Chapter 64 The First Pot of Gold

Chapter 64: Chapter 64 The First Pot of GoldJune 20th, eight o’clock, the almanac stated it was auspicious to open for business, very lucky, Cheng Su placed a Ba Xian table at the entrance of the restaurant, on which she arranged a plate of blanched pork belly, along with several apples, a few cups of rice wine, and in a bowl, she placed a serving of rice with a few sticks of incense inserted into it.

The opening ritual required offerings, a practice that hadn’t changed since ancient times. In her past life, she had experienced hotel openings that were grand affairs with roast suckling pig for offerings, lion dances, ribbon-cutting, and setting off firecrackers.

Now, she was opening a small restaurant and couldn’t put on such a grand display, so she made do with a simple offering to express her sincerity.

Cheng Su held the incense, lit it, and bowed several times with her eyes closed, murmuring her blessings, then inserted the incense, and lit a string of firecrackers signaling prosperity.

The sound of firecrackers drew a crowd of onlookers, Cheng Su smiled and unveiled the restaurant’s name covered in red silk: Joy Soon Loy Small Restaurant fell into everyone’s view.

"Oh, a change of owner, huh? Even the name of the restaurant has been changed."

"It’s still a restaurant; it was before too. Didn’t seem too prosperous, can it be successfully run?"

Cheng Su said brightly with a smile, "Our shop opens today, guaranteeing all ingredients are freshly purchased, and hygiene and quality are assured. Everyone is welcome to supervise and come taste."

The crowd chuckled.

Cheng Su pointed to a box at the door, from which she took a stack of flyers, and said, "Everyone can take a flyer home to look over. If you order dishes during the opening period, by presenting this flyer, you’ll enjoy a 20% discount."

People surged forward, each taking a flyer to inspect.

Long before the opening, Cheng Su had already distributed many flyers; these were extras, all part of the publicity strategy.

After a simple opening ceremony, Cheng Su had no more time to chat, as she had not yet hired any workers, and was all on her own for now; with lunch service imminent, she had to hurry to get the food ready.

On this first day of the new opening, preparations were rushed. Cheng Su decided not to make any particularly troublesome dishes, focusing on fast food. She had prepared two cold dishes, cucumber salad and wood ear mushroom with vinegar, considered vegetarian dishes, along with stir-fried vegetables. The meat dishes included steamed chicken with shiitake mushrooms, spicy beef, sweet and sour spare ribs, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and fish-flavored eggplant.

Chop, chop, chop, Cheng Su, wearing a floral de laine shirt and ankle-length trousers, her neck wrapped with an apron dangling to her knees, her hand gripping a chef’s knife, swiftly chopped ingredients needed for the dishes she was preparing.

The weather was hot, her hair now long and tied in a high ponytail, her cheeks flushed from the heat, and the recent hustle had made her noticeably slimmer, her slightly bowed head making her all the more attractive.

However, there were no admirers to appreciate her beauty, and even if there had been, Cheng Su was too preoccupied with her work to notice whether she was attractive or not.

Her entire focus was on making the small restaurant a success, as it could very well be the first key to her fortune.

Therefore, she hoped to make a big impact right from the start, and all her energy was invested in cooking.

Cheng Su quickly prepared the cold dishes, working as if she were two people, boiling a large pot of rice and a large pot of soup—because soup was to be given for free, today’s soup was egg flower soup.

Once the soup and rice were ready, she stored them in insulated containers to keep them warm; then she began cooking the dishes, starting with those that were simple and could be kept for longer. Each finished dish was placed on a warming cart, inside which there was already some hot water.

On the glass of the warming cart, prices were taped on with red tape, such as, one meat and one vegetarian dish for three banknotes, two meat and one vegetarian for five banknotes, two meat and two vegetarian for six banknotes, available for dine-in or takeout, tea and soup were always free, with prices clearly marked and fair for all ages.

By 11:30 am, Cheng Su had finished preparing all the dishes and placed them on the food cart, her head already drenched in sweat, and she welcomed the first wave of customers.

Before the opening, Cheng Su had distributed flyers in the vicinity, so a number of people were already in the know. The grand opening indeed bustled for a while, and now, people were intrigued by the novelty of it all.

Following her own idea, Cheng Su modeled her restaurant after the fast food establishments she knew from her previous life, printing meal tickets in various categories like one meat one vegetable, two meats one vegetable, and so forth, each in different colors.

Customers could buy as much as they wanted according to the meal ticket prices, exchange for a meal ticket, and then hand it to the server at the food cart, making everything clear at a glance.

In this way, the server taking the meal ticket knew exactly what to serve without having to ask, sparing both words and direct contact with money, saving time and effort while ensuring hygiene—a win-win situation.

But now, short on staff, Cheng Su had to handle everything herself, collecting money and serving meals, which made things much more troublesome. She had to touch money, which was frankly unhygienic, but with no one to help, all she could do was to wear gloves and stay busy.

At first, she collected money and then served meals, but as it became overwhelming, she had customers throw the money into an iron box, and she served meals according to the amount they paid.

Fortunately, the people were mostly honest, and even when Cheng Su was too busy to keep an eye on things, they wouldn’t take advantage of the situation. She served generous portions, there were fans and free soup and tea, which left the customers delighted. If someone tried to take advantage of the chaos, others would call it out.

Thus, everything proceeded smoothly and harmoniously.

It can’t be overstated how important it is to spread the word far and wide. As soon as the promotional flyers were distributed, people came under various guises, and by noon, the crowd only grew.

These customers found Cheng Su’s multiple-choice fast food concept quite interesting, and the food itself was indeed tasty. Once they left, they unintentionally gave Cheng Su free publicity.

Cheng Su was both collecting money and serving meals. There was no time to clear away used dishes; she could only ask customers to set them aside, and she was so busy she couldn’t even take a sip of water.

By 1 pm, the meals Cheng Su had prepared were sold out. When new customers came, there was nothing ready to sell; she had to cook to order, which was more expensive, but naturally, the taste was better than the big-pot cooking. Those with money ordered a couple of dishes and thoroughly enjoyed their meal, singing her praises.

At 2:30 in the afternoon, all the customers had left Joy Soon Loy Small Restaurant, and what Cheng Su saw was chaos everywhere—dishes and food containers were scattered and piled up, giving her a headache.

Gurgle, gurgle.

Her stomach cramped, and she let out a soft grunt, clutching her stomach and furrowing her brow.

She had been busy since the early morning and, needless to say, hadn’t had a bite to eat; she had barely drunk any water, and her throat was nearly smoking with thirst. Her stomach was as empty as a drum, and she was famished.

Patting her stomach and surveying the disarray of the restaurant, Cheng Su gave a wry smile, went into the kitchen, and fried herself a plate of egg fried rice, planning to eat before cleaning up.

Filling the stomach is a top priority; one must be well-fed to have the energy for everything else.

The egg fried rice was simple, requiring no special sauces, just oil and soy sauce, and sprinkled with some chopped scallions, resulting in a fragrant plate of fried rice.

As she ate, Cheng Su glanced at the cookie tin being used for collecting money, which contained scattered banknotes, and couldn’t help but smile at the corners of her mouth.

From the initial lack of transfer funds, to the subsequent shortage of capital, to solving the issue with Qi Taiguo’s hidden savings, up to now, everything had been relatively smooth, and she had made her first bucket of gold here in Taiguo.