Food: Selling Boxed Meals at a Construction Site

Zhang Dezhen returned to his apartment in a daze, feeling restless and on edge all afternoon.

One moment, he thought taking the twenty-thousand-yuan buyout would be great. The next, he was imagining what would happen if Xu’s Fast Food’s braised meat shop was a massive success with sales in the tens of thousands. If he chose the buyout, wouldn’t he be losing out big time?

After pacing one hundred and eight times around his tiny apartment, Zhang Dezhen finally pulled out his phone and called his wife.

"Hey, Meng. Yeah, there’s something I can’t make up my mind about. I need your help to think it through..."

As Zhang Dezhen explained the whole situation from beginning to end, the breathing on the other end of the line grew heavy and quick. "Is what you’re saying... is it real?"

"Yeah. I say the recipe is a family secret, but almost every household around here prepares it the same way. Getting twenty thousand for a recipe like this is already a rare opportunity." Zhang Dezhen’s tone then shifted. "But the boss has a good eye for business. He got the fast-food restaurant up and running in just two or three months. Now he wants to open a braised meat shop. He must think there’s a market for it..."

After he finished, his wife on the other end of the line also fell silent, apparently weighing the pros and cons of the two options.

But just then, a young man’s voice came through the phone.

"Brother-in-law, if the boss thinks there’s enough of a market to open a separate braised meat shop, why don’t you just strike out on your own? Whether you earn a lot or a little, it’s all yours. Isn’t that better than working for someone else?"

"What nonsense are you spouting!"

Immediately, his wife’s scolding and his brother-in-law’s retort came through the phone.

"Am I wrong? Working for the boss is still work, and working for yourself is still work. Why hand over a money-making opportunity to someone else..."

The rest of his words became muffled, and Zhang Dezhen couldn’t hear them clearly. But there was no denying it—his brother-in-law’s words had opened up a new line of thinking for him.

’It’s true. Working for myself is work, and working for the boss is work. If I work for myself, earning a thousand means I get a thousand. If I work for the boss, earning a thousand only gets me fifty.’

"Dezhen, don’t listen to his nonsense. Our family can’t afford to take on something like this."

His wife’s voice came through the phone, snapping Zhang Dezhen out of his fantasy.

"I didn’t tell you because work wasn’t going well for you, but our youngest went to the hospital again at the beginning of the month. The doctor is urging us to get the surgery done soon, saying it’ll be dangerous if we delay any longer. And Mom’s foot has been hurting again. The medicine she got last time isn’t working, so she needs to see a doctor..."

His wife went on and on, each word landing like a heavy hammer on Zhang Dezhen’s heart. It didn’t just extinguish the newly lit flame of hope; it smashed the entire pile of kindling to bits.

The problem had returned to square one. Which option should he choose?

Now, both husband and wife fell into silence.

They wanted both the twenty-thousand-yuan buyout and the future profit-sharing.

In the silence, Zhang Dezhen began pacing around his tiny apartment again, lap after lap after lap...

’Twenty thousand is a one-time buyout. Once I take that money, future sales, good or bad, will have nothing to do with me.’

’The profit-sharing would be a continuous stream of income. If sales are good in the future, I could practically make money lying down. But if sales are poor, I might not even make back the twenty thousand from the buyout.’

An image surfaced in Zhang Dezhen’s mind: when he first started as a delivery rider for Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant, there was only one location, and daily sales were only around six hundred orders.

But now, in just over half a month, they had already leased a second and a third location. Daily sales had soared from around six hundred to over twenty-six hundred orders.

The braised meat shop was going to be opened near the Silver Star Office Building. Zhang Dezhen knew that area—the rent there was no joke.

’Xu An must be confident in the braised meat, that’s why he’s choosing to open a standalone shop in such a prime, expensive location.’

’The boss even went out in a suit and tie today to chase new orders. If he can land that new contract, daily meal box sales will hit four or five thousand.’

’Since he can run the meal box business so well, the braised meat business can’t be bad, right?’

Zhang Dezhen bit his lip, then bit it again until a trace of blood seeped out. It trickled down from the corner of his mouth to his chin and dripped onto his chest, startling him out of his thoughts.

’Since starting my own shop is hopeless, I might as well take a gamble and see if I can turn this bicycle into a motorcycle!’

「Near the Silver Star Office Building.」

Xu An rode his electric tricycle, weaving randomly through the main streets and back alleys, searching for a storefront with the right rent, the right size, and the right location.

He wandered from three to four o’clock and looked at three to five storefronts, but none of them quite met his needs.

They were either too expensive, too big or too small, or in too remote of a location.

If it were just a transfer point for selling meal boxes, a more remote location wouldn’t have mattered.

But after 2 p.m., the shop would also be used to sell braised meats, so it couldn’t be too out of the way.

After spending another twenty minutes circling two residential areas, Xu An finally gave up on the idea of finding a suitable location today. Thirsty and tired, he found a convenience store, bought a bottle of water, and sat down to rest on a stone bench in the shade of a tree out front.

Just then, two old men in white tank tops and flip-flops, each holding a cattail fan, walked toward the convenience store, bickering as they went.

"I’m telling you, you should just keep that property of yours as a storage room. Forget how small it is—the last three or four tenants all went out of business in less than three months. That place has bad feng shui. It’s not suited for business."

