Chapter 52: He Really Eats the Bait (Third Update!)

Zhou Yan bought thirty-seven catties of meat today, over twenty catties of beef offal and tendon, along with several bundles of small green vegetables and two cabbages; his back basket was filled to the brim.

Looking at Zhou Momo, who was sleeping soundly in the basket beside him, he felt a bit conflicted.

"I've finished my work here too. Give me the basket, I'll carry it back for you. You take Auntie Zhao and Momo," Zhou Jie said with a smile as he walked over, taking the heavy basket from Zhou Yan's hands and effortlessly slinging it onto his back.

"Alright, take it easy," Zhou Yan called out with a smile, loading Auntie Zhao onto the bike and following behind Zhou Jie.

The vintage "28-inch" bicycle was good, but trying to carry both people and goods was a bit of a struggle.

On the way, Zhou Yan pondered: he could either get Auntie Zhao her own bicycle, or modify the rear seat like those traveling peddlers—fixing two baskets on either side. It would be less comfortable to sit on, but it could carry much more.

A tricycle could carry more cargo, but the current country roads weren't great for riding one; the bicycle was more practical.

He couldn't leave the task of ingredient procurement to anyone else.

With his talent for appraisal, he could distinguish the quality of ingredients at a glance—a level of discernment that old chefs took years of mistakes to master.

High-quality ingredients were also one of a restaurant's "moats," a crucial factor in differentiating it from other restaurants and stalls.

By the time they returned to the restaurant, Zhao Hong and Zhou Lihui had already arrived and stepped forward to help hold the basket.

"Auntie can sleep so soundly; she can even sleep while riding in a vehicle," Zhou Lihui said, peeking at the corner of Zhou Momo visible in the basket.

"When you were little, you slept even more than this. You'd eat and sleep every day, and wake up just to eat," Zhao Hong laughed.

"Wouldn't that make him a little piglet?" Zhou Lihui scratched his head.

"Brother Jie, you're coming here to learn for the next two days. Will Brother Hai be able to handle things on his end?" Zhou Yan asked casually as he lifted the basket off Zhou Jie's bike.

"Your two sisters-in-law are helping out, and my mom is helping with the dishes, so it's no problem at all," Zhou Jie smiled. "But this morning he has to take my mom to the county seat to buy wedding candies and things like that. He's not running his stall today. He said if he gets back early this afternoon, he wants to come over and learn."

"If there's anything you need me to do, just say the word. As your younger brother, I've got to pitch in," Zhou Yan joked.

Currently, the most important matter for the Zhou family was Zhou Hao's wedding, and brothers like Zhou Hai and Zhou Fei were very active in the preparations.

Perhaps they felt Zhou Yan's shop was busy, so they hadn't asked him to help yet.

"It's nothing much, most things are almost ready. We're just a little short on wedding candies—just some miscellaneous bits and pieces. My mom is going to get them all today," Zhou Jie waved it off and said seriously, "Your restaurant business is just starting to pick up, so just focus on managing the shop. Any of us brothers can go run errands."

"Will do," Zhou Yan nodded.

"Did the dishes you prepared yesterday sell out? How was business last night?" Zhou Jie asked with concern. He had headed back yesterday right after the lunch rush, and at that time, Zhou Yan hadn't sold a single crucian carp.

"Yeah, they all sold out, which is why I bought so many ingredients today. I'm planning to go all out," Zhou Yan nodded with a smile. "I reckon business will be even better today."

"That's great! People know how to recognize good food!" Zhou Jie clapped his hands and said happily, "I'll help you wash the vegetables. I'm very good at cleaning beef offal on the second wash."

Zhou Jie was a capable worker; his help in cleaning the oxtail, bones, and offal greatly improved efficiency.

The apprentice, Zhou Lihui, was also full of energy, carrying buckets of well water to pour into the large pots, becoming increasingly proficient.

For today's batch of high-quality broth, Zhou Yan let Zhou Jie take the lead while he supervised from the side.

Zhou Jie was an experienced hand at making broth, having spent two and a half years doing it. After studying seriously with a notebook yesterday, he was able to perform the task with poise today, requiring almost no reminders from Zhou Yan.

"Zhou Jie really learns faster than me; he's almost mastered it in just one day," Zhao Tieying remarked with emotion as she watched from the side.

"It's because Master Zhou teaches so well. He explains everything so thoroughly that I understand it immediately," Zhou Jie laughed while skimming the foam off the broth.

"Then stay by the pot and skim the foam. I'm going to stir-fry the toppings and the minced meat sauce," Zhou Yan smiled and turned toward the kitchen, calling Zhou Lihui—who was standing nearby reciting multiplication tables—into the kitchen as well.

"Uncle, when do I start learning to cook?" Zhou Lihui looked at Zhou Yan with eyes full of anticipation.

"You've been learning from the moment you stepped into the kitchen," Zhou Yan said solemnly. "First, you need to learn how to manage the fire. This step will train your control over heat, which will be vital when you practice seasoning and timing later."

"I see!" Zhou Lihui's eyes lit up, and he immediately scurried behind the stove. "Then I'll start the fire!"

"No rush. Come watch me chop vegetables; today I'll teach you how to slice beef." Zhou Yan laughed.

"Can I slice beef too?"

"No. Every piece of beef here is for a specific purpose. When the radishes come on the market in bulk for a few cents a pound, you can use those to practice your knife skills."

"Oh..."

