Chapter 94: You Look Like a Fat Sheep
At 1:50 PM, there were only ten minutes left until Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant closed for the day.
However, Xu An needed to head to Aisha Clothing Company to sign a contract today. He had no choice but to leave the restaurant and his family in Xu Heping’s care as he set off.
The young woman at the front desk still remembered Xu An and was pleasantly surprised to see him arrive.
For days, the office had been buzzing with news about the company partnering with a fast food restaurant for employee meals. When she learned that Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant was a finalist, she had been hoping it would be chosen.
Now, Xu An’s presence here meant one thing: Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant had been selected!
Beaming, the receptionist led Xu An to the conference room. She held the door open for him, then closed it behind him as she left.
As soon as Xu An entered the conference room, he saw a burly, broad-shouldered middle-aged man sitting at the table. The man’s eyes scanned him from head to toe before he finally spoke. "Which restaurant are you the owner of? I don’t believe we’ve met."
Although the man’s face was wreathed in smiles, Xu An got a cold, sinister feeling from him, like being watched by a viper.
"Just a small roadside shop," Xu An replied dismissively, pulling out the chair opposite the man and sitting down.
Hearing Xu An’s reply, the middle-aged man’s gaze grew colder, a stark contrast to the ever-brightening smile on his face.
"So young and already so accomplished. Landing the company’s contract at your age, your future is limitless." The man twisted open a bottle of water and made a toasting gesture toward Xu An. "Here’s to our future cooperation, communication, and collaboration. Ha ha."
"Ha ha," Xu An echoed with a dry laugh, saying nothing more.
The middle-aged man opposite him was Ren Peng, the owner of the Yipin Xiang Chain Fast Food Restaurant.
Yipin Xiang Fast Food Restaurant was founded in 2006. After six years in business, it had opened twelve branches in Hai City, making it a fairly well-known local establishment.
Aisha Clothing Company had been the one to approach them about supplying boxed lunches. When Ren Peng learned the company wanted to partner with two restaurants, he acted on the principle of keeping profits in the family and recommended his younger brother’s Fukelai Fast Food Restaurant.
He had thought the two brothers could team up and swallow all of the company’s orders.
He never expected an outsider to swoop in, steal the prize, and kick his own brother out of the running.
’Based on his years of industry experience, there had to be someone backing this Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant!’
’He just didn’t know how powerful that backer was, or if he himself had only been chosen to make the other guy look good.’
Both Yipin Xiang Fast Food Restaurant and Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant had prepared incredibly thorough documentation; all the required licenses and certificates were in order.
After the manager in charge confirmed there were no issues with the paperwork, he handed a contract to each of them. The terms were identical.
Xu An read the contract carefully. After confirming there were no predatory clauses, he signed his name and added his thumbprint. The deal was done.
After the manager left with the contracts, another person entered the conference room. To his surprise, it was Luo Min. She was in charge of coordinating with the two fast food restaurants.
As Luo Min entered, she shot him a playful wink before her expression turned serious.
"My name is Luo Min, and I’ll be your point of contact for all the boxed lunch orders," she said, handing a business card to Ren Peng and another to Xu An. "Please add my contact information. If you have any questions, get in touch with me right away."
"I will email you the order numbers for the following day at 6:00 PM every evening. I’ll also send a notification on QQ, so please be sure to check your messages promptly."
Luo Min shuffled through the papers on the table, pulling out three A4 sheets. She handed one to Xu An and two to Ren Peng. "This is the purchase order for tomorrow’s meals."
Xu An took the sheet of A4 paper. It was a spreadsheet detailing every order: the person, their department, and their chosen dish.
His eyes scanned down to the last entry. He looked at the number at the end of the list—52. Fifty-two people at Aisha Clothing Company had chosen Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant.
He glanced up and saw Ren Peng looking right at him. They both cracked phony smiles.
’I have a total of one hundred ninety-three orders, and that well-connected punk opposite me has less than eighty? His backing is weaker than I thought. Looks like I was worried for nothing. This Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant is just here to make me look good.’
The smile on Ren Peng’s face grew more genuine, and the iciness in his eyes began to thaw.
After leaving the conference room and saying goodbye to Luo Min and the receptionist, Xu An walked nonchalantly to his electric tricycle, turned the key in the ignition, and rode off.
Seeing this, Ren Peng relaxed even further.
’He was probably some distant, barely-related relative who’d come asking to supply the employee meals. The higher-ups must have given him the contract just to save face.’
’Hah! To think I’d spent half the day worrying about such a lightweight. I must be getting old.’
On the way back, Xu An mulled over a question: was it more important to expand the restaurant or buy a small truck?
After weighing the pros and cons, he came to a conclusion—expanding the restaurant was more important.
Not having a truck just meant making a few extra trips. But if the restaurant space was too cramped for everyone to work, they wouldn’t be able to fulfill the orders, and that meant losing real money!
As the number of orders and the volume of ingredients increased, the once-spacious kitchen had become cramped. It was getting to the point where there was room for either ingredients or people, but not both.
To free up some working space, they had already cleared out the second floor to use as a storeroom. The freezer had been moved upstairs, and all incoming vegetables and fruits were stored there first.
But with all these frequently used items on the second floor, they had to constantly run up and down the stairs to retrieve things, which was extremely inconvenient.
He had considered converting the second floor into a kitchen, but that would involve dealing with plumbing, fire safety regulations, and waste disposal. The renovation costs would be high, and it just didn’t seem worth the trouble.
’So, expanding the storefront is the best solution right now!’
And if he was going to expand, the vacant restaurant space next door was the perfect choice.
’The layout of the shop next door is identical to Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant. We could move some of the work over there. I could manage one kitchen, and Zhou Qi could manage the other. How perfect would that be!’
Yesterday, he’d overheard the landlord next door telling a potential renter that the rent was 2,000 yuan a month—four hundred yuan cheaper than what Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant was currently paying.
If it was a one-month deposit and three months’ rent upfront, that would be eight thousand yuan. He should have enough after tomorrow’s sales.
’But it looked like all the equipment in the adjacent shop had been removed. That means I’ll need to set aside more money for new equipment!’
’Money, money... so many things to spend it on. I’m spending it faster than I can make it.’
Since he was set on renting the place next door, Xu An decided not to wait until tomorrow. There was no reason he couldn’t negotiate today, then sign the contract and pay the money tomorrow afternoon!
Xu An rode his electric tricycle straight back to his restaurant. He parked, got off, and walked over to the shop next door. He keyed the phone number from the ’For Rent’ sign into his phone and hit dial.
RING RING RING—
The phone only rang three times before someone picked up. When the landlord heard he had a prospective tenant, he eagerly agreed to meet.
Less than ten minutes later, the landlord pulled up on his own electric scooter. He nodded a greeting at Xu An, then got off and looked around, muttering, "Where is he? Someone said they wanted to see the property, but I don’t see anyone."
"Hello," Xu An said politely. "I’m the one who called about the property."
The landlord was stunned at first, then overjoyed!
’Most of the nearby shops were struggling just to break even, but Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant was already planning to expand? Business must be booming!’
’If your business is that good, then it’s only right that I ask for a little more!’
"Three months’ deposit, three months’ rent upfront. Three thousand a month. Three-year lease. If you break the terms, you forfeit the deposit."
?
A giant question mark slowly materialized over Xu An’s head.
’Do I really look like such an easy mark?’