After buying the plastic, it was already past 1 PM when we returned to the village. The two of us rode back to the restaurant. This time, Ye Linlin took a closer look at the sign at the entrance, which simply read “Home-Style Restaurant.”
“Boss, Sis-in-law, you’re back! Have you had lunch? Let Jianjun cook a few dishes to celebrate you two getting your marriage certificate.”
It was just past lunchtime, and Liu Yan and the others were all in the restaurant. It was Wu Dayong who spoke.
Wu Dayong was a big, burly guy with an honest face. People who didn’t know him could easily be fooled by his appearance, but he was actually the most shrewd of the group. He usually handled the purchasing duties.
“Okay, let him make a few dishes. What would you like to eat?”
Su Chenhuai looked at the time and agreed to Wu Dayong’s suggestion. He turned his head and leaned closer to Ye Linlin. He had eaten with Ye Linlin a few times, but he didn’t really know her preferences.
The sudden closeness made Ye Linlin’s heart flutter again.
She wondered if there was something wrong with her heart in this body. Why did she always feel so strange after transmigrating?
Steadying herself, Ye Linlin replied, “I’m fine with anything, you decide.”
“Then let Jianjun make a few of his specialties, but no cilantro.”
He had noticed last time at the state-owned restaurant that Ye Linlin would avoid cilantro when eating, and she would frown slightly if she accidentally ate it.
Hearing Su Chenhuai’s words, Ye Linlin looked at him in surprise.
The original owner liked cilantro, but she couldn’t stand the taste.
She usually tried to be careful when picking food to avoid people noticing her changes, and even if she did eat it, she didn’t dare spit it out, but had to swallow it.
She didn’t expect that Su Chenhuai would notice after only eating one meal with her.
Ye Linlin didn’t say anything, feeling both worried that Su Chenhuai’s attentiveness would lead him to discover her changes, and a little warm inside.
In this strange world, it was really touching to have someone who carefully observed your preferences and remembered them.
Soon the food was brought to the table. There were no customers in the restaurant at this time, so everyone sat together to eat.
“Boss, there are even fewer customers today, only two tables at noon.”
While everyone was eating, Wang Wu suddenly spoke, breaking the silence.
Wu Dayong, who was sitting next to him, nudged him with his elbow.
“Why are you saying this on such a happy day? It’s such a downer.”
Wu Dayong felt that saying this would ruin the atmosphere, and he was also worried that Ye Linlin would look down on Su Chenhuai if she heard that the restaurant was not doing well.
“It’s okay, I’ll find someone to set up the greenhouse soon, but the weather is getting colder, and I don’t know if we can grow a batch of vegetables. But even if we can’t, it’s the same for the restaurant across the street. We just need to get through this period.”
Su Chenhuai’s restaurant opened in early September this year, and business was pretty good for the first half of the month.
But at the end of September, a new restaurant opened across the street, also serving home-style dishes. The chef used to work at the state-owned restaurant. Although he wasn’t a top chef, he had a certain level of skill, and their prices were a bit lower than theirs.
Later, they found out that the owner of the restaurant across the street had a vegetable greenhouse at his wife’s family’s home, so the cost of green vegetables was very low. The price of the dishes could be slightly lower than other restaurants.
For people of this era, a few cents was still a lot, so if the taste wasn’t too different, people would naturally choose the cheaper one.
Because of this, Su Chenhuai went to the nearby villages to find land to grow vegetables in greenhouses, but he didn’t expect that the greenhouse hadn’t been built yet, but he had gotten himself married.
“You want to grow vegetables in greenhouses because the restaurant across the street is stealing business?”
Ye Linlin understood some of it from Su Chenhuai’s words.
Thinking that they were already married and had a child, she should help if she could, because Su Chenhuai’s financial situation was good, which would also benefit the child.
“Yes.”
Seeing that Su Chenhuai didn’t avoid the question, Liu Yan briefly explained the situation. Only then did Ye Linlin understand the whole story.
She originally thought it was just a simple case of stealing business, but she didn’t expect the owner of the restaurant across the street to come to the restaurant to provoke them.
He said that if they couldn’t keep going, he would be willing to take over and open a branch here.
Especially when she heard the name of the owner of the restaurant across the street, Ye Linlin felt that it was a case of enemies meeting on a narrow road. Even if it was just for the sake of the owner across the street, she had to come up with ideas for Su Chenhuai.
“Actually, I think vegetable greenhouses are a good idea, but they’re not a quick solution. If the restaurant continues in this state for another month or two, it will probably really need to be transferred.”
“And if customers are already used to eating at the restaurant across the street, even if we can match their prices, customers will still choose the restaurant across the street out of habit.”
Ye Linlin’s words were a bit blunt. Seeing that Su Chenhuai didn’t react negatively, she continued, “I think the most important thing is to change the menu. Right now, the dishes are mostly home-style dishes, which are no different from the restaurant across the street, and most people can make them at home. Although they’re not as delicious as Jianjun’s, they’re cheaper.”
After hearing Ye Linlin’s words, everyone was silent, waiting for her to continue.
“I think we should make some unique dishes. For example, the general taste in Jin’an Province is light, but I like to eat spicy food. If I go to a restaurant, I will definitely order some spicy dishes.”
“But most restaurants cater to the general taste, so they mostly serve light dishes, and there aren’t that many choices for spicy dishes. Not to mention the taste, there are too few choices, and people will get tired of them after a long time, and eventually lose customers.”
At this point, Ye Linlin paused and looked at Su Chenhuai.
“So we should choose a niche flavor as our main focus?”
Su Chenhuai was listening to Ye Linlin attentively. Feeling Ye Linlin’s gaze, he subconsciously said his thoughts.
Ye Linlin nodded in appreciation and continued, “Brother Su is right, we should choose a niche flavor. I personally suggest choosing Sichuan cuisine. Because there are many Sichuan dishes, and as far as I know, there are no Sichuan restaurants in our village or even in the county.”
After hearing Ye Linlin’s thoughts, Zhang Jianjun, who had been silent all along, questioned, “Sis-in-law, your idea is very good, but if the taste is niche, won’t there be fewer customers? And I’m not very good at making Sichuan cuisine.”
“Although it’s a niche flavor, our overall population base is large, and there are still enough people who like to eat spicy food to meet our restaurant’s demand for customers.”
Zhang Jianjun’s idea was the thinking of most people, who felt that niche dishes would lack customers.
Ye Linlin felt that she might not be able to change his mind with a few words, so she directly pointed out the key point.
“Furthermore, for the restaurant right now, there is still a chance if we change, but it may be difficult to continue if we don’t change. As for Sichuan cuisine, you can learn through cookbooks. I can also make some, and they taste pretty good. If you need it, I can also teach you.”