Food: Selling Boxed Meals at a Construction Site

The news from the man yesterday had hit Xu An so hard that he could barely taste the delicious all-pork feast he ate afterward.

If what the man said was true, he could get a head start and capture a market no one else had noticed yet.

Two options lay before Xu An. The first was to open a new branch near one of Xuguang Real Estate’s large construction sites. The second was to rely on the small truck’s transport capacity and continue using the current delivery hub model.

Both options had their pros and cons, but Xu An leaned toward the latter.

Opening a new branch would require capital. Rent, utilities, labor, and equipment—it all added up to a significant expense. In contrast, using the small truck for transport and sales would only cost a little extra in gas and a few new employees.

Xu An opened a map of Hai City on his computer and searched for Xuguang Real Estate’s ongoing projects. There were over twenty of them, big and small, but some were minor renovation projects with teams of only ten to twenty people. He immediately ruled those out.

Twelve sites had over two hundred workers, and eight of those had over three hundred. Two of the two-hundred-person projects were very close to each other, so he could treat them as a single large site of four hundred workers.

Xu An marked all eight three-hundred-person sites and the one combined four-hundred-person site on the map. He then marked the location of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant in red, making the distance from the restaurant to each project clear at a glance.

The closest was, naturally, the Zijing Garden site, followed by Xiuli Garden, and then Chang Chun Academy. There was also a large shopping mall being built in the middle of these developments.

The remaining four sites were all over fifteen kilometers away from Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant and in the opposite direction from the others, so he had to exclude them from his plan.

Just as Xu An was scribbling and sketching on his map, Nanny He arrived for her shift. Following behind her was a woman about her age, curiously observing the decor and layout of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant.

’It looks pretty much like any other fast-food joint. Nothing special.’

She took a deep breath. ’But the food smells amazing. I could smell it from far away, and it’s even stronger in here. I wonder what they’re making.’

"Boss," Nanny He said, standing in front of Xu An. She pulled the woman forward and introduced her. "This is my neighbor, Zhao Fang. She heard you still need a dishwasher and wanted to come try out."

"Yes, that’s right, Boss! I’m a very quick worker. I keep my home spotless, inside and out."

Xu An glanced at Zhao Fang’s hands and immediately agreed. "Sister Zhao, how about a one-day paid trial? If there are no issues, we can sign the contract tomorrow. The pay is the same as Nanny He’s. What do you think?"

With Zhao Fang’s trial settled, Nanny He took her to grab a tray and get some food. The two of them chatted and laughed the entire time, looking quite happy.

Zhang Dezhen had finished cooking the marinated dishes, but he decided to let them soak for another half hour to let the flavors deepen. He would put them out for sale by the door at eleven o’clock.

After just two days, the local residents had all learned about Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant. They knew it had delicious marinated dishes that weren’t too expensive. People would occasionally stop by to buy some of the vegetarian options for a treat, and the seventy jin of marinated food they made each day was almost always sold out.

If there were any leftovers, Xu Guosheng would buy them all to take home.

However, Xu An was considering whether he should limit Xu Guosheng’s purchases. ’Eating too much of anything isn’t good, and that includes marinated food. One or two jin a day is too much. Twice a week would be more reasonable.’

Doot doot doot—

The QQ notification on Luo Min’s computer chimed. She clicked open the message. It was from her best friend, Wu Yaqi.

’Minmin, the company wants us to change up the afternoon tea menu. We can’t just keep having snacks like little cakes. Do you have any good recommendations?’

Afternoon tea?

’Cakes, cookies, fruit, chocolate, milk tea, fried chicken, pizza...’ Luo Min typed back a long list of foods.

’The budget is only three hundred yuan, but it’s for over a hundred people...’

’Three hundred yuan for a hundred people... that’s less than three yuan per person. Other than small cakes, cookies, and fruit, nothing else is realistic.’

’You can’t buy fried chicken and pizza and have two people share one drumstick or have ten or twenty people split a single pizza. That would cause a riot!’

