Chapter 31: The Unlucky Woman

“Zhou Yan, you’ve set this up so quickly? How’s business?” Zhou Jie put down the rag in his hand and walked over with a smile.

“Yeah, so fast!” Zhou Hai also looked at him with great anticipation.

The owner of the neighboring stall, Zhou Liangliang, was cracking melon seeds. He curled his lip and muttered under his breath, “Pfft, selling ten or twenty bowls at most. He said he wanted to learn, but I don't see him anywhere.”

“Business is alright. Yesterday was the first day and I sold seventy bowls; I think I can sell a hundred today,” Zhou Yan said with a smile.

“What? A hundred bowls!”

“Business is that good!”

Both Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai were shocked.

They had been selling soup pots for two years, slowly building up a following. Recently, with the weather getting cooler, they could sometimes sell a hundred bowls, and that was considered good business.

Zhou Yan had just started selling soup pots, and he had already sold seventy bowls on his first day! And today he was aiming for a hundred?!

*Clatter...*

The melon seeds in Zhou Liangliang's hand spilled all over the ground. He stared at Zhou Yan with wide eyes, his expression full of shock and confusion.

A hundred bowls!

How much money would that be? How much profit?

They were all from the same village and shared the same surname, Zhou. Why was his brothers' soup pot selling so well?

Everyone's cattle were slaughtered at the same slaughterhouse!

It made no sense.

It was so frustrating!

“That’s wonderful! Zhou Yan, your cooking is truly amazing! To be able to sell a hundred bowls even at the entrance of the textile factory,” Zhou Jie said, feeling both happy and relieved. “Now that your restaurant business is picking up, you won't have to worry about it failing anymore.”

“I knew Zhou Yan could do it. He’s been clever since he was a kid,” Zhou Hai said with a simple laugh, his face filled with pride.

“I sell my soup pots for sixty cents a bowl,” Zhou Yan said with a smile. He could feel the genuine happiness coming from his two cousins.

“How much?”

“Sixty cents a bowl!”

The smiles vanished from Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai's faces, replaced by shock and bewilderment.

Their stall sold soup pots for forty cents a bowl, which was already the highest price in all of Suji. They relied on taste and reputation to maintain their sales volume.

They had gradually raised their prices from thirty cents and thirty-five cents over time.

And Zhou Yan was selling for sixty cents right from the start? And he could sell a hundred bowls a day?

Since when did money in Suji become so easy to earn?

Didn't the female workers at the textile factory dislike eating soup pots?

Both of them were a bit dazed.

“Are you kidding me, kid?” Zhou Jie looked at Zhou Yan.

Zhou Hai also scratched his head.

“I'm serious,” Zhou Yan laughed.

“Alright, I believe you.” Zhou Jie nodded immediately, grabbing Zhou Yan's arm. “That is freaking awesome!”

Zhou Liangliang had just grabbed another handful of melon seeds, but now they tasted bitter and astringent; they weren't enjoyable at all.

Sixty cents!

How was that any different from robbery?

He only made a profit selling at thirty cents.

If Zhou Erwa sold for sixty cents and sold a hundred bowls a day, how much money would he make?

If he set up a stall at the textile factory gate, even if he didn't sell for sixty cents—even if he sold for fifty or forty—he would still make a lot!

As he ran the numbers in his head, Zhou Liangliang's hands began to shake, and the melon seeds he had just grabbed spilled onto the ground again.

“Do you have Parkinson's? You can't even hold onto your seeds.” Zhou Yan glanced at him sideways; he knew exactly what was going on in that guy's head.

His business selling Qiaojiao Beef at the textile factory gate was booming. The fact that he sold a bowl for sixty cents would spread quickly. It was an obvious matter that couldn't be hidden.

In a few days, there would definitely be a crowd of people from Zhou Village selling soup pots at the textile factory gate.

Setting up a stall was just a matter of moving to a different spot; there was no real cost involved. Street vendors were sharp.

Zhou Yan wasn't afraid of direct competition. The taste and quality of his Qiaojiao Beef were his moat, and the improved reputation of his restaurant in recent days was an added bonus.

In the future, Jiazhou would be filled with Qiaojiao Beef shops, but the most successful ones were never the cheapest; they were the ones that perfected both taste and marketing.

He had come to find Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai today intending to teach them how to make Qiaojiao Beef.

