Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 1433 - 694: Low Price is Wrong Too Verification Notice

Chapter 1433: Chapter 694: Low Price is Wrong Too Verification Notice

In the Provincial City’s foreign restaurant, Will, both the chef and owner, had taken off his chef’s uniform and was sitting at the dining table just like a customer.

He contentedly sipped a glass of red wine and began, "Although I’ve lived in this country for several years now, I still feel truly blessed every day when I sit here tasting fine wines and making the steaks I’m best at in the kitchen. Do you know that, Yan? Living here, I mean having been able to live here since you were young, is truly a blessing."

Yan Fei, with a grin on his face as he watched his wife cut her steak, looked up and replied, "Mmm-hmm, not bad, not bad, I feel very blessed too."

Boss Xia, sitting beside Will, smiled charmingly and said to him, "Will, I’ve told you that it’s not proper to intrude on a couple in the throes of romance. You insisted on coming, and now you see how much of a bother we are, don’t you?"

Miss Xu Xiaoyan’s face flushed, "Sister Xia, it’s not like you say. Isn’t it livelier when there are more people around during a meal..."

Both Yan Fei and Will laughed, and then Will continued, "That’s why I long ago dismissed the idea of returning home and made a significant decision. I’m planning to open another restaurant, one even bigger than this, to let more people taste my cooking. But this decision requires your support, Brother Yan Fei!"

Listening to the foreigner clumsily say "Brother Yan Fei," Yan Fei didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, "I’ve told you, as long as you continue running this restaurant, my supply price will remain unchanged. But if you expand, I really can’t keep the price the same as before!"

"It’s truly not feasible. The places where I supplied goods before were quite far from the Provincial City, so a slight price difference didn’t matter. But two months ago, I signed a new supply contract. In no more than a month, I have to start supplying high-grade beef to Jiang City. Once their restaurants open for business, having the same restaurants purchasing the same materials at vastly different prices between two neighboring provinces—how would I even begin to explain that to someone?"

Hearing this, Will immediately shook his head, "No, no, no, Brother Yan Fei, hear me out. I don’t mean support in terms of price, I just need you to continue supplying us with the same quality beef. I know the customs here, where relationships are cherished whether a deal is struck or not. So if the deal is successful, we should even more uphold our integrity, right? Therefore, when the new restaurant opens, I will pay you for the goods at your price."

Will paused for a moment, seemingly organizing his thoughts, then continued to explain, "Actually, through my observations, I’ve identified a problem. Sometimes a lower price isn’t necessarily better. Our steaks are priced lower than those in the coastal cities, which has brought us some customers, but for many others, it gives the impression that our place is of a lower class."

"Although due to my constant presence in this restaurant, I lack extensive exposure to the outside world and am temporarily not entirely understanding of the thoughts of the people of your country, I feel that switching to a larger venue, with more upscale decor, and raising the prices a bit, might not be such a bad idea for us. What do you think, Brother Yan Fei?"

Yan Fei sort of understood but didn’t really know what to say about this issue.

Perhaps it’s due to regional perceptions, or perhaps something else, but sometimes things are just that peculiar. Will’s restaurant uses his family’s beef, and the chef is the authentic foreigner Will himself, yet to many, the steak restaurant in the Provincial City seems of lower class compared to those in the coastal cities.

Like Will said, it’s because of his pricing—which is cheaper. Cheap goods, poor quality! If your products are the same as others’, why are yours cheaper and theirs more expensive?

Some people nowadays are like that, only buying the expensive, not the right ones. If yours is cheaper, then surely it can’t be as good as others’. Such low class, it’s not fitting for our status and prestige!

Moreover, the Provincial City, despite being centrally located on the mainland and serving as a transportation hub, has begun to lag behind due to regional perceptions, especially with the rise of the coastal cities in recent years.

For an outsider, such as someone from an economically developed coastal area, the sight of Will’s steakhouse and its prices would immediately provoke laughter filled with a sense of superiority: This must be an attempt to imitate others, a case of "following the wrong model," right?

In their first impression, Will’s steakhouse is just someone from an economically undeveloped area trying to copy a coastal steakhouse and, failing to do so convincingly, resorting to low prices to attract customers.

With that mindset, would they even enter the place? Certainly not.

Instead, it would be better to visit a well-known local restaurant to try some regional specialties! If you want steak, why not eat authentic ones back home? Eating knockoffs here would be simply embarrassing.

So Will’s restaurant has always relied on word of mouth, meaning the patronage of regular customers. But steak isn’t something one can eat every day, is it? And that has nothing to do with price—it’s purely a matter of the Chinese dietary customs.

Without new customers and with the old ones visiting less frequently, business was bound to be affected.

And for the people of the Provincial City, there was another reason Will’s business suffered—his beef came from the rural areas of Wan City.