Chapter 45- Xian Manju Opens
In the commercial district of the county, firecrackers crackled early in the morning.
With red decorating its forefront, Xian Manju was now officially opened.
Wei Cheng stood at the door and said, “Welcome distinguished guests. Xian Manju is open for business. In the first three days after the opening, all food and beverages will be discounted by 40%.”
The onlookers heard that there was a discount, but they didn’t know what Xian Manju was serving as food so many people outside the gate stopped and watched and few people went in.
Wei Cheng was not afraid that his new business would lack people coming in. Many old customers at his stall knew about the store opening today, and they were willing to express their patronage. Of course, even if those regular customers didn’t come, Wei Cheng still had some other tricks to attract customers.
In addition to the open door of Xian Manju that served as its main entrance, there is also a large window on the side. The inside of the window seemed like a small shop, with two counters separated in front, and a lot of pots and dishes were placed on one side of the counter, all of which were covered. On the other side of the counter, there was a wooden frame, and the upper parts of it were covered with a white cloth.
No one can see what it was.
Wei Cheng signaled the staff to open it, and soon, bursts of different aromas overflowed. All of the food sold by Xian Manju in the morning such as pastries and breakfast delicacies were now all displayed to the onlookers.
For single purchases, pastries can be purchased at the window.
After his introduction, the besiegers were attracted by the aroma- they got hungry, and since there were discounts, they all flocked inside. This made the originally empty lobby start to get busy but then the next wave of guests came and it became even busier.
The customers did not need the waiters to introduce to them what foods were available as they sat in their seats. Food drawings of Xian Manju’s available food were pasted in the center of the lobby. There are morning, lunch, and evening sets of food and each picture has an introduction and price, which makes many things clear at a glance.
When the guests saw the delicate and delicious food in the painting, they all wanted to eat food that they had never seen before.
Not only was the morning crowd bustling, but the lunch and dinner crowds were even plentier. The food paintings were used to attract customers’ eyes and when people eat at the morning menu and find it delicious then there would naturally be repeat customers who want to eat at the lunch and evening menus as well and they will also come to patronize.
This is also a marketing tool to retain customers.
Considering that the waiters in his restaurant can’t write, Wei Cheng puts a serial number in front of each food item. The serial number makes it easy to distinguish orders. When the customer orders something to eat, they’ll use the number instead of the name of the dish, so that not only will there be no confusion, but it will also be convenient for the waiter in the restaurant to record their orders.
The waiter in the store is responsible for reception and recording, as well as answering customers’ doubts.
Not long after, many old customers came, and the lobby of Xian Manju was full.
Since it was Xian Manju’s opening day, Wei Cheng also invited Carpenter Zhao, Steward Chen who brought the salad from his house, and Yun Chengfeng and the others.
Carpenter Zhao and Steward Chen went to the appointment on time, and Wei Cheng entertained them. When the two came in and saw the restaurant and the amount of customers, they were surprised that Xian Manju’s business was booming.
Wei Cheng arranged for the two of them to go to the private room on the second floor, and served them a table of Xian Manju’s special dishes. After socializing for a while, Wei Lei came to inform him that the young master of Tai Fu Luo had come.
Steward Chen knew that Wei Cheng had cooperated with Tai Fu Luo, but he had never seen it, so he was always in doubt. Now, after hearing Wei Lei’s words, this doubt has been dispelled. Unexpectedly, Wei Cheng really went to Tai Fu Luo, and not even to the manager of Tai Fu Luo, but the owner of Tai Fu Luo.
Wei Cheng got up and said, “Uncle Zhao, Steward Chen, I apologize if my hospitality is too not good, I will go to work first, if you have anything you need, just call the waiter.”
“There’s no need to apologize, you go to work first.”
*
When Wei Cheng came by, Yun Chengfeng was already in the private room.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Xian Manju has a large space. There are two areas in the lobby on the first floor. One area is for tables and chairs for a small number of people, and the other area is for tables and chairs for more than five people.
The tables are arranged in a well-proportioned manner, and both areas are decorated with decorative flowers, which makes the space look beautiful and elegant.
The second floor is different. It is full of separated private rooms on one side and large tables with partitions on the other.
Wei Cheng didn’t design the entire second floor as private rooms, because he wanted the lobby on the second floor to look spacious. This design also meant that the restaurant would also have more tables.
Yun Chengfeng said, “Is there anything delicious? This young master is hungry, but I’ll need to read the menus first.”
Wei Cheng sat on the side and handed the three menus in the private room to Yun Chengfeng, including the one with the breakfast menu.
“This menu is all about the food served in the morning market. You can read the menu and order if you want to eat.”
