Revenue

As soon as they opened, Qiu Chen and the others came to help. Seeing that there were no customers in the restaurant, the four of them played actors again, pretending to be customers seated in the most conspicuous spots.

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

These four would have been wasting their talent if they did not study acting.

The first customer was the girl who had drunk the vegetable juice at noon. She came alone, with no sign of her boyfriend.

"Nine-Turn Large Intestine!" The girl sat in her usual window seat from noon. "Do you still give out Sour Plum Drink at night?"

"There's no Sour Plum Drink at night. We give out a small bowl of congee instead. You can choose between Preserved Egg and Lean Pork Congee and Black Rice Congee," Jiang Feng said.

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

Liu Zixuan, who had overheard their conversation, could not help glancing sideways. The girl looked quite slim, but she sure could eat!

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

Liu Zixuan nodded.

The girl was clearly quite talkative and struck up a conversation on her own. "This place is delicious, but it's just too expensive."

"It's not expensive, not expensive at all!" Liu Zixuan hurriedly vouched for Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant. "This restaurant belongs to our president's family. They bought the place, and our president's family borrowed a huge sum of money to open it!"

"It belongs to your president's family? What club are you in?" the girl asked curiously.

"Chess Club." Liu Zixuan's eyes lit up. "Would you like to join our Chess Club? We recruit students from every year. Club members get... get..."

"Ten percent off." Jiang Feng came out carrying the Black Rice Congee. "All club members get ten percent off."

Including Jiang Feng, the Chess Club only had eight people. Last year, they had only managed to trick one newbie into joining: Liu Zixuan. The club had no regular activities. At most, they occasionally got together for a meal, with a few lousy chess players gathering to play a game or two. They had never placed in any competition either. It was a thoroughly deadbeat club.

If they could not trick any new members into joining this year, the Chess Club would be finished.

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

"Can you play Chinese chess?" Jiang Feng could not exactly recruit members who could not play chess.

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

"Welcome to the Chess Club, junior. I'm the president, Jiang Feng," Jiang Feng said warmly.

"I'm Vice President Qiu Chen." Seeing that they had actually tricked a new member into joining, Qiu Chen hurried over to greet her.

"I'm Liu Zixuan."

"Zhao Yang."

"Zhao Yu."

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

"Right, right." Zhao Yu hurriedly pulled out a stack of club application forms from his bag. He had even brought pens.

Liu Qian: ...

What kind of club had members who carried club application forms around 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 did not usually drink congee. She had only chosen Black Rice Congee because she had a sweet tooth, and she did not know much about congee either. She simply thought that the bowl looked delicious and pretty, with every grain of rice thick and glossy. It smelled sweet and fragrant too.

The first mouthful was smooth, at just the right temperature. The black rice was thick yet still springy, the oats were pleasantly chewy, and it was sweet enough without being cloying.

"President!" Liu Qian finished the small bowl of congee in just a few mouthfuls. "How much is the Black Rice Congee if I order it separately?"

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

"One bowl—no, two bowls!"

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

"Yes!"

The four people at the neighboring table all looked at Liu Qian.

Liu Zixuan cleverly stepped forward to collect the bowl, taking the opportunity to sneak into the kitchen and steal a couple of sips of congee.

Around five thirty, customers began entering one after another. The congee giveaway seemed like a better deal than the Sour Plum Drink, attracting quite a few new customers. People like Liu Qian, who had eaten there at noon and returned at night, were only a minority. After all, the prices were what they were. If someone ate there every day for a month, their food expenses would at least triple.

As the restaurant filled with customers, Qiu Chen and the others stopped playing actors and began helping out, shuttling back and forth between the kitchen and dining area in a flurry of activity.

Business was better at night than it had been at noon. The first floor was completely full, so customers were directed to the large round table upstairs. They did not close until nine that night.

"Everyone worked hard. Come on, eat more." Jiang Jiankang greeted them warmly. "Thank you all so much. It's our restaurant's first day open, and we hadn't prepared anything properly or hired enough people. We've caused you so much trouble."

"It's no trouble at all, Uncle. If you need us, we can come every day!" Qiu Chen said, his mouth stuffed with ribs as he ate with great relish.

Jiang Jiankang had never been one to shortchange himself. The dishes he cooked for customers might have problems like uneven seasoning or improper Heat Control, but the dishes he cooked for himself were always his finest work.

The professors had divided up a pork knuckle at noon. Jiang Jiankang put even more care into this one at night, slowly simmering it over low heat for who knew how long. Every part of the pork knuckle had absorbed the meat juices, and it was tender enough to fall apart.

The others ate so happily that they practically wanted to stay at the restaurant forever.

Right, they could stay at the restaurant.

Liu Zixuan was the quickest thinker. He asked, "Brother Feng, have you found any part-timers?"

"No." The recruitment notice had only been posted for half a day. How could they have found any part-timers already?

"What about the four of us? We can do odd jobs or deliveries. We don't need money, just two meals included! I'll run over as soon as class ends. I definitely won't miss mealtimes!" Having tasted Jiang Jiankang's true cooking, Liu Zixuan felt that making him go back to cafeteria food would simply be torture.

The other three nodded repeatedly.

"That works. Three meals included, as long as you're willing to come over in the morning." Jiang Feng agreed. "I'll find someone else for a steady long-term position. You all have a lot of classes."

The Physics Department was famous for having lots of classes.

"By the way, Hao, did you check the schedule? Whose class do we have tomorrow?" Jiang Feng asked.

"Let me see. Professor Li, who ate here at noon today. Signals and Systems. We have three classes tomorrow morning." Wang Hao looked at his phone. "Oh no, oh no. This Electromagnetics class is taught by Dean Zhang. I failed his class last year. I'm done for. I'm even more done for this year."

Wang Hao hurriedly took a bite of pork knuckle to comfort his wounded heart.

After dinner, Wang Hao and the other four returned to the dormitory first. Jiang Feng stayed behind to help Comrade Jiang Jiankang clean up the back kitchen, while Comrade Wang Xiulian calculated the day's revenue.

"Good heavens, at this rate of revenue, we'll be able to pay off Second Brother's debt this year." Wang Xiulian had studied accounting, and her calculator clicked rapidly.

"How much?" Jiang Jiankang asked curiously.

"Eleven thousand after costs." Wang Xiulian sighed. "Big cities really are different. Back in our little town, it would have taken several days to reach this kind of revenue!"

Jiang Feng, who had never known his family's restaurant could make this much money: ...

Old Master Jiang Weiguo had been right after all. Studying physics was not as good as learning to cook.