Chapter 487 - 230: I Was Just Asking...

Chapter 487: Chapter 230: I Was Just Asking...

"It’s no big deal. Let him say what he wants," Zhou Yan said with a carefree laugh, unconcerned. "Anyone who’s run a braised goods shop here for three years would be resentful if a competitor suddenly bought the building to kick them out and open their own restaurant."

Xiao Lei and Zheng Qiang laughed as well. It certainly wasn’t a good feeling to have someone snatch your prize away.

Xiao Lei asked curiously, "Why’d you suddenly buy a place in Jiazhou?"

Zheng Qiang also looked toward Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan slowed down and said with a smile, "I’m planning for the future. You always have to aim higher, right? The restaurant in Suji is profitable, but there’s a clear ceiling. Without a new stream of customers, it’ll be hard to grow any further.

This spot has a great location, right across from Jiazhou Pier. There are tons of tourists every day, and East Main Street is packed with restaurants and snack stalls, which has created a kind of critical mass. A lot of people from Jiazhou are willing to come to this area to eat.

Once I’ve saved up enough money next year, I’ll tear this building down and rebuild it into a big, two-story restaurant."

"A big restaurant?" Xiao Lei and Zheng Qiang were both a little surprised to hear that.

Buying the building was one thing, but tearing it down to build a big restaurant?

Zheng Qiang asked curiously, "Are you planning to host banquets? For weddings, birthdays, that sort of thing?"

Zhou Yan shook his head. "I can’t do banquets. Not enough staff, and the space is limited. Sticking to a regular restaurant is a safer bet."

Xiao Lei mused, "Then you’ll need to hire a lot of people. With your current little restaurant, you’re already stretched to the limit, so much that you don’t even dare add new dishes to the menu.

To run a big restaurant, you’ll need a much more extensive menu, and with more customers, you’ll never be able to keep up without hiring more staff. A prep cook, a plating assistant, and chefs—they’re all essential."

Zhou Yan looked at the two of them and said with a smile, "Master, Zheng, would you two be interested?"

"I..." Zheng Qiang looked at Xiao Lei, a hesitant expression on his face.

"We can’t. You can’t afford us." Xiao Lei shook his head, his refusal firm. "Last month, doing those outdoor banquets, we earned a thousand yuan. I took six hundred, and Zheng took four hundred.

From the way things are going, every month from now on will be at least as good as the last, especially during the two months around the New Year. We’ll be busy from the start of the month to the end. If we split up and work separately, we could each earn a thousand a month.

So if you ask us to come be chefs at your restaurant, what kind of salary could you offer that would be fair? And even if you gave us shares and dividends, who would get the final say on things? We’d be bound to disagree sooner or later."

"He’s right," Zheng Qiang chimed in with a nod of agreement.

"Then I guess I’m not worthy," Zhou Yan said, experiencing for the first time the melancholy and helplessness Huang He must have felt when he tried to poach him, only to be politely refused.

But he was actually quite happy.

He was the one who had convinced his Master to go into business for himself, and he was also the one who had gotten the two of them to team up for the outdoor banquets.

Now that they were making money, he was genuinely happy for them.

His Master was very frank and had laid everything out clearly.

Given their current income, it really would be difficult to set a salary.

Besides, they were on a clear upward trajectory in their careers. His Master was a man with his own ideas and a lot of capability; he was already considering splitting up to expand their operations, and their income potential was substantial.

As for giving them shares and dividends, Zhou Yan would have been fine with that. But just as his Master had said, it would eventually lead to issues over authority and decision-making, which could cause friction.

Xiao Lei smiled and said, "We’re not the right fit, but you can consider the many other masters and brothers in the Kong Sect. Restaurant salaries aren’t generally high right now, and the idea of going into business for oneself is on everyone’s mind. Even someone as conservative as Luo is tempted. As long as you offer a good salary and appeal to them with both logic and emotion, you’ll find people who are willing to come."

Zhou Yan’s expression turned a bit awkward. "But... wouldn’t that be poaching from Le Ming?"

