Early on Saturday morning, Wen Liang and Li Shengli met at the entrance of People's Park, and then took bus No. 103 to get off at Bayi Road in Dongcheng. Since Wen Liang defined the area that day, Li Shengli has been strolling around this area, and he is very familiar with the streets and alleys. He took a shortcut and turned a few corners to arrive in front of a store. The two-story street-side storefront is not too large and looks clean and tidy. This place is close to the family quarters of many units, and the location is a little remote, but it is right at the intersection of the street. Bus No. 53, 77, and 88 all have stops nearby. Although it is morning, you can already see many people gathering from all directions.
"Not bad," Wen Liang praised. Not far away was the Dehua commercial district. After large-scale development next year, this area would quickly become prosperous and bustling. However, not many businesses had yet realized the business opportunities.
"The owner of this shop is surnamed Zhang. He is going to the south with a friend to start a business, so he is in a hurry to rent out the house. The price should not be too expensive." Li Shengli was very considerate of Wen Liang. Since he knew that Wen Liang only had so little capital, he would save as much as possible. Wen Liang did not tell him the source of the money. Li Shengli had grown a lot after the hardships of the past two years. He only did what he should do and did not ask questions that he should not ask.
Wen Liang nodded. Although this place is not particularly ideal, it is not bad for a start. The investment in a breakfast shop is not big. As long as you pay attention to a few things, first, choose a location in a large residential area or a traffic artery with a large flow of people, second, the variety you choose should be convenient and fast, and third, the quality of the food should be inexpensive, the environment should be hygienic, and the service should be thoughtful. Generally speaking, you will not lose money.
In 1995, Qingzhou was in the transition period between the old and new lifestyles. People paid more and more attention to the standard and quality of life. Breakfast, which was not valued by Qingzhou people, began to gain popularity under the propaganda of public opinion. Many people were familiar with the theory of eating well in the morning, eating full in the afternoon and eating less in the evening. But on the contrary, except for the messy roadside stalls with extremely worrying hygiene conditions, Qingzhou rarely saw formal stores specializing in breakfast, let alone influential breakfast stores that formed brands and chains. Wen Liang also got inspiration from his mother Ding Mei's frequent complaints about the inconvenience of buying breakfast during the summer vacation. Thinking of the amazing market value of the breakfast industry in the future, it was undoubtedly the best choice for Wen Liang, who had no money and no one.
When he entered the store, he met Boss Zhang. They were both willing to fight and the two sides had a pleasant conversation and soon reached an agreement. Boss Zhang had posted the rental advertisement for two months, but no one was interested in the door. He was already impatient. When he heard Li Shengli said that he would rent the lower floor for a year first, and then rent the whole building after two or three months of capital turnover, he thought for a moment and agreed. He signed a one-year contract for 1,500 yuan. Boss Zhang was extremely enthusiastic and patted his chest to say that he had acquaintances at the Industrial and Commercial Bureau and could shorten the time for handling the procedures. Li Shengli was naturally very grateful.
After finishing all this, Wen Liang smiled and said, "Uncle Li, now that we have a store, whether we can make money depends on your cooking skills. Remember my words, keep breakfast simple, just four things to start with, soy milk, fried dough sticks, plus your best scallion pancakes and egg pancakes, you must win in taste, so that people will never forget it after eating it."
Li Shengli said modestly: "Don't worry, my skills are still there, I can't go wrong with just these few things."
Wen Liang naturally believed in his cooking skills. In his previous life, he loved to go to his house for meals, especially the scallion pancakes and egg pancakes. When he grew up, Wen Liang often sighed that if Li Shengli's catering business could persist, it would at least be able to shine, not to mention surpassing Yonghe.
And now that I have myself as a guide in this life, everything is moving in the direction of possibility.
In the following week, Wen Liang devoted himself to the construction of the breakfast shop with great enthusiasm. He adopted the simple and bright decoration style of the Chinese fast food restaurants in the later generations, which made people feel pleasant and happy as soon as they came in. Then he looked everywhere for the fixed steel and wood structure tables and chairs commonly used in fast food restaurants in the later generations, but failed. At that time, Qingzhou had not yet popularized such tables and chairs. In desperation, Wen Liang sketched a few drawings and found a small furniture workshop to make ten sets of 4-person tables and chairs. The yellow and red color combination looked cleaner and more hygienic than the wooden tables used in ordinary restaurants, and it was also easier to wipe and clean. Wen Liang also asked Li Shengli to make an oversized color layout to hang on the wall of the store. The first four characters were "Qinghe Soy Milk", followed by the eight characters "Healthy, Refreshing, Delicious, Fresh", and then an article promoting the long cultural history of Qinghe Soy Milk:
The Qing River flows out of the Longjiang River and into the East China Sea, nourishing the five grains and benefiting the people of the three villages, and raising fish and shrimp to benefit the people of the four seas. In the seventh year of the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, Wei Zheng, then the Minister of the Imperial Court, happened to pass the Qing River and heard that there was a century-old shop thirty steps west of the boat bridge east of the ancient city gate of Qingzhou. It grinds soybeans into pulp, which is fragrant for a long time. When you drink it and taste it, it is tender and smooth in the mouth, and the aftertaste lasts for three days, so it is named after the Qing River...
