Food: Selling Boxed Meals at a Construction Site

At 7:50 AM, Xu An brought his family to Xu’s Fast Food.

At 8:00 AM, Liang Dani, Zhou Qi, and the others also arrived right on time at the restaurant’s entrance.

At 8:10 AM, Bald Chen’s van pulled up to the restaurant, and he took four large bags of meat out of the trunk.

"Business is looking good, Boss! It’s only been a little over half a month, and you’ve already opened your own place. Make sure you keep sending some business my way in the future," Bald Chen teased when he saw Xu An.

Initially, he had just thought Xu An was a solid young man who did business honestly and didn’t cut corners. He’d appreciated that, so he’d chatted with him a little more than usual.

He never expected that in less than half a month, Xu An would become one of his stall’s top twenty customers. Now that the restaurant was open, his order volume had doubled. Bald Chen, of course, had to maintain a good relationship with such a steady client.

Xu An took the meat from Bald Chen and carefully inspected the production and expiration dates on the packaging.

Once he confirmed there were no issues, he had Zhou Qi and the others take the meat to the kitchen. He then stood by the van, making small talk with Bald Chen as he paid the bill.

Suddenly, Xu An’s eyes scanned the trunk, where he noticed two more large bags of meat. "Making another delivery after this?" he asked casually.

Bald Chen followed Xu An’s gaze to the two large bags of meat in the van and chuckled. "Yup. This restaurant is a first-time customer, and the order isn’t that big. I normally wouldn’t deliver, but their place is right near yours. I figured since it’s close, I’d just bring it all at once."

Xu An nodded. ’Close by... It must be one of the fast-food restaurants nearby.’

The two chatted for a few more moments before Bald Chen handed the invoice and other receipts to Xu An. He then got into his van, turned the steering wheel, and drove off.

After just rounding a corner, a distance of less than 150 meters, Bald Chen’s van came to a stop.

’Delicious Restaurant... This should be the place,’ Bald Chen muttered, glancing at the address the customer had left and then at the restaurant itself, his tone uncertain.

The restaurant’s sign was covered with red cloth, obscuring its name.

However, two grand-opening flower baskets were already placed by the entrance. Bald Chen leaned in for a closer look and saw the inscription on one read, "Wishing Delicious Restaurant a Grand and Prosperous Opening." The date written below was for the next day. It seemed he was in the right place.

The door to Delicious Restaurant was wide open, but there was no one in sight. Bald Chen stood at the entrance and called out a couple of times. A chubby, middle-aged man with remarkably large ears and long earlobes emerged from the kitchen.

"Ah, the boss is here! I was busy in the kitchen and didn’t notice you. Come, come, have a cup of tea." The middle-aged man greeted Bald Chen warmly. He wasn’t just being polite, either; he immediately picked up a cup to pour some tea.

It wasn’t the first time Bald Chen had met such a hospitable customer. ’This is my last delivery this morning,’ he thought. ’Sitting down for a cup of tea won’t take too long.’ So he went inside, sat down, offered a quick word of thanks, and took a sip.

The middle-aged man carried the two large bags of meat into the kitchen, then sat down across from Bald Chen with a wide smile.

"Your business is booming, boss. When I came by to place my order yesterday, your stall was mobbed with people."

"It’s only picked up a bit recently. A while back, I barely had any customers. I didn’t dare stock too much each day, afraid I’d get stuck with unsold goods." Like any savvy businessman, Bald Chen adhered to the principle of not flaunting one’s wealth, so his answer was carefully noncommittal.

"Do many of the restaurants around here order from you?" the middle-aged man asked, changing the subject.

"I can’t speak for other suppliers, but not many order from me. Including you, it’s only two places," Bald Chen answered readily, as there was no need to hide that information.

"Oh? And which one is the other?" the middle-aged man asked, a hint of surprise on his face.

"Xu’s Fast Food. They’re an old customer," Bald Chen said with a touch of sentiment. "They started out ordering just ten jin at a time. Now their orders are eight or ten times larger."

As soon as he said it, Bald Chen felt he might have spoken out of turn. He quickly took a sip of his tea and didn’t elaborate further.

The middle-aged man was quite curious about the topic and asked several more times, but he got no further response from Bald Chen.

After finishing his tea in one gulp, he said his goodbyes and left.

Sitting back in his van, Bald Chen suddenly felt that something was off. ’Did that guy just pump me for information?’

But after a moment’s thought, he figured he hadn’t revealed anything truly important, so he didn’t dwell on it.

No sooner had Xu An, Liang Dani, and Xu Heping left the restaurant than a tall, thin young man walked in.

"Excuse me, can I get an order for takeout?"

"Takeout?" Granny Xu paused for a second. In the two days since they’d opened, he was the first customer to ask for that.

"Yeah, it’s too crowded and hot in here. I’d rather take it home to eat," the tall, thin young man explained.

Granny Xu glanced at the disposable containers in the kitchen, then nodded. "We can do that. Pay here first, and then we’ll pack it up for you."

The tall, thin young man immediately pulled out his money to pay. After taking it, Granny Xu called Xu Lili over to help pack the boxed meal.

With practice, Xu Lili had become quite familiar with the task of packing meals. She had a boxed meal ready for the young man in a flash.

The tall, thin young man took the boxed meal and left Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant without a backward glance. He quickened his pace, rounded a wide corner, and slipped into Delicious Restaurant.

"Boss, I brought the food back."

As soon as he said this, two men emerged from the kitchen.

Both men were balding on top and had the same large ears and long earlobes. One was about fifty and showed his age, while the other was much younger, looking to be under thirty.

The older man walked straight to the table, opened the bag, and laid all the food out on the surface. "Wu," he said to the younger man, "come and give this a try. See if you can make it."

The younger man, Wu, nodded and stepped forward. He picked up a pair of chopsticks and tasted a bite of each dish. After closing his eyes for a moment as if savoring the flavors, he stated with conviction, "I can make this, Dad."

The older man pulled a flyer from inside his shirt and handed it to Wu. "Recreate all the dishes on here. We need to finalize our menu today."

A prominent slogan was printed on the flyer: ’What to eat for lunch? Xu’s Fast Food—deliciousness delivered to your door.’

Today was Old Han’s first day working part-time at Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant.

He had made a point of borrowing a classmate’s unused bicycle from school and had arrived at Xu’s Restaurant bright and early, brimming with excitement.

He looked at the twenty boxed meals Xu An assigned to him—a total of seven companies’ orders—and felt a bit scornful.

’Only twenty meals? Who are they kidding! Just watch, I’ll deliver these at lightning speed and be done in half an hour!’

Old Han arrived at the first company. After telling the receptionist he was there with a food delivery, a full five minutes passed before two people ambled out of an office to meet him.

They were just as slow and unhurried when it came to paying, making Old Han so antsy he wanted to grab the money himself.

The second stop was a little better; it only took two minutes to hand over three meals.

At the third company, the customer was in a meeting when he arrived, so Old Han had to wait at the door for seven minutes before the person came out to collect the food and pay.

At the fourth stop, the customer was especially cautious. After taking the meals, he opened every single container—not even sparing the rice—to check them before finally paying.

...

After delivering all the orders he had, Old Han returned to the restaurant and collected his pay for the day—ten yuan.

Old Han stared at the ten yuan, lost in thought. ’Before I started, I was so sure I’d earn a hundred yuan a day. What went wrong? How did I end up with a measly ten?’