Chapter 58: Grand Opening, Booming Business
Xu An’s flyer strategy was proving very effective.
Although orders from the Hai City Nautical College were dropping precipitously—from over sixty three days ago, to over forty the day before yesterday, twenty-one yesterday, and only twelve today.
Based on this rate of decline, Xu An wouldn’t be surprised if the number of orders from Hai City Nautical College dropped to single digits, or even zero, after today.
In contrast, orders from office workers were increasing daily. It wasn’t just the original few companies anymore; other companies that had learned about Xu An’s fast food shop through the flyers also started placing orders.
There had been just over twenty orders three days ago, which grew to over thirty the day before yesterday. Yesterday, that number doubled to over sixty, and today it surged to nearly eighty.
The increase was substantial, more than making up for the lost orders and even adding to the total.
Moreover, the growth was sustained and still far from its peak, showing significant potential for more.
「Xu Family Village.」
For the past few days, Xu An had felt that something was odd whenever he returned to the village.
In the past, when the villagers saw him, they would just greet each other, exchange a few pleasantries at most, and then go about their own business.
But these days, any villager who ran into Xu An would give him a meaningful look. Occasionally, they would even pat his shoulder and tell him to keep it up.
Some people would even stop to give him long talks about how to run a business.
Xu An could only chalk up all this strange behavior to one thing. ’The villagers must think I’m running this stall to pay for tuition and living expenses. Is that why they’re cheering me on and trying to share their business advice?’
On the ninth day, he finally received a definite answer from Uncle Dongliang: he could pick up the business license tomorrow afternoon.
This meant that Xu’s Fast Food could pick a date and prepare to open!
Xu An didn’t plan on anything extravagant, but a simple opening ceremony was a must. In business, some traditions just had to be observed.
He asked Third Granny to pick an auspicious date, which happened to be the day after tomorrow, so there was no delay.
Then he asked Uncle Dongliang to help find a lion dance troupe, booking two lions to liven things up during the opening.
Finally, there was the sign. Since the business hours were mostly during the day, he didn’t get a light-up sign, just a simple one with large golden characters on a mahogany-colored background.
Once the sign was finished, it was hung above the shop entrance. However, it would remain covered by a red cloth until it was unveiled on opening day.
There were also some adjustments regarding the staff.
Once Xu’s Fast Food opened, Liang Dani’s working hours would change from 5 AM to 2 PM to 8 AM to 7 PM, with a two-hour break in between.
Her salary would also increase from the current nine hundred to one thousand, and she would get four days off per month.
These benefits weren’t top-tier in Hai City, but for someone like Liang Dani, who had no education, no skills, and nothing to her name, they were already quite good.
He hadn’t been able to find a dishwasher for days. When he asked Third Granny to pick a date a couple of days ago, he also entrusted this matter to her. He figured there should be some results within two or three days.
Xu Lili and Zhou Qi would stay at the shop. Zhou Qi would be mainly responsible for serving the food, while Xu Lili would clear the tables and occasionally help with serving.
Now that the orders from Hai City Nautical College had dropped to single digits, a dedicated delivery person was no longer needed.
Liang Dani and Xu An would split the lunch box orders, each responsible for a portion, following routes planned by Xu An.
Considering Liang Dani wasn’t very familiar with the roads in that area, to avoid delays, Xu An took on the majority of the delivery orders. Once she became familiar with the area, he would gradually increase the number of orders she delivered.
Xu Heping would still be on his own, taking lunch boxes to the Hai City Library construction site to sell them from a stall.
「The day of the grand opening.」
At six in the morning, Xu An got out of bed. Today was the opening day, and he wanted to bring Xu Kang, Xu Le, and Granny Xu along. A family should be all together.
When he first told Granny about it, she had refused several times, saying she was just an old woman with stiff legs and there was no need to bring her all that way.
But in the end, under the persuasion of Xu An and Third Granny, she reluctantly agreed.
After Granny Xu agreed, Xu An caught her a few times, holding up outfits and sizing them up, seemingly contemplating what to wear for the opening.
At times like this, Xu An couldn’t help but feel relieved. ’Thankfully, the two little ones, Xu Kang and Xu Le, don’t take after Granny. If we had three tsunderes in the house—one big and two small—life would be a total guessing game.’
Originally, Xu An had only planned a simple unveiling of the red cloth and a lion dance to liven things up for the opening. Thus, he hadn’t told the villagers; only his own family and Third Granny’s family knew.
But to his surprise, he could see from a distance that the entrance to the shop was lined with congratulatory flower baskets—at least a dozen of them.
Xu An looked at the inscriptions on the flower baskets in confusion:
"From the family of Xu Dongliang, Xu Family Village: May your doors welcome the morning sun and endless wealth; may your home embrace the spring breeze and abundant joy."
"From the family of Xu Guosheng, Xu Family Village: May your business flourish like the spring, and your wealth flow longer than a running stream."
From the family of Xu Guoqiang, Xu Family Village...
...
They were actually from the villagers! Every single household in the village had sent a flower basket to his little shop! Mixed in were two baskets from others: one from Bald Chen, and the other from Lin Xu Yang.
Xu An couldn’t hide the surprise on his face. Something suddenly got in his eyes, making them turn red.
Someone suddenly came up behind Xu An and clapped him on the shoulder. "You little rascal. Opening a shop without telling anyone? I bet you didn’t expect us all to know, huh? Surprise! Bet you didn’t see that coming! Feeling touched?"
Hearing this, Xu An turned his head and saw that it was Xu Dongliang.
"Work hard. Going to college isn’t the only way to succeed." Xu Dongliang patted Xu An’s shoulder again, then turned to call Xu Heping and the others over to help set things up.
Xu An was stunned. ’How does Uncle Dongliang know I’m not planning to go to college? I haven’t told anyone but Granny.’ His gaze suddenly shifted to Granny Xu.
Granny Xu was already out of the car, leaning on a cane fashioned from a tree branch. She gazed at the storefront with a pleased expression. Meeting Xu An’s eyes, she smiled and said, "Work hard."
At 8:42, the lion dance troupe began to perform, attracting a crowd of onlookers.
At nine o’clock sharp, the two lion dance teams paused. After Xu Anshang stepped forward and pulled off the red cloth to reveal the sign for "Xu’s Fast Food," a new round of dancing began.
Xu An took a 500-shot roll of firecrackers to the sidewalk and lit it. The SNAP, CRACKLE, AND POP of the firecrackers echoed through the little area. Red paper scraps carpeted the ground, creating a festive red runner.
The opening ceremony was complete. Xu’s Fast Food was officially open!
Xu An and the others put on aprons and got busy in the kitchen. Granny Xu sat behind the cash register with her old, well-worn abacus that shone from use. Xu Kang and Xu Le were outside, searching for unpopped firecrackers among the red paper scraps on the ground.
The lion dance troupe performed until 9:20 before taking a break. They sat inside the shop, drinking water and chatting while they waited for their meal, which was part of the payment Xu An had promised them.
The kitchen was spacious. Three people prepped the ingredients while two were in charge of cooking.
The five of them worked on their own tasks inside, not getting in each other’s way. The speed was much faster than when they were working in Xu Family Village.
An hour and a half later, all the dishes for the day were cooked and spread out, covering the large steel table in the back kitchen.
Liang Dani and Xu Heping had already started packing the lunch boxes. Xu An and Zhou Qi each carried a large basin of food out of the kitchen and into the shop’s service area.
Opposite the cash register was a secondhand heated food counter he had recently found. It was already plugged in and powered on, waiting for the food to arrive.