Chapter 329: Chapter 171 Small Restaurant_2
Those who brought their own dry food couldn’t bring their own hot water, so they had to go to the Earth God Temple to ask for water to drink. Therefore, their breakfast stall had to sell hot soup.
"Just use big bones to stew radishes, or big bones to stew pickled vegetables," Lian Manman shared her idea that had long been on her mind. In fact, when she first mentioned this to Xiao Tanzhi, her initial thought was to open a stall selling soup and porridge, providing hot soup and porridge to those who brought their own dry food.
The idea of opening a breakfast stall came to her later and gradually took shape. Since they were selling soup and porridge, why not sell staple food as well.
"I was thinking, let’s sell the soup a little cheaper, so even if they don’t buy our steamed buns, just the soup, we’ll still sell it to them," said Lian Manman. This way, they could gradually attract customers over and boost the business in the store.
"Our Manman really has a sharp mind. Let’s do it that way," Lian Shouxin said happily.
"So how much are we planning to sell the steamed buns and soup for?" Lady Zhang raised a new question.
The Lian Family’s own Sanhe flour steamed buns were made in a three-to-one ratio, that is, three parts of millet flour and mixed bean flour, mixed with one part of wheat flour. In the town’s grain store, wheat flour cost eight wen money per catty, while millet flour and mixed bean flour were relatively cheaper, also costing four wen money per catty. Three catties of millet flour/mixed bean flour combined with one catty of wheat flour cost a total of twenty wen money. This added up to four catties of flour.
According to Lady Zhang, out of four catties of flour, you could at least steam about six and a half catties of steamed buns. With steamed buns made according to Lady Zhang’s methods, two taels each, and each bun selling for one wen money, then the four catties of flour could roughly earn thirteen wen money.
As for the soup, a big bone and a white radish could be used to stew a large pot of soup. The big bone could be used for multiple stews. Served in a large ocean bowl, each bowl of soup would also be sold for one wen money. This way, after selling a pot of soup and deducting the cost of the big bone, radish, and firewood, they would also make a profit of over ten wen money.
The big bone pickled vegetable soup would be the same.
"We’ll also sell a pot of porridge every day, also for one wen money per bowl," Lian Manman calculated further. A bowl of porridge for one wen money was essentially selling a hot serving and the water content. Once the cost was accurately calculated, a pot could also yield a profit of ten wen money.
Lian Manman lamented in her heart that earning just a few wen money like this was far from any windfall profits. Running a small business was tough. They were earning their living and making money through hard work.
The family huddled together, going over the calculations for a while. Steaming buns, cooking soup, and porridge—these were all tasks they were accustomed to on a daily basis. As for opening this breakfast stall, they were capable of doing it, and they were content with the profit, no, they were actually delighted.
So it was settled.
"Dad, Mom, there’s one more thing," Lian Manman paused, then spoke up again..
"What else? Go ahead," Lady Zhang said.
"Besides the Sanhe flour steamed buns and soup porridge, how about we sell a basket of baozi every day?" Lian Manman suggested.
"Sell baozi?"
"Mom, do you remember in the autumn when Grandma and Grandpa came to see us, everyone praised our baozi as delicious. Mom, you also said they tasted better than Chen’s meatball baozi, didn’t you?" Lian Manman said.
"I remember," Lady Zhang nodded, "Manman, are you suggesting we sell those soup-filled buns?"
"Right," Lian Manman nodded. The term "soup-filled buns" was something she had introduced to Lady Zhang.
The food items discussed earlier were affordable, targeting the second category of customers. As for the first category, at least for the moment, Lian Manman did not believe they had the strength to compete with the old shops in town that had been established for many years. However, they had an advantage: their location was better, closer to the Daqian Mountain where the construction was taking place.
Thus, the first category of customers, passing by their place every day, could also become potential clients. Lian Manman believed the soup-filled buns she made were competitive.
"We’ll sell these soup-filled buns for the same price as Chen’s meatball baozi, two wen money each," Lian Manman said. Crunching the numbers, her family’s soup-filled buns were just an extra step of adding aspic, not costing more than Chen’s meatball baozi. Selling at the same price, if they tasted better than Chen’s, they could both attract customers and make money.
The profit from the soup-filled baozi was higher than that from the Sanhe flour steamed buns, the big bone soup, and the porridge.
However, building a reputation and attracting a large number of diners would take time, so Lian Manman initially planned only to make a basket of such baozi.
The family discussed it again and unanimously approved Lian Manman’s suggestion.
"When should we open our breakfast stall?" Lian Shouxin asked.
"The sooner, the better, we should open it tomorrow," Xiao Qi said. As far as he was concerned, opening a day earlier meant earning money a day earlier.
"Opening a breakfast stall isn’t the same as our Pickled Vegetable Workshop. We need to consult someone to calculate a good day for opening, to choose an auspicious day," Lian Shouxin said.
Lian Manman also wanted the breakfast stall to open sooner, but she understood that not only in this era, even in her previous life, the opening of shops was considered to select an auspicious day.
"Opening tomorrow is too rushed, we still have a lot to buy," said Lian Manman. For example, they needed to go to town to order the required pig bones and pork from Butcher Zhang every day, they also needed to buy rice and flour from the grain store, and they had some pickled vegetables and cabbages at home, so there was no need to buy those for now.
"...and we need to prepare tables, benches, bowls, and chopsticks for the store," Lian Manman said, "and we also need to decide where to open the store..."
Locations around the Earth God Temple were the best, but there were no suitable houses nearby. Building a house for the store would take too long.
"Rice and flour do need to be purchased," Lian Shouxin’s face broke into a smile, "Didn’t your mother and I just go to the temple to check earlier? We’ve already chosen the house for opening the store."
"...You’re a guest in my house, so you should let me do it," Lian Yeye’s voice resonated in the courtyard.
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