Xiao Lei waved his hand dismissively. "What poaching? Le Ming has always been the Huangpu Military Academy of Jiazhou’s culinary world. It churns out wave after wave of incredible chefs, and they all leave as soon as they’ve ’graduated’."

Your three uncles all left for greener pastures, each going further than the last. Even your First Uncle, a chef of his caliber, ran off to Rongcheng. The manager back then was planning to promote him to head chef—the paperwork was already filed. But then he got an offer from Rongcheng Restaurant, and the very next day, he packed up and left without a second thought.

Word is, the manager at Le Ming was so pissed off he spent a solid two weeks behind his back, cursing him out and telling everyone he was impotent, a premature ejaculator, and had hemorrhoids."

"For real?" Zheng Qiang asked, looking intensely curious.

Xiao Lei and Zhou Yan glanced at him. ’What a loyal apprentice.’

"I was just curious..." Zheng said meekly.

"There’s no smoke without fire, is there?" Xiao Lei said meaningfully.

Zheng Qiang and Zhou Yan looked thoughtful.

"But then how did the manager know his uncle had an embarrassing problem like hemorrhoids?" Zhou Yan asked.

Now it was Xiao Lei and Zheng Qiang’s turn to stare at Zhou Yan, their eyes wide as saucers, as if they had just realized something incredible.

"I was just curious..." Zhou Yan said meekly.

The three of them exchanged a look, then all burst out laughing at the same time.

Zhou Yan made a silent resolution. ’I have to be around for these kinds of conversations in the future.’

The old adage proved true: whoever is absent is the one who gets talked about.

Xiao Lei continued, "Luo, Wang Mian... you can consider them. They’re all down-to-earth, hardworking guys with solid skills and calm personalities.

Most importantly, their salaries aren’t high—a hundred yuan a month. They aren’t highly valued, they don’t know how to play politics, their path for advancement is completely blocked, and their salaries have pretty much maxed out. They only get a few extra yuan a year for seniority.

They all have apprentices, too. If they come, and they bring a couple of reliable apprentices with them, then you’ve got your prep cooks, plating assistants, and junior chefs. You’ll have a basic kitchen team all set up."

Zhou Yan nodded repeatedly as he listened, making a mental note of the names.

His Master had been the head chef of a cafeteria for over ten years; he’d seen all sorts of people and situations and was a good judge of character.

If he said someone had good character, they couldn’t be bad.

Zhou Yan said, "Didn’t you say Luo was thinking about opening his own restaurant? Now that he has the idea in his head, he might not be willing to come work for someone else."

"You can ask him when the time comes. If he wants to come, he’ll come. If he wants to strike out on his own, let him. These things depend on fate," Xiao Lei said with a laugh. "If you hadn’t brought this up today, I was planning to start putting a team together after the New Year to expand and professionalize the rural catering business."

Zhou Yan was a little shocked after hearing this. "Master, you’re really something else."

Going into business for himself had truly opened up his Master’s Ren and Du Meridians. He was taking one step while planning two steps ahead, and even had plans for the more distant future.

"The market for rural catering is huge, but it’s not well-regulated, and the quality is all over the place. I plan to figure things out as I go, create a set of standards, and then build up our scale and reputation," Xiao Lei said, looking at Zhou Yan. "You’re a sharp kid. Do you think this is feasible?"

"I think it’s very feasible," Zhou Yan nodded. "Master, you’re the one with the truly sharp mind. You’re bold in both your thinking and your actions."

Right now, booking wedding or birthday banquets at hotels was still an option only for the wealthy. In the towns and villages, and even in Jiazhou City itself, most people celebrating a wedding or a birthday would choose to hire a rural chef to come to their home for an outdoor banquet, providing the ingredients themselves to keep costs to a minimum.

This market was vast and full of potential, and it wouldn’t be replaced for many years to come.

His Master wanted to build up his reputation first, then consolidate resources, take on more orders for outdoor banquets, and thereby earn more money.

However, since outdoor banquet chefs charged by the table, the profit margins were actually relatively limited.

It was nowhere near as profitable as running a restaurant that hosted banquets.

