Chapter 56: Chapter 50: I Am Shu Dao Mountain
All the customers had left, and Zhao Hong had gone home too.
Inside the empty restaurant, Comrade Zhou was sweeping the floor.
Mrs. Zhao leaned against the doorframe, rubbing her lower back. She hadn’t felt it while she was busy, but now that she was resting, her back felt a little sore.
"Mama, sit down. Momo will give you a massage." Zhou Momo brought over a small stool, had her sit down, and started gently tapping her back with her little fists.
"Does that feel good?"
"Mhm, my little girl is so capable. You even know how to give your mama a back rub." Zhao Tieying nodded with a wide smile. "It feels great."
Hearing that, Zhou Momo put more effort into her massage.
Zhou Yan quickly stir-fried a vegetable dish and some Shredded Beef with Double Peppers, then heated up the leftover beef intestines and tendon. That was dinner.
He had intentionally saved about three liang of sirloin tip. The customers had eaten their fill, but he couldn’t neglect his own family, right?
"So many customers wanted to order the Shredded Beef with Double Peppers. Why did you hide a portion, you rascal?" Mrs. Zhao said with a mock-annoyed laugh as she watched Zhou Yan bring the dish out from the kitchen.
"The customers want to eat, but we have to eat too," Zhou Yan said with a smile. "We earn money to live better lives, and eating well is a very important part of that."
"We could have just stir-fried a simple vegetable dish and heated up the soup. You’re being too picky," Mrs. Zhao said, standing up and leading Zhou Momo over to the table.
"How could we do that? Momo is still growing, and you work so hard every day. We definitely need to eat well." Zhou Miao came over after washing his hands. "I think Zhou Yan is right."
"Alright, alright. I’ll listen to you two," Zhao Tieying nodded.
"Alright, alright. I’ll listen to you two," Zhou Momo chimed in, mimicking them in her child-like voice.
Everyone laughed.
Each of them filled a bowl with rice and began to eat.
"I can’t believe business was this good on the first day. The two directors were a huge help," Zhao Tieying remarked halfway through her meal. "That Vice Director Lin is truly our benefactor. He’s helped us find new customers time and time again."
"Yeah, we have to thank him properly when we get the chance," Zhou Yan nodded. Today, Lin had brought Director Wang to eat, clearly intending to promote and introduce him. This surprised Zhou Yan, but also moved him.
They weren’t related in any way. For the debt of saving Xia Yao’s life, they had already given him more than enough. He didn’t feel like they still owed him any favors.
"Should we send him something? It doesn’t feel right to keep being in his debt," Zhao Tieying asked, looking at Zhou Yan.
"Next time, let’s just pack some pickled radishes for him. His two sons seemed to really like them. He probably wouldn’t accept anything else," Zhou Yan said with a smile. "Don’t worry, there’s plenty of time. We can repay him in the future. Favors are meant to be exchanged; that’s what builds relationships."
"Okay," Zhao Tieying nodded, thinking that what Zhou Yan said made sense.
"Dad, tomorrow I need 12 jin of beef brisket and 17 jin of sirloin tip. If you don’t have enough sirloin tip, I already spoke with Fei. He said he’ll save some for me..." Zhou Yan placed his order for beef and offal with Comrade Zhou.
"Ordering that much?" Zhao Tieying was a little surprised.
"Word of what happened today is sure to spread through the textile factory tomorrow. We’ve made a name for ourselves. We need to seize this opportunity and snatch all the stir-fry customers from the factory canteen in one fell swoop," Zhou Yan said with a smile.
’He figured Wang Defa must be furious right now, probably plotting some kind of mischief.’
’But it didn’t matter. Thanks to Lin Zhiqiang’s introduction, he had already connected with Wang Hongliang. From now on, they could learn from each other—they were dining buddies.’
Zhou Yan could tell that Wang Hongliang genuinely loved to cook and truly approved of his dishes. A relationship like that wouldn’t be draining to maintain.
"Okay, we’ll listen to you," Mrs. Zhao said with a smiling nod.
Even the director said Zhou Yan could be a good boss, so he definitely could. She had always believed that.
Zhou Momo mixed the shredded beef into her rice and devoured three bowls, followed by a bowl of soup, before she set down her chopsticks with a satisfied burp.
Using her special little bowl really gave her a sense of accomplishment when she ate.
"Brother’s cooking is so yummy! I’m all full!" The little one giggled, a small dimple appearing on her chubby cheeks. Her eyes curved into crescents, and two grains of rice stuck to the side of her mouth. She was adorable and heartwarming.
"Good girl," Zhou Yan reached out and plucked the rice grains from the corner of her mouth.
Zhou Momo scooted closer to him and asked, full of curiosity, "Brother, my little brother asked me, why does the beef have to kneel? Do cows get tired too?"
Zhou Yan couldn’t help but laugh. He nodded with a smile and said, "Mhm, cows stand all day, so of course they get tired. They like to put their feet up and rest when they have time."
"Oh, I get it now!" Zhou Momo nodded thoughtfully.
Mrs. Zhao and Comrade Zhou laughed too.
The little one was truly the family’s source of joy.