Yun Chengfeng took it and found that it was a large food booklet. When he opened it, there were food pictures and introductions on each side, “Seafood noodles, seafood wontons, deep-fried dough sticks, shumai, meat buns, seafood soup buns, shrimp dumplings… …”
Rice rolls, fried noodles, soy milk, shrimp spring rolls, radish cake, red date cake, pumpkin rice porridge, eight-treasure porridge, white porridge, seafood porridge, steamed dumplings, crystal vegetable dumplings, noodle soup with sauce…
There was also a reminder on each item that they were available in limited quantities on the day, so it will only be there until stocks last!
Yun Chengfeng was speechless, this is too rich.
He casually read the lunch menu and the evening menu that were together, there was also a menu for the pastries.
For lunch and dinner, there are pasta, rice, several staple pancakes, stews, seafood hotpot, braised meat, various dishes of fried meat, fried seafood, cold salad, and stewed soup.
The pastry book showed him exquisite and small pastries, some he’d never seen before. There are longevity peach pastries, osmanthus cakes, chicken cakes, rice cakes, flower cakes, mung bean cakes, jujube cakes, lotus cakes…
Yun Chengfeng had never seen some of the food before, and it shocked Xian Manju’s food. This specification is no worse than his family’s Tai Fu Luo, except for the fact that they are precious ingredients of delicacies from mountains and seas.
Xian Manju uses ordinary and everyday ingredients, but the food they make is unusual.
For each menu, there would always be food of ordinary prices and there would also be delicacies from mountains and seas with higher prices, such as the seafood hotpot.
The seafood hotpot last time was really delicious.
After Yun Chengfeng finished reading, the food was soon brought to the table. Wei Cheng basically asked someone to bring up the best food in the store. At one table, Yun Chengfeng asked Yan Yi for them to eat together and Wei Cheng, who had been busy in the morning and didn’t eat much, was also hungry. Since he and Yun Chengfeng are familiar with one another, he took advantage of this meeting and ate with them.
Yun Chengfeng tasted all the food on the table, and asked while eating, “Wei Cheng, what kind of brain do you have? Every single food is so delicious, these wontons are different from what I used to eat, the skin is thinner while the filling is still the same. Is this shrimp? This soup base is still so fresh…..The seafood hotpot I ate at your house last time tasted similar but it is a bit different, what is the soup base made of?”
Wei Cheng took a bite before answering him, “Taste it, Xian Manju soup is one boiled with dried seafood, it tastes delicious, and the name of my shop comes from this.”
Yun Chengfeng stopped his moving hands for a few seconds and then continued to move, “The dishes made from dried seafood are delicious, and they can even be used as a soup base. Hurry up and implement the cooperation matters.”
He couldn’t wait to start his own business, thinking about how his brother would definitely look at him with admiration.
Wei Cheng told him, “Dried seafood can also be used to make fresh seasonings.”
Yun Chengfeng stopped eating, and he half-closed his eyes, “Why was this not in the previous sauce recipes?”
He gave Wei Cheng an accusing look- why was he being dishonest and not handing in a good recipe?
He has read all of the recipes handed over and tried the recipe to make food made of each sauce. “The regulations on the cooperation state that all sauce recipes must be provided to the sauce workshop.”
Wei Cheng ate the last bite of the bowl before saying, “I gave you a recipe for dried seafood before, but there was only dried shrimp in it. As you know, I just bought this batch of seafood and made it into dried seafood for Xian Manju’s use, how can there be other dry goods to make this seafood sauce? I have the recipe in my hand but we’ll have to wait for the supply of goods to be sufficient.”
After Yun Chengfeng heard this, his suspicions disappeared and he forgave him for daring not to hand over this delicious sauce.
“I’m already on the verge of securing a source of supply so you can just hand over the recipe for these new types if you don’t have time to do so. I have some people in my hand so just ask Uncle Quan to help you make a contract.”
Wei Cheng: “……”
Why was this guy in such a hurry?
Wei Cheng sat with him for a while and then left. The store has just opened so there are many things that he has to personally control.
Yun Chengfeng waved him away as he didn’t need to be personally served, he could eat by himself.
Wei Cheng went downstairs to the counter to check on his wife. The cash register was not busy yet, and Zhou Yuan was calculating the price of each table for the convenience of customers when the decide to check out.
There are high chairs placed inside the counter- this was Wei Cheng’s consideration for his wife to prevent him from getting tired from standing for a long time. There are also exclusive tea and snacks on the side table of the counter, which can be eaten when he got thirsty or hungry.
Two days before Xian Manju’s opening, they all came to the store to familiarize themselves with their jobs and positions and seeing his husband’s considerations for him, Zhou Yuan was moved and reassured.
Wei Cheng saw that his wife was busy, so he went to other things.
From the moment the guests came in, everyone in Xian Manju was busy. There were still many customers waiting in line outside, all of them are attracted by the food at the window and the new opening discount.
Yun Chengfeng left early after eating- he also called his steward, he previously ordered all the food, as well as a few pastries before leaving, and so he ordered them to be delivered directly to Tai Fu Luo.
