One by one, the signs hanging on the wall were taken down. When the braised pork ribs were finally removed, Aunt Zhao announced that all the dishes for the day were sold out. The later customers sighed and had to find another place to eat.
All the dishes Zhou Yan had prepared for the day were sold out, including the twenty crucian carp that Boss Gao had brought later.
There were some scraps left over from the cross-legged beef and the fish Old Zhou had "caught" was made into crucian carp with perilla leaves. He also stir-fried some cabbage with lard—that was their dinner.
"Business was really good today. All the dishes we prepared were sold out, and the customers all said it was delicious." Aunt Zhao said happily, scooping a spoonful of beef offal and beef tendon into Zhou Momo's bowl.
"We've been open for over three months, and we've never seen so many customers." Zhou Miao remarked with some emotion.
Just half a month ago, they would never have imagined their restaurant would be so popular.
Back then, the shop barely saw a single customer a day. Zhou Yan sat at the door everyday, frowning and irritable, easily exploding at the slightest provocation. Even Zhou Momo was afraid to approach him.
Now, business is booming, and the young man is back to his old self, cheerful and talkative. The atmosphere at home has improved.
"Today's turnover should have exceeded two hundred. This should be the peak for the next period of time." Zhou Yan said with a smile.
"Exceeded two hundred!" Aunt Zhao was somewhat surprised. She knew business was already much better than yesterday, but she didn't expect it to exceed two hundred.
Selling two hundred a day, even if only make half, that's still a hundred yuan!
That's money being made so fast!
"Many customers came today just for the fun of it. Most people are lucky if they can eat out once or twice a month. But if we build up our reputation, they'll think of our restaurant when they have guests over in the future. It's a steady stream of income, and we can make money slowly." Zhou Yan said with a smile.
He also hoped the factory director's sales efforts would have a long-tail effect, but for the business to continue to grow, it needed more popular single items or cheaper dishes to increase customer traffic.
Each dish cost one yuan, which did raise the average spending per person, but it also turned away many customers.
"Yes, we'll earn it slowly." Aunt Zhao nodded with a smile.
After dinner, Zhou Yan saw his parents off, locked the door, and then went for a run along the river.
Halfway there, he spotted a familiar figure jogging. He quickened his pace to catch up, smiling, "Uncle Lin, you're out exercising too?"
Lin Zhiqiang was wearing a blue vest, a towel around his neck, and was sweating profusely.
"Little Zhou ah." Lin Zhiqiang said, looking at Zhou Yan with a smile, "I haven't exercised in a while. I came out for a run tonight, otherwise your Aunt Meng always complains about my big belly."
"You're not fat." Zhou Yan glanced at Lin Zhiqiang. He was actually quite tall and thin, just with a slightly protruding belly—who doesn't have a beer belly by middle age? Lin Zhiqiang shook his head, looking at Zhou Yan, who was wearing a white tank top and had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and sighed, "You young people really have great physiques. I used to have six-pack abs, but now they've all melted down into one."
Zhou Yan hadn't expected Lin Zhiqiang to be so humorous, and laughed, "Then let's run together! Let's go up to the stone bridge and back, it's about five kilometers."
"Okay, I'm a slow runner, I need to get used to it first. Why don't you go first?"
"It's alright, let's chat as we run, it'll be easier."
"Sure." Lin Zhiqiang nodded with a smile, and after running a few steps, he asked with a smile, "Have you written letter to Xia Yao?"
"Huh?"
"She hasn't written letter to you either?"
"I haven't received it yet."
"Do you want her address?"
"Um, Uncle Lin…"
Zhou Yan and Lin Zhiqiang ran a lap of five kilometers, chatting along the way, from anecdotes about the textile factory to national policies and international disputes, talking about everything under the sun.
Lin Zhiqiang went to university in Beijing, studied abroad, worked as a sent-down youth in the countryside, and spent two years in Shanghai. He wasn't just a pure tech geek; he was knowledgeable and very talkative.
Zhou Yan, after all, had seen the world in this information age, seen it on Douyin (TikTok), and although he didn't know much about the topic, he could keep up with any conversation.
After this lap, Lin Zhiqiang had already considered him a close friend.
"Little Zhou, your predictions about the Soviet Union's future are really interesting, they coincide with my own! Let's continue our discussion while we run tomorrow." At the entrance of the residential compound, Lin Zhiqiang, still eager for more, made plans to run together with Zhou Yan the next day.
"Okay, let's run together again at this time tomorrow." Zhou Yan nodded with a smile and continued running towards the restaurant.
He had also benefited greatly from chatting with Lin Zhiqiang.
He only had a vague understanding of this era, having learned the general direction from textbooks, but those terms were too broad. As a food blogger, it was difficult for him to extract any usable information from them.
Lin Zhiqiang, on the other hand, was highly educated. His understanding of current developments and the opportunities he saw was very forward thinking; his vision was far broader than his own.
He mentioned that with reform and opening up, the country was strongly supporting the development of the individual and private economy, and special economic zones like Shenzhen were under construction. If one could seize this opportunity, they might become a trendsetter.
As he said this, Zhou Yan saw the anticipation and light in his eyes and immediately felt that Uncle Lin was definitely not someone to be underestimated; this small textile factory probably couldn't contain his ambitions.
Lin Zhiqiang returned home lightly, grabbed a towel and wash basin, and prepared to take a bath.
"Did you find money while running? You seem so happy." Meng Anhe came out from the study room with a ruler in her hand, looking at the beaming Lin Zhiqiang and asked.
In the study room behind her, the Lin brothers, Jingxing and Bingwen, were wincing and blowing on each other's hands to relieve the pain.
"It's even more interesting than finding money." Lin Zhiqiang said with a smile. "I just ran into Zhou Yan while jogging. He was jogging too, and we ran a lap of five kilometers together, chatting along the way.
His knowledge is so broad; he knows everything, and his views on future development are very forward thinking. He's definitely not someone to be underestimated. This little Suji Town can't hold him back."
"I'm finding him more and more agreeable." Meng Anhe said with a smile, pressing the basin down from his hand. "Go take a shower later; if you get too hot from running and then rinse with cold water, you'll get sick."
"It's rare to see such insight and vision in a young person. Zhao Dong is far inferior to him. I think even if he opened a restaurant, he could make a name for himself." Lin Zhiqiang remarked.
"I believe that." Meng Anhe nodded, smiling at him. "But why did you suddenly decide to go for a run?"
"Just eating cross-legged beef isn't enough. Exercise is the key. We need to do both, and both are essential." Lin Zhiqiang said seriously.
…
Zhou Yan returned to the restaurant and first checked the accounts. Today's revenue reached 234.6 yuan, indeed a new record.
Twenty more servings of cross-legged beef were sold, thirty servings each of braised beef with bamboo shoots and stir-fried beef with double peppers were sold, twelve servings of braised pork ribs were sold, and thirty servings of crucian carp with perilla leaves were also sold.
After deducting the cost of ingredients, the gross profit was approximately 118.2 yuan.
After exceeding 100 yuan in sales, the profit exceeded 100 yuan for the first time! Counting the five cent and ten cent banknotes, Zhou Yan felt particularly at ease.
This money came in small increments, sixty cents and one yuan at a time, earned little by little.
His savings reached 262.44 yuan, bringing him closer to paying off all his debts.
After showering, Zhou Yan didn't rush to bed. Instead, he took out paper and pen to organize and record the information he had gained from Lin Zhiqiang that day.
Aunt Zhao and Old Zhou were good, but their perspectives were limited to Suji's area.
He could learn a lot from Lin Zhiqiang.
Moreover, by building a good relationship with Uncle Lin, he might be able to mentor him someday if Lin Zhiqiang really went into business.
He closed the diary, pulled the cord to turn off the light, and in the darkness, Xia Yao's image floated into Zhou Yan's mind.
She said she would write letter to him when she returned to school. Had she mailed it?
Uncle Lin had given him his address while they were running today: Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Arts and Crafts Department, Interior Design major.
Should he write letter to her first?
Zhou Yan quickly dismissed the idea.
What to write? He'd never written a letter in either of his lives!
Thinking about that was less important than figuring out how much ingredients to buy tomorrow, how many customers would be coming to eat, and whether the quantities of different dishes needed adjusting.
Thinking about women would only slow down his earning pace.
His mind raced, then his vision went black, and he immediately fell asleep.
…
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Comrade Little Zhou rode his bicycle out to buy groceries.
…