"Zhou Yan, you got set up so fast? How’s business?" Zhou Jie put down the rag in his hand and walked over with a smile.

"Yeah, that was quick!" Zhou Hai also looked at him expectantly.

The owner of the next stall, Zhou Liangliang, was cracking sunflower seeds. He curled his lip and muttered under his breath, "Tch. He’ll sell ten or twenty bowls, tops. Said he wanted to learn, but then he never showed up."

"Business is okay. Yesterday was the first day, and I sold seventy bowls. Today, I’ll probably sell out all one hundred," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"What? A hundred bowls!"

"Business is that good!"

Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai were both completely shocked.

They had been selling soup pots for two years, slowly building up a following. Now that the weather had cooled down, they could sometimes sell a hundred bowls, and that was considered a good day.

Zhou Yan had just started selling his soup pots, and he’d already sold seventy bowls on his first day! And today he was going to sell a hundred?!

CLATTER...

Zhou Liangliang’s sunflower seeds scattered all over the ground. He stared at Zhou Yan, his eyes wide with shock and disbelief.

’A hundred bowls!’

’How much money is that? How much profit?’

’We’re all from the same village, all named Zhou, so why is his soup pot selling so well?’

’We all get our beef from the same slaughterhouse!’

’It makes no sense.’

’So frustrating!’

"That’s great! Zhou Yan, your cooking skills are amazing! You can even sell a hundred bowls of soup pot in front of the textile mill." Zhou Jie was happy and relieved. "Now your restaurant’s business will be even better. You don’t have to worry about it going under anymore."

"I knew Zhou Yan could do it. He’s been sharp since he was a kid," Zhou Hai said with a simple, honest laugh, his face beaming with pride.

"I sell my soup pots for sixty cents a bowl," Zhou Yan said with a gentle smile. He could feel his two cousins’ genuine happiness for him.

"How much?"

"Sixty cents a bowl!"

Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai stopped smiling, their expressions turning to shock and disbelief.

Their stall sold soup pots for forty cents a bowl, which was already the highest price in all of Suji. They relied on their flavor and reputation to maintain sales.

They had started at thirty cents, then thirty-five, slowly raising the price over time.

’Zhou Yan is selling for sixty cents a bowl right from the start? And he can still sell a hundred a day?’

’Since when was it so easy to make money in Suji?’

’And didn’t the female workers at the textile mill dislike soup pots?’

The two of them were a bit stunned.

"You’re not kidding, are you?" Zhou Jie asked, looking at Zhou Yan.

Zhou Hai also scratched his head.

"I’m not," Zhou Yan said with a laugh. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Alright, I believe you." Zhou Jie nodded immediately, grabbing Zhou Yan’s arm. "That’s fucking awesome!"

Zhou Liangliang had just grabbed a new handful of sunflower seeds, but now they tasted bitter and numbing as he cracked them. They had lost all their fragrance.

’Sixty cents!’

’What’s the difference between that and straight-up robbery?’

’He makes a profit even selling them for thirty cents.’

’If Zhou Yan sells them for sixty cents and sells a hundred bowls a day, how much money is he making?’

’If I set up a stall at the textile mill gate... forget sixty cents, even if I sold them for fifty or forty cents, I’d still make a killing!’

As he did the math in his head, Zhou Liangliang’s hands started to tremble, and the sunflower seeds he’d just grabbed fell to the ground again.

"Got Parkinson’s? Can’t even hold onto your seeds." Zhou Yan shot him a sideways glance. He knew exactly what the guy was thinking.

The news that his Kneeling Beef business was booming at the textile mill gate and that he was selling bowls for sixty cents would spread quickly. It was public knowledge, easily calculated, and impossible to hide.

In a few more days, the gate of the textile mill would definitely be crowded with people from Zhou Village selling soup pots.

Setting up a stall was just a matter of moving to a new spot. There were no real costs involved, and street vendors were a shrewd bunch.

Zhou Yan wasn’t afraid of direct competition. The flavor and quality of his Kneeling Beef were his moat, and the reputation his restaurant had turned around these past few days was another point in his favor.

In the future Jiazhou, the streets would be lined with Kneeling Beef restaurants, and the most successful ones were never the cheapest, but the ones that had perfected both their flavor and their marketing.