Luo Min typed three words into the chat box: ’Give it up.’ But just as she was about to send it, a possibility suddenly occurred to her—marinated dishes!

’The vegetarian dishes are five yuan a jin, and the meat dishes are thirty. In theory, if they only bought vegetarian dishes, three hundred yuan would get them sixty jin. That’s half a jin per person!’

’That seems like a pretty good option!’

’What about marinated dishes?’ Luo Min deleted the text in the chat box, typed this instead, and sent it.

’Marinated dishes?’

Luo Min thought for a moment, then simply sent her the link to the Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant online ordering page.

’There’s a description of the marinated dishes on there. You can take a look.’

’OKK’

Wu Yaqi curiously clicked the link, which took her to a simple webpage. She scrolled past the Monday-to-Sunday meal plan at the top and saw the section for marinated dishes below.

They had invited Wei over for a photoshoot the day before, received the edited photos that evening, and uploaded them first thing in the morning.

Now, next to each marinated dish, there was a mouth-watering photo.

When she saw the prices, Wu Yaqi’s eyes lit up. ’This price, and this portion size! This could work!’

She found the phone number for Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant on the page and dialed it immediately.

"Hello, you’ve reached Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant. How can I help you?" As usual, Xu An was the one who answered the phone.

"Hello, my name is Wu Yaqi. I’m from the administrative department at Huapu Media Company. I just learned that your restaurant sells marinated dishes, and I was wondering, could you supply sixty jin in a single order?" Wu Yaqi asked very politely.

?

’Sixty jin of marinated dishes? Is this media company planning to open their own food stall?’

"Yes, we can supply that. May I ask what your company plans to use such a large order of marinated dishes for?"

"Our company provides an afternoon tea benefit for our employees twice a week. The marinated dishes would be for them to enjoy."

"For afternoon tea... Miss Wu, you might be interested in another one of our promotions. We have a tangy and refreshing Haiquan Apple Vinegar that you can add for just one yuan per can." Hearing his opportunity, Xu An immediately started his sales pitch. "Marinated dishes can have a pretty strong flavor, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you eat a lot. A sip of cold, sweet-and-sour apple vinegar is the perfect way to cut through that richness."

’A one-yuan add-on for each of the one hundred and seven employees would be one hundred and seven yuan. That would leave one hundred and ninety-three yuan, which could buy 38.6 jin of vegetarian dishes. That’s about three liang of marinated vegetables and a can of vinegar drink per person.’

’Hmm, that might work.’

’But I can’t make the decision on my own. I’ll have to write up a proposal for my superiors to approve.’ Before hanging up, Wu Yaqi suddenly asked, "We’re located in the Silver Star Office Building on Qifuxin Street, off Anhua Road. Can you deliver here?"

Xu An quickly opened a browser on his computer, typed in the address Wu Yaqi gave him, and couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.

The Silver Star Office Building was right next to the large shopping mall that Xuguang Real Estate was building. After confirming the location, Xu An nodded and replied, "Yes, that’s within our delivery range."

"Okay, thank you for your help. If we decide to purchase the marinated dishes from your restaurant, we’ll be in touch."

After hanging up, Wu Yaqi opened a new document and began drafting a proposal for an afternoon tea package themed around "marinated dishes," using the information from the Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant ordering page.

But as she worked on the proposal, her eyes kept drifting up to the daily menu section on the webpage.

’I think Luo Min mentioned that her company orders all their employee meals from this place.’

「2:30 PM. The business day at Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant came to an end.」

After inspecting the dishes and kitchenware that Nanny He and Zhao Fang had washed, Xu An gave his clear approval. When Zhao Fang came in tomorrow, she could sign her contract.

Nanny He let out a sigh of relief at his words. Then, she asked a bit sheepishly, "Boss, would it be alright if I took two days off, tomorrow and the day after? My nephew is getting married, and they’ve asked me to be a key organizer, so I need to go and help out."

"Of course," Xu An said with a smile. "Please congratulate your nephew for me. I wish him and his bride a lifetime of happiness."

"Oh, will do! I’ll thank you on my nephew’s behalf for your good wishes."