Just as she was about to step inside, she suddenly stopped and looked around.
Two enormous money trees stood at the entrance of Rongxing House. After the teahouse went out of business, however, both trees had withered and died.
Ever since she had arrived, the money trees had remained in the same spots. But at that moment, looking at this all-too-familiar scene, a sudden flash of inspiration struck her.
Wait… isn’t this already a ready-made place for me to open a breakfast shop?
If she sold breakfast directly at the entrance of Rongxing House, wouldn’t that save her a huge amount of money?
She moved the two potted plants aside and roughly estimated the dimensions of the space at the entrance. It was just large enough for a glass display counter and a dining table. She could put cold pastries in the glass display case, while the dining table could hold steamers for freshly steamed dim sum. If she arranged everything compactly, she could even fit drinks such as soy milk and milk.
The more she looked at the space, the more satisfied she became, and a wave of excitement surged through her.
However, she didn’t dare make a hasty decision. She still needed to carefully research and analyze the situation before making her final choice.
After returning to her room, Xia Yongen took a hot shower and lay down on the bed. She opened the recipe for pan-fried corn cakes in the system and examined it.
Today had been absolutely perfect. Not only had she gained a valuable new helper, but she had also enjoyed a delicious home-cooked meal!
She could study the location issue tomorrow after she woke up. There was no rush.
Fighting off her drowsiness, she entered the Boundless Space and practiced making pan-fried corn cakes. Only after using up all ten points of stamina did she finally come back to her senses, and she soon drifted into a hazy sleep.
Early the next morning, Lai Meizhen arrived at Rongxing House carrying a thermos.
Inside was the preserved-egg and lean-pork congee she had freshly cooked that morning. The moment the lid was opened, the rich fragrance of rice filled the air, along with the distinctive aroma of preserved eggs and the fresh fragrance of chopped scallions.
After being simmered for a long time, the grains of rice had completely broken down. There was even a thin layer of rice oil floating on top. The tender shreds of meat and diced preserved eggs in the congee looked incredibly appetizing.
The first mouthful Xia Yongen tasted spread a rich rice fragrance across her tongue. The congee was wonderfully smooth.
So fragrant!
With the second mouthful, she bit into the soft, silky preserved egg, along with the savory, tender shreds of meat and a little chopped scallion.
So delicious!
As she ate, she went to the storage room and brought out a jar of olive vegetable to eat with the congee.
Auntie Zhen had to hurry back to work at the pastry shop, so she left early. Xia Yongen remained behind and leisurely finished every last drop of the preserved-egg and lean-pork congee before letting out a satisfied burp.
After preparing the pastries she would sell that day, she took advantage of the time before school let out and went to the library.
Although Xia Yongen was interested in opening a breakfast shop in front of Rongxing House, this was only a preliminary idea.
She didn’t have much experience running a business, but after setting up her stall every day during this period, she had gradually figured out one important principle: for any shop, choosing the right location was the most important thing.
As for Rongxing House, there had certainly been a reason the Fang family had chosen this location when they opened the teahouse. And the reason Rongxing House had declined was most likely that the quality of its dim sum had deteriorated, rather than anything to do with its location.
But if she wanted to use the place to open a breakfast shop, Xia Yongen really didn’t know whether the location was suitable.
Therefore, if the location turned out to be poor, she would rather spend more money than save on rent only to end up with a breakfast shop that had terrible business.
And without anyone to guide her, Xia Yongen was completely at a loss when it came to choosing a location.
So, for five days in a row, she went to the library and read every book she could find about running food and beverage businesses. She also searched online for relevant courses and bought many newly published books, planning to study them carefully afterward.
Only then did she realize that there was so much to learn about opening a restaurant.
She roughly organized the information from the books and courses and drew up a detailed research plan.
First, she used Rongxing House as the center point and conducted market research within a radius of five hundred meters.
Apart from two internationally renowned fast-food chains, there were six breakfast shops within five hundred meters of Rongxing House. Two sold congee, rice noodles, and noodles; one sold rice noodle rolls; and the remaining three were breakfast shops specializing in dim sum.
