Rebirth: She is Ready for a Counterattack!

The grand entrance of the Food Street was erected, with the mayor personally inscribing "Food Street", and various city leaders attended the opening ceremony for ribbon-cutting and fireworks, immediately making the front page of the newspaper.

The fame of Food Street began spreading throughout various parts of the city.

This was a project supported by the city’s reform initiatives.

Gu Xiaoqing’s restaurant also opened its doors.

Gu Xiaoqing positioned the restaurant around hot pot, a fresh concept in the current cityscape.

The existing hot pot options were mostly traditional Beijing-style lamb hot pot, not particularly spicy, with mundane broth bases.

The accompaniments were just a few types without any distinct features, as economic development had not yet accelerated, and inland provincial capitals, though sizable cities, were lagging behind Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen in terms of developed business models.

Maintaining the original monotony and tradition.

Even restaurants only served traditional local stir-fries, with North-South cuisine being impossible.

Gu Xiaoqing figured hot pot was the easiest to master; except for the broth, the rest was easy to handle, and having been a veteran employee at a chain of Chengdu hot pot restaurants, she was well-equipped with the necessary skills.

For Gu Xiaoqing, the sequence and skill of adding various ingredients to the broth were no issue, and perhaps the only golden advantage from her previous life was her expertise in various cuisines and snacks, truly a reward for her past toil and resilience.

Thus, Gu Xiaoqing believed this was the foundation of her family’s development. As for North-South cuisine, not only did she not know how, but hiring such a chef would be costly, and failing to please the chef might lead them to leave abruptly, leaving one helpless.

The Gu Family hot pot restaurant officially opened.

Named "Gu Family Spicy Hot Pot".

Gu Ruhai and Li Xuemei had worried about this change for quite some time, but before the opening, Gu Xiaoqing invited the family for a hot pot meal, which silenced Gu Ruhai and Li Xuemei, who would have otherwise been nagging for quite a while.

The task of preparing the hot pot base was directly handled by Gu Ruhai and Li Xuemei, in a privately established kitchen to ensure the recipe remained secret. The other staff were hired.

Recruiting young men and women from the countryside, a 180 square meter hot pot restaurant needed at least four or five servers to be respectable.

Gu Xiaoying was responsible for the cashier. After two years of experience, she learned quite a bit from Gu Xiaoqing; understanding simple texts and arithmetic was no problem, and she proved to be a master of calculations, as Gu Xiaoqing discovered her sister had a natural knack for numbers.

It seemed to be genetic; their children appeared to have a talent for mathematics.

Gu Xiaoying handled cash with great reliability.

There was no cash register at this time; everything depended on manual orders and handwritten calculations.

These servers underwent a rigorous ten-day training designed by Gu Xiaoqing, utilizing her experience of being trained by others as a ready-made management plan.

The servers were from rural areas, eager to work where meals and lodging were provided.

Unlike the young generation later prone to frequent job-hopping.

People of this era were simple and straightforward, without ulterior motives or laziness.

While some individuals had minor issues, the majority were eager to work diligently given the difficulty of finding a job.

Fearful of being dismissed by their employers.

Lodging and meals were provided, along with a monthly salary of fifty yuan, which was a fortune compared to the rural annual income of only one to two hundred yuan.

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Thus, Gu Xiaoqing’s rules were strictly adhered to.

Upholding the principle that the customer is king.

A novel concept for the era.

Never before proposed.

If any, it likely originated first in cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

The staff wore uniforms, creating a sense of brand image.

Not only were the staff uniforms coordinated, but the utensils used by guests were selected carefully by Gu Xiaoqing from numerous suppliers, enhancing the atmosphere and giving a high-end impression.

The day before opening, Gu Xiaoqing and Gu Xiaoying distributed invitations.

Some must be invited, like He Cui and her husband, Director Li Shangmin, and the eldest uncle. Invitations were also given to other business owners on the street who had already started operations. Whether they attended was their choice.

On opening day, Gu Ruhai and Li Xuemei busily managed the restaurant from early morning.

Fireworks were indispensable.

A red banner above the entrance prominently stated an 20% discount celebration for the opening.

Li Weimin and Li Weiqiang, relatives of the family, arrived early to help with fireworks and table arrangements.

By eleven, customers began arriving, although He Cui was absent.

Gu Xiaoqing was not disappointed; they might have had other matters, beyond prediction.

Moreover, their relationship with Fang Shaonan’s parents wasn’t extremely close; it remained simple, with them offering more assistance.

Absence was understandable.

Li Shangmin, being a director, had little connection with ordinary folks like them; attending was a gesture toward He Cui, not attending was expected.

Their family held no negative thoughts.

Guests started arriving gradually.

Initially, Gu Ruhai and Li Xuemei worried about a lack of customers.

However, as the crowd grew, they soon became too busy to think of such concerns.

In the kitchen, Gu Ruhai was in charge, with three kitchen helpers for washing, picking vegetables, and plating.

Fresh vegetables and various food items were pre-washed in the morning.

Lamb and beef required a specialized slicing chef, but with the machine for slicing meat that Gu Xiaoqing arranged, it was no trouble.

Various fish balls, shrimp balls, beef, and pork meatballs were freshly made by two young trainees arranged by Gu Xiaoqing.

These were also freshly prepared in the morning, with Gu Xiaoqing emphasizing freshness.

Fresh ingredients, fresh cooking styles, fresh presentation.

Only this could truly attract a large crowd of diners. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit qidian.com to cast recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com for reading.)