the one with the most free time was, surprisingly, himself.

’Alright then. If fate has decided, I might as well head over to Qianjin Road this afternoon and see if there are any suitable storefronts for sale. Once the trade show is over, the final payment of sixty thousand yuan will hit my account. Add that to my recent earnings, and I should have just enough for a down payment.’

’If I can’t afford a large place, I can start with a small one. I’ll move the production for Xu’s Braised Shop over there, which should solve my current space issue. Then I can just partition off a little space at the front, stick a big freezer in there, and—voila—Xu’s Braised Shop #2 will be open for business.’

’It’s a shame that getting a business license takes a week at the minimum. Store #2 of Xu’s Braised Shop won’t be able to ride the coattails of Store #1’s popularity. Otherwise, I could have run a joint grand opening event where customers could try for the first prize at either location. That would’ve driven some traffic to the second store. What a pity...’

’Speaking of new branches, delivery orders from the two construction sites, Ivy League University and Xiuli Garden, have already surpassed two hundred. It’s about to hit the three-hundred-order threshold I set. It’s time to start planning for another new transfer station.’

’Argh!’

’How is it that even after bringing Wang Fulong and the other two on board to share the load, my workload has only increased? I’m still running around like a chicken with its head cut off! When will I ever get to be a hands-off boss?!’