He had come looking for Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai today with the intention of teaching them his Kneeling Beef recipe.

’They’re family, after all. I just want them to have a better life.’

[Ding! Side Quest triggered: Kneeling Beef Legacy. As a traditional intangible cultural heritage dish, Kneeling Beef urgently needs to be properly established! Take on an apprentice as the inheritor of the Kneeling Beef tradition, teach them the authentic recipe, and carry forward the legacy of Kneeling Beef.]

[Mission Reward: Unknown. Accept: Yes/No.]

Zhou Yan’s eyelid twitched as he saw the mission that had suddenly popped up.

This was a bit of a surprise.

’The system has side quests for culinary heritage?’

’But there’s no reason to refuse a mission that’s been served up on a silver platter.’

He decisively chose to accept.

"Jie, Haizi, I’ve made some improvements to the soup pot. The workers at the textile mill all love it, which is why I can sell it at this price." Zhou Yan pulled the two of them aside and lowered his voice. "Do you two want to learn from me? As long as you do it the way I teach you, your business will definitely be even better than it is now, and you’ll earn more too."

"How could we do that? Your restaurant’s business is just starting to pick up, and you still have a lot of debt. As your older brothers, we can’t steal your business." Zhou Jie immediately shook his head, his attitude firm. "I know you’re being sincere with me and Haizi, but we want you to do even better."

"Exactly. We’re making money now, too. In this whole row of stalls, no one’s business is better than ours," Zhou Hai added, patting his chest.

Zhou Yan felt a lump in his throat, and for a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

’What can you trade for sincerity?’

’Money certainly can’t buy it.’

"Jie, Haizi, listen to me." Zhou Yan looked at them, his expression serious. "I know what you’re thinking and I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m thinking about the long term."

"You can’t spend your whole lives running this stall, can you? You’re exposed to the sun and rain every day, and you can’t even open if the weather’s bad. After factoring out the slow season, you barely make any money for the year, and your wives suffer along with you."

"I’m running a restaurant. I don’t just sell soup pots. I’m selling noodles now, and in the future, I can make money from stir-fries and braised dishes. That’s my main business."

"Once you learn my soup pot recipe and master the craft, you can open a shop in town, or even in the city. That’s how you’ll make more money and live a better life."

"Worried about stealing my business? Not a chance. My customers are mainly the textile mill workers. They won’t come all this way to eat the same soup pot."

"We’re family, don’t be strangers. Otherwise, I’m going to have dinner with Grandma tomorrow and tell on you."

After he finished, Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai fell silent. One scratched his head, the other stroked his chin.

"Jie, make a decision," Zhou Yan said, looking at Zhou Jie.

"Alright. Since you’ve put it that way, what else can we, as your older brothers, say?" Zhou Jie nodded. "You name a time. I’ll come learn from you first, and once I’ve got it, I’ll teach Haizi."

"We’re taking a break tomorrow. Come find me at the restaurant next Monday morning," Zhou Yan said.

"Deal," Zhou Jie said with a smile. "Then I guess Haizi and I will be taking you as our master."

"Zhou Yan is a proper, bona fide chef," Zhou Hai added with a grin.

"No problem." Zhou Yan nodded. "I’m heading back, then. A group of college students from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute came to the restaurant to eat today, and I need to get back to stir-fry the base ingredients."

"College students?"

"A whole group of them?"

Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai both looked fascinated. "Then you should hurry back, don’t waste any time," they urged.

"I’m off." Zhou Yan hopped on his bicycle and left.

Zhou Liangliang watched his retreating back, his eyes darting back and forth. He turned and woke up his wife, who was dozing behind the stove. "You watch the stall by yourself tonight," he whispered. "I’ve got something to take care of."

"How am I supposed to manage on my own? What is it you have to do?" his wife grumbled, still half-asleep.

"You’ll only sell a dozen or so bowls tonight, you could do it with your eyes closed. I’m going to take care of something big. We might be about to get rich," Zhou Liangliang said, keeping his voice low.

"Get rich?" His wife looked at him suspiciously. "Are you going to rob a bank?"

"Rob a bank my ass! Go back to your beauty sleep, you useless woman!" Zhou Liangliang yanked the apron off and threw it over her face, then pushed his bicycle and headed in the direction of the textile mill.

...

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