Seventies Sweetheart: From Breakup to Billionaire-Chapter 289: Sharing Some Pork

No one could have imagined that on the first day of Xingfu Restaurant’s opening, the business would be so booming that the entire day’s supply of food was sold out by the morning.

Mrs. Lin and the sister-in-law in charge of preparing the vegetarian dishes were so exhausted that they could hardly lift their arms.

Ren Doudou and the other two sister-in-laws were not having an easy time either, constantly busy with clearing tables and washing dishes.

After a busy morning, everyone was too tired to move.

Lin Xiang said, "If we go to buy meat now, I’m afraid it will be too late. But if there’s no meat and we only sell vegetarian dishes, or simply don’t open this afternoon, the stickiness of our customers from this morning won’t be very high."

It’s possible that many people came out of curiosity, or were drawn by the discounts, but today’s customer flow was indeed quite significant.

By tomorrow, at least thirty percent will probably come back.

But the problem is, where can we get meat now?

"Let’s go to Quanfu Building," Cheng Jinyun suddenly suggested, "Quanfu Building stocks up on a lot of meat dishes every day. If we go over now, it should still be in time."

"That’s a good idea."

Lin Xiang grabbed Cheng Jinyun and headed out the door.

There was no direct bus from Xingfu Restaurant to Quanfu Building, so after getting off the bus, the two walked nearly a kilometer more.

Looking at Lin Xiang’s exhausted appearance, Cheng Jinyun made a silent resolution.

As soon as Lin Xiang and Cheng Jinyun stepped into Quanfu Building, Manager Shi came out to greet them, "Manager Lin, what can I do for you?"

Lin Xiang hesitated to speak up.

After all, her purpose here was to borrow meat, which felt a bit...

She awkwardly touched her nose tip and asked Manager Shi, "Do we make large purchases at Quanfu Building every day?"

Manager Shi thought Lin Xiang was about to investigate their old corrupt practices and hurriedly assured, "Rest assured, Manager Lin, we’re completely transparent with our purchases now and won’t tamper with the accounts anymore."

"Very good." Lin Xiang asked, "Do you have any extra pork? Could you spare me some?"

"Huh?" Manager Shi was momentarily stunned.

Spare some?

Pork?

Is that what he thought it meant?

Lin Xiang didn’t hold back and explained, "I opened a small restaurant at the gate of Huaqing University. Today was the first day of operation, and I didn’t estimate the volume properly, so we’re a bit short on meat. The pork company is already closed at this time, so I had to take a chance at Quanfu Building."

Manager Shi breathed a sigh of relief, "No problem at all. I’ll go check with the kitchen right now."

Manager Shi disappeared into the kitchen and came out again with two large chunks of pork in hand, weighing a good six to seven pounds.

"Manager Lin, after the chefs took what they needed, there’s these left. Do you think it’ll be enough?"

"More than enough," Lin Xiang said, pulling out some money from her satchel. "The pork from the meat company is one yuan per pound. I don’t have meat tickets, so I’ll give you one yuan and twenty cents per pound. This looks to be about seven pounds, so it’s eight yuan and forty cents in total. Accountant Lu, please collect the money and record it in the accounts."

Manager Shi hurriedly said, "It’s just a few pounds of pork, Manager Lin, if you need it, just take it. Why pay?"

Manager Shi thought, this whole Quanfu Building is your property now, anyway. It’s just money moving from one pocket to the other. Why go through the trouble?

Lin Xiang said firmly, "Business is business. This meat needs to be recorded in Quanfu Building’s accounts. If I take it without paying, won’t there be a discrepancy of a few yuan? It would just complicate the bookkeeping later on."

"There’s no need to pay that much." Manager Shi said, "We have purchasing channels and don’t need meat tickets, nor do we pay a whole yuan per pound. Our procurement cost is eighty cents per pound. I’ll take these to weigh them, and you can pay according to the exact weight, Manager Lin."

"That works."

The pork weighed in at seven pounds and two ounces, and Lin Xiang paid a total of five yuan and seventy-six cents.

"By the way, Manager Lin, your small restaurant needs to buy meat and vegetables every day. If you find it troublesome, you can let me know what types and quantities you need. We can purchase them alongside our orders and have them delivered to you."

Lin Xiang had long considered asking about Quanfu Building’s purchasing channels, and now that Quanfu Building was under her management, she wasn’t about to foolishly refuse when Manager Shi offered.

The types of dishes at Xingfu Restaurant varied day by day, depending on what was available at the market, but they were all simple home-cooked dishes.

"Pick a variety of vegetables each day; for those that can be stored, buy a little extra. As for pork, let’s set it at fifteen pounds per day."

In the morning, Cheng Jinyun had gone to the market to buy ten pounds of pork and had used it all by the morning.

But since today was the grand opening and a Sunday, the good business was expected.

Once the buzz from Xingfu Restaurant’s grand opening calms down, there certainly won’t be so many customers, and fifteen pounds of pork daily should be sufficient.

After all, the main focus is still on vegetarian dishes.

Lin Xiang also signed an agreement with Manager Shi and Accountant Lu, with all three parties affixing their signatures.

Then she shoved the pork into Cheng Jinyun’s hands and quickly rushed back to Xingfu Restaurant.

As they passed through the market, Lin Xiang bought some more vegetables.

Unlike pork, vegetables didn’t have a fixed daily quota. Most were brought to market by local farmers who had surplus, though they looked a bit withered compared to the fresh ones in the morning.

But the price was relatively cheaper. Lin Xiang purchased all the vegetables she could from several stalls, only leaving once she had enough for the afternoon’s supply. Then she and Cheng Jinyun hurried back to Xingfu Restaurant.

Seeing them return with meat and vegetables, the sisters-in-law set aside their rest and immediately got up to receive the produce, ready to wash and prepare it.

"It’s only a little past two, and there’s still time before the dinner rush starts, so why don’t you all rest a bit longer?"

"Rest? What for? This morning we were too slow, and the guests were already here before we finished cooking. What if a customer gets impatient and leaves? We would lose a few cents per person."

"We’re used to doing physical work. It was a bit tiring during the busy midday rush, but after sitting for a while, we’re fine. No problem at all."

The sisters-in-law were all quick and efficient in their work. Mrs. Lin and Lin Xiang wanted to help but were decisively refused by the sisters-in-law.

"You hired us to help, so these tasks are for us to do. It’s not right to have the owners lend a hand, is it?"

"But there’s so much to do. How will you manage it all?"

"Just stop talking nonsense, won’t you? Madam, you rest up. You’ll need your energy to serve the dishes later."

Watching the sisters-in-law busily working, Lin Xiang quietly said to Cheng Jinyun, "The sisters-in-law are working so hard. I feel like we’re not paying them enough."

Cheng Jinyun replied, "But your small restaurant has just started operating, and you don’t yet know what the stable income will be, so it’s not suitable to raise wages now."