novelhk Chapter 156 0 Beverages Sold
Chapter 156 0 Beverages Sold
Jing Yan nodded to indicate that she understood: "What about the warranty?"
"If it ever stops cooling again, you can contact me. I know someone who can fix it." The shop owner readily agreed. "Your shop isn't small either, so I believe we'll have the opportunity to cooperate again in the future."
Jing Yan nodded confidently: "That's for sure."
After collecting the final payment, the shopkeeper and his staff rushed to catch the next boat and left. The staff's initial excitement wore off, and they went back to their work. Jingyan didn't need to assign tasks at all; everything was done perfectly, and Jingyan was happy to have an easy time.
As Saturday passed, after get off work, Jing Yan called Dou Zhixiao aside and instructed him: "Xiao Dou, starting tomorrow, when you go to the dock to pick up the goods, just tell the meat deliveryman once. From now on, every Saturday and Sunday, the amount of mutton required will increase from fifty jin to seventy jin. The amount at other times will remain unchanged for the time being, starting from next weekend."
Dou Zhixiao tilted his head: "Sister Yan, aren't you afraid that we'll have too much meat and won't be able to sell it?"
Jingyan pointed to the refrigerator in the corner: "Isn't this it? First come, first served. Every day we can skewer the meat and freeze some. Once it's sold out, that's it. If it's not sold out, freezing it for three or four days won't change the meat quality much. This way we can stock up on more."
Now, on busy days, we don't have enough meat skewers to sell, and on quieter days, we might not be able to sell them all, but they're hard to store. Our busiest days are actually Friday and Sunday evenings because of the holidays; more people are out shopping and having fun. Before, I was always hesitant to stock up on skewers for fear of them spoiling, but now I'm not afraid anymore, so of course I'll keep some on hand for emergencies.
Dou Zhixiao nodded: "Should we prepare more pork belly and ribs as well?"
Jing Yan shook her head: "The amount of braised meat is about enough for now. The meat in the braised meat noodles is all from the bones we keep for our own consumption, so it doesn't take up the normal amount of meat. Although there are occasional times when it's not enough to sell, it's not that often. It's far less than the demand for lamb skewers. The refrigerator isn't very big either, so I don't plan to increase the amount of braised meat for now. I'll just focus on lamb for now. If possible, I'd like to buy some beef hindquarters to try making beef skewers, but there's no rush. We'll take it slow."
Dou Zhixiao nodded in agreement. When Jingyan was about to leave the shop, He Zhijun came to pick up his wife with a flashlight. The two went out together, and Dou Zhixiao locked the doors and windows of the shop and went to rest.
On Sunday, Xiao Chen from the community market management department brought four colleagues from the office over for a meal. Jing Yan greeted them warmly and led them directly to a private room on the second floor, asking with a smile, "What would you like to eat? Are there any dietary restrictions during the rainy season?"
Xiao Chen smiled and ordered a plate each of braised pork and braised pork ribs, a serving of cucumber salad, a serving of wood ear mushroom salad, and forty lamb skewers. Jing Yan thoughtfully asked everyone about their spiciness preferences, nodded to Xiao Chen, turned and left the private room. After delivering the order to the cashier, Dou Zhixiao went to deliver the dishes to each department, while Jing Yan went to the barbecue grill in the courtyard to prepare the skewers.
While they were grilling, Xiao Chen came over. There weren't many customers yet, and the shop was nearly empty. Standing beside her, Xiao Chen lowered his voice and said, "Sister, my uncle asked the distillery's sales representative. They said the liquor is sold in batches of fifty jin (25 kg), and can be delivered to the supply and marketing cooperative along with the truck."
Once you've agreed on a pickup time, you can go directly to the supply and marketing cooperative to find my uncle. He'll hand it over to you. The beer is from another brewery; they sell it in cases of twelve, with a minimum order of twenty cases. If you're sure you want it, then you can take some time to go to the purchasing department of the supply and marketing cooperative in Xuhui District, Shanghai, to discuss it. However, the supply and marketing cooperative will charge a small handling fee. Oh, by the way, my uncle's name is Chen Hanqin.
Jing Yan nodded in agreement: "No matter what the final result is, your contribution must be recorded. Today, Sister Shan will cover the bill for your private room, so please eat whatever you like and don't be shy."
Xiao Chen was embarrassed and repeatedly refused: "No way, sister, how can you do business like this and not take money? You have to pay whatever it is, or at most give me a discount."
