Chapter 136: Happy Cooperation
At 2:20 PM, all the staff who had been out running stalls or delivering box lunches had returned to the restaurant, reporting the midday sales figures to Xu An one by one.
"At the Xiuli Garden construction site, we brought a total of 100 box lunches and sold out in an hour and twelve minutes. The competition was fierce, but our box lunches have an edge in price, portion size, and taste. A lot of the workers came over after eating to ask if we’d be setting up a stall again tomorrow and suggested we bring more," Xu Heping reported.
"At the shopping mall construction site, we brought 100 box lunches and sold out in an hour. But there aren’t many workers there, so 100 is pretty much the limit," said Zhang Dezhen.
"Red Brick Creative Park, all normal," said Liang Dani.
"Hai City Library, all normal," said Xu Lili.
"Silver Star Office Building, all normal," said Xu Guosheng.
"For dine-in, we originally prepared for 300 meals, but with the influx of workers and local residents, we had to add another 180 portions, selling a total of 480 meals," said Liu Daxi.
The sales figures from the construction sites were within Xu An’s expectations, but he never imagined that dine-in sales would reach 480. That was equivalent to every table in the restaurant being seated and turning over four times, far exceeding his projections.
After the meeting, Xu An took his pen and circled the shopping mall construction site.
’This area is very close to the Silver Star Office Building, and there are a lot of companies nearby,’ he thought. ’It’s time to increase our marketing efforts here and add a distribution point.’
’But the management here is stricter. We probably can’t just set up a small stall as a distribution point like we did at the Hai City Library and Red Brick Creative Park. We might need to get a small storefront.’
Just as Xu An was wondering when he could go check out some shop spaces in that area, his messaging app pinged. It was a message from Ye Ning.
"Boss, it’s done. Give it a test. If it’s okay, I’ll update the version for you."
’Wow, that was fast!’
He sat down behind the cash register, opened the link Ye Ning had sent, and went through the process: selecting products, filling in his address, and submitting the order. A checkout page popped up with options to pay via online banking or Zhifubao.
He tried both payment methods. The process was incredibly smooth, with no lag whatsoever.
’Perfect!’
After confirming completion of the job, Xu An sent the final payment over via Zhifubao.
"Thanks, God Ye. I’ll hit you up next time I need something."
After updating the website, Ye Ning saw that Xu An had confirmed the job and settled the final payment. He put his phone aside, returned to his computer, grabbed the mouse, and clicked on a game icon.
’He’d been so busy with Xu An’s project these past few days that he hadn’t logged into his game. If he didn’t log in soon, he was going to get kicked out of his guild.’
While the game was still loading, he saw his messaging app icon flashing wildly in the notification bar. Someone had sent him more than ten friend requests in a row.
’Boundless has sent you a friend request.’
The profile picture was a photo of distant mountains, and it had a rather dated look.
He accepted the request, and Boundless quickly sent a message.
’Can you build a food ordering website? How much would it cost?’
’Yes, five thousand all-inclusive,’ Ye Ning replied quickly.
’How soon can you have it done?’
’He already had a template for a food ordering website. He just needed to make a few small adjustments and change the page layout.’
’But if he finished too quickly, the client would probably think he was earning his fee too easily. Four days should be about right.’
’Four days. Five hundred for the deposit. The deposit is non-refundable if you cancel the order.’
’Okay.’
After Ye Ning provided his payment details, he quickly received the five hundred yuan.
’He had four days. No need to rush. He’d play games for a couple of days first.’
Closing the chat window, Ye Ning put on his headphones and lost himself in the game world.
Xu An refreshed the backend and saw the new payment function on the page. He wrote a post and published it on his social media page.
’The ordering website 2.0 now supports online payments via online banking and Zhifubao. Feel free to pay online, everyone!’
It was 2:30 PM, the middle of the workday. The steady stream of new comments under Xu An’s post was proof that there were many, many, *many* people slacking off at work!
In just a short while, there were over thirty comments, and some people had even started chatting with each other in the comment section.
’Nice. Last time I picked up my food, I realized I only had a 100-yuan bill, and they couldn’t make change. A colleague had to pay for me in the end. It was so embarrassing.’
’This feature is great! Last time, I grabbed my food and walked off, completely forgetting to pay. They had to call me back...’
’Sweet, this is great. You’re so on-trend, Boss. Giving you a thumbs-up (thumbs-up emoji).’
’...’
After bantering with them for a bit, Xu An switched to the backend to check the data. More than ten people had already placed orders. ’Not bad,’ he thought. ’Looks like people are quick to adopt new things!’
Afterward, Xu An opened a map of Hai City and began examining the area between the Silver Star Office Building and the mall construction site, searching for a suitable place to rent.
「Hai City Machinery Equipment Exhibition Preparatory Committee」
"Have we decided on the hotel that will be supplying the box lunches during the exhibition?" An elderly man with hair streaked with gray stood hunched over Gao Baolin’s desk, tapping his index finger lightly on the surface a few times.
Hearing this, Gao Baolin quickly stood up. From a towering pile of documents on her desk, she precisely pulled out a file and handed it to the old man with both hands. "We currently have six potential suppliers. We haven’t selected the final one yet."
The old man took the file with one hand and used the other to put on the reading glasses that were hanging from a red cord around his neck. He began to examine the document carefully.
Xiuli Hotel, Brocade Hotel, Black Swan Hotel... ’Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant?’
He placed the file back on the pile, pointed to the last entry, Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant, and asked with a hint of displeasure, "Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant? Is this a relative of one of the leaders?"
