Rebirth: Starting from the Cafeteria

"Okay, everyone, hurry up and get to work. We need to make the [Spicy Chicken] before noon."

After everyone left, Du Shaojie told everyone to do what they were supposed to do, as it was just a misunderstanding in the first place.

Almost an hour later, Su Dapeng rushed over. Du Shaojie was also waiting for him: "Let's go back and talk. This matter is not that simple."

The two then came to Du Shaojie's private kitchen.

"Shaojie, do you think this was caused by our competitors?"

"It's possible that it was them, but the question is how did they know about the cafeteria at the medical school? Not to mention them, even our salesperson doesn't know the exact address. They only know the phone number."

What Du Shaojie said was right. The [Dezhou Braised Chicken] of several stores were all delivered from the canteen of the medical school. If the salesperson had any questions, they would just call at most. They had never come here.

He had asked those six people before, and they all said that they had not told anyone else.

Of course, it is also possible that the residents nearby noticed this place, after all, they have to go out to deliver goods every day. However, because the food must be kept clean and hygienic, it is impossible to expose the roast chicken to the air during transportation, so this possibility is not great.

"Fuck, is there anyone following our delivery vehicle?"

Su Dapeng suddenly thought of a possibility and couldn't help but curse.

Du Shaojie also thinks this is the most likely possibility. After all, who would report something for no reason? Only people with conflicts of interest would do so.

"Dapeng, let's not even think about solving the case. It's meaningless. Anyway, this is most likely done by a competitor, so our best counterattack is to defeat the competitor."

Du Shaojie had an idea and planned to come up with the "second generation" formula before the Spring Festival to crush all competitors in terms of quality.

The new formula has to be used before it even warms up to the touch, but it's worth it. This is a dimensionality reduction blow to competitors.

Otherwise, why are "secret recipes" valuable? Because "secret recipes" represent technical barriers that are difficult for ordinary people to overcome.

As the Spring Festival approaches, all kinds of goods on the market have entered the peak sales season.

The sales of several [Dezhou Braised Chicken] restaurants increased by more than 6% compared to usual. The six production staff of the medical school cafeteria were very busy, and Su Dapeng personally delivered goods to each store.

The spices for the [Dezhou Braised Chicken] that Du Shaojie fried after returning were consumed rapidly. The estimated two months' usage was used up in just one month.

He said hello to Su Dapeng, and the next batch will be the "Second Generation [Dezhou Braised Chicken]" spice.

At this time, the Lihua Street market was crowded with people, which brought countless business opportunities to various businesses. The business of [Dezhou Braised Chicken] Lihua Street store was so hot that there was a long queue.

There are seven or eight similar shops nearby. The owner of one of them is a woman in her 30s named Wan Fang.

Wan Fang had no job before, and she started her own business taking advantage of the reform and opening up.

She had run other small businesses before but didn’t make much money. By chance, she discovered that Dezhou Braised Chicken was selling well. After paying some money, she learned the production plan from an old man.

But the recipe the old man gave was really ordinary, which resulted in the [Dezhou Braised Chicken] sold by Wan Fang also tasting ordinary.

The quality was inferior, so they could only maintain their sales by lowering prices. Wan Fang was so angry that she took the opportunity to follow the delivery tricycle and found out the location of the medical school canteen.

Then, she reported it anonymously, thinking, if she could just take down the store with the best business, wouldn’t she have a chance?
But after waiting for a long time, there was no movement at the medical school cafeteria. Instead, the business of the Lihua Street store of [Du's Dezhou Braised Chicken] was getting better and better, and it was sold out recently.

"Come, take a look at this authentic [Dezhou Braised Chicken], it's on sale at a great discount."

Wan Fang spat in the direction of the long queue, then turned on the loudspeaker in her hand and began to work hard to attract customers.

You know what, her shouting really attracted some customers.

There were always people who wanted to get a bargain, and there were also people who were too lazy to queue up and patronized her business. Wan Fang forced a smile on her face, put down the megaphone and started to greet customers.

Other similar shops followed suit, shouting out their customers’ requests one after another. Soon, the number of people lining up in front of the Lihua Street store of Du’s Dezhou Braised Chicken decreased.

Of course, old customers who are particular about taste will not be attracted away. They eat for the taste and will not covet that little bit of cheapness.

After two days, Wan Fang found that no matter how hard she tried to attract customers, the number of customers was decreasing. However, the business of the [Dushi Dezhou Braised Chicken] Lihua Street store was booming, and long queues became a common sight on the street.

The "upgraded version" of [Du's Dezhou Braised Chicken] was launched in 6 stores at the same time. Its better taste and better mouthfeel attracted many repeat customers. Word of mouth spread, and finally a sales peak was formed on the eve of the Spring Festival.

Wan Fang and others' business plummeted, and their plan to make a fortune during the New Year fell through.

Su Dapeng couldn't stop smiling. Wang Yuxiu left her two daughters at home and went out early and came back late every day, enjoying it very much.

Du Shaojie couldn't stay at home, so he asked Xiaomei and Xiaoya to go to a private restaurant for lunch every day, and sometimes he would bring Liang Meiqin with him. Xiaoya was so happy, after all, she had delicious food every day, and she wished her mother was busy outside and didn't come back to cook.

As the New Year approached, Qi Yan returned from abroad.

Du Shaojie has been very busy recently, and he disappeared after meeting the other party.