But opening a restaurant was a capital-intensive venture; the upfront investment for things like a banquet hall was extremely high.

If the place wasn’t classy, who would be willing to spend that much money to book a banquet there? The host’s face was on the line.

The biggest assets for an outdoor banquet business were the piles of steamers, pots, and kitchen utensils—it was a light-asset operation, perfectly suited to their current situation.

Zhou Yan said with a smile, "In a few years, when we’ve all made some money, we could even open a banquet restaurant together. I’ll just provide the capital and won’t get involved in the management. You guys can just pay me dividends from the profits."

Xiao Lei thought it over and nodded. "That could work. Opening a restaurant costs a lot of money. We can consider it once we’ve saved up a large sum."

"Sounds good," Zhou Yan said with a smile and a nod.

His Master was a natural leader, but considering the way things were going, hosted banquets were the real endgame.

Perhaps they would still have a chance to work together in the future.

Shining in their own respective fields and then meeting at the top—that was a pretty good thought, too.

Zheng Qiang just grinned foolishly beside them. In any case, he had no objections.

’He had already realized that both Xiao Lei and Zhou Yan were much smarter than him.

He didn’t need to overthink things; he just had to do his job well.

He’d earned four hundred yuan in his first month doing outdoor banquets—that was equal to half a year’s salary at Rongcheng Restaurant.

This month, back at home, he didn’t even have to empty his own basin of foot-washing water.

His status in the family had shot up. He was finally the one on top.’

"Master, what’s the deal with Old Huang’s son?" Zhou Yan asked casually. He remembered Old Huang sounding quite pained when he mentioned him earlier.

"Huang Erwa? He used to be a soldier, in a vanguard unit during the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam. He was the only one from his squad who came back. Something’s not right with him mentally. He’s too scared to sleep at night without the lights on, and during the day, he can only sleep for a bit if the doors and windows are open. He can’t live a normal life at all," Xiao Lei sighed.

"He was such a sunny, cheerful kid growing up. Now, he might not even greet me when he sees me. They say it’s some kind of... post-war traumatic stress syndrome. I don’t really get it."

"So that’s how it is..." Zhou Yan fell silent upon hearing this.

The situation was similar to his own younger uncle’s experience, though his uncle’s condition was slightly better. His stress reactions weren’t as intense, and he had managed to adjust on his own. Now, after starting work at the local armed forces department, he seemed to be doing even better, with all his old energy and spirit back.

Xiao Lei shook his head, a look of pity on his face. "Old Huang hasn’t had it easy. One daughter, two sons. The older son died young, and now Erwa is like this. He and his wife just grow some greens to make pickled mustard, and they weave a few baskets to sell for money. They still don’t make much in a year.

Luckily, his son gets a veteran’s pension. Even after the old couple passes away, the state will at least provide for him, so he won’t starve.

The pickled mustard Old Huang makes is genuinely good. If you need any in the future, just go buy from him directly. It’d be a way to help them out a bit."

"Got it," Zhou Yan nodded. It would be hard to find a second source for pickled mustard of this quality in Jiazhou.

"It’s a shame, though. There’s no one to inherit his craft. I’m afraid it will be lost. Once Old Huang is gone, we might have to go all the way to Yibin to buy pickled mustard," Xiao Lei said, a hint of melancholy in his voice as he spoke of it.

"Doesn’t he have a daughter?" Zhou Yan asked.

Xiao Lei said with a sigh of resignation, "His daughter learned the craft, all right. But she married a man from Yibin and moved back there, taking the craft right back to its hometown."

Zhou Yan: "..."

Sometimes, when you’re truly speechless, all you can do is laugh.

The three of them chatted idly all the way back to Suji, where they parted ways at the Stone Bridge Head.

"You bought so many dried goods!" Mrs. Zhao and the others came forward to help unload. Seeing the large bag of pickled mustard, she was a little surprised. "What are you going to do with such a huge bag of pickled mustard?"

Zhou Yan smiled and explained, "I’m planning to make Salted Burnt White, and I want to try making Twice-Cooked Pork with pickled mustard."