Jing Yan pressed his hand down: "After the alcohol issue is resolved, I won't just earn money from selling alcohol; I can also sell more meat skewers. If you don't let me treat you to a meal, then I'll have to give you a kickback. You know the situation right now; even if I dared to give it to you, I might not accept it. I'm giving you a free meal because of our friendship, and that doesn't affect the favor you owe me."
Xiao Chen declined several times, but when he couldn't refuse any longer, he reluctantly agreed. When he returned to the private room, his face was flushed as he told the manager about it. The manager smiled and comforted him, "Don't worry, this isn't a bribe. Since the restaurant owner is so kind and you did help, it won't be a big problem for us to have a free meal. Otherwise, the restaurant owner wouldn't feel at ease."
Xiao Chen smiled and didn't say anything more. The group ate and chatted, and the conversation eventually turned to the shop owner wanting to stock up on some alcoholic beverages to sell in the shop. Men, after all, tend to talk about food and drinks when they get together. His two other colleagues were also good drinkers and thought the food in the shop would be perfect as appetizers.
Midway through, Jingyan had Dou Zhixiao bring over meat skewers twice more, leaving the four of them hungry after coming in and leaning against the wall to walk out. At the cashier, Jingyan waived the bill. Feeling embarrassed, Xiao Chen reminded her again to find time to meet his uncle as soon as possible and finalize the drinks. The manager also said that her products were very suitable for pairing with alcohol.
After seeing off today's customers and tidying up the shop, He Zhijun came to pick them up. When the two got home, Jingyan saw her grandmother in the living room and brought up what Xiao Chen had said earlier that day:
“I’m not good at this kind of negotiation, Zhijun. How about you see how busy you are at work lately? If you can spare some time, take a day off and we can go see Chen Hanqin, the head of the purchasing department, together. You can help me talk to him.”
He Zhijun nodded in agreement: "I will ask for leave when I go to work tomorrow. I'll see which day my supervisor approves for the leave. I'll let you know when the date is confirmed."
Jingyan was very satisfied. The business license, which she had obtained from the Commerce Bureau for the liquor license and registration certificate, had been issued. Since she had some free time, she went to the market office to complete the registration process.
Nowadays, very few businesses obtain the required licenses and permits according to regulations, so Jingyan's matter was handled quickly. After it was all done, she took the business license and was about to leave.
She was going to discuss the liquor retail business in a couple of days, and having this license should make things go more smoothly. She carefully put the document in her bag, afraid that it might get creased or crumpled.
Xiao Chen stopped her: "Sister Zhang, now that the license has been obtained, you should also go to my uncle's place as soon as possible. Their supply and marketing cooperative is the largest in Shanghai. If your shop needs to sell some drinks or other similar items, you can talk to him about it."
However, you also need to consider how to transport a large quantity of alcohol to the island. As far as I know, currently, apart from ships that regularly transport supplies to the island, other passenger ships do not allow large quantities of cargo to be carried. You'd better find a cargo ship for transportation; otherwise, even if you manage to secure the alcohol deal, it will be a waste of time if the goods cannot get to the island.
Jingyan thanked him earnestly: "Thank you for reminding me, I will think of a way."
After leaving the office, Jingyan went straight back to the shop. The refrigerator had been plugged in that morning, and four hours later, she checked the freezer compartment and could clearly feel the cold air. Satisfied, she closed the refrigerator door and instructed Dou Zhixiao:
"Put some of the meat skewers we made today into the freezer first, and see how many we can fit in total. This way, we'll have a better idea of how much we can stock up in the future. Any skewers that don't fit in the freezer will be stored in the refrigerator. It's better than leaving them outside to attract flies and mosquitoes."
Dou Zhixiao laughed and said, "Sister Yan, it's only April, the mosquitoes and flies haven't started to move yet. But it's good to put the meat in the refrigerator, at least it looks much cleaner. I'll remember to count the number."
Indeed, as Dou Zhixiao said, when the barbecue started tonight, the guests were all surprised when they saw Dou Zhixiao take the meat skewers out of the freezer. Many people had never seen the magic of a refrigerator, and they couldn't help but reach out to touch the metal skewers, feeling the obvious freezing sensation. Curious discussions arose one after another.
"Shopkeeper, this refrigerator must be very expensive, right? It was just as good before we didn't have one. Why are you willing to spend so much money on this?" Some regular customers asked Jing Yan directly.
