When Su Ruoxi and her mother-in-law Lu Cuiling returned to Su's, there were already quite a few customers sitting in the small restaurant. Feng Yifan, wearing a chef's uniform, was confirming the toppings for the noodles and the ingredients for the fried rice with the customer who ordered the meal.
Although there were many people in the restaurant, as Lu Cuiling said on the way, Feng Yifan handled it very well.
When he turned around, Feng Yifan saw his mother and wife coming back. He stopped and smiled at them.
"Are you back? Did you buy a suitable table? It doesn't matter if you didn't, we can still do business. Don't be discouraged. Come in with mom quickly. Go upstairs first and wash your face and change your clothes."
Su Ruoxi was deeply moved by her husband's words.
During the days when her husband was away from home, Su Ruoxi thought more than once in her heart, what would the scene be like when the two of them run Su's business together in the future
Su Ruoxi always shows her strong side in front of others, but she is just a weak woman after all.
She longed to be cared for by her husband, even if it was just like now. When she came back late from work, her husband did not blame her at all, but managed the restaurant in an orderly manner and comforted her at the door.
Su Ruoxi's eyes were filled with tears and her expression was a little dazed, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
But soon, Su Ruoxi came back to her senses with a gentle push from her mother-in-law behind her.
She looked into the restaurant and saw her husband still smiling: "Come in, go upstairs and wash up. You and mom have been running around a lot this morning, right? You must have been tired."
Su Ruoxi almost wanted to cry and wanted to throw herself into her husband's arms to feel the warm care from her family.
However, seeing the bustling crowd in the restaurant, Su Ruoxi controlled her emotions. She nodded to her husband and said, "Okay, Mom and I will go upstairs to take a shower and change clothes and come down right away."
When she nodded, tears were already rolling down her eyes. Su Ruoxi quickly lowered her head and pulled her mother-in-law upstairs.
After watching his wife and mother go upstairs, Feng Yifan turned around and said to the guests, "Okay, everyone, please wait a moment. I have to go to the kitchen to work. If there are new guests, please ask everyone to wait a moment. Someone will serve them right away."
The diners present laughed and said, "Don't worry, boss. I promise you won't let us leave once we get in."
Hahaha…
The words "You are not allowed to leave after entering" caused everyone in the restaurant to laugh.
Feng Yifan also smiled and said, "It's not good to not let you go. We can't force you to buy or sell. It's all voluntary."
Then someone else took the opportunity to ask, "Boss, you just said that the boss's wife went to buy a table. Are you planning to renovate the place?"
Feng Yifan quickly replied, "It's not renovation. We are planning to remove the big tables and replace them with small tables. This way, when people come over to eat in the evening, they can sit separately and don't have to share tables all the time."
Upon hearing about this change, some young people who came for lunch immediately applauded.
"Boss, you're good at this."
"Yes, now a round table this big can't actually seat many people."
"That's right, these tables are too big and actually take up space."
"The restaurant is quite large, but the round tables take up too much space, so it seems a bit crowded. It would be more convenient to change to small tables."
"Boss, after you guys change, I will definitely bring my friends to show my support."
"Tsk, if you want to show your support, why don't you show your support now? Don't just talk about it."
"That's right, don't just talk about it, come tonight if you want to show your support."
…
Listening to the diners' comments, Feng Yifan smiled and said, "Thank you all for your support. You can rest assured that no matter when you come, Su Ji will definitely guarantee the quality and taste of the dishes."
Finally, after expressing his gratitude to the diners again, Feng Yifan quickly ran to the kitchen to continue making noodles and fried rice for the diners who had placed orders.
While Feng Yifan was busy in the kitchen, Meng Shitong, who had already eaten lunch, followed old lady Liu Wanhua and came to Su Jinrong and the three old men.
After listening to the conversation of several elderly people for a while, Meng Shitong interrupted and asked, "Uncles and aunts, I see you guys are surfing the Internet, have you seen the video we shot for Su Ji before?"
Hearing Meng Shitong's question, several elderly people looked at each other and said that they had watched the video.
Su Jinrong also said: "I have seen it, thank you for your thoughtfulness."
Meng Shitong continued, "Uncle, you are too polite. Now that you have watched the video, what do you think of our filming and production? Please give us some suggestions."
There was a brief silence, and the other old men did not speak. It was obvious that they were waiting for Su Jinrong to speak first.
