Chapter 105: Shop Reform

What started as a simple matter of refunding the balance on membership cards ended up with Chen Huajiang purchasing a hundred tons of oranges. Black Tiger and his companions found themselves utterly perplexed, unable to fathom Chen Huajiang’s intentions.

“Boss Chen, that’s a hundred tons of oranges. Surely you don’t plan to bring them in and sell them off slowly?”

“That’s simply unrealistic. Every year, when the farmers from Five-Star Village harvest their oranges, they flood the market. Sometimes, not only does it take just two minutes to sell, there are times when the price drops to a cent per pound, even a cent for two pounds.”

“And oranges don’t keep long. You’ll lose a fortune.”

Black Tiger mulled it over for a long time but still couldn’t understand why Chen Huajiang wanted so many oranges, finally concluding that Chen Huajiang must intend to act as a middleman and make a quick profit.

Chen Huajiang smiled, declining to pursue the topic any further.

He hadn’t been joking earlier; he truly had a grand use for these oranges—they were meant for juice.

In later years, anyone running a restaurant would have heaps of orange juice in their establishment.

Freshly squeezed orange juice was more than just a gimmick; in the future, orange juice could last a whole year without spoiling and it wouldn’t even be considered remarkable.

A simple example: who has ever bought a beverage that spoils after only a few days? Even if you leave the cap off, it tastes the same weeks later.

There are many ways to ensure longevity, most commonly by adding preservatives, but Chen Huajiang had a better method in mind and didn’t plan to use those.

There was no need to share these plans with Black Tiger and his men. In a way, this was a lucrative business, and it seemed to have emerged only in the nineties.

“All the tables here, move them to the right-hand storefront.”

“Leave the boilers on the left; the walls need to be redone as well. Get someone to build a new wall in the middle. Space-wise, the ratio between the left and right storefronts should be one to four.”

“The left side will be solely for the kitchen—fried chicken and fries won’t be served in the dining area anymore. Besides, we’ll offer noodles, buns, and fried rice. The right side will be the dining area from now on.”

Chen Huajiang continued to direct Black Tiger and his men, reorganizing the layout of the store.

Although Black Tiger was somewhat disgruntled, he’d already agreed that the renovations would be at Chen Huajiang’s discretion, so he could only nod in acquiescence.

And so, three days passed.

During those three days, the store underwent constant reorganization and renovation, drawing crowds at the entrance curious to watch the spectacle.

Some speculated the business was closing, others said it was being transferred; all the talk was negative, as Black Tiger’s establishment had a dreadful reputation among the locals.

By the second day, people began arriving to refund their membership card balances, but Chen Huajiang refused.

Without rules, there’s no order. If it was agreed that refunds would be issued on the third day of reopening, then so be it.

He even hoped that these refund seekers would help stir up some buzz!

Even negative attention was still attention.

Thus, on the third day, when the store reopened, crowds had already gathered outside.

“Refund!”

“Refund!”

“I’m here for a refund!”

Worried customers swarmed in, chanting for their money back as they entered the store.

“This place will never survive; I’m dying of laughter. Renovated and on the very first day, people are lining up for refunds!”

“Hmph. The owner is foolish. If it were me, I’d handle this quietly, refunding people discreetly. Why make it a public spectacle? It’s only ruining the reputation.”

“I’m telling you, everything here is outrageously expensive, and you still leave hungry. Only fools eat here!”

The old reputation persisted, with many in the crowd sneering.

But soon, the crowd poured into the store.

Because—

“Tofu pudding! Tofu pudding! Five cents a bowl, five cents a bowl! Members get a free pickled vegetable bun!”

“Grand opening—every bowl of tofu pudding is just five cents! First ten thousand customers get a free pickled vegetable bun!”

“Freshly made tofu pudding, five cents for a big bowl. If it’s not tasty, you don’t pay.”

The servers at the entrance shouted loudly, beckoning customers inside.

At the agricultural market, most breakfast shops sold tofu pudding at ten cents a bowl.

Now, the store’s price was half that—how could people resist?

Reputation meant nothing in the world of low-end dining; for these eateries, price was king!

Soon, the store was packed, with servers weaving through the crowd, delivering bowls of tofu pudding.

Some who had come to refund their card balances shifted course, grabbing the free pickled vegetable bun before heading to the counter, cleverly keeping track of their small gains.

This hustle continued until nine in the morning, when the crowd finally thinned.

The servers were exhausted, many slumped over tables, gulping down cold water.

Chen Huajiang, finding a spare moment, walked to the entrance for a cigarette break.

“Brother Chen, aren’t we losing money this way?”

Black Tiger, accompanied by Ermao and the others, approached, his face knotted with confusion.

The cost of tofu pudding was already five cents, not counting water, electricity, labor, or rent—clearly a loss.

And with members and the first ten thousand customers getting a free bun, it was loss upon loss.

Ermao and the others looked at Chen Huajiang in bewilderment; they’d never seen a business run at a loss, and were understandably baffled.

“Profit and loss can’t be judged from just one angle; you have to look at the whole picture.”

“We’ll see when we do the accounts tonight. For now, take a break—there’ll be another rush at noon. Tell the chefs to prepare plenty of rice; for lunch, focus on egg fried rice and rice with toppings. And make sure there are enough noodles, too.”

Chen Huajiang was exhausted and didn’t want to bother with explanations, so he instructed Ermao with a deep breath.

Ermao nodded and went inside to relay the orders to the two chefs.

Seeing that Chen Huajiang was weary and unwilling to speak further, Black Tiger reluctantly kept his doubts to himself, planning to confront him during the evening’s accounting.

Although half the store was now Chen Huajiang’s, the other half still belonged to Black Tiger and his brothers, and they couldn’t just sit by and let Chen Huajiang run wild.

Moreover, Black Tiger still harbored a faint urge to compete with Chen Huajiang, to see who would come out on top.

So, noon brought another bout of busyness, as did the evening.

By eight o’clock, the flow of customers diminished, and by nine-thirty, after the last table left, Chen Huajiang finally ordered the store to close.

“I’m exhausted. Never imagined it would be this tiring.”

“Exactly. There were so many customers today, all just here for the bargains.”

“Let me tell you, this morning I almost threw a bowl of tofu pudding at someone’s head. That guy was shameless—he refunded most of his membership balance, leaving just a dime on his card. Then he bragged he’d come every day to exploit us, eating buns for free until we went under.”

The staff lay across the tables, relaxing and venting.

A crew-cut lad, face flushed with anger, recounted the “shameless” tactics of a certain customer, clearly fuming.

“Brother Chen, this can’t go on. Losing money today, losing money tomorrow, and the next day—how long can we keep this up?”

Black Tiger seized the opportunity to challenge Chen Huajiang, glancing toward him as he calculated the day’s takings at the counter.