Chapter 65 Vicious Competition
The next day, Zhu and his friends went into the city and found that their stall had lost business again. After asking around, they found out that the other two stalls had also lowered their prices and were now only selling for 4 cents per pound, just like theirs.
"What should we do? The other two stalls are also selling at only 4 cents per pound like us, and many customers are going to buy from them." Boss Liang became anxious when he saw that his stall had no business.
"Then let's lower the price further and sell it for 3 cents per pound. As long as there are many customers buying it, we can still make money." Zhu gritted her teeth and planned to lower the price by another cent.
"Okay, then I'll listen to you." Mr. Liang's brain is not very flexible, so whatever Zhu says is what he does.
"Mom, raw chestnuts in the city are sold at 2 wen per pound. Our sugar-roasted chestnuts are sold at 3 wen per pound, which is already the bottom line. If the other two stalls follow our example and lower the price, we can't lower it any further."
Liang Wenyong said with some concern that if the price was lowered any further, the business would be impossible to do.
"Okay, I understand. Don't worry, I'm not that stupid. I won't lower the price anymore."
The effect of the price reduction was very good. When everyone heard that sugar-roasted chestnuts were only 3 cents per pound, many poor people who had never tasted them came to Zhu's stall to buy them. These poor people did not buy much at a time, just one or two pounds.
Although the food they cook tastes much worse than Qianhuan's, they sell it cheaper.
The other two stalls were furious when they saw this. Originally, their stalls had been selling their products at 5 cents per pound, but who knew that another unexpected person would appear and lower their prices after only two days, disrupting the market.
All the customers at these two stalls went to Zhu's to buy chestnuts, and the vendors of these two stalls secretly bore a grudge against Liang's family.
On the other hand, Qianhuan's business has steadily recovered.
People with slightly better financial conditions would rather buy from Qianhuan’s stall, because their sugar-roasted chestnuts are better in taste and quality. Everyone remembers the name “Liuji Kaikouxiao Chestnuts” and if you want to eat authentic sugar-roasted chestnuts, you can only eat “Liuji Kaikouxiao Chestnuts”.
While doing business today, Qianhuan was observing the goings on at Zuixianju and Jixiang Restaurant. At lunch time, she found that there were a lot of customers going to Jixiang Restaurant for dinner. In contrast, Zuixianju seemed a little deserted.
She thought: I guess the young master will be worried again today, so she must make the chopped pepper fish head taste the best as soon as possible. She believed that as long as this chopped pepper fish head was successful, it would definitely help Zuixianju to win back many lost customers.
This chopped pepper fish head is a very famous Hunan dish. This dish can increase people's appetite visually and stimulate their taste buds from the taste.
The people of Lingzhou all like spicy food, and this chopped pepper fish head dish is definitely to everyone's taste.
Unfortunately, although I am a foodie, I am not a good cook. I don't know how many times I have to make this chopped pepper fish head to make it taste similar to the modern ones.
In Zuixianju, Chu Yichen watched as the business in the store became worse and worse, and his brows were full of sorrow.
"Old Zhou, how is the research on the new dishes going?"
"Young Master, several chefs are trying to make new dishes, but none of them have succeeded yet." Shopkeeper Zhou answered cautiously.
"I understand. You go down first." Chu Yichen waved his hand.
"Young Master, several branches have sent news saying that Jixiang Restaurant has opened several new branches near our Zuixianju branch, and the business of several branches has also been affected." Yuanji said anxiously.
"Is the news accurate?"
"The news just came in, which was personally delivered by the store managers of the branch. Young master, what should we do? If the master knew about this, I'm afraid he would be worried. The aunt in the family has always been dissatisfied with you being in charge of the family business, and has always wanted to let the second young master get involved. If they knew about this, they would definitely make trouble again." Yuanji couldn't help but worry about his own young master.
"He is a bastard who only knows how to eat and drink. He has no idea how to run a business. Even if my aunt lets him get involved, what's the point? Do they have the ability to solve the current crisis? If he was a capable person, my father would have asked him to run the family business with me. I would be happy to have more people to help me. It's a pity that the mother and son only know how to scheme against each other and fight for the family property."
When talking about the concubine and illegitimate son in the family, Chu Yichen was full of disgust. They would usually just find faults and report on him. They thought about fighting for the family property every day and never thought about how to manage the family business.
Qianhuan's stall has been doing stable business these days, selling 120 to 150 kilograms of chestnuts every day.
The Liang family also attracted many poor people to buy by lowering prices, but the purchasing power of poor people is still not as good as that of wealthy families. The Liang family can sell about 100 kilograms of chestnuts every day these days.
The other two stalls had very poor business these days, and their customers all went to Liang Lao's stall to buy.
Qianhuan has been making chopped pepper fish head every night these days. After closing the stall today, Qianhuan went to the fishmonger and bought a fat fish. She planned to continue making chopped pepper fish head in the evening.
After several attempts, Qianhuan found that the fish head would be overcooked if steamed for 25 minutes or 20 minutes. Tonight, she calculated the time carefully and took out the fish head after steaming it for only about 15 minutes.
After tasting it, the family of three felt that today’s fish tasted more delicious and tender than before, and had a very good taste.
Qianhuan was extremely happy. She thought to herself: I finally succeeded. After practicing for several days, I can finally present this dish to Zuixianju tomorrow.
"Mom, Jixiang Restaurant smashed our stall a few days ago. Thanks to the help of Manager Zhou, I plan to give this recipe of chopped pepper fish head to Zuixianju. In the future, except for the two of us who can cook this dish at home, please don't tell anyone else about this dish."
Qianhuan reminded Liu while eating dinner that her mother used to cook every day in the old house and her cooking skills were the best among the three sisters-in-law. In the past few days, Liu followed her to make chopped pepper fish head and had already learned how to make this dish.
"Yes, I understand. I understand the principle of repaying a favor. Zuixianju has helped us, so it's only right that you give them a recipe."
Under Qianhuan's influence, Liu has become more and more considerate and her vision has gradually become broader.
"Qianhuan, has our stall ever been smashed or vandalized? Why didn't you and your mother tell Dad?" Liang Laoer asked with a worried look on his face.
"Dad, Mom and I were afraid that you would worry if we told you, so we didn't tell you. Besides, Mom and I are fine, thanks to the help of Manager Zhou from Zuixianju."
"It's all dad's fault. If my leg wasn't injured, I would have gone into the mountains to hunt and earn money. I wouldn't have let you two show your faces in public and be bullied." Liang Laoer blamed himself very much.
"Dad, you don't have to blame yourself. Even if your leg is healed, I still want to go out and earn money on my own. Although Old Lady Liang has always looked down on me because I'm a girl, Dad, please don't look down on me. I will definitely earn a lot of money in the future and bring it back to you so that you and mom can enjoy a peaceful life."
"Qianhuan, you are so capable, how could Daddy look down on you. You are still so young and you have to help me and your mother support this family. Daddy is afraid that you will be too tired. Daddy just wants you to grow up happily."
"Dad, just take the medicine and heal your leg injury, and don't worry about anything else. For this family, I am tired but I am happy."
Actually, getting up so early every day, it would be a lie to say that she wasn't tired. But life is always tiring. Her family doesn't have much money left now. She still needs a lot of money to build a greenhouse and a workshop, and she also needs to save money to buy ingredients to make soy sauce. There is still a long way to go to reach her goal, so she has to work hard.