Volume 4: Beginning of Spring Chapter 34 Script
"You're right. There's something wrong with my thinking." Jiang You took a few steps forward. "Come in and sit for a while. It's cloudy now and a bit cold."
Ma Yi and Ding Tianhua followed Jiang You into the store.
Jiang You brought out three more cups of black tea.
"You are a professional after all. You can tell the problem right away." Jiang You put down the cup and took out a bag of melon seeds. He opened it and spilled half of it on the table. "It's too close. People who often come to Wenhua Street have basically eaten the noodles at Xiaofangzhai. I think they will tell the problem as soon as they eat my noodles. Then they will be even less likely to come next time. It's not good for Xiaofangzhai's reputation either."
"Is it the one next door?" Ding Tianhua asked.
"Yes."
"That's definitely not possible. How long has that store been open?"
"It's been a long time. I heard from the boss that it's been more than ten years. The prices in his shop are about the same as when I first came to Wenhua Street," Jiang You recalled. "The pickled mustard greens and shredded pork noodles were 13 yuan six years ago, and now they are 18 yuan. It has increased by 5 yuan. But those instant noodles that add an egg and luncheon meat can be sold for more than 30 yuan. He must be confused."
"That kind of store won't last long. You have to pay franchise fees, renovations, and advertising. When the hype is over and there's no business, you might end up losing money after closing the store," Ding Tianhua took a sip of tea. "I was busy last year. I didn't lose money, but I didn't make much either. But I've seen clearly that there are pitfalls in a store that can't realize stable cash flow. Why don't you introduce me to the boss next door and I'll make a promotional plan for him."
"Okay, he's also worried, so he talks to me about it, but I don't understand..."
"You are not interested in business at all." Ma Yi complained.
Jiang You laughed and denied, "No way, I've been so worried about making more money that my hair has turned gray."
Ma Yi put the cigarette box on the table, took out a cigarette, held it in his hand, and pointed at the sparse postcards on Jiang You's shelf, "Are you trying to make money? There is so much traffic here, you can do anything that won't make more money than selling postcards."
"That's not right," Jiang You watched Ma Yi light up a cigarette, "Everyone who comes to my store will buy a few. How much is a postcard? How much should I sell it for?"
"How much are you selling it for?" Ma Yi asked.
Jiang You laughed, "You bought it before. Look, there are stamps. I need to help you mail it..."
"Swindler!" said Ding Tianhua.
"No, no," Jiang You reached out and took a cigarette from Ma Yi's cigarette box, "What are we having for dinner?"
Ma Yi pushed the lighter over and said, "Tianhua and I were originally planning to eat barbecue."
"Then let's have a barbecue. This meal is a good way to lose weight."
After chatting for a while, they headed to the barbecue restaurant.
After sitting down in the restaurant, Jiang You took the menu. When they were almost done ordering, he handed the list to Ma Yi and Ding Tianhua, "See if you have anything else to order and what do you want to drink."
Ma Yi and Ding Tianhua each added a few items.
"Would you like to have a drink?" Ding Tianhua asked.
"I don't want to drink, I want Coke." Jiang You said.
"I have to drive in a while. We have lemon coke. Let's have one each," Ma Yi looked at Ding Tianhua, "If you want a drink, order it yourself."
"Then have a Coke too."
While waiting for the food to be served, Ma Yi looked at Jiang You and asked, "How many times did Tianhua help Lan Die with marketing planning last year?"
"No wonder. I see that Lan Die has a few girls, and they are much more popular than before."
"That Xu Huan, President Xu..."
"What's wrong with him?"
"He asked me to think of an idea to make Yang Xuan popular, and said that the program crew told him so." Ding Tianhua replied Jiang You.
The waiter brought a plate of crystal beef tongue.
"So you sent me the link today. We happened to be in the same area, so we came to you," Ma Yi picked up the tongs and put the beef tongue slices on the baking tray, "You should be aware of this. Something might go wrong during the recording."
"Maybe she wants to, too." Ding Tianhua picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece of dried radish and took a bite. "Nowadays, because of the fire, there is nothing we can't do."
The edges of the beef tongue are slightly curled.
Ma Yi turned the beef tongue over.
After seeing that both sides of the beef tongue had turned caramel color, Jiang You stretched out his chopsticks, picked up a piece, dipped it in soy sauce, and ate it in one bite.
The gravy is completely locked into the meat by the charcoal fire.
Fresh, tender and firm.
"I want to be famous, too," Jiang You said, taking a sip of Coke. "If I were a celebrity, I could sign my postcards and sell them for over a hundred yuan. My handwriting is great. Ma Yi, you've seen it, right?"
Ma Yi nodded.
The waiters brought the dishes up one after another.
Jiang You took out his cell phone, took a short video of the baking pan, and sent it to Yang Xuan.
A few minutes later, he saw that Yang Xuan also sent a video - she stood on the scale and the screen showed 44.7kg.
Jiang You put his phone aside .
After finishing a plate of beef tongue, Ma Yi put the tin plate of shrimp on top.
"I recently took a job. Do you remember light oxygen tea? It was very popular in the past two years." Ding Tianhua took a piece of watermelon and ate it.
“I remember.”
"The boss somehow found out about me and asked me if I had any ideas to revive the Light Oxygen Tea brand."
The shrimp's shell gradually turns orange-red.
"What did you say?" Jiang You also grabbed a piece of watermelon.
"I said there was nothing I could do. I told him to forget it and start over," Ding Tianhua sighed. "At that time, light oxygen tea was very popular. I guess there are still teachers who use it as a case study in class. Really, you see, two years ago he was full of energy and had money, status, and women. But a small scandal happened. He was in the real business, not just a concept, and he lost everything in an instant. This also gave me a warning."
After watching the shrimp shell turn completely red, Jiang You picked up a shrimp and peeled the shell. "This one is cooked. Let's divide it up, then take the box and continue grilling other ones?"
After dividing the shrimps, Ma Yi was about to use the barbecue tongs to pick up the box when the waitress came over. She took the tin foil box away, changed the plates for them, and helped them put the pork belly on the baking tray.
"I heard some gossip that the outsourcing companies that had problems with the light oxygen tea were all found by his girlfriend. It seems that they went to Thailand to discuss business during the Chinese New Year, and his girlfriend did not come back."
"Not back? What does that mean?" Ma Yi took out a piece of lettuce, wrapped the pork belly in it, and took a bite.
"He's dead." Ding Tianhua glanced at Ma Yi.
"oh oh!"
"I know him. I was in Thailand at the time. I did hear an elephant go crazy and trampled someone to death in the elephant camp that day."
Ma Yi looked up at Jiang You and asked, "Is it man-made, or..."
"I don't know. I got a baby elephant for my son the other day. He sat on it and the elephant padded forward . I was so tired following it..."