"No, sir. It’s a fast-food restaurant that we contacted proactively," Gao Baolin quickly explained. "Last week, they were featured on the Hai City local TV station and were named Hai City’s ’Excellent’ Fast Food Restaurant. Their prices, taste, and portion sizes all meet our catering requirements for this event."
"Oh? The Hai City local TV station?" The old man’s voice carried a knowing tone.
Seeing his reaction, Gao Baolin knew what the old man was thinking. She simply searched for the Hai City local station’s documentary, "Visiting Fast Food Restaurant," on her computer, clicked play, and dragged the progress bar to the segment about Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant. As it played, she explained to the old man.
"This was a program jointly planned on short notice by the Hai City local TV station and the Hai City Food Supervision Department. The restaurants were all chosen randomly, and all six were filmed on the same day..."
As the video played, the tense expression on the old man’s face gradually relaxed. By the end, he even nodded.
"Send a notice to these six businesses tomorrow. Tell them to prepare their materials and come in the day after to bid for the contract. We’ll choose one out of the six. A fair competition." The old man looked down, his eyes peering at Gao Baolin through his lenses. "I want an absolutely fair competition. The winner must be a business that completely meets our needs. You know how important this exhibition is. If you mess this up... well, it doesn’t matter much to an old man like me who’s about to retire. But you all... heh heh!"
Leaving her with that cold laugh, the old man slowly strolled away.
After watching the old man leave, Gao Baolin sat back down. She hesitated for a moment before taking out her phone and sending a message to a number that was unsaved and had a blank message history.
’The bidding is the day after tomorrow. Fair competition.’
’Which hotels are participating in the bid?’
’Brocade Hotel, Black Swan Hotel... Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant.’
’Can you delay Brocade and Xu’s Fast Food?’
Gao Baolin’s hand paused as she was about to reply. She struggled internally for a full five seconds before typing, ’I’ll follow the regulations,’ into the message box. Just as she was about to send it, a new message came in from the other party.
’Two thousand.’
Her fingers paused again. After a two-second deliberation, she quickly typed ’Okay.’ and sent it.
After the other party replied, ’Pleasure doing business with you,’ Gao Baolin deleted the entire conversation from her inbox and emptied the trash.
「Xu Family Village」
Aunt Hong was sitting on the sofa watching TV when the phone beside her suddenly rang.
"Hello, who is this?"
"Hello, this is Lu Shengnan, the person in charge of Victory Supermarket. Is this a convenient time to talk?" a cool, detached voice asked from the other end.
’Victory Supermarket? Why are they calling me? I don’t have a contract with them!’
Despite her thoughts, Aunt Hong’s reply was still very polite. "Yes, it is. What can I do for you?"
"We understand that the produce from your greenhouse is of exceptionally high quality. I was wondering if you would be interested in partnering with Victory Supermarket to supply us with your produce?" Lu Shengnan said. Thinking of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant’s purchase price, she gritted her teeth and added, "We can offer a purchase price that’s seventy cents higher per pound than the standard vendor’s price."
’Seventy cents more per pound... that’s twenty cents more than Xu’s Fast Food pays. At two hundred pounds a day, that’s an extra forty yuan. Twelve hundred a month. Fourteen thousand four hundred a year.’
Tsk, tsk.
After doing the mental math, Aunt Hong couldn’t help but marvel. ’Victory Supermarket really is willing to spare no expense!’
However, given Victory Supermarket’s history of going back on their word with other growers, Aunt Hong’s trust in them was a pitiful 0.01%. She rejected the offer outright.
"I’m sorry, but I already have a stable partner. You should look elsewhere."
"We are extremely sincere about this—"
Before Lu Shengnan could finish, Aunt Hong hung up. The line went dead with a dial tone.
Lu Shengnan had expected this. She just sighed and dialed the second number on her list.
"Hello, this is Lu Shengnan from Victory Supermarket. Am I speaking with Mr. Lin Xingtao?"
"Yes... Would you consider partnering with Victory Supermarket? We can offer a purchase price of eighty cents more per pound than the standard vendor’s price..."
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP—
The call was disconnected again.
Undiscouraged, Lu Shengnan dialed the third number.
"Hello..."
"..."
She called all three numbers—Aunt Hong’s, Uncle Lin’s, and Hu Juan’s—and got the same result each time: either a rejection or an immediate hang-up.
Sigh.
Lu Shengnan couldn’t help but sigh. The previous contract breaches had been too damaging. Now everyone was afraid Victory Supermarket would do it again.
On top of that, Victory Supermarket’s current business situation looked dire, so growers who already had stable partners were highly unlikely to consider them.
Her gaze fell on the fourth phone number in her file. This was the only remaining greenhouse grower in the Xu Family Village planting area who hadn’t torn out their crops.
"Hello, this is Lu Shengnan from Victory Supermarket. Am I speaking with Mr. Yan Peiliang?"
"..."
"Yes, the purchase price is eighty cents more per pound than the standard vendor’s price."
"If you’re worried about the contract, I can offer a guarantee. We can double the penalty for breach of contract."
"Yes, the contracts with the other growers will remain as they are."
"Okay, excellent, Mr. Yan. Well then, I look forward to a successful partnership."
After hanging up, Lu Shengnan let out a breath of relief. Her slender body sank into the soft sofa, which enveloped her, giving her a rare sense of security.
’It’s only one household, but they have eight greenhouses. That’s enough!’