The Sweetness of the Seventies
Chapter 705 - 674 Tasting, Good Business_1

Chapter 705: Chapter 674 Tasting, Good Business_1

The old lady saw the meat, glistening and aromatic, and since it was free, why not? Having not eaten meat for quite some time, she eagerly accepted it and popped it into her mouth.

Instantly, the rich meaty aroma filled her mouth, and her eyes lit up. She said, "Here, just give me all the meat on the plate."

Since it was free, she wanted it all; such opportunities should not be missed!

Huang Jingli smiled and handed her another toothpick, saying, "Auntie, one person can only have two small pieces at most. If I gave it all to you, how could we offer free samples to other people?"

"No wonder it’s free, just a little bit then!" The old lady glanced at the "Sanfeng Bridge" signboard feeling discontented, took the toothpick, and quickly left, thinking to herself that later she could carry her grandson out and have two more pieces of meat.

There were many people passing by, so to save on toothpicks, they simply skewered two pieces of meat, each the size of a fingertip, on one toothpick.

Previously, people were just curious, but now having tasted the meat, and with the shop’s name being so well-chosen, "Sanfeng Bridge," located near the famous Sanfeng Bridge in Nan City, nearly everyone who passed by remembered the name of this shop.

Moreover, the flavors of Sanfeng Bridge’s marinated meat were exceptionally good.

Because it was the weekend, there were especially many people on the streets. By noon, they had given away half of the pig already.

At midday, a few of them had lunch in the backyard and continued handing out the remaining half of the pig.

Many people came after hearing about it, wanting to taste the free delicacy of marinated meat.

Some, after tasting, immediately asked for the price.

He Tiantian smiled and said, "One yuan per jin!"

"Goodness, are you robbing us?" a skinny man said with wide angry eyes. "Pork only costs sixty cents per jin, and you’re selling it for one yuan. Isn’t that too expensive?"

He Tiantian wasn’t upset and cheerfully replied, "Uncle, what you’re referring to is the price of raw pork in bulk. What we have here is cooked pork, and not just any cooked pork, but one that has been stewed for six hours with our secret sauce, including added spices and a lot of effort. One yuan per jin is not expensive at all. If you have guests at home, our delicious Sanfeng Bridge marinated meat will surely give you a lot of prestige. It’s a great gift for visiting relatives and friends."

The thin man hesitated but thought of inviting his boss over for dinner that night and needing impressive dishes. Clenching his teeth, he said, "All right then, cut me one jin of the pig’s head meat."

He Tiantian quickly cut one jin of the marinated pig’s head and packed it in a plastic bag printed with three Golden Phoenixes.

Seeing that someone had made a purchase, others were tempted too, some buying half a jin, some buying a few taels. He Tiantian and her companions patiently greeted each customer.

By the evening, they had given away sixty percent and sold forty percent of the pig.

He Tiantian did the math and realized they had made seventy yuan.

Qian Shikun, feeling the pinch, said, "Should we stop giving it away tomorrow? So much meat!"

"No more giveaways!" He Tiantian replied, "Tomorrow we’ll prepare one pig, two chickens, and two ducks. If they don’t sell out, we’ll just put them in the freezer to sell the next day. If they spoil or go bad, we won’t continue selling them."

"Okay, tomorrow you’ll be at school, so don’t worry about this place. We will keep good track of things," Sun Sihao said, knowing that He Tiantian came from a well-off family and that her parents had money and power; he dared not cheat her.

Pulling out three contracts from her bag, He Tiantian said, "Uncle Sun, Uncle Qian, I have two proposals for you. First, I can pay you a salary of one hundred yuan per person each month, and you work for me; second, I don’t pay you a salary, but I will give out ten percent of the net profits as a bonus for the three of you to share every month."

Without a second thought, Sun Sihao said, "I want a share of the profits!"

Having grown up in a family that did business, and after spending some time investigating, he believed that He Tiantian’s shop would surely make money. A fixed salary accumulating to just twelve hundred a year might seem like a lot, but compared to the potential future earnings from the business once it took off, it was negligible.

Qian Shikun smiled and said, "I also want a share of the profits, let’s get rich together."

"All right, if you agree, go ahead and sign. From now on, we’re partners," He Tiantian smiled, knowing that even with familiar people, it was best to settle accounts clearly to avoid disputes and hurt feelings later.

Sun Sihao picked up the profit-sharing contract and looked it over, nodding, "Sounds good, we’re satisfied. It’s best to clear things up even between brothers, so no one plays any tricks and we all focus on our work."

He Tiantian smiled and said, "That’s best!"

They all signed and stamped their fingerprints.

The next morning, since there was no class, He Tiantian came over to check in and was surprised to find that a third of the marinated meat had already sold by midday.

In the afternoon, He Tiantian went to class and afterwards, she and Huo Yingjie headed directly to the marinated meat shop to find that the pork and the chicken and duck they had prepared, as well as the marinated meat bought from the meat factory, had all sold out.

Counting up today’s earnings, they astonishingly had three hundred and sixty yuan.

Meat from different parts was priced differently, especially the pig ears, which sold for one yuan and sixty cents per jin and were also sold out.

But a pig only had one pair of ears, so they were easier to sell.

Today’s net profits were one hundred and twenty yuan. Divided into twelve shares, for three people, each person earned four yuan. That would make one hundred and twenty for a month.

And that was just the first day; as business improved later on, they would receive even more.

"Tiantian, today many people didn’t get to buy, should we stew two pigs tomorrow?" Qian Shikun asked, buoyed by the great business and the money they were making.

He Tiantian thought for a moment and said, "Let’s not increase just yet; let’s keep it at this amount for this week. If, after a week, we still have people not getting any every day, then we can increase next week. After all, it’s hot in summer, and things spoil easily. Even though we have freezers, it can still affect taste."

"Tiantian is right; we can’t rush into increasing," Sun Sihao said, "We need to stabilize our customer base first. By the way, since our marinated meat shop had a grand opening, there are four more storefronts next door, and someone inquired about renting. They wanted me to check about the rent for them."

He Tiantian waved her hand and said, "Don’t rent them out, once Sanfeng Bridge’s marinated meat business is stable I have other business plans."

Her grandmother was already arranging to send her a set of equipment for making Western-style pastries, which should arrive in Nan City in about two months. The four adjacent shops would be used for selling Chinese and Western pastries.

With everyone’s material standard of living improving, and expectations for life growing higher, they didn’t need to bother finding another name; they could stick with Sanfeng Bridge.

He Tiantian had already registered "Sanfeng Bridge" as the brand name for the marinated meat shop, pastries, restaurant, and several other trademarks to avoid having to buy back the brand at a high price in case they expanded and someone else claimed it.

Sun Sihao and Qian Shikun looked at each other, thinking that a good collaboration with He Tiantian would definitely lead to prosperity.

Whenever Huo Yingjie had time, he would help check the shop’s homemade electrical equipment and contribute his efforts.