It wasn't that Zhou Yan was stingy; it was simply that he was truly poor.

Furthermore, when he was learning to cook in the factory canteen, his master also made him practice slicing radish and potato shreds. No one started by wasting beef.

Zhou Lihui, however, had a proper attitude. He stood straight by the side, watching intently and asking questions from time to time.

Zhao Hong entered and exited the kitchen several times, her footsteps lightened and a smile playing on her lips.

Today, Zhou Yan had prepared eighty portions of noodles, but he increased the Qiaojiao Beef by twenty bowls.

Additionally, he prepared ingredients for thirty portions each of Beef with Dried Bamboo Shoots and Double-Pepper Sliced Beef, twenty portions of Crucian Carp, and twelve portions of Pork Ribs.

The eight portions of ribs prepared yesterday had sold out, but Zhou Yan believed that was mostly a compromise by customers when there were few other options, rather than an indication that braised ribs were a bestseller.

The Double-Pepper Sliced Beef and Beef with Dried Bamboo Shoots, priced at one yuan per portion, seemed to offer better value.

Alternatively, for an extra forty cents, one could get a portion of Fragrant Osmanthus Crucian Carp, which was large and went well with rice.

Braised ribs were savory and sweet, a favorite for children; the table with the factory director yesterday had already proven this. Once more family-style dining customers arrived, they should sell well.

Flexibly adjusting the daily supply of dishes was what a competent owner should do.

The reason Comrade Little Zhou had lost so much money previously was that he was too honest and lacked any restaurant management experience; his daily ingredient wastage alone was significant.

The morning business was similar to yesterday. The eighty bowls of noodles sold out. The number of daily noodle customers was stabilizing, making a major breakthrough difficult in the short term.

Zhou Yan was quite satisfied with this number; the waiting time for customers wouldn't be too long, the shop could accommodate them, and the overall dining experience was good.

As the workers went to their shifts, Zhou Jie helped collect the bowls and remarked with some emotion, "Business is really good. I didn't expect everyone to love noodles this much."

"Do you want to learn?" Zhou Yan asked with a smile.

"Not a bit!" Zhou Jie shook his head like a rattle. "Setting aside your miraculous noodle-pulling skills, I'm no good at stir-frying the meat sauce or the toppings. That Double-Pepper Sliced Beef you made... the flavor was simply incomparable. It's not that I'm afraid of embarrassing myself, but I'm afraid that if I tell people you taught me, I'll make you lose face."

"I'll be satisfied if I can just master the broth. I'd rather be specialized than versatile," Zhou Jie grinned, full of confidence. "One lifetime, one pot of broth—if I do it well, I think I can make a living."

"Makes sense. In the future, you'll be the King of Qiaojiao Beef," Zhou Yan laughed.

"No, no," Zhou Jie shook his head, pointing to the pot at the entrance. "This is the Qiaojiao Beef you improved. You are the King of Qiaojiao Beef. I'm at most a Great General—I'll fight wherever you point."

"People's lives are getting better and better. Let's save money well these next two years. In the future, we'll expand Qiaojiao Beef to Jiazhou and Chengdu. We'll buy cars and live in apartments," Zhou Yan said, painting a bright picture.

"Cars? Apartments!" Zhou Jie's eyes lit up. "Deal!"

When it came to "eating the pie" (believing in a vision), he was a true believer.

...

The segment about the factory director eating at Zhou Erwa's restaurant yesterday and giving it high praise had already become a local legend. Consumed alongside the gossip from yesterday's canteen drama, it was even more flavorful.

Gossip knows no era; people will always enjoy a good story.

The factory's decision regarding the canteen had not yet been released, and the canteen food remained terrible. The idea of Zhou Erwa's restaurant driving the canteen out of business had become a common joke among workers during their slacking time.

Meanwhile, the old news of Zhou Yan standing up for his master and beating up Wang Defa, which led to his dismissal, had also been dug up. Multiple versions of rumors had emerged, becoming more and more outrageous as they spread.

With the lunch service starting, many customers came drawn by the reputation.

Zhao Dong was one of them.

"Comrade Little Zhou, you're finally up to stir-frying and cooking!" As soon as Zhao Dong entered the shop, he grabbed Zhou Yan's hand.

As the catalyst for yesterday's canteen incident, he had been lectured by Deputy Director Liu Yusheng, criticized by name during a meeting, and had to write a thousand-word self-reflection. He was feeling quite depressed.

Of course, the consensus was that the canteen's stir-fry and large-pot dishes were terrible; even the Deputy Director admitted this.

His reprimand was mainly for leading the disturbance as a workshop director, showing a lack of organization and discipline. Writing a self-reflection was the light end of it; he hadn't been officially recorded with a demerit only because no one raised their hand during the vote.

On the surface, people disapproved of Zhao Dong's behavior, but after the meeting, they were secretly giving him thumbs-up.

Who wouldn't be furious after eating the canteen food?

Hearing this morning that Zhou Erwa's restaurant had new dishes and that even the old factory director praised them—how could anyone resist?

As soon as the clock struck for the end of the shift, Zhao Dong grabbed a dining partner and hurried over to eat.

Regarding the matter of driving the canteen out of business, Zhao Dong was more than willing to be the vanguard!

"After the director finished eating yesterday, which dish did he say was the best?" Zhao Dong asked Zhou Yan.

The customers following him into the shop also looked toward him, equally expectant.