Su Jinrong thought for a moment and said, "It's a good shot, but a little too fancy."
Meng Shitong nodded: "Well, I understand. In your eyes, uncle, you must think that cooking is a down-to-earth thing, but in fact, we handle it that way to attract some young people."
Liu Wanhua agreed with Meng Shitong and the others’ video editing: “Lao Su, I think they did a great job. Since Yifan has such strength, he should show his ability.”
Tang Zhuochen immediately responded, "Yes, I watched that video. I really didn't expect Yifan's knife skills to be so good."
Lin Zekang said: "Although it is a bit showy, it is necessary to attract people."
Finally, Zhang Maosheng said: "Lao Su, in the eyes of our older generation, we may think that there is no need to pay attention to those empty words in everything, just do what you should do well, and believe that good wine needs no bush.
But the times are different now, young people have more choices, so they often need attractive publicity.”
Meng Shitong decisively followed up Zhang Maosheng's words: "Uncle Zhang is right. Uncle and aunt, you have also seen that many young people have come to Su Ji recently. Of course, Chef Feng's cooking skills are great, but Chef Feng's showmanship in the video is also indispensable."
After listening to this, several elderly people felt that what Meng Shitong said did make some sense.
It's noon now and Su Ji Restaurant is already bustling with people, especially young people.
The old people had to admit that Meng Shitong and others had contributed to this.
Thinking of this, several old men looked at each other, and suddenly they thought of something at the same time. The looks in their eyes began to become a little complicated, and finally their eyes focused on Su Jinrong.
However, because Su Jinrong still couldn't speak very fluently, Zhang Maosheng spoke first on behalf of the elderly people.
"You, my daughter, came here and talked to us old people for a long time. You wanted to tell your uncle Rong that your video promotion method is indeed useful for promoting Su Ji. You want your uncle Rong to agree to let you continue filming, right?"
Meng Shitong's thoughts were revealed, and she felt a little embarrassed in front of those old people.
While Meng Shitong was hesitating, He Yaqian came over and couldn't help but say, "Uncle Rong, we really want to help you promote Su Ji. We don't want to steal your skills, and we can't steal with our level."
As soon as He Yaqian spoke, the photographer Ah Fei who followed her also spoke: "I promise to strictly follow Chef Feng's rules during the shoot. I will never shoot anything that is not allowed to be shot. No, I won't even look at it."
Meng Shitong finally said: "Uncle Rong, we know that the kitchen of any restaurant is the core of the restaurant. We promise not to secretly take photos of your secret recipes. We really just want to promote the essence of our traditional cooking skills."
After Meng Shitong finished speaking, Liu Wanhua said to Su Jinrong, "Jinrong, don't be so tense. The children all said so. Why don't you let them try?"
Su Jinrong looked at everyone, especially the expectant expressions of the young people including Meng Shitong, and finally nodded in agreement.
After Su Jinrong nodded in agreement, Su Ruoxi washed her face upstairs, changed her clothes and came downstairs. Seeing her father surrounded by some people, she hurried over to greet them.
"Thank you Uncle Lin, Aunt Liu, Uncle Zhang, and Uncle Tang for helping take care of my dad."
Then seeing Meng Shitong and the others looking happy, Su Ruoxi asked curiously, "Why are you guys smiling so happily? What happened?"
Meng Shitong quickly said, "Boss, Uncle Rong has just agreed to let us go to the kitchen to shoot."
Su Ruoxi frowned slightly after hearing this, then turned to look at her father and asked, "Dad, why did you agree to this?"
Su Jinrong waved his hand and said, "Su Ji, Yifan, needs publicity."
He Yaqian quickly explained: "Sister Su, don't get excited. We will definitely abide by Chef Feng's requirements. We promise not to film those things that cannot be filmed or should not be filmed."
Ah Fei continued, "Sister Su, we really just hope to help promote Su Ji so that more people will know you and know about Su Ji, which keeps the traditional dishes."
He Yaqian thought for a moment and said, "Sister Su, we heard that you were going to buy a table and were planning to replace the Su Ji big table with a small table. Isn't this also a change? And wouldn't our publicity just be able to match your change?"
Speaking of buying a table, Su Ruoxi couldn't help but sigh and said, "But I didn't buy a suitable table."