Qi Yan went to look for Xiaomei and Xiaoya at noon several times, but no one was at home. She then went to look for Liang Meiqin, but Liang Meiqin was not there either. Liang's mother said that Meiqin and Xiaomei had gone out together.

She then realized that someone was a little reluctant to talk to her because she didn't come back for the winter vacation.

Du Shaojie is busy in the kitchen of a private restaurant. Not only has the business not been affected before the New Year, but it has been full every day.

Xiaomei, Xiaoya and Liang Meiqin were chatting in Du Shaojie's office. They would have lunch together after the other party finished their work. Xiaoya bet with them that she would definitely have a big meal at noon today.

"Manager Du, someone is looking for you outside. She said her name is Qi Yan."

Du Shaojie had prepared a banquet before, and was now preparing lunch for himself and others.

There were three dishes in total, [Stir-fried Lamb with Green Onions], [Stir-fried Chinese Cabbage] and [Sour Fish]. As the last dish was just coming out of the pot, Xiao Jianjun told him that Qi Yan was here.

Du Shaojie nodded, tidied up a bit, and then asked someone to deliver the cooked dishes and rice to the office.

When he came out of the kitchen, he saw Qi Yan, who looked aggrieved.

"Yanzi, you haven't eaten yet? Let's go upstairs and eat together."

Du Shaojie looked at Qi Yan with a smile and pulled her to the office upstairs.

Qi Yan was so angry that her teeth were itching, but she didn't dare to lose her temper. After all, it was because she came back so late because she wanted to play, and there was no reason to blame others for ignoring her.

When I entered the room, I saw Xiaomei, Xiaoya and Liang Meiqin were all there.

"Sister Yan Zi."

"Swallow, come and sit down."

Xiaoya jumped up and came close to Qi Yan. Xiaomei and Liang Meiqi greeted her with a smile, and she felt better.

At this time, Zhang Yufei brought the food over and thoughtfully placed a folding table in the room.

"Come on, let's eat first. Are you all hungry?"

Du Shaojie asked everyone to sit down and eat. Qi Yan, who was originally full of grievances, was soon conquered by the [Sour Cabbage Fish]. The more she ate, the happier she became, and a satisfied smile appeared on her face.

But when I thought about how there were so many delicious dishes and no one called me, I couldn't help feeling a little resentful.

She had figured it out. Although Du Shaojie was usually very nice to her, once she provoked him, he would not tolerate her.

After dinner, everyone felt embarrassed to disturb Du Shaojie.

Qi Yan took the initiative to offer to send Liang Meiqin back. Xiaomei looked at her brother meaningfully, then pulled Xiaoya and left the private restaurant with them.

"It's still good to be young, and everyone is full of energy. Manager Du, how are you going to arrange the Spring Festival holiday?"

Du Shaojie had someone clean up the office, and Zhong Fuxiang came over to discuss the New Year holiday with him.

He thought for a moment and said, "We will be on holiday from noon on New Year's Eve, and will go to work as normal on the fifth day of the first lunar month."

On New Year's Eve, the private restaurant and the [Big Plate Chicken] specialty store mainly cleaned up, and then they could close the door and go home. The two branches of the snack bar also needed to sell some steamed buns, dumplings, etc., and they also had to make some spicy chicken, which was sure to attract buyers.

Du Shaojie then took a look around and informed about the Spring Festival holiday arrangements.

His holiday time doesn't have to be consistent with that of the bureau. Anyway, what he says is final.

Su Dapeng had a day off at 4:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve. All the [Dezhou Braised Chicken] on that day were booked in advance, and the sales volume was twice as much as usual. He and Wang Yuxiu both went to the store to help and were very busy.

Du Shaojie went around in the morning and gave red envelopes to all employees, 50 yuan per person, everyone got one.

This is not a year-end bonus, which has been issued long ago. This is just a small token of his personal appreciation. The money is not much, but the employees are very happy and wish him a happy new year.

When he returned home, Xiaomei and Xiaoya had already started preparing ingredients for dinner. The two sisters knew what needed to be cleaned and what needed to be taken out and thawed in advance.

Du Shaojie was deeply moved when he saw this scene.

His two younger sisters have really grown up, from little kids who always stick to him all day long to graceful young ladies.

As requested by everyone, we had hot pot in the evening. However, we still had to stir-fry some dishes, including whole chicken and fish, and even if it was just symbolic, we had 6 dishes.

After dinner, I still have to make dumplings. Fortunately, I have a natural refrigerator, so I don’t have to worry about the food going bad even if I cook too much.

"Xiaoya, here are two [Texas Braised Chicken], send them to your sister Yanzi and sister Meiqin, and also send a box of this eight-treasure rice to each of them."

Du Shaojie sent an upgraded version of [Dezhou Braised Chicken] to Feng Qingsong, Liu Ying and others in the first two days. Today he brought a few back to add a dish to the New Year's Eve dinner for himself and others.

As for the Eight Treasure Rice Pudding, it is made by the second branch. The sales have been particularly good in the past few days, so he also brought back a few boxes for everyone to try.

The three siblings had a quick lunch at noon, and then they were busy until six in the afternoon, but Wang Yuxiu hadn't come back yet. Du Shaojie was a little worried, so he rode his bicycle out and saw Wang Yuxiu and Su Dapeng not far away. (End of this chapter)