Food: Selling Boxed Meals at a Construction Site

It wasn’t just Xu An; everyone else in the restaurant was startled by Zhang Dezhen’s sudden, high-pitched shout.

Inside the shop, everyone—whether they were chatting, handing out wages, collecting payments, counting cash, or playing around—whipped their heads around to stare intently at Xu An and the other man.

"Ahem, let’s take this to the kitchen. The kitchen."

Xu An led the incredibly excited Zhang Dezhen into the kitchen. After closing the door to escape the crowd’s prying eyes, he asked, "You said you wanted to apply for the chef position? Do you have any relevant experience?"

"I do! I worked in the back kitchen of the Xingfu Garden Hotel for four years... as a helper..." Zhang Dezhen’s voice trailed off. His initial confidence evaporated, replaced by an awkward anxiety. He even started fidgeting with his fingers by the end.

’Hmm, a helper.’ Xu An thought. ’Even though he worked in a kitchen, helpers usually don’t get to do the actual cooking. This could be a problem.’

"What were your main duties as a helper?"

"Washing vegetables, prepping ingredients, cleaning... I can do all that." After speaking, Zhang Dezhen realized he’d made a mistake. He was applying to be a chef, but he’d only listed a helper’s duties. He quickly tried to salvage the situation, adding, "I can make cold appetizers, and my marinated dishes are excellent, too."

Hearing the words "marinated dishes," Xu An’s interest was piqued. "What kinds of marinated dishes do you specialize in?" he pressed.

"If it’s edible, I can marinate it!" Zhang Dezhen’s earlier anxiety vanished, replaced by a confident swagger. "Back in my hometown, every family makes these dishes, and my family’s recipe is the best in the whole village, I tell ya."

’Marinated dishes?’

’Potatoes, lotus root, tofu skin, kelp, eggs, pork... we have all those ingredients in stock. What a perfect coincidence!’

Xu An immediately asked if Zhang Dezhen could whip up a pot for him to try. Zhang Dezhen agreed without a moment’s hesitation and eagerly followed Xu An upstairs to the second floor to select the necessary spices and seasonings.

The staff had just collected their day’s wages and were about to leave, but when they heard Zhang Dezhen was going to make marinated dishes, they decided to stay, all taking seats in the dining area.

"Boss, about this family recipe of mine..." Zhang Dezhen had his ingredients prepped and was ready to cook when he noticed Xu An standing beside him, watching with rapt attention. He spoke up, a little embarrassed.

’Ah, I get it.’ Xu An immediately left the kitchen, thoughtfully closing the door behind him.

Everyone waited for less than half an hour before a deep, rich aroma began to drift through the cracks in the kitchen door and windows, making their mouths water.

’Man, that smell is making me hungry too!’ Xu An thought.

In his previous life, after getting off work, he would sometimes stop by a braised snack shop to buy some duck necks, duck collarbones, potatoes, lotus root, and wakame to take home and share. It was the perfect way to satisfy a craving.

Especially while watching a game at night, with a can of beer in one hand and a duck neck in the other... now that was the life.

The aroma grew stronger and stronger. It was no longer confined to the restaurant; the scent drifted outside, spreading through the surrounding area.

Every so often, a nearby resident, drawn by the smell, would wander to the entrance and peek inside. The more outgoing ones would even ask, "What’s that you’re cooking?"

In response, Xu An would enthusiastically invite them to come in, have a seat, and wait to try the food once it was ready.

The number of people in the restaurant grew, and before long, the entire first floor was packed. The atmosphere was incredibly lively.

Still, Xu An figured most of them were simply mesmerized by the aroma and were operating on the principle of "Why pass up something free?" They were just here for the excitement.

The main customers for these kinds of marinated snacks were young people. Most middle-aged and older folks felt the flavors were too strong and unhealthy, and wouldn’t eat them more than two or three times a year.

’Young people?’

’Right!’

’The customers of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant are mostly young people! Especially the ones ordering online—ninety-nine point nine-nine percent of them are young!’

’And there’s the Hai City Nautical College. It’s August now... school will be starting in September, won’t it?’

As Xu An was lost in thought, the kitchen door swung open. Zhang Dezhen emerged, carrying two large platters of sliced, marinated dishes. He was visibly startled by the sea of people packed inside the restaurant.

’What happened? How did so many people show up in the time it took me to cook one batch of food?’

Though he couldn’t figure it out, it didn’t stop him from placing the platters in front of Xu An. "Boss, have a taste."

Xu An picked up a pair of disposable chopsticks, tore open the wrapper, split them apart, and went straight for a piece of marinated potato, popping it into his mouth.

The potato had completely absorbed the flavor of the marinade. It was incredibly flavorful, fresh, and tender. It felt firm when he picked it up with his chopsticks, but it melted the moment it was in his mouth. Delicious!

Zhang Dezhen had cut the marinated egg into quarters and drizzled more of the braising liquid over it. Even the yolk was a deep, savory brown.

Xu An popped a quarter into his mouth. The marinade hadn’t fully penetrated the egg yet, so it still retained a hint of its natural sweetness. If it were left to soak for a whole afternoon, the assertive marinade would completely permeate the egg, making the flavor profile more complex and the taste of the braising liquid even richer.