While busy grilling, Jingyan answered, "The weather got hotter and hotter later on. Last year, during July, August and September, we didn't dare to stock up on too much meat every day, for fear that it would spoil. We even had to put it in the well in the backyard to cool it down. It took a lot of effort."
I heard about refrigerators this year, and I thought that this would allow me to stock up on more goods and ensure the freshness of the meat. Meat can be stored in the freezer, so I don't have to worry about not having enough to sell or not being able to sell it all every day.
This is just the first one I bought. If business continues to be good, and if one isn't enough, I might buy two more. I'm also thinking that in the summer, I'll stock up on some beer and put it in the refrigerator. If customers want a cold beer to enjoy with their barbecue, that would be perfect.
"Are you planning to stock up on alcohol? Will you have baijiu (Chinese white liquor) and huangjiu (yellow wine)? Shaoxing huadiao is quite good, and shikumen is also a decent huangjiu," suggested a customer who enjoys drinking.
"For baijiu, we need to have the regular kind, but it's best to also have high-end brands like Moutai. Sometimes government inspection teams come to the island to conduct inspections, and at those times, the various factories will invite them to dinner, so the drinks served can't be too low-grade."
"We used to eat at state-run restaurants, but this year your restaurant has become so famous and now has private rooms. If the quality of your drinks is good enough, they might come back to eat at your place in July or August. That would be a big order," said a junior section chief from the shipyard's logistics department while eating skewers.
Jing Yan's eyes lit up: "Could my shop accept this kind of catering?"
"That depends on the tastes of the people conducting the inspection. Anyway, last year, the inspection team didn't eat very well here. One of the women, I think she was an assistant or something, had some cooking skills. I saw her go to the kitchen of the state-run restaurant and make a few dishes for the table."
Logically, people coming to inspect the restaurant wouldn't cook for themselves unless they genuinely find the food terrible. If it's the same group of people as last year, there's a real possibility they'll come to eat at your restaurant. Anyway, it's always good to prepare in advance. If they come, great; if not, so be it.
Jingyan agreed with this reasoning. Regardless of whether the information he brought would be useful later, she still wanted to give him some benefits, so she gave him five skewers of meat. This made him feel embarrassed, and he was more willing to share some information he had heard while working in logistics.
When He Zhijun came to pick her up that evening, he told her that he had taken Wednesday off. The two agreed to set off early. Once the retail deal for the liquor was finalized, they would need to visit Yuan Xiaoling and her husband, as the liquor transportation would require the boats they had rented from the shipping company.
Time came quickly. Early in the morning, the couple took their documents and money and set off by boat. They arrived at the Xuhui District Supply and Marketing Cooperative at 9:30 a.m. He Zhijun asked the gatekeeper for directions to Section Chief Chen Hanqin's office, and the couple went there together.
Walking down the long corridor, Jingyan felt uncertain. She knew there was a high chance the deal would go through, but she couldn't help thinking about how, in her past life, when she had to handle all the paperwork, her husband was unreliable, and she had to run everything herself.
She wasn't born brave; in those years, she had been timid and thought about giving up. But when she thought of her children needing money for school, she silently encouraged herself and made herself strong.
I vividly remember when she needed a business license to open a factory. She tried everything, but nothing worked. Finally, she mustered her courage and went to the newly appointed county magistrate. When he asked her, "Why are you, a woman, running around like this? Where's your husband?" she almost burst into tears.
The county magistrate was a good man; he pitied the woman's hardship in supporting her family and explained in detail what she needed to do and the procedures, which finally helped her obtain the permit, albeit with some difficulties.
From that time on, she seemed fearless when handling anything outside, though only she knew how anxious she actually was inside.
Looking at the man walking ahead of her, earnestly searching for his office, she once again felt the reassuring comfort of having someone to rely on. Could this be considered another form of healing? What she lacked back then was slowly being made up for; God had indeed been kind to her.
Having found the place, He Zhijun knocked on the door and went in. Apart from the initial self-introduction, He Zhijun did all the talking with Section Chief Chen, while Jing Yan just sat quietly and listened. This was a scene that she had never been able to achieve in her previous life. So, it wasn't that she was bad, it was just that the person was wrong.
The talks went smoothly. In fact, the operational pressure on the supply and marketing cooperatives was already beginning to emerge. In the past, there were very few places to buy things besides the supply and marketing cooperatives. But now, not to mention private shops, even private factories are opening up. They are already showing signs of losing customers.