Rebirth: Starting from the Cafeteria

[Xichuan Restaurant] closed on the 28th day of the lunar year and reopened on the 8th day of the first lunar month. The old man felt very lonely during such a long period of time.

Du Shaojie observed Zhou Huai'en's words and expressions and quickly understood his psychology.

"Master Zhou, how about you come with me to Xijiang for the New Year? Don't worry, my family is easy to get along with. I'll send you on the plane after the fifth day of the New Year."

He invited Zhou Huai'en to go home with him for the New Year.

Although Zhou Huai'en was a little tempted, he was an old-fashioned person after all, and ultimately rejected Du Shaojie's kindness.

"Master Zhou, I won't be going home for the New Year, we can have New Year's Eve dinner together then."

Yan Dabao was not willing to let go of such a good opportunity and suddenly came over.

Yu Jianxin also followed suit and said, "Master Zhou, I won't go home either. My wife and children will come to Beijing to celebrate the New Year, and we can have fun together."

Zhou Huai'en finally smiled, but the old man would not show his worries. He said, "Let's talk about it later. Actually, I like quietness."

Du Shaojie couldn't help but smile. People often say "old and young, old and young", and the old man is sometimes like a child.

After settling things here, Du Shaojie and Qi Yan flew back to Xijiang.

Neither of them notified their families, took the bus to the city, and went home. There was no other way. It wasn't that he didn't want to send Qi Yan home, but the key point was that her mother didn't like him.

After a few days, Du Shaojie, Xiaomei and Xiaoya returned home one after another.

Wang Yuxiu didn't say it, but she was very happy in her heart. The three brothers and sisters were everything to her. She had no intention of keeping all her children by her side, but being able to be together during the Chinese New Year was better than anything else.

"Mom, what delicious food have you prepared for dinner?"

Du Xiaoya was the last one to arrive home. Just like before, the first thing she thought about after returning home was what to eat.

"What do you want to eat?"

Wang Yuxiu asked back, there were a lot of ingredients in the refrigerator, she could cook whatever she wanted.

Du Xiaoya was still struggling when Du Shaojie walked in from outside.

He went to inspect his business today, visited every store, and was almost busy to the point of having no time to rest.

"Let's go to Xichuan Restaurant tonight. I've already called them."

After several months, the family can finally get together for a meal.

When Xiaomei and Xiaoya graduate, get jobs, get married and start a family, such opportunities will become fewer and fewer. They may not even live in the same city, so it will be difficult to see each other.

Had a meal.

Wang Yuxiu, Xiaomei and Xiaoya went home first, and Du Shaojie met Liu Ziwang in the private room.

"Boss, are you satisfied with today's dishes?"

Liu Ziwang knew very well that the boss came here not only to eat, but also to examine their cooking skills.

"Not bad, totally qualified."

Du Shaojie was very satisfied. It seemed that Liu Ziwang and the others did not slack off and their skills were improving steadily.

Liu Ziwang heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this. The local talent resources cannot compare to those in big cities, and talent cultivation is not easy.

[Xichuan Restaurant] The Xijiang store can achieve its current success thanks to his "teaching, helping and guiding", and fortunately he has been recognized by the boss.

"Boss, if you have time before the New Year, please pass on some of your experience to everyone."

"Okay, I'll find time to give you a few demonstrations."

Du Shaojie chatted with Liu Ziwang for a while and then got up and left.

As the number of restaurants under his name increased, the difficulty of management continued to increase. This was the result of his not rushing to expand, otherwise he would be too busy to handle it even if he died.

He also discovered a problem when he came back this time. For example, the sales of the [Da Pan Ji] specialty store actually decreased. This was actually the result of inadequate management.

With the departure of Dong Jun, Yu Jianxin and others, there are not enough people who can take on the responsibilities in their hometown.

As for the catering service companies that evolved from snack bars, their operations have long entered a stable period, with almost no changes in revenue and profit amounts every month.

The restaurant with the best business is Xichuan Restaurant, which is still developing well.

The next day.

Du Shaojie convened a meeting with the heads of the company and each store.

We asked everyone to report on their work situation, and then determined the year-end bonus based on the performance of each store.

Then it can be distributed. The specific amount will be kept confidential as it would scare others if it were disclosed.

There were quite a lot of things to do before the New Year. In the midst of the busyness, Liang Meiqin and others returned to Xijiang from other places, and the lively Spring Festival arrived as scheduled.

The theme of the Chinese New Year is "eating and drinking", and it is also a good time for relatives and friends to visit each other. Du Shaojie is no exception. During the Spring Festival, he visited Chen Jizhou and others, as well as Liu Ying and others.

At the same time, he also went to Su Dapeng's house, Liang Meiqin's house and Qi Yan's house.

Su Dapeng and others also wished Wang Yuxiu a happy new year. This is an old tradition that has been maintained until now.

"Yanzi, why do I feel that Auntie's attitude towards me is much better this time?"

In a blink of an eye, it was the third day of the first lunar month, and Du Shaojie finally had time to meet Qi Yan alone.

He went to pay New Year's greetings to Qi Yan's parents that day, and Qi's mother in particular was very enthusiastic, which made him a little flattered.

"I told you not to be angry. I told my family that I was going to stay in school, so there's no need for them to be angry with you anymore."

It would have been fine if Qi Yan didn't explain, but once she did, Du Shaojie's nose was almost crooked with anger. After all, Qi's mother still didn't like him.

However, it was a foregone conclusion that her daughter would stay in school and would live in Beijing in the future. Qi's mother believed that Du Shaojie would no longer have any connection with her daughter, so she appeared polite on the surface.

The fifth day of the new year.

night.

Du Shaojie called Qi Yan, Su Dapeng, Huang Tingting and her husband, as well as Xiaomei and Xiaoya to eat hotpot.

Master Zhong’s hotpot restaurant opened on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, and he happened to go there to support it.

"Master Zhong, your business is doing well."

Although it was the first day of business, there were quite a few customers in the store, with the occupancy rate exceeding 7%.

Du Shaojie first went to visit Zhong Fuxiang and chatted with him for a while.

"Okay."

Zhong Fuxiang seemed a little absent-minded, as if something was on his mind.

When Du Shaojie returned to the private room, Qi Yan and others had already ordered the soup base and dishes.

Liang Meiqin didn't come today. She flew back to Guangzhou early in the morning. As the manager of the restaurant, she is busier than the boss.

"Brother, why do I feel that the hot pot doesn't taste as good as before?"

Xiaoya is mischievous all day long. She starts giving suggestions after just a few bites of food.

Du Shaojie felt that the taste of the hot pot had not changed much. It might be because of the New Year holiday, and the ingredients were not that good. As a result, it was discovered by a foodie.

"Eat your meal, you're the only one who talks too much."

Du Shaojie glared at the little sister, Xiaoya smiled and stopped talking about it.

Apart from this incident, the meal was quite enjoyable, mainly because we were able to chat and have something in common.

After the meal, Du Shaojie went to pay the bill but was stopped by Zhong Fuxiang.

"Master Du, this meal is on my table."

"How can I let you treat me? Can you just give people free meals when you run a shop? Stop nagging me. If you do that, I won't come next time."

Du Shaojie was a little unhappy. With the relationship between the two of them, there was really no need to do this. Doing this would only make it seem awkward.

Seeing that the other party's attitude was very firm, Zhong Fuxiang signaled the cashier to collect the money.

"Are you free right now? I have something to tell you."

Zhong Fuxiang hesitated for a long time before he spoke.

Du Shaojie felt something was wrong as soon as he saw the other party today. He nodded, let Qi Yan, Su Dapeng and others go first, and followed Zhong Fuxiang upstairs.

"Master Zhong, what's the matter?"

"Alas, my hot pot restaurant has been targeted! After New Year's Day, a young man came to me and asked to buy my restaurant. As you know, the hot pot restaurant business is not bad, so I refused on the spot.

The other party didn't say anything at the time, just asked me to think about it carefully. I didn't care at the time, but from that day on, my nightmare began."

When Zhong Fuxiang talked about this, he felt so sad.

Since then, his hot pot restaurant has been inspected every now and then, including but not limited to food safety, environmental sanitation, fire hazards, tax audits, etc.

Zhong Fuxiang had suffered a lot, and he had many connections, so he asked people for help. However, when they inquired, they found out that the water was very deep, and they all said they were powerless to help.

He had a hard time before the New Year, and who knows how much trouble will be waiting for him after the New Year.

"It seems that they are determined to take over your hot pot restaurant. Master Zhong, didn't you tell them that you rented this storefront?"

Du Shaojie knew what was going on as soon as he heard it. The young man that Zhong Fuxiang was talking about must be from a prominent family, otherwise he would not be able to mobilize so many resources.

This is a typical case of using power to coerce others. If Zhong Fuxiang refuses to sell the hot pot restaurant, it will eventually have to close down.

But selling a hot pot restaurant is not that simple. If the other party wants to continue to operate at the original location, then the landlord is a hurdle that cannot be avoided. If it is relocated and reopened, wouldn’t it be more cost-effective to poach people than to buy the entire restaurant?

"I said so, but they said the landlord would agree to it."

The hotpot restaurant is a golden goose that lays eggs for Zhong Fuxiang, and it has brought him considerable profits in the past two years.

Of course he didn't want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, but he couldn't beat them.

That's why he asked Du Shaojie for help.

"Master Zhong, I may not be able to help you much, but one thing is for sure, even if you quit, I will not rent this building to anyone."

Du Shaojie did not take on too much, so he might not be able to handle the matter.

Two days later, he invited Liu Ying, Lu Yimin, Jiang Cheng and others to dinner, and specifically inquired about the young man's background.

"You had a conflict with him? He's someone's youngest son, and he doesn't follow the rules. Try not to provoke him if you can. Of course, if he takes the initiative to cause trouble for you, we can still block it for you."

Liu Ying and others don't have a good relationship with the second steward, but they usually don't interfere with each other and no one is willing to take the initiative to cause trouble.

But if that young man took the initiative to cause trouble for Du Shaojie, they would not sit idly by.

"Thank you, everyone! I have no conflicts with him for now, but it's hard to say what will happen in the future. He took a fancy to my friend's hot pot restaurant and forced him to sell it."

Du Shaojie spoke the story in a leisurely manner, briefly explaining the whole story. (End of this chapter)