Meng Shitong was a little surprised: "How could that be? I remember there was a market that specialized in selling restaurant tables over at the furniture market?"
At this time, Lu Cuiling also came over and heard what Meng Shitong said. She helped her daughter-in-law explain: "Yes, there are many suitable tables over there, but they are all matching, and you must buy the tables and chairs together."
He Yaqian asked curiously: "Auntie, don't you need a chair?"
Su Ruoxi did not hide it and pointed to the existing chairs in the restaurant and said, "We thought that if we only bought tables, the height would match the chairs, so that the chairs could still be used. The table tops can be disassembled and stood upright to save space, but the chairs would take up a lot of space if they were stacked up."
After listening to Su Ruoxi's explanation, Ah Fei glanced around, then nodded and said, "Well, Sister Su is right, and these old-fashioned wooden chairs at Su Ji are actually more stable and comfortable to sit on."
Ah Fei's words were agreed by several elderly people.
Zhang Maosheng was the first to say, "That's true. I like Su Ji's old-fashioned wooden chairs. They are very sturdy to sit on."
Old lady Liu Wanhua nodded and said, "Yes, the backrest can support the waist, and it is indeed very good to sit on."
Lin Zekang smiled and said, "It's a pity to waste these wooden chairs."
Tang Zhuochen thought about it seriously and said, "Since you just need to change the table, you can go to the flea market and have a look. A slightly depreciated square or long wooden table will do."
Su Ruoxi sighed helplessly again: "Uncle Tang, we went there too, otherwise I wouldn't have come back so late, but there aren't so many tables there."
When they heard “not that many”, everyone was a little confused at first.
Meng Shitong quickly understood: "Oh, what the boss lady means is that there are not enough second-hand goods in the market. Well, this is indeed a problem. Only if we deal with them in a unified way can we get more."
Faced with such a situation, a group of people fell into depression. This is indeed a difficult problem.
At this time, Feng Yifan, who came out to serve the food, said, "There's no need to rush. If you really can't find it, just leave it as it is. The old street is facing reconstruction anyway."
Hearing Feng Yifan's voice, several people turned their eyes to him.
Su Ruoxi said helplessly: "I'm sorry, I didn't find it, but I will try my best to find it, and I contacted a merchant, and he said he would help us keep an eye out for the right one if he finds one."
Meng Shitong suddenly asked at this time: "Chef Feng, have you ever thought about changing the place of business?"
He Yaqian also said: "Yes, you can move away. The old street is about to be renovated anyway. You might as well move to the commercial district. It will definitely attract more people."
Hearing what He Yaqian said, the Su Ji family fell silent.
It was Old Lady Liu who spoke up for her: "Nannan, you have to understand that Su Ji has been here for generations. This shop is the root of Su Ji. How could it be moved so easily?"
Meng Shitong and the other young people looked at each other, and He Yaqian quickly apologized: "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was like this."
Su Jinrong waved his hand and said, "It's okay, I really don't want to leave."
This is Su Jinrong's adherence to the inheritance of his ancestors. Of course, he also knows that going to a prosperous place will make business better. Just like if he went north with his uncle, he would definitely gain more.
But Su Jinrong was reluctant to leave. As Liu Wanhua said, this was the root of Su's restaurant.
Seeing that the atmosphere seemed to be getting serious, Feng Yifan said with a smile: "Why do you want to move to the commercial district? Do you not trust my cooking skills? With me here, Su Ji will not be unknown no matter where we are."
Such a confident and bold speech stunned the group of people surrounding Su Jinrong and the diners in the restaurant.
Then, the young diners who came to eat there immediately began to agree with Feng Yifan one by one.
"The boss is right. I came here just to eat."
"That's right, we'll come wherever Chef Feng is."
"I'm the boss's biggest fan, so how can I not come and show my support to Chef Feng?"
"That's right. We'll come here anyway."
…
Hearing what the diners said, Feng Yifan smiled and bowed to thank everyone: "Okay, thank you all for your support. I promise to try my best to make every meal well. As long as the old street is not closed, our Su Ji will be open for business."
Snap, snap…
Feng Yifan's words won applause in the restaurant. Everyone admired his perseverance, but more importantly, they were happy to be able to continue to come and enjoy the delicious food.
Meng Shitong and her friends looked at each other, and they secretly decided at this moment: they must try their best to find a way to help Su Ji solve the dining table problem.