Of those three breakfast shops, two were local chain brands, while the other was privately owned and operated. It was called Chen Ji Morning and Evening.
The products sold by these three breakfast shops were similar to what Xia Yongen wanted to offer—all relatively simple types of dim sum. Their main customers were office workers and students in the surrounding area.
After all, congee, rice noodles, noodles, and rice noodle rolls took somewhat longer to prepare and weren’t as convenient to eat. Therefore, office workers and students in a hurry generally wouldn’t choose them.
Since she would be selling similar products, Xia Yongen naturally identified office workers and students as her target customers as well.
Her next task was to record the daily revenue of the three breakfast shops.
But how could she possibly find out someone else’s revenue that easily? She certainly couldn’t just walk in and ask.
Could it be that she really had to resort to the most tedious method of all—counting customers?
If she had plenty of free time, that might work. But Auntie Zhen still had to work at the pastry shop, while Xia Yongen herself was already busy enough just preparing all the pastries she needed to sell each day. Where would she find the time to sit around and count customers?
At that moment, she suddenly remembered—
She had a system!
“System, is there any way for me to find out the revenue of these three breakfast shops?”
【Host, this function has yet to be unlocked!】
Xia Yongen’s eyes lit up. Looks like there might actually be a chance!
“Can’t you unlock it for me ahead of time? I really need this feature right now.”
【Hello, Host. Welcome to the Teahouse Management System. This system is dedicated to helping you manage Rongxing House…】
Wait, if you don’t want to talk to me, you don’t have to start introducing yourself!
Xia Yongen rolled her eyes. “I’m only opening a breakfast shop so I can save money to open the teahouse, after all. Can’t you give me, say, a seven-day trial period?”
The system fell silent for a while. After a long pause, that familiar voice finally sounded again:
【A one-time free trial has been unlocked for the Host.】
After gathering and analyzing the data, the system panel now displayed the operating details of three breakfast shops.
The one Xia Yongen was most interested in was Chen Ji Morning and Evening, because it was on the same street as Rongxing House.
When Xia Yongen saw Chen Ji Morning and Evening’s turnover, she nearly started drooling.
【Chen Ji Morning and Evening — Today’s Business】
Today’s customer traffic: 328 people
Today’s turnover: 1,457.8 yuan
Xia Yongen was deeply shocked. The day wasn’t even over yet, and the shop had already made nearly fifteen hundred yuan. Wouldn’t that be forty-five thousand yuan a month?
Still, even if they were on the same street, that didn’t necessarily mean her business would be just as good. After all, there were far too many factors that could affect a shop’s business.
So although she was somewhat excited, she quickly steadied herself and opened the map on her phone, studying the locations of the two shops.
The two shops were a little over three hundred meters apart. Behind them was a large, old residential complex, with one of the complex’s entrances located between the two shops.
Going from the residential complex toward Chen Ji Morning and Evening, one would pass near a large supermarket and a wet market. Rongxing House, on the other hand, was closer to the bus stop and subway station. As a result, there was a constant flow of people along this street every day.
She decided that she would definitely keep a close eye on this shop from now on.
Two days later, at seven in the morning, Xia Yongen arrived at the entrance of Chen Ji Morning and Evening.
There were several small tables and low stools outside Chen Ji Morning and Evening, but most customers still chose to pack their food to go.
She looked around. The shop offered quite a wide variety of items, and the prices were affordable, so there were plenty of people coming in to buy things.
Standing at the entrance, Xia Yongen lowered her head and pretended to browse the selection while secretly memorizing all the dim sum varieties and their prices. In the end, she picked one piece of taro cake and one piece of radish cake, which cost four yuan in total.
After paying, she stood beside the shop entrance and began eating. The two kinds of dim sum tasted just like she remembered—the ordinary flavors one could find in a regular teahouse.
The taro cake was a little greasy, while the radish cake was somewhat hard. Overall, they were perfectly acceptable, but there was nothing particularly impressive about them.
