Chapter Fifty-Four: Dining Speculation

  Du Le was thinking about the feasibility of opening a restaurant on his way back to the factory.

  Running a restaurant is indeed promising, Du Le nodded to himself. However, opening a restaurant is clearly not a simple matter. At least Du Le wouldn't be able to cook himself and be the chef, plus there's the rent for the storefront, labor costs, initial investment of funds, etc. Most importantly, in order to purchase this batch of cold weapons, Du Le had embezzled quite a bit of company funds, and for the time being, he couldn't take out any more money.

  Now, Du Le didn't want to take out a batch of gold coins for trading anymore. He didn't want to draw too much attention to himself. In the past, it was because he had no money, so he had to sell gold coins. Now that he has money, he should be more cautious and not easily reveal his trump cards. Being the first to strike, Du Le still understood this point. A commoner suddenly having a large sum of wealth would easily attract some people with ulterior motives.

  All the way thinking, all the way worrying. The more I think about it, the more excited I become, and the more I feel that there is potential in the catering business. However, the more excited I am, the more worried I also become, and Du Le really has no idea what to do.

  It's not possible to go loan or borrow money, this is the most unfeasible for Du Le. Just now he refused Li Ze's kindness, and then he goes to loan or borrow, it's not about giving face to others, but also himself can't accept such repetitive behavior. His own skin hasn't reached that thickness yet.

  As soon as Du Le got off the bus, he walked near the factory gate and saw a man in his 40s riding a tricycle loaded with vegetables and fruits, about to enter the gate.

  A security guard at the gate saw Du Le from a distance.

  "Hello, Mr. Du." The security guard stood up straight and greeted Du Le enthusiastically.

  "Uh-huh, you too." Du Le nodded and pointed at the three-wheeled vehicle that had just driven into the factory, asking "What's that?"

  "Oh, that's Qi Master from our factory canteen. Every day before 4 o'clock, he goes to Bo Po market to buy fresh vegetables." Security guard Ba couldn't help but chat with the big boss of the factory to leave a good impression, "Qi Master's cooking is quite delicious, especially that braised pork dish, it's so fragrant and many people in the factory like it..."

  Du Le suddenly thought of something, waved goodbye, and walked into the factory, heading straight for the cafeteria.

  It's not time for dinner yet, the workers are still on duty, and there is no one in the cafeteria. Du Le didn't go to the main hall of the cafeteria, but instead walked towards the kitchen.

  The sales of instant noodles have been good recently, and Yonghui Food Processing Factory has also taken the opportunity to recruit a large number of workers to fill the vacancies. Now there are at least over 200 workers in the entire factory, so many helpers have been recruited for the canteen as well. The canteen was originally set up to serve the factory, and the wages of the staff were also paid by the factory. After Du Le acquired the factory, it continued to do so. Moreover, in order to provide better service to the workers, Du Le stipulated that each worker would receive at least 10 yuan per meal. It was also strictly required that the meals be filling and include at least two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes. At the beginning of each month, the accountant would allocate funds to the canteen to purchase ingredients based on the total number of people.

  So, Du Le's idea was simple. Since the cafeteria is part of his own factory, he might as well make full use of it. Moreover, Du Le had also eaten at the cafeteria before, and the taste was not inferior to some big restaurants. It's just that because it's fast food, the presentation is ordinary.

  However, it is precisely because of this that Du Le's entry into the catering industry has a breakthrough point, which is to do fast food. Delicious and affordable fast food, not only cheap but also delicious, really cost-effective. Thinking of this, Du Le decided to go to the factory canteen.

  Master Qi was originally an old worker in the factory. Due to an accidental injury, his legs were not very flexible. The former factory director compensated Master Qi by taking care of his medical expenses and finding him a job in the cafeteria. Unexpectedly, he ended up doing this for several years.

  When Du Le saw Qi Shi Fu, he was directing the people in the kitchen to move ingredients.

  Master Qi and others naturally recognized the big boss of the factory. Du Le hadn't even walked up to them yet, but they were already greeting him.

  "Hello, Director Du!" Qi Shifu quickly walked up to Du Le and smiled.

  "Master Qi, actually I have something to discuss with you..." Du Le didn't beat around the bush and directly stated his intention.

  Here is the translation:

  "Du's words made Qi Shifu feel unexpected, and he carefully said: "Director Du, opening the canteen to the outside for business is not impossible. Our canteen already has a health permit, we just need to apply for another business license and tax permit. The only difficulty is that originally our canteen was just enough to take care of the meals for over 200 people in the factory, if there are more people, it may be hard to keep up. And, opening a restaurant here?" Qi Shifu paused, his face showing difficulty, "We're in an industrial zone, local residents rarely come inside to eat, other factories usually have their own canteens, and there's no reason for them to come. With few customers, the restaurant can't survive." Sighing, Qi Shifu continued: "Director Du, I'm not hiding it from you, I used to work in a vocational cooking school, after graduating I also opened a small restaurant, but because of the poor location, there were no customers. In the end, I had to close the restaurant and come to the factory to work for a living."

  Du Le understood at once, and it was clear that Qi Shifu didn't think much of him. In fact, Du Le also had his own concerns, but if he wasn't confident, he wouldn't have dared to take such a huge risk.

  Du Le nodded his head, indicating that he understood. But he had confidence in his own five-leaf clover, it's just that for the time being, there was no way to inform Master Qi about it.

  Du Le's plan was simple: first, use the five-leaf grass as a secret ingredient to make fast food, build up his reputation, and earn some money. Once he had earned enough, he would rent a storefront and open a mid-sized restaurant. In Du Le's mind, there were still several other soup and dish recipes that he had gathered from Jin Yang City, which could serve as the restaurant's signature dishes. Moreover, with the flavor-enhancing effect of the five-leaf grass, Du Le was confident that as long as he had good chefs, he wouldn't have to worry about the food not tasting good.

  At this time, hearing that Master Qi was also a chef who had studied culinary arts, he became even more confident.

  "These are not problems, I'm ready to let our cafeteria take out first and add clover to our fast food," said Du Le.

  Master Qi was taken aback, looking at Du Le. Anyone in the factory knew that clover was the biggest secret to the delicious flavor of Wèi Xiǎng's instant noodles. Master Qi was no exception, and he had even added clover to his own stir-fries for seasoning. Of course, he didn't think Du Le had this in mind either. But what he didn't expect was that Du Le would say what came next.

  "Master Qi, after a while, I plan to open a restaurant and invite you to be the head chef. The salary will be 10,000 yuan per month, with double pay at the end of the year. Would you like that?" Du Le said, looking at Master Qi. In fact, Du Le also understood that if he let Master Qi take on the additional role of restaurant head chef, his salary would definitely need to be increased. After all, the workload had increased.

  But Master Qi looked at the factory's cafeteria and was still a bit hesitant, because he didn't want to repeat the same mistake, nor did he want to follow in Du Lebu's footsteps.

  Du Le saw Qi Shifu's reaction and immediately understood that Qi Shifu had some concerns. To dispel Qi Shifu's hesitation, Du Le smiled and said: "The wine house will definitely find another place, before the new wine house opens, the cafeteria is only a temporary place for fast food takeout."

  "Director Du, I believe in your ability." Qi Shifu nodded solemnly in response.

  "Thank you, but the quality of the cafeteria food in the factory must still be guaranteed and cannot be neglected." Du Le reminded.

  "Don't worry, Director Du," said Master Qi.