"What do you mean, not suited? I think the location is great! It was the previous tenants who had no fortune, and their bad luck tainted my wealth-attracting property." The old man smacked his lips twice as he spoke. "Later, I’ll bring my radio over and play the Great Compassion Mantra for two days to drive out this bad juju."

"Old feudalist, old superstition, old fool," the other old man said with a look of disdain, fanning himself.

"If you’re so high and mighty, why don’t you throw away the pomelo leaves hanging on your door?"

"That’s different. I’m just looking for a bit of good fortune. It’s not like your feudal, superstitious nonsense."

"You’re the one full of twisted logic..." The old man was about to retort when he looked up and saw Xu An staring at him with wide, shining eyes. He was instantly displeased and demanded in a harsh tone, "You’re a new face around here, young man. What are you doing here?"

"Sirs, the shop you were just talking about—where is it? What’s the location like? Could you take me to see it?"

Looking for a shop?

The two old men glanced at each other suspiciously. They sized Xu An up and, after confirming the young man was alone and posed no threat, asked, "Which agency are you with? What are your firm’s commission rates?"

Xu An paused, looking down at himself. A white shirt, black suit pants, black leather shoes, and a slicked-back hairstyle—he really did look like a real estate agent.

Thinking his age might not be very convincing, Xu An decided to play along with the old man’s assumption. "Our company just opened, and we’re currently gathering information on available properties. For any deals closed this week, we aren’t charging a commission fee."

No commission fee?

Hearing this, the old man’s interest was piqued. Since it was free, he might as well take a shot!

But the old man had seen a thing or two and was very cautious. He asked warily, "No fees at all, the whole way through? Don’t tell me you’re going to spring some ’introduction fee’ or ’meeting fee’ on me after the deal is done."

"Not at all, not at all." Xu An patted his chest and replied, "We won’t charge a single cent. If we do, you can come find me, and I’ll reimburse you double."

Hearing this, the old man relaxed a bit. He turned to lead the way, muttering, "I’m only giving you this chance because you’re about the same age as my grandson. Don’t get involved in any crooked business at your age. If you do end up charging me, I don’t need double back. Just give me my money back, and we’ll call it even."

’His words left me unsure whether to laugh or cry. It seems my disguise is pretty convincing; this old man really thinks I’m an agent.’

He followed the old man for about three hundred meters before turning into an old street.

The old street looked like it had been around for years. The concrete was cracked and pitted, with weeds sprouting from the fissures. The street itself, however, was quite wide, spacious enough for four people to walk abreast. Both sides were lined with various shops, mostly eateries, ranging from dessert shops and snack stalls to restaurants serving full meals with rice and noodles.

The old man walked to the third storefront from the street entrance, took out a key, and pulled up the roll-up metal door, inviting Xu An inside.

Although the exterior of the shop looked a bit run-down, the inside was in decent shape. It was hard to tell if it was well-maintained or if previous tenants had renovated it.

The walls were white, and the floor was laid with glossy, gray, dirt-resistant tiles. The entire space was a well-proportioned square.

The shop was tidy to the point of being spotless—so clean that a thief passing by would have to spit twice and curse a few times out of sheer disappointment.

Xu An mentally arranged the space. If he pushed two freezers to one side, the remaining half of the shop would be just right for stacking the meal boxes. It was perfect as a transfer point.

"Sir, what’s your expected rent for this space?" Xu An asked after pretending to be a professional, taking out his phone to photograph the shop inside and out.

"Let’s not beat around the bush. The rent around here is thirty-seven hundred a month, so I’ll go with that. My place might be a bit smaller than the others, but it’s in a good spot. You can see it from the main road," the old man said forthrightly.

’Thirty-seven hundred. The price isn’t bad.’

Xu An looked up at the not-too-distant Silver Star Office Building and estimated the distance between them. It was about six hundred meters. A little far, but still within his acceptable range.

After exchanging contact information with the old man, Xu An said his goodbyes. He sat in front of the convenience store until five-thirty, then walked back toward the old street to observe the foot traffic.

As soon as he reached the intersection, he saw office workers passing by in twos and threes, as well as many students in school uniforms.

Some of the office workers walked to the gates of a nearby residential complex and swiped their cards to enter; others turned into the fast-food restaurants on the old street to eat...

The foot traffic, the location, the size of the shop—it all perfectly matched Xu An’s requirements. ’This is the one.’

To prevent any unexpected complications or someone else snatching it up, Xu An pulled out his phone and called the old man.

"Hey, Uncle Chen, it’s me, Xu from the real estate agency. Someone saw the photos of the shop and is very satisfied. They want to rent it."

"Yes, yes, they’re in the food business. You know braised meats, right? Yes, yes, the kind that sells duck necks, duck feet, duck wings, and all that."

"Alrighty, we’re right at the shop’s entrance now. You’ll see me when you get here."

Less than five minutes after he hung up, Uncle Chen’s figure—clad in a white tank top, flip-flops, and fanning himself with a cattail fan—appeared before Xu An.

"Xu, how come it’s just you? Where’s the person you said wanted to see the shop?"

Xu An flashed Uncle Chen a standard eight-toothed smile. "Uncle Chen, I’m the one who wants to rent your shop."