Food: Selling Boxed Meals at a Construction Site

Xu Heping arrived quickly, at almost the same time as the landlord of Delicious Restaurant.

Right after getting out of the car, he pulled Xu An aside with a worried look. "Why the sudden decision to rent the Delicious Restaurant space? The owner took a huge fall on our turf. Aren’t you worried they’ll try some dirty tricks?"

"I’ve already checked it out. The shop is fine, and we’ve agreed on the terms. We just need to be careful when we sign the contract later," Xu An said, lowering his voice. "This guy is Jin Dayong’s son. He’s not as sharp as his father."

Xu Heping finally looked up at Jin Wu. He really was the spitting image of Jin Dayong, which put his mind at ease.

He had just been worried that the restaurant’s employees were causing a scene because they hadn’t been paid.

"How much are you short?"

"Rent is two thousand, the deposit is six thousand, and the equipment is three thousand seven hundred at half price. I’m short five thousand seven hundred."

Xu Heping nodded, took off his shoulder bag, and handed it to Xu An. "There’s eight thousand in here. Take it for now."

"Thanks." Xu An didn’t hesitate and took the bag. "With this eight thousand, I now owe you nine thousand six hundred."

"Where’d the extra sixteen hundred come from?"

"You don’t remember?" Xu An jogged Xu Heping’s memory. "When I first started the boxed lunch business, you said it yourself: once I start making money, I have to pay you back ten times what the tricycle cost."

"Like I need that little bit of money from you!" Xu Heping rolled his eyes at Xu An. He was about to say more, but Jin Wu and the landlord were already walking over, so he swallowed the rest of his words.

The subsequent paperwork wasn’t complicated. The three of them—Xu An, Jin Wu, and the landlord—signed a new contract, with Xu An replacing Jin Wu as the new tenant.

Jin Wu breathed a sigh of relief once he got the money. He didn’t linger for a second, hopping on his electric scooter and riding away. The landlord left as well, leaving just Xu An and Xu Heping in Delicious Restaurant.

"Why rent another shop all of a sudden? There’s barely any foot traffic over here. Our original place is big enough." Xu Heping’s words were reasonable, but his tone was dripping with sarcasm. You could tell just by the sound of his voice that he was still upset.

"The kitchen is too crowded. Everyone’s cramped and can’t work properly. They’re constantly getting in each other’s way, which has really lowered our efficiency." Xu An pointed at Delicious Restaurant behind them. "This location won’t be open to the public. We’ll use the first-floor dining area for prep work, the kitchen will be just for cooking, and the second floor will be our storeroom."

Xu Heping nodded, and a silence fell between them.

Sighing, Xu An couldn’t help but laugh. "How much longer are you going to be mad? Seriously? Your grades weren’t great, but you could still get into a vocational college. That’s still college, so why didn’t you go? Don’t be such a hypocrite. It’s fine for you not to go to college, but when I don’t go, you get mad at me."

"That’s different..." Xu Heping started, but Xu An cut him off.

"What’s different? How is it any different? After you graduate, isn’t it just working a nine-to-five job, scraping by on a salary of two or three thousand a month?" Xu An couldn’t resist teasing him. "Who knows, maybe after you graduate from vocational college with a trade, you’ll be making more than me."

Xu Heping was left speechless by that and quickly changed tactics. "I’m not going to college because I have to take over the family business! My family has more than ten fish ponds waiting for me!"

"And I’m not going to college so I can *build* a family business." Xu An pointed to the Delicious Restaurant sign. "See? My second restaurant. And soon there’ll be a third, a fourth, a fifth... Isn’t me, starting from nothing, a lot more inspiring than you?"

Damn it!

This time, Xu Heping was truly at a loss for words.

If the Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant business were doing poorly, he could have said something. But with business booming, he really couldn’t find any reason to argue.

Xu An slung an arm around Xu Heping’s shoulder in a playfully cocky way. "Relax. It’s only been a little over a month, and I’ve already gotten this business off the ground. Who knows, maybe one day it’ll be an even bigger deal than Qiansheng Group."

"Keep dreaming." Xu Heping grumpily slapped Xu An’s hand away. "Let’s tear down this Delicious Restaurant sign. I’ve hated the sight of it for a long time."

"Tear it down!" Xu An laughed.

The two of them borrowed a ladder and a hammer, smashed the Delicious Restaurant sign to smithereens, and tossed the pieces into the recycling area by the back door.

As they looked at the shattered sign, their friendship was suddenly back to normal.

Today was the first day delivering employee meals to Aisha Clothing Company, and Xu An was taking it very seriously. He put Xu Heping, Liang Dani, and Xu Lili in charge of the Hai City Library and Red Brick Factory Creative Park drop-offs, while he personally handled the delivery to Aisha Clothing Company.

Taking a page from modern fast-food companies, Xu An printed out the order list, cut it into long strips, and taped one to each corresponding boxed lunch.

This made it easy to see who ordered it, which department they were in, and what dish they’d chosen, all at a glance. It was incredibly convenient.

Aisha Clothing Company required delivery by 11:40 AM. So, he first had Xu Heping and Xu Lili take the boxed lunches to Hai City Library. Xu Heping then stayed behind to watch over the food while Xu Lili brought the tricycle back.

Meanwhile, Xu An finished taping all the order slips to the lunch boxes. He sorted the boxes by department, packed them into large bags, and stuck a big label with the department name on the outside of each bag to make distribution easier for the administrative staff at Aisha Clothing.

Just as he finished, Xu Lili returned. They loaded the boxed lunches onto the tricycle, and Xu An hopped on and set off.

At 11:39 AM, he arrived right on time at the entrance of Aisha Clothing Company.

Xu An had just finished the handover to Luo Min when Ren Peng pulled up in a van emblazoned with the Yipin Xiang Fast Food Restaurant logo. He whipped the van around in a sharp turn, parking it facing the street right in front of the Aisha Clothing Company entrance.

Dressed in a flashy floral shirt and wearing equally flashy sunglasses, he stepped out of the van with a bit of a swagger. He took off the sunglasses and smiled as he greeted Luo Min.

Out of the corner of his eye, however, he glanced at the two large containers at Xu An’s feet. ’One of those can hold thirty boxed lunches at most, so two means only sixty orders.’

’For a guy who supposedly got in through connections, he only managed to snag less than sixty orders. Looks like his connections aren’t so strong after all!’

’Once the employees here taste today’s lunches, they’ll realize that food from a chain restaurant is way better than anything from this no-name little shop.’

’And then, all of Aisha Clothing Company’s orders will be mine.’

At this thought, Ren Peng was suddenly glad that Fukelai had been eliminated.

’Taking all two hundred-plus orders for myself is much better than splitting them fifty-fifty with a "brother."’

’I originally thought this connections guy would be an obstacle, but it turns out he’s my lucky star.’

Suddenly, the way Ren Peng looked at Xu An became much friendlier. His smile held a hint of genuine warmth as he gave Xu An an enthusiastic greeting, which left Xu An completely baffled.

’What’s with this Yipin Xiang owner?’

’Yesterday, he looked like he wanted to eat me alive. Today, he’s smiling at me so openly. It’s like he’s a completely different person.’

’Something’s not right. This guy is acting weird. Better be careful!’