Tongshi Town belongs to Jianzhou City and is located not far from neighboring provinces. The terrain is mainly hilly and mountainous, especially to the north of Tongshi Town, there are large areas of sparsely populated mountainous areas, which is one of the main reasons Xiang Kun chose this place.
The journey back to Citong City from here takes a little over four hours, which is within an acceptable range. If anything happens at home, he can return promptly to take care of it.
His parents, due to work, are unlikely to visit him often, as the round trip takes nearly ten hours. They can only come on holidays, reducing the chances of being "surprise-dropped."
Following the address he had received on WeChat, Xiang Kun used his phone's map app to navigate directly to a newly built commercial street in the town.
It was nearly noon, but the flow of people on the commercial street was very limited. Apart from the two fast food restaurants starting with M and K, there were very few customers in the surrounding restaurants. It was clear that this place had not yet been accepted by the