Yun Chengfeng ordered too much, even if Yan Yi had a large appetite, there was still a lot left.
After a busy day, the employees of Xian Manju were exhausted.
“The pastries are all sold out today, do you want to add more pastries tomorrow?” Qiaoxi, a servant of Wei Cheng’s family, was in charge of selling pastries at the window, and she reported the progress.
Wei Cheng replied, “No, the portion would be the same as today. There is another order form so You and Aunt Tian can make it and pack it in a gift box.”
“Okay.”
“Several of the ingredients needed in the kitchen need to be doubled.” The chef sat and reported, he observed the lack of some ingredients all day.
Wei Cheng nodded, “Okay, give the list of needed ingredients to Wei Lei, and he will arrange manual procurement.”
After they reported, Wei Cheng concluded their short meeting by announcing, “Everyone has worked hard today, and I will give out red envelopes to everyone after the three days of opening are doen. The store is already tidy so you can go back. There are leftovers in the back kitchen, and the leftovers can be packed and taken away.”
The leftovers are all from the private rooms. The guests in the private room are not short of money so they order a lot of dishes, and they have no sense of packing leftovers like ordinary people do. After receiving the leftovers, the chef would sort them out and pour the good ones into large plates.
The restaurant waiters and assistants who were tired after a busy day were shocked after hearing this. They didn’t expect such a good thing- they could pack leftovers, take them home for their families to eat as well as recieve red envelopes. They are all poor people, and the leftovers are all meat and seafood, as well as stir-fried dishes and stews. They have never eaten such good dishes in their life but now, they can have a good meal when they take them home.
Several employees’ villages are far away from the county. They all live in the staff housing in the suburbs. They all wanted to pack leftovers and take them home for their families. It was very tiring after a busy day, but for the sake of their families, they decided to go back together. They are all from the same village and it is safe to walk at night with companions.
They all decided to get up early tomorrow morning and come back to work. Farmers are used to hardship, and besides, they can make the family eat good food so their hard work is worth it.
*
For the next two days, there were more and more customers each day.
The business of Xian Manju is booming.
After the discount ends three days after the opening, Wei Cheng estimated that there will be less customer traffic. They heavily on the word-of-mouth three days after Xian Manju opened. In just three days, everyone in the county knows that the newly opened Xian Manju dishes are not only novel but also very It is delicious, which not only leads to a large number of customers, but also spreads the news to more people based on word of mouth, and people from the inner county come here after hearing the news.
The food at Xian Manju are all fresh ones, and they have never tried most of them before. Whether it is stewed dishes, fried ones, or the seafood hotpot, they are all enough to keep attracting customers back so repeat customers abound.
Even if the family’s income is average, repeat customers can choose affordable dishes. Now there are not only no fewer customers, but more.
Xian Manju’s business is booming, and it was a given that some coveted it.
Fortunately, there was Tai Fu Luo as their backers, so people who wanted to find fault really didn’t dare do so when they think of the fact that Xian Manju had something to do with Tai Fu Luo.
This saved them a lot of trouble.
It was Yun Chengfeng’s instigation that Tai Fu Luo would do this. With less trouble, Wei Cheng would not have to deal with the trouble and would have enough time to discuss and cooperate in the sea goods business.
Yun Chengfeng was sitting in the private room of Xian Manju. He came every day, and this private room was exclusive to him. With a smile on his face, he deliberately said, “Wei Cheng, you have to thank me this time, if I didn’t let Uncle Quan claim to the outside that the owner behind Xian Manju was related to Tai Fu Luo then your Xian Manju would have attracted the envy of many people as well as their ill intentions.”
Wei Cheng rolled his eyes in his heart, he took credit as soon as he did so, he said what he wanted, and never beat around the bush.
“Thank you, Young Master, for your help!”
Yun Chengfeng shook the jade fan in his hand, and said leisurely, “If you want to thank me, be more practical. I won’t compete with you for business. Give me a recipe for Xian Manju’s food. There is only one family in the county with such good food. It’s too much of a waste resources so let’s make the best use of them.”
Wei Cheng: “…Okay!”
Yun Chengfeng was satisfied, and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, I will count you as a shareholder.”
Wei Cheng really doesn’t care if he gives dividends or not, but if he wants to give it, who would dislike too much money?
Wei Cheng promised to give him the recipe, considering that in the long-term- giving the recipe to Yun Chengfeng will definitely make him able open a high-end restaurant in the future. They can also borrow fame, and Xian Manju can open up their market without need for publicity.
He, Wei Cheng, is not the one who suffers.
Thanks for the update
All this food sounds so delicious! It’s making me so hungry even though I’ve already eaten! 😣
Thank you so much for the update!!!
Great, now I am hungry too! :(´ཀ`」 ∠):
Thank You for the new chapter ♡(˃͈ દ ˂͈ ༶ )
Thanks for the chapter!