Chapter 390 - 184: Silent Nourishment (Part 2)

Chapter 390: Chapter 184: Silent Nourishment (Part 2)

Taking the cigarette, he casually tucked it behind his ear. Boss Du said hurriedly, "Boss Huang, I need 10 cases of Hailufeng Egyptian Fish fillets and 3 cases of Hailufeng Egyptian Fish skins."

"Ten cases of fillets and three of skins? No problem. Same address, over on Yunxiao Road Food Street?" Boss Huang asked as he wrote up the order.

Boss Du quickly reminded him, "Yeah, and don’t get it wrong. My shop is called Happy Chicken Cutlet. Last time, your guy delivered it to the Coca-Cola Fried Chicken next door."

"I know, I know. I’ll make it clear to him," Boss Huang said, looking a little embarrassed.

"That’s all, then. See you later."

"Take care."

Boss Du then went to buy some shortening specifically for deep-frying. He found that the price of soybean oil-based shortening had dropped to around 11 yuan per kilogram.

Soybeans have a massive direct and indirect impact on the food and restaurant industries.

This is especially true for deep-fried food and restaurants that specialize in it, as their operating costs are closely tied to the price of soybeans.

After buying the shortening, Boss Du purchased various seasonings and then drove back to his shop on Yunxiao Road Food Street.

When he got back, the delivery guy from Old Huang, the fish products wholesaler, had already dropped off the fish fillets and skins.

"Dad, how are the prices today?" Du Xiaoming asked with concern as he thawed the fish skins and fillets.

"The wholesale price for chicken is a little lower than yesterday. Fish and fish skins are the same as always, but the shortening is down by three yuan."

Just then, a middle-aged woman walked in, her expression grim. "Old Du, you’re back. That Coca-Cola Fried Chicken next door is running a promotion again—buy one, get one free."

"Honey, don’t worry. They can do their thing, and we’ll do ours. Who’s afraid of who?" Boss Du said, gritting his teeth.

"If the wholesale prices for chicken and fish hadn’t dropped, we really wouldn’t be able to stay in business," Tang Likai said, looking helpless.

Du Xiaoming shook his head. "There’s nothing we can do. Everyone’s cutting prices, so we have to follow suit."

The family chatted as they busily prepped the ingredients, preparing cheese chicken cutlets, spicy chicken cutlets, fried chicken skeletons, Orleans wings, boneless chicken strips, fish and chips, and boneless fish fillets. The final step, the deep-frying, would only begin once customers arrived.

They hadn’t originally planned to keep the shop open. The space was 20 square meters with a monthly rent of 15,000 yuan. Adding in utilities, gas, and other miscellaneous expenses, their fixed costs came to around 20,000 yuan.

This meant their shop’s daily revenue had to reach 1,500 yuan just to break even.

However, Du Xiaoming had returned from studying in Great Britain last year and couldn’t find a job. So, Boss Du and his wife had no choice but to keep the small shop running, letting their son help out to keep him from brooding.

Du Xiaoming felt he had no other choice but to stay and help, all the while thinking about how to improve the family shop’s business.

Back in June, after some research, he had copied the fish and chips he’d eaten while studying abroad. He also developed a boneless fish fillet based on the characteristics of their boneless chicken strips. These additions had boosted the shop’s daily revenue to around 2,000 yuan.

By September, as chicken prices fell, the surrounding fried chicken shops also began lowering their prices one after another. Du Xiaoming’s family had no choice but to lower the prices of their chicken products as well.

However, there was some good news amidst these major price cuts: their sales volume increased by 30 to 40 percent, pushing the shop’s daily revenue up to about 3,000 yuan.

「As the sun began to set.」

The foot traffic on the food street was rapidly increasing.

"Boss, one large fish and chips!" shouted a middle-aged man on a shared bike, who had also studied in Great Britain.

"Coming right up." Du Xiaoming quickly coated a seasoned piece of fish in batter and dropped it directly into one of the dedicated fryers.

SIZZLE...

The middle-aged man parked his bike and started complaining to his colleague about the old days. "Haven’t eaten this stuff in over a decade. Back when I was at the University of Edinburgh, besides cooking for myself, all I could eat was fish and chips and hamburgers. I was on the verge of a breakdown from eating it so much."

"Did you ever have Stargazy pie?" his colleague joked.

"No. There’s really not much good food in Great Britain. French and Chinese food are deadly expensive, and the Indian curry was barely edible."

Du Xiaoming looked up. "You studied at the University of Edinburgh? I also studied in Great Britain, but I went to a diploma mill."

"Which one, boss? South Bank of London? Bolton? Or Birmingham City?"

"Birmingham City."

"Oh, that one! Yeah, it’s pretty bad."

"Yeah! I can’t even find a job now, so I’m stuck here selling fried chicken." Du Xiaoming shook his head self-deprecatingly, then packed the fried fish fillet and fries into a paper bag. "Hey man, you want ketchup, chili sauce, or yellow mustard?"

"Ketchup."

"How much?"

"15 yuan."

"Paid."

"WeChat payment received: 15 yuan..."

The man and his colleague shared the order of fish and chips at a nearby bus shelter, eating them while they were still hot.

"The flavor’s not bad. Old Zhou, is it any different from what you used to eat in Britain?"

Old Zhou took a big bite. "Of course, there’s a difference. In Britain, they use cod for fish and chips. This shop definitely isn’t using cod, but the seasoning is good."

"So they use cod for fish and chips in Britain! My wife bought some imported cod fillets from Hema a while back, and one box was 150 yuan. That’s so damn expensive," his colleague said, squeezing a small packet of ketchup onto the fried fish.

"But the texture of this fish fillet is pretty good, and it doesn’t have a strong earthy or fishy taste. It must be a saltwater fish," Old Zhou said, dipping a fry into the ketchup.