Zhou Momo slid off her stool, carefully placing her left foot on the ground first, and only putting her right foot down after her toes touched the floor. She walked over to Zhou Yan and took his hand. "Brother~ Take me out to play. I want to go on the slide."
"It’s almost dark out! What slide? You can play tomorrow morning when you come back!" Comrade Zhao Tieying delivered her divine decree.
"Nooo, I wanna play, just for a little while..." Zhou Momo whined, shaking Zhou Yan’s hand.
"I am the Shu Dao Mountain! One, two..."
"Okay, okay, we’ll play tomorrow then..." Zhou Momo pouted, but ultimately gave in.
Zhou Yan smiled without a word, afraid of drawing the fire onto himself.
Mrs. Zhao wasn’t a killjoy, but she didn’t spoil Zhou Momo in every single thing.
It would be completely dark soon, and riding the bike home wouldn’t be safe or convenient.
’Kids, you know. They cry a little whether there’s a prize or not, just on the off chance you’ll give in.’
Zhou Momo wasn’t a stubborn child. The ones who threw tantrums and rolled all over the floor were the real headache.
Zhou Yan volunteered to do the dishes. As he was seeing his family out, he noticed a tricycle rickshaw parked at the stall across the street. Zhou Liangliang and his wife were loading things onto it with dejected expressions.
"When others take a dump, you hand them the toilet paper. When others eat, you lick the plate. You set up a decent-looking stall, only to have it fail in a single day. That’s record speed," Mrs. Zhao said with a broad grin.
Zhou Liangliang and Wu Guihua’s faces darkened even more. They wished the ground would open up and swallow them.
Zhou Miao pedaled away with his wife and daughter, a smile on his face as well.
’When it came to destructive power, Mrs. Zhao’s passive-aggressive sarcasm always landed a critical hit.’
After locking the door, he went for a run along the river embankment, only returning after he had worked up a good sweat.
The stall space by the entrance was empty again, back to how it was before, with only two piles of stove ash left behind.
The couple had come in a hurry and left in a hurry.
’Actually, Zhou Yan rather admired their drive.’
’They saw a business opportunity at the textile factory gate and immediately moved their stall over, even adding noodles to the menu.’
’When they found out the money wasn’t easy to make and they could barely even open for business, they packed up and left overnight.’
’That kind of initiative put them ahead of ninety percent of people. It’s just that their judgment was a bit poor, their brains were a bit lacking, and their approach to business was far too naive.’
After a quick shower, Zhou Yan went over the accounts.
Today, they had sold eighty bowls of noodles and one hundred bowls of Kneeling Beef. Including the braised and stir-fried dishes, the total revenue was 160.8 yuan.
Their revenue had hit a new high, even more than last Saturday when the group from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute had dined there.
The profit margin on the stir-fried and braised dishes was relatively low, but the Kneeling Beef was highly profitable. The total profit was about 86 yuan, a margin of around fifty percent.
He bundled the small bills into stacks of ten yuan with string and tossed them all into the cash box.
He had already paid back 180 yuan of his debt, leaving 678.52 yuan. He now had 144.24 yuan in cash on hand.
If business tomorrow went as expected, Zhou Yan estimated he could pay off all his external debts this week.
This Sunday was his cousin Zhou Hao’s wedding banquet. The entire Zhou family, young and old, would be gathering with the folks from Zhou Village.
He wanted to clear the debt so that Mrs. Zhao and Comrade Zhou could hold their heads high in front of everyone and truly enjoy the banquet.
Opening this restaurant had caused them to be the subject of a lot of gossip.
Now, the restaurant had been revived and had established a firm foothold thanks to its reputation.
As long as they could gradually eat into the factory canteen’s share of the stir-fry business, their family could have a prosperous New Year.
...
"We must have made at least one-fifty today, and there were still so many customers who couldn’t get what they wanted. People were even fighting to order the two-yuan Huo Xiang Carp. How did business suddenly get so good? I feel like I’m dreaming!" Mrs. Zhao said with a laugh, her arm around Comrade Zhou’s waist.
"It just shows that under your guidance, Zhou Yan has grown up," Zhou Miao said with a smile.
"Mm, you have a point there. He can really stand on his own two feet now." Mrs. Zhao nodded, her smile growing even wider. "You should have heard how the director was praising Zhou Yan today. He even called him Master Zhou! The workers in the shop were stunned when they heard it."
As she spoke, her mood dipped again. She sighed, "That boy must have suffered a lot when he was learning to cook. Otherwise, how could he make such delicious food?"
"He just learned his hardworking spirit from you. You set a good example as his mother," Zhou Miao said with a smile. "It’s good for a boy to endure some hardship. Otherwise, he’ll never amount to anything or get anything done."
"Aiya, how come you’re so good with sweet talk? You barely even open your mouth in front of outsiders," Mrs. Zhao said, playfully patting Zhou Miao’s stomach with a coquettish laugh.
"I only say sweet things for you to hear. I don’t need to bother with other people," Comrade Zhou said with a perfectly straight face.
"Hmph, you’ve got the right idea. Why don’t you go fishing tomorrow?"
"Okay."
...