Kelp, tofu skin, lotus root, pork...

With every item he tasted, Xu An couldn’t help but nod in approval.

With each of Xu An’s nods, Zhang Dezhen’s tense demeanor relaxed, and a slow smile spread across his face.

Only after putting down his chopsticks did Xu An notice the crowd staring hungrily, looking like they were about to drool all over the floor. He quickly beckoned for everyone to try some as well.

In a flash, a dozen or two pairs of chopsticks flew across the table. In seconds, the two heaping platters of food were wiped clean, with only the leftover sauce proving they had ever been there.

As everyone tasted the food, cries of praise rose and fell from every corner of the restaurant.

"So, boss, what do you think?" Zhang Dezhen watched Xu An eagerly, his eyes filled with a mixture of hope and anxiety.

"Hmm..." Xu An pondered for a moment before speaking. "Would you be willing to be our marinated-dish specialist?"

Zhang Dezhen’s expression stiffened. "And... what would the salary be?" he asked cautiously.

"Twenty-three hundred a month, lunch included. Same hours as everyone else, six in the morning to two in the afternoon."

"Yes! You got it!"

Suddenly, Xu An felt a chill run down his spine. He turned to find Xu Kang and Xu Le staring at him resentfully, their faces practically screaming ’happiness’.

Seeing they finally had his attention, the two boys’ lips trembled, their eyes squeezed shut, and they unleashed their ultimate move: all thunder and no rain.

"Waaaah! Big brother is mean! He ate all the yummy food by himself and didn’t give us any!"

"Waaaah, I want yummy food too! I want some! I want some! I want some!"

Xu An shot a helpless look at Zhang Dezhen, who took the hint immediately. He ducked back into the kitchen and returned a moment later with a small plate of marinated snacks, thoughtfully studded with toothpicks, which he handed to Granny Xu.

The two little guys instantly quieted down and began to munch blissfully on the snacks. They were so content their eyes narrowed into happy little crescents.

Zhang Dezhen hadn’t prepared much for Xu Kang and Xu Le, and since Granny Xu had a few pieces as well, the two little ones only got a taste and didn’t eat too much.

’An employee this capable, with a killer skill like this? I have to hire him!’

After settling on the menu for the next day’s marinated dishes with Zhang Dezhen, Xu An glanced at the kitchen, hesitated for a second, and then said, "I still need to prepare the contract. Come in tomorrow morning, and we’ll sign it then."

Zhang Dezhen had no objections to signing the contract tomorrow. At his previous job at the hotel, they’d made him work a seven-day trial period before signing a contract and paying him. He didn’t get a single cent for those seven days.

The fact that Xu An was willing to sign a contract and start his salary the very next day was already exceptionally generous.

After Zhang Dezhen left, only Xu An’s family of four remained in the restaurant.

Xu An sat down behind the cash register, pulled up the kitchen’s security footage, and rewound it to the time when Zhang Dezhen was cooking.

Don’t get the wrong idea. He wasn’t trying to steal Zhang Dezhen’s secret recipe; he just needed to confirm something.

From his past life, Xu An knew that of the so-called street stalls with "secret family recipes," at least half of them used poppy husks in their braising liquid.

He believed that some stalls genuinely had secret family recipes, but he couldn’t afford to take that gamble.

His business had struggled to get to where it was now; he couldn’t let it all collapse over something like this.

After watching the footage of Zhang Dezhen’s cooking process frame by frame and confirming that no unknown objects that didn’t belong to the restaurant appeared on screen, Xu An finally relaxed.

Since there were no problems, he would sign the contract with Zhang Dezhen first thing tomorrow morning!

With that, Xu An closed the video player and opened the admin backend for the online ordering page, adding a new "Marinated Dishes" category.

’Potatoes, gotta have those. Kelp, let’s add some of that. Lotus root and tofu skin are a must, add!’

’That’s a lot of vegetarian options, we need some meat in there. Regular eggs take too long to marinate, so let’s go with quail eggs...’

...

After adding a dozen or so assorted items to the new menu, Xu An finally stopped, satisfied.

He would absolutely never admit that he was just adding things he wanted to eat himself!

The last step was pricing. Marinated dishes were never cheap, but the main appeal of Xu’s Fast Food was high quality at a low price, so setting the profit margin at two or three times the cost would be fine.

For potatoes that cost thirty cents a pound wholesale and sold for a dollar a pound at the market, after adding rent, utilities, labor, and seasonings, selling them for five dollars a pound wasn’t excessive, right?

Perfect!

Once he had finished editing all the prices, Xu An clicked "upload," and the new menu appeared on the website.

Duan Yuwen, who had just opened the page to place an order, suddenly noticed a new row of menu items for marinated dishes. Unlike the other items, these only had descriptions and no pictures.

Under each item was a description that ended with the same line: "Highly recommended by the owner. Extremely delicious!"

’The price is reasonable, and it’s the owner’s top recommendation. I’ll get half a pound of the potatoes and lotus root to try!’

In the blink of an eye, three lunch orders that included marinated dishes appeared in the system backend.