This gun story was created by Wen Liang, processed by Xu Yao, and polished by Ning Xiaoning. These three unlearned people racked their brains to come up with such a weird thing. However, Qinghe Soy Milk is positioned in the middle and lower classes. If you want others to understand it, you have to be more straightforward. As for why Wei Zheng was chosen to guest star, I'm sorry, this involves the personal worship of Ning Xiaoning, so it's hard to explain in detail. During the days when waiting for the approval of the procedures, Wen Liang told Ding Mei that he stayed at Li Shengli's house almost every night after school, and gave suggestions with his mouth that had tasted all kinds of food in his later life, constantly improving the taste of soy milk and fried dough sticks. Surprisingly, Li Siqing's cooking skills were not inferior to his father. Wen Liang was very pleased and fooled Li Siqing, saying that having a backup chef is a configuration only for five-star hotels. With you, it is no longer a delusion for the breakfast shop to become a chain in half a year, a company in one year, and a group in three years. The future is limitless.
The poor little girl was so simple-minded that her worldview was shamelessly distorted. She secretly made up her mind that she must become a better chef than her father in the future!
During this period, Wen Liang sent Li Siqing to Minghua Junior High School. Thanks to Zuo Yuxi's relationship, the principal of the junior high school personally arranged for Li Siqing to be in the best class, and his attitude was warm and the service was thoughtful.
After school that day, Xu Yao intercepted him at the same place again, and this time Ning Xiaoning was there. He was busy with chores and had not contacted the two. He knew something was wrong when he saw their faces. Wen Liang decided to turn the tables and strike first, sneering, "Ah, isn't this the legendary twin beauties of Yizhong, Leng Ning and Re Yao? Long time no see, how come you have time to think of me, your brother?"
Seeing his rogue look and extremely shameless words, the two women were furious at the same time, and they held him on the left and right and went to the alley.
Xu Yao just wanted to pin Wen Liang to the ground and beat him up, but Ning Xiaoning was so angry that she took the initiative to grab Wen Liang's arm. She regretted it so much by then. A feeling she had never experienced before filled her body and mind, as if an electric current was overflowing from her heart, making her dizzy and her legs weak when she walked.
"Hey, what are you doing in broad daylight? Xu Yao, Ning Xiaoning, I'm warning you, even though you look pretty, it's still illegal to molest a handsome guy!"
"Bah!" Ning Xiaoning could no longer remain calm, her face slightly red, and she took the opportunity to let go of her hand.
Xu Yao returned to her quirky self as she had when they first met, with that classic look of disdain on her face as she said, "With your looks, even Zhu Bajie would be proud if you were in Journey to the West. How could I molest you?" Then she shook Wen Liang's arm in an extremely coquettish tone, "Brother Wen Liang, what are you doing here? Why don't you take me with you?"
Wen Liang was frightened, and he sighed: "It's not that Zhou Yu is incompetent, it's mainly because Zhuge Liang used the beauty trap, so I had to play along..."
Finding what he said interesting, Xu Yao, who was pretending to be serious, burst out laughing. But when Ning Xiaoning glared at her, she remembered that she came here today to settle accounts and had to be serious!
"Hmph, don't be so playful with me!" Xu Yao shook off Wen Liang's hand and said viciously: "Tell me the truth, why have you been late and left early these days? Wen Liang, don't learn from Mu Shanshan and the others..." Her voice softened at the end of this sentence, and even a deaf person could hear the concern in it.
Wen Liang was touched and said quickly, "Who reported you? Actually, you haven't been late many times. It happened recently. My uncle opened a breakfast shop and I went to help him out. The economy is bad now and I can't afford to hire employees..."
Xu Yao touched his head and sighed, "Alas, child laborers, so pitiful." After that, her eyes rolled around Ning Xiaoning, and she said in a tone of coaxing a little boy to take off his pants and play with him, "There are two more beautiful child laborers. I wonder if Master Wen wants them?"
Wen Liang shuddered all over and raised his hands in surrender.
(Three chapters today, one chapter tonight) (To be continued)