However, the price really was cheap, and the portions weren’t small either. Having two pieces in the morning along with an egg would be enough to keep someone full for the entire morning.
Over the next several days, she found time to visit Chen Ji Morning and Evening a few more times. Every time, she saw that there were quite a few customers in the shop.
Seeing how brisk business was at Chen Ji Morning and Evening gave her more confidence about opening a breakfast stall in front of Rongxing House.
Her own dim sum tasted better than Chen Ji Morning and Evening’s, while the prices and portions were roughly the same. Moreover, when people came out of the residential complex and headed toward Rongxing House, they would be going in the direction of the subway station and bus stop, meaning the morning foot traffic on workdays should be even greater.
After discussing it with Auntie Zhen, Lai Meizhen also thought it was a good idea. In the end, the two of them decided to sell breakfast right outside Rongxing House.
With the location of the breakfast shop more or less settled, Xia Yongen began preparing for everything else. Kitchen utensils and all kinds of equipment needed to be purchased, while the most important task of sourcing ingredients was handed over to Lai Meizhen.
Which market stalls in the area had the freshest ingredients, which offered the best prices—no one knew these things better than Lai Meizhen, who had spent years frequenting the wet markets. And no one was better at haggling than she was.
Although the plan to open a breakfast shop had already been put on the agenda, she couldn’t forget about setting up her stall at the school every day.
Unlike before, there was now a new sign hanging in front of Xia Yongen’s little stall. It listed the breakfast shop’s address and opening date and time, along with one particularly eye-catching line:
All Tie San Middle School students get 5% off!
As the saying goes, even the finest wine fears a deep alley. These students were already one of the breakfast shop’s target customer groups. Taking advantage of her daily stall at the school, she was able to advertise the breakfast shop without putting in the slightest extra effort.
Although Rongxing House was more than a kilometer away from the school, the students probably lived somewhere nearby. It was entirely possible that some of them lived around Rongxing House and would come to patronize the breakfast shop in the future.
And just like that, word spread among the students that Xia Yongen was going to open a breakfast shop.
Naturally, Sister Feng, the owner of the stationery shop, and the bookstore owner also heard about it.
The bookstore owner no longer sold pastries. These days, he simply minded his own business and stayed at the bookstore. But after hearing the news, he couldn’t help feeling schadenfreude. If that girl opened a breakfast shop, she probably wouldn’t have time to set up her stall at the school anymore, right?
Once she left, how many more days could the stationery shop’s business stay so prosperous?
So these past few days, whenever he passed by the stationery shop and saw Sister Feng sitting outside cracking sunflower seeds, he couldn’t resist throwing out a sarcastic remark in a gloomy tone.
“Some people just aren’t destined to make big money.”
Sister Feng angrily spat in his direction, but inwardly, she was extremely uneasy.
Over the past few days, watching Xia Yongen running around busy with one thing after another had also stirred up a new energy in her. She had first thoroughly tidied up the stationery shop, then stocked it with all sorts of new and interesting items. The students’ feedback had been excellent as well.
She had only enjoyed her pride for a few days before hearing that Xia Yongen was going to open a breakfast shop.
Although the stall at the school only opened in the afternoon, making pastries was extremely time-consuming and exhausting. Could Xia Yongen really manage everything by herself?
What if she decided to stop coming here to set up her stall?
The shop had only just turned a profit after finally climbing out of the red. If such a huge god of wealth left, she wouldn’t even know where to cry!
So, after all the students had dispersed, she awkwardly approached Xia Yongen.
“Xia, your breakfast shop is about to open soon, isn’t it? Once it opens, I’ll definitely bring some people over to support your business.”
Xia Yongen nodded. “Sure! Thank you, Sister Feng. Actually, there’s something else I wanted to talk to you about today.”
Sister Feng’s heart gave a sudden jolt. Her palms were already sweating.
“Xia… you’re not really going to stop coming here, are you?”
Author’s Note:
I’m late again today. I spent a long time editing, but I still feel like it’s not quite right. Everyone is welcome to help me catch any mistakes!