Turnover

When the restaurant first opened, Qiu Chen and the others came to help. Seeing that there were no customers, the four of them acted as customers, sitting in the most conspicuous spots.

Jiang Feng, who had witnessed the entire process: ...

It would be a waste of talent if these four didn't go into acting.

The first customer was the young lady from noon who had finished her vegetable juice. She came alone, her boyfriend nowhere in sight.

"Nine-Turn Large Intestine!" The girl sat in her usual spot by the window. "Do you still give out Sour Plum Drink in the evenings?"

"We don't have Sour Plum Drink in the evenings anymore. We're giving out a small bowl of congee, with a choice between Preserved Egg and Lean Pork Congee and Black Rice Congee," Jiang Feng replied.

"Black Rice Congee, Black Rice Congee, and another bowl of white rice," the girl quickly said.

Liu Zixuan, overhearing their conversation, couldn't help but glance over. The girl looked quite slim, but she sure could eat a lot!

The girl also noticed Liu Zixuan and leaned over to ask, "Are you guys students from A University too?"

Liu Zixuan nodded.

The girl was clearly very talkative and initiated a conversation. "This place is delicious, but it's just too expensive."

"It's not expensive, not expensive!" Liu Zixuan quickly vouched for the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant. "This is the restaurant our club president's family owns. They bought the place and are in a lot of debt to open it!"

"Your club president's family? Classmate, what club are you in?" the girl asked curiously.

"The Chess Club." Liu Zixuan's eyes lit up. "Classmate, do you want to join our Chess Club? We recruit from all years. Members get a... a..."

"Ten percent discount," Jiang Feng said, bringing out the Black Rice Congee. "All club members get a ten percent discount."

Including Jiang Feng, the Chess Club only had 8 members. Last year, they only managed to recruit Liu Zixuan, a clueless freshman. The club had no regular activities; at most, they'd occasionally have a meal together, with a few bad players gathering to play chess. They had never won any competitions, truly a lazy club.

If they couldn't recruit any freshmen this year, the Chess Club would be finished.

"Senior, I'm Liu Qian from the Chinese Department. Can we add each other on WeChat? I'll fill out the form when your club recruitment starts in a couple of days!" Liu Qian said excitedly.

"Do you know how to play chess?" Jiang Feng couldn't just recruit members who didn't play chess.

"Yes, yes, I often play chess with my dad at home!" Liu Qian replied.

"Classmate, welcome to the Chess Club. I'm the club president, Jiang Feng," Jiang Feng said warmly.

"I'm the Vice President, Qiu Chen." Seeing that they had actually recruited a new member, Qiu Chen quickly came over to greet her.

"I'm Liu Zixuan."

"Zhao Yang."

"Zhao Yu."

"Zhao Yu, hurry up and get the club application form for junior Liu Qian to fill out!" Qiu Chen urged.

"Right, right." Zhao Yu quickly took out a stack of club application forms from his bag, even preparing pens.

Liu Qian: ...

What kind of club members would carry club application forms with them?

Under Qiu Chen's "supervision," Liu Qian finished filling out the club application form before turning her attention to the Black Rice Congee.

She didn't usually drink congee but chose the Black Rice Congee because she had a sweet tooth. She didn't know much about congee, but she thought this bowl looked delicious and beautiful. The rice grains were thick and sticky, and it smelled sweet and fragrant.

The moment it touched her tongue, it was smooth, the temperature just right. The black rice was thick yet retained its elasticity, the oats were chewy, and the sweetness was sufficient without being cloying.

"Club President!" Liu Qian finished the small bowl of congee in a few bites. "How much is the Black Rice Congee sold separately?"

"Ten yuan a bowl, comes with a side dish," Jiang Feng said.

"Give me a bowl, no, two bowls!"

"Do you still want rice?" Jiang Feng asked.

"Yes!"

The four people at the table next to them all looked at Liu Qian.

Liu Zixuan, quick-witted, stepped forward to collect the bowls and took the opportunity to sneak a couple of sips of congee from the kitchen.

Around 5:30 PM, customers started coming in one after another. The offer of free congee seemed to be more attractive than the Sour Plum Drink, and quite a few new customers were drawn in. Those like Liu Qian who ate lunch and returned in the evening were only a minority. After all, considering the price, if they ate here every day, their monthly food expenses would at least triple.

With more customers in the restaurant, Qiu Chen and the others stopped acting and started helping, shuttling back and forth between the kitchen and the dining hall, quite busy.

The evening business was better than at noon. The first floor was completely full, and customers were arranged at the large round tables on the second floor. They didn't close until 9 PM.

"You've all worked hard. Come, come, eat more," Jiang Jiankang called out. "Thank you so much. It's our first day opening, and we weren't prepared for anything and didn't hire good people. We had to trouble you all."

"No trouble, no trouble. Uncle, if you need us, we'll come every day!" Qiu Chen said, his mouth full of ribs, eating with great enjoyment.

Jiang Jiankang was never one to skimp on himself. While the dishes he cooked for customers might have issues with uneven saltiness or incorrect heat control, he felt that the dishes he cooked for himself were always his best efforts.

He had shared a pork knuckle with the professors at noon, and that evening, Jiang Jiankang put even more care into the knuckle. He had slow-cooked it over a low heat for who knows how long, allowing every part of the knuckle to absorb the meat juices. It was incredibly tender.

Eating it made the group wish they could just move into the restaurant.

Right, move into the restaurant.

Liu Zixuan, the quickest thinker, asked, "Brother Feng, have you hired any part-time staff yet?"

"No." The recruitment notice had only been posted for half a day, so how could they have hired anyone yet?

"What do you think of the four of us? We can be janitors, delivery guys, anything! We don't need money, just two meals a day! I'll run over right after class, so we won't miss meal times!" After tasting Jiang Jiankang's real cooking, Liu Zixuan felt that going back to eating cafeteria food would be torture.

The other three nodded in agreement.

"That works too. Three meals a day, as long as you're willing to come in the morning," Jiang Feng agreed. "I'll find someone else who's long-term and stable. You guys have a lot of classes."

The Physics Department's classes were notoriously numerous.

"Oh right, Haozi, did you check the schedule? Whose class is it tomorrow?" Jiang Feng asked.

"Let me see. Professor Li, who came for lunch today, is teaching Signals and Systems. There are three classes tomorrow morning," Wang Hao checked his phone. "Oh no, this Electromagnetism is taught by Dean Zhang. I failed his class last year, and now it's even worse this year."

Wang Hao quickly took a bite of pork knuckle to soothe his wounded heart.

After the meal, Wang Hao and the other four returned to the dorm. Jiang Feng stayed behind to help Comrade Jiang Jiankang clean up the kitchen, while Comrade Wang Xiulian tallied the day's earnings.

"Good heavens, with this kind of revenue, we'll be able to pay off Second Brother's debt this year," Wang Xiulian, who had an accounting background, tapped away at the calculator.

"How much?" Jiang Jiankang asked curiously.

"After deducting costs, it's 11,000," Wang Xiulian exclaimed. "This big city is really something else. Back in our small town, it would take several days to make this much revenue!"

Jiang Feng, who never knew his family's restaurant was this profitable: ...

Old Man Jiang Weiguo was indeed right; studying physics is not as good as studying cooking.