They were family, after all; he wanted them to have a better life.

【Ding! Side Quest Triggered: Inheritance of Qiaojiao Beef. As a traditional intangible cultural heritage delicacy, Qiaojiao Beef urgently needs its reputation established! Recruit one apprentice to serve as the successor of Qiaojiao Beef. Teach them the authentic recipe to promote and carry on the legacy of Qiaojiao Beef.】

【Mission Reward: Unknown. Accept: Yes/No.】

Zhou Yan's eyelid twitched as he caught sight of the suddenly appearing mission.

This was somewhat unexpected.

The system even had side quests for culinary inheritance?

However, there was no reason to refuse a mission served right to his lips.

He decisively chose to accept.

“Brother Jie, Brother Hai, I’ve made some improvements to this soup pot. The workers at the textile factory all say it's great, which is why I can charge this price,” Zhou Yan said, pulling the two aside and lowering his voice. “Do you two want to learn from me? If you just do as I teach you, your business will definitely be better than it is now, and you'll earn even more.”

“How could we do that? Your restaurant business has only just started to pick up, and you still owe a lot of debt. As your older brothers, we can't go and steal your business,” Zhou Jie shook his head immediately, his attitude firm. “I know you are sincere toward me and Brother Hai, but we want you to succeed.”

“Exactly. We can make money now, and no one in this row of stalls has better business than us,” Zhou Hai added, patting his chest.

Zhou Yan felt a lump in his throat, momentarily unsure of what to say.

What could he offer in exchange for their sincerity?

At the very least, money couldn't buy it.

“Brother Jie, Brother Hai, listen to me.” Zhou Yan looked at them with a serious expression. “I know your intentions and your thoughts, but I am thinking about the long term.”

“You can't stay here setting up stalls for the rest of your lives, can you? You're out in the sun and rain every day. If the weather is bad, you can't work. After a year, once you subtract the slow season, you barely make any money, and your wives have to suffer along with you.”

“I opened a restaurant to sell more than just soup pots. I sell noodles now, and in the future, I can make money from stir-fry and braised dishes. That is my main business.”

“If you learn my soup pot recipe and master the craft, you can eventually go to the town, or even to the city, to open your own shops. That's how you'll make more money and live a better life.”

“You're worried about stealing my business? That won't happen. My customers are mainly the textile factory workers; they won't travel this far to eat the exact same soup pot.”

“We're brothers; don't be so formal. Otherwise, when I go to Grandma's for dinner tomorrow, I'll tell on you.”

Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai fell silent after hearing this, one scratching his head and the other stroking his chin.

“Brother Jie, you make the call,” Zhou Yan said, looking at Zhou Jie.

“Fine. You've put it that way; what more can we say as your brothers?” Zhou Jie nodded. “Give me a time. I'll learn from you first, and once I've mastered it, I'll teach Brother Hai.”

“We are off tomorrow. Come to my restaurant next Monday morning to find me,” Zhou Yan said.

“Alright,” Zhou Jie said with a smile. “Then Brother Hai and I officially acknowledge you as our master.”

“Zhou Yan is a real professional chef,” Zhou Hai added with a chuckle.

“No problem.” Zhou Yan nodded. “I'll head back now. A group of college students from Sichuan Fine Arts Academy are coming to the restaurant to eat today, so I need to go back and prepare the seasonings.”

“College students?”

“And a whole group of them?”

Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai were intrigued and hurriedly said, “Then hurry along, don't waste any time.”

“I'm off.” Zhou Yan hopped on his bicycle and left.

Watching his retreating figure, Zhou Liangliang's eyes darted around. He turned and woke up his wife, who was dozing off behind the stove, and whispered, “You watch the stall alone tonight. I'm going to take care of some business.”

“How can I watch it by myself? What kind of business are you going to take care of?” His wife asked, sounding somewhat resentful as she woke up groggily.

“We only sell a dozen bowls at night; I can watch it with my eyes closed. I'm going to handle something big. We might be about to strike it rich,” Zhou Liangliang whispered.

“Strike it rich?” His wife looked at him suspiciously. “Are you going to rob a bank?”

“Rob a bank my ass! Go back to sleep, you unlucky woman!” Zhou Liangliang pulled his apron over her face and pushed off on his bicycle toward the textile factory.

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(End of Chapter)