In the restaurant industry, compared to dishes, beverages are the main profit drivers. As a restaurant owner, Lin Xu naturally wanted to increase his store's profits through beverages. Moreover, Chili Oil could stimulate customers to drink more. So that morning, he was eager to find a beverage supplier. But he couldn't find any relevant contact information online, nor could he find anyone in that line of business. He was planning to continue his search in the afternoon, but unexpectedly, Panda had already found one for him.
Lin Xu said to Ou Hua, "I'm the owner here. Thank you for making the delivery."
With Panda's introduction, the cooperation between the two parties went smoothly. Ou Hua brought two deluxe refrigerated display cases, collecting a token deposit of 600 yuan for each. After the beverage coolers were installed, he personally calibrated them. Confirming there were no issues, he quickly unpacked the beverages and began to neatly arrange them in the coolers. High-profit drinks were placed in prominent positions, while low-profit ones were kept lower down. In addition to other beverages, Ou Hua also neatly arranged two rows of beer at the very bottom of the beverage coolers. This way, customers had more choices.
Then, he helped Lin Xu attach price tags to each beverage, making it convenient for customers to choose and saving Lin Xu the trouble of memorizing each price.
After everything was settled, Ou Hua and Lin Xu signed an exclusive supply agreement. The agreement specified that Lin Ji's Food must source its supplies from Ou Hua, and it also listed tiered rebate details. The more beverages Lin Xu sold, the larger the rebate he earned. This was an agreement beneficial to both sides.
After signing, Lin Xu paid the deposit for the beverage coolers and the payment for the goods. The payment for the goods was 1,000 yuan, and the deposit for the two beverage coolers was 1,200 yuan.
"Our company only collects a token deposit. As long as you sell plenty of beverages, I'll return this deposit to you directly. We don't make money from this." After speaking, Ou Hua took his staff and left.
Lin Xu then got busy again. Dishes needed to be washed and sterilized, tables and chairs rearranged, and the kitchen cleaned and organized. After a flurry of activity, he wiped the sweat from his face. He took a bottle of Coke from a beverage cooler, twisted it open, and checked the day's sales figures while drinking.
At lunchtime today, the store sold a total of 162 bowls of Tomato Egg Noodles. The total revenue was 4,460 yuan. After deducting the 2,200 yuan paid to Ou Hua, the day's turnover still reached 2,260 yuan. This was a great start.
In terms of quest progress, 47 repeat customers had come at lunchtime. By the afternoon, he should be able to complete the "[Guests Galore]" quest. This was because the customers from lunchtime would become new repeat customers once they visited again. Once the quest was completed, he would earn a chance in a lucky draw for a Perfect Level hand-rolled noodle topping. This would greatly improve the limited variety of flavors for the store's hand-rolled noodles. Although the taste of the Tomato Egg Noodles was beyond reproach, even the most delicious food becomes tiresome if eaten daily. Therefore, adding new flavors became imperative.
After taking inventory, Lin Xu felt that every aspect of the store was developing positively. With such supportive customers, the future of Lin Ji's Food was bound to get even better.
After finishing his Coke, Lin Xu dived back into work. The chicken oil he had quickly prepared yesterday afternoon was almost used up, so he needed to replenish it quickly. The Chili Oil made in the morning would be finished after another two meal services, so he needed to make more. He also had to go to the market to buy more eggs and tomatoes. If he sold 162 bowls this morning, then the afternoon sales would surely be higher, not lower. This was because the dinner service was longer, and there were generally more diners in the evening. In modern society, everyone is under significant work stress. Many people skipped breakfast, made do with takeout for lunch, and looked forward to a good meal in the evening. Therefore, he needed to prepare more for dinner. Lin Xu planned to prepare for 200 bowls.
Although this was a bit risky, he decided to go for it. A little gamble could lead to a big win. For the new life he eagerly anticipated, it was worth the effort.
At 5 PM, dinner time arrived, and Lin Ji's Food switched to its dinner service.
"Boss! Hurry, hurry! Cook the noodles, we're just a hair's breadth away from starvation!"
He had just placed the digital blackboard with menu prices outside when Li Qiang and his group hurriedly pushed open the door and walked in.
"Damn, the takeout I had for lunch today was terrible; even the rice was leftover from yesterday! I've been looking forward to this meal all day."
Lin Xu greeted them with a smile and started rolling out the dough.
While he was busy in the kitchen, Li Qiang pulled out his phone, scanned the payment QR code, and paid 212 yuan. This was the meal cost for the four of them. Each person ordered both a large and a small bowl, which was more than enough to satisfy them.
After paying, Li Qiang finally noticed that the restaurant now offered beverages. He picked four of the colder Cokes and, based on the prices in the beverage cooler, scanned and paid an additional 16 yuan.
After returning to his seat, he exclaimed loudly, "Wow! They have Chili Oil now? I've got to try this!"
In just one day, the store had not only added a beverage cooler but also Chili Oil. Lin Ji's Food was truly starting to shape up. As one of the first customers, Li Qiang felt a sense of pride.
Today at noon, while eating his infuriating takeout at the company, he had accidentally seen Lin Ji's Food's Empty Bowl Challenge. He impulsively dumped the remaining half of his rice and dish into the trash can, took a photo of the empty container, and posted an update: "As the shop's first customer, even though I didn't get to eat #LinJi'sFood's Tomato Egg Noodles today, I still have to participate in the Empty Bowl Challenge. After all, I'm a 'Lin Ji Boy'!"
Soon, the noodles arrived.
Li Qiang said to Lin Xu, "Go ahead and start the next bowls; we're planning to eat one after another today. Oh, and don't clear the empty bowls yet. We need to take a video and post it after we finish."
Couldn't they take a picture when the food is first served? Posting photos of empty bowls everywhere... People who don't know any better might think I'm selling empty plates here.
Back in the kitchen, Lin Xu got busy again.
Before long, Li Qiang's colleagues had all arrived. There were even more of them than yesterday, probably persuaded by their coworkers.
"Boss, I want a large bowl of Tomato Egg Noodles and a bottle of Pineapple Beer!"
"Three large bowls of noodles, three bottles of Fanta!"
"One large and one small, a bottle of mineral water!"
"Two large bowls, one small bowl, and two bowls of noodle soup!"
"..."
Lin Xu took down the orders one by one. He picked up the rolling pin and started rolling out more dough.
At 6 PM, the shop was once again packed with customers. There were customers from last night, from the morning, and those attracted by the Empty Bowl Challenge they'd seen on social media. Everyone was bustling about, queuing up, waiting to taste the Tomato Egg Noodles that were claimed to be so good they could even tempt those with anorexia.
In the kitchen, Lin Xu had just dropped a batch of noodles into the pot when the system notification sounded in his mind: "Returning customers reached 100. Sub-mission [Guests Galore] officially completed. Reward: One Perfect Level hand-rolled noodle topping lucky draw. Would you like to draw now?"