Return to the small mountain village in 1986

After returning to the village to celebrate Grandma Gao’s unique birthday, Gao Mingcheng then focused on his business.

I almost don't have to worry about the clothing store. I just need to go to Yangcheng to purchase goods every two months, and check the account books from time to time to get the payment.

The kindergarten is developing well. The teachers' teaching experience points are increasing rapidly, and the children are happy every day.

Although there is only one employee, Song Jinzhang, at the counter selling Subor game consoles, she is worth two people and has pretty good business skills.

In their county, at least 10% of the people have color TVs, and about 40% of the people have black-and-white TVs. In this case, people from wealthy families are quick to accept new things. Although the Subor game console is expensive, it sells well every day, which is not bad.

For Song Jinzhang, selling goods is not difficult, but the difficult part is watching the people who come to the store to play games for free!

Some people didn't have enough fun and wanted to continue playing, so they bullied Song Jinzhang because she was a woman. When Song Jinzhang shouted at them to stop, they pretended not to hear and continued playing.

But Song Jinzhang is not someone who can be easily bullied. She is considered a local boss in this department store. After her kind words didn't work, Song Jinzhang only needed to shout and several people would rush over, hold down the person who was forcibly playing the game console, and then drive him away.

So asking her to come here to look after the store really makes Gao Mingcheng less worried.

Although the shop near the county party committee is not big, Gao Mingcheng plans to decorate it in a more Western style, and even the signboard is Western-style, using English instead of a Chinese name - Cheers.

Cheers means toast, and also means happy cooperation. Gao Mingcheng, who is not very educated, thought of this word after thinking for a long time. After all, this word is easy to remember. It is often mentioned in later film and television dramas and has become a vivid memory.

Because the store is not big, there are only four tables. The back is the kitchen area, which is separated by a simple partition. The kitchen is prepared to have two freezers and two gas stoves.

Yes, a gas stove, and it’s a built-in gas stove.

As early as the 1980s, people in big cities began to use gas stoves, but in county towns, development was slower, so most people still used coal briquettes stoves, and gas stoves were not popular.

But this time when he was preparing to open a store, Gao Mingcheng went to the relevant market on purpose and asked people about the current market conditions. He learned that although gas stoves were not popular in the county, they were already available, so Gao Mingcheng naturally chose gas stoves.

The traditional coal briquettes stove has a disadvantage, which is that the coal briquettes need to be replaced frequently, and a lot of coal briquettes need to be prepared. However, too many coal briquettes not only take up space, but also look dirty.

A gas stove is much more convenient. It can be used all the time. Even if there is no gas, you can use the gas tank to replace it.

After Gao Mingcheng learned that gas stoves were becoming popular in their county, he wanted to convert the stoves in the kindergarten and home to gas stoves!

The fast food restaurant that Gao Mingcheng was planning to open was a high-end imitation of KFC, with not many dishes, mainly fried chicken, hamburgers and French fries.

There are fewer dishes and fewer preparation processes and management required, which is very suitable for the start-up of a store. If the business is good in the future, you can slowly add some new products.

It is already early December, but Gao Mingcheng is not in a hurry to open the store right away. After finishing the decoration of the store, it needs to be vacant for a while to let the smell dissipate.

This period does not mean that you are idle and doing nothing. Instead, you need to prepare semi-finished products in advance. Cut and marinate the purchased white-feather chickens, and then put them in the refrigerator to freeze. When you open the business, you only need to take out the semi-finished products from the refrigerator and fry them directly in the pan.

French fries also need to be marinated and frozen in advance. If they are not marinated and frozen, the fried French fries will not be so crispy.

As for bread, lettuce, salad dressing, ketchup, etc., they also need to be prepared in advance. Gao Mingcheng did not bake the bread himself. He chose a bakery and prepared to sign a long-term cooperation contract with the other party. In the future, this bakery will prepare bread for hamburgers.

Lettuce is also easy to buy. Just go to the vegetable market every morning to buy the freshest lettuce. In addition, many people in Gaojia Village also planted lettuce in their vegetable fields. Because Gao Mingcheng needed it, in addition to his family's land, Chen Dasong and Zhang Chengyuan's families also planted lettuce. After the people in the old village knew about it, many people also chose to plant lettuce. As for salad dressing and ketchup, they need to go to the provincial capital to buy them. They don't sell them in their small place. Even if they do, the price will be more expensive. So Gao Mingcheng entrusted Xiao Jinfeng's transportation company to buy them. He only needs to pay a shipping fee, which can save trouble and money.

Gao Mingcheng was busy with these miscellaneous things throughout December, and the store clerks had also been hired and trained. There were two clerks in total, one was responsible for working in the kitchen, and the other was responsible for cashiering and serving dishes in the store.

These two shop assistants are also relatives and friends of the police officers he is familiar with. Gao Mingcheng accepts no one from them. As long as they work hard and don't cause any trouble, that's fine!

After all, Gao Guobing is the deputy director and will most likely be promoted to director in the future. These people with connections dare not be lazy in front of Gao Mingcheng.

Things progressed in an orderly manner, and by the end of December, everything was ready.

A car stopped in front of the newly renovated store. Gao Mingcheng got out of the driver's seat, opened the back door, and asked Xuanyuemei and Xiaoxuxu to get out as well.

Manyuemei stood in front of the store and looked up. There were some patterns printed on the brand new sign. In a corner of the sign, there was half a table with fried chicken, hamburgers and French fries on it. There were two hands on the left and right of the table, holding cups and toasting.

The English word "Cheers" is embossed, which makes it particularly eye-catching. There is also a line of words underneath: What other countries have, we have too. Let's Cheers together!

The door is a rolling shutter door, which Gao Mingcheng had painted. There is a cartoon picture of a family having dinner together, which is very interesting.

Gao Mingcheng took out the key and opened the door. With a rattling sound, the rolling shutter door rolled up to the top, revealing the newly renovated store.

Four tables and chairs are placed against the wall. Although the space is not spacious, it does not seem cramped either. Because it is newly renovated, everything looks exceptionally new.

"Duomei, go look around by yourself. I'll move the drinks upstairs first." Gao Mingcheng said, picking up a box of Coke from the truck bed and putting it on the ground. Then he moved another box, and after stacking the two boxes together, he bent down and picked them up, then walked all the way to the second floor.

The area on the first floor is limited, so too many goods cannot be stacked there. Things like beverages, paper cups, and wrapping paper are stored on the second floor.

After moving all the drinks upstairs, they only took up a small space. Gao Mingcheng looked at the empty space on the second floor and thought that if the business was good, he could also arrange four tables and chairs on the second floor.

At this time, Xuanyuemei also came upstairs. She noticed the empty space at first sight, so she asked curiously: "Mingcheng, don't you have tables and chairs upstairs?"

Gao Mingcheng said: "We originally planned to store goods or provide accommodation for employees, but now the two employees are from the county and don't need to live here, so it's left empty. But if business is good, we can buy some tables and chairs later."

Manyu Mei nodded and thought it was okay.

She has confidence in the fried chicken made by Gao Mingcheng, but fried chicken is very expensive and not everyone can afford it.

"By the way, Mingcheng, how many years have you rented this shop?" Xuanyuemei didn't have time to come here before, but after coming here this time, she found that Gao Mingcheng decorated the shop very well, and it was estimated that the decoration cost a lot.

Gao Mingcheng said: "We signed a three-year contract. After three years, we will decide whether to renew the contract or move out depending on the situation. The location of this store is OK, but it's a little small."

A shop of more than 30 square meters is just a small shop and there is no way to make it bigger and stronger.

But Gao Mingcheng did not rent a big store at the beginning because the consumption level in the small county town was low. Although foreign fast food was new and affordable, not many people could come to eat it all the time.

Unlike the KFC in the capital, the boss there was so generous that he signed a ten-year rental contract in one go! (End of this chapter)