Chapter 208: Business and Taste
Translator: Xiong Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth
"A bowl of specialty Beef Noodle Soup with coriander." The boss carried a big white bowl and walked out of the kitchen.
"Please bring it here," Yuan Zhou stretched out his hand and signaled the boss where his place was.
"Here’s your Beef Noodle Soup. Hot pepper and vinegar are all on the table. You can add them as you like. For green onions, ginger and garlic, just feel free to go to the kitchen," the boss said with a generous manner.
"Thank you," Yuan Zhou nodded and took a look at the flavorings on the table.
"Not at all. Just add them as per your favorite taste," the boss waved the hand and then said unconcernedly.
"Humm," Yuan Zhou nodded.
"This boss is interesting," Yuan Zhou murmured in the heart.
The bowl carried to him was quite big. If described specifically, it was even bigger than Yuan Zhou’s face. The bowl was designed to have a large mouth and shallow bottom. The noodles appeared to be a lot, but as a matter of fact, they were not little at all.
It was the thin kind of noodles. The brilliant red broth surrounded the noodles while a blast of fragrance and spiciness rushed directly up his nose. As a result, Yuan Zhou couldn’t help but want to sneeze.
There were 4 pieces of moderate-sized beef scattered on the noodles as well as the coriander requested by Yuan Zhou, which was dark green and alluring.
"The dish looks fairly nice," with a frown, Yuan Zhou said so.
The words of Yuan Zhou actually meant that the color matching of the noodles was nice. As for the taste, the spiciness and fragrance had completely concealed the intrinsic taste of the noodles.
As it was recommended by Yin Ya, Yuan Zhou didn’t dare say it wasn’t delicious before he savored it by himself.
Yuan Zhou took out the taste-free chopsticks and picked up the noodles and then immediately stuffed them into his mouth with a sound of "Slurp". Instantly, his mouth cavity was occupied by the spiciness. The noodles, nevertheless, were too soft without any chewiness. There was even a little chili pepper stuck to the noodles, which greatly affected the texture.
The chili pepper had a slightly astringent taste which was not negligible to Yuan Zhou who had sharp taste buds.
With a frown, Yuan Zhou picked up a piece of beef for a taste after considering for a while.
Along with the chewing, the beef emitted the fragrance of the stew ingredients in his mouth and tasted fairly fresh. The strong taste of the coriander also happened to neutralize the underlying offensive smell.
"The beef is not bad," after Yuan Zhou swallowed it, he said in a low voice.
Even so, it didn’t deserve to be recommended to him by Yin Ya. While the noodles were ordinary and the beef was a little better, this dish was at most considered to be above average. However, in Yin Ya’s evaluation, it was extraordinarily tasty.
While eating it earnestly, Yuan Zhou frowned with puzzlement. Since Yin Ya had eaten his Clear Broth Noodle Soup many times, she normally wouldn’t misjudge the current dish. As he really couldn’t figure it out, he decided to give up. He might as well have his meal earnestly.
As Yuan Zhou was puzzled about Yin Ya’s recommendation at this side, the customers who were having the meal started to crack a joke with the boss at the other side.
"Boss, if I can add whatever I want, can you please add some more noodles? I’m not full," dressed in a vest, a young man said with a smile.
"No problem." The boss agreed squarely, which, nevertheless, made the young man feel embarra.s.sed.
"Please don’t, I’m just joking. Just serve me another bowl of Beef Noodle Soup, a small bowl please." The young man immediately stopped the honest and frank boss.
"Never mind. Can you eat another bowl?" A boss doing business as such was rare.
"No problem," the young man answered with a smile.
"Ok. It will be served soon," the boss went back to the kitchen again to cook the noodles.
"Boss, give me some more chopped green onion, please," another customer said so.
"It’s over here. You come to get some by yourself," the boss stretched his head out of the kitchen and said.
After that, the customer stood up and entered the kitchen while holding the bowl, as instructed.
"The boss is truly so easy-going," looking at the customer who had walked out after adding the chopped green onion, Yuan Zhou sighed with emotion.
At that time, two people walked into the restaurant from outside. One was a grey-haired man who wore a simple yellow vest and appeared to be of old age. He held with one hand a crutch for the blind, which emitted a clear and melodious sound of "Duk Duk" on the floor.
The one who supported him at the side was a little boy that looked like only 11 or 12 years old. He was neatly covered with a school uniform and had a bowl cut. Although he appeared to be slim and small, the boy, nevertheless, had some strength. He walked into the restaurant step by step while supporting his father.
The small boy found a seat closest to the door and guided his father to sit there. After that, he sat down at the side of his father.
"Here are the noodles." The boss carried a small bowl of noodles out of the kitchen and directly put it down in front of the young man. Then he said mischievously, "I added some more noodles in the bowl."
"Great. Thank you, boss," when the young man saw the noodles were indeed more than average, he said with a smile.
"You are welcome," after the courteous greetings, the boss saw the father and son at the door.
The boss went up with several steps while the small boy stood up and also walked to the boss.
"You are here. What do you eat today?" With an undiminished enthusiasm, the boss said to the boy with a casual tone.
"Boss, two bowls of Beef Noodle Soup, as usual," without thinking, the small boy answered.
"Ok. The total cost is 9 RMB. Please pay before you eat," the boss said with a smile.
"Boss, are you still offering a discount today?" The small boy didn’t take out the money right away. Instead, he asked suspiciously.
"Yeah, there’s still discount," the expression on the boss’s face was fairly natural.
"But won’t you lose money that way?" The small boy seemed to be a regular customer here. It sounded like that the boss often offered the discount to him. That was why the small boy became suspicious now and made a detailed inquiry.
"You don’t understand. The supermarkets are also selling at a discount frequently. Have you ever seen they go bankrupt? No, right?" The boss said persuasively.
Hearing the answer, the small boy had only to nod the head.
"This is the tactic of small profits and quick returns. Do you understand now? Pay me now." After the boss said that proudly, he reached out his hand.
The boy was then convinced of the words of the boss, hence took out money from the pocket of his school uniform obediently and counted the right amount before handing it to the boss.
"Yeah, it’s the right amount. The noodles will be served soon," the boss received the money and directly put it in his pocket without even counting before he went to cook the noodles.
The scene happened to be captured by Yuan Zhou. Such a cheap trick was apparently for cheating small boys. 4.5 RMB for a bowl of Beef Noodle Soup including the labor cost? With the current level of consumption, the tactic of low profits and quick returns was merely a wonderful dream. If the boss really offered discounts like that, he would probably lose money for every bowl of the noodles.
However, the small boy purely believed in his words. With a relieved smile on his face, he carefully climbed onto the chair and talked with his father. The boss, nevertheless, revealed a smile and appeared not to be thinking of anything else.
"Dad, the noodles here are on sale today. You can eat some more in a moment," the small boy looked up at his father happily.
"Humm. You also eat some more," the father stretched out his hand slowly and stroked the young boy’s bowl cut and then nodded with a smile.
The boy didn’t mind at all that his bowl cut was messed up by the patting. Instead, he just smiled happily.
While the father and son chatted for a moment like that, the noodles were done. With his sharp eyes, Yuan Zhou easily saw two bowls of Clear Broth Noodle Soup, which had even more noodles than his and, likewise, with 4 pieces of beef in each bowl. It seemed every piece of beef was st.u.r.dy.
"Hi, here are the noodles for you two," the boss set down the tray and carried the two bowls to each of them.
"Thank you, Boss," the boy said courteously.
"You are welcome. Go ahead and eat," the boss pointed at the noodle and said.
"Humm," the young boy nodded the head and then turned the head, looking at his father and said, "The noodles are here. Dad, let’s eat it now."
"I don’t like eating beef. You eat them," the father picked up the pieces of the beef slowly and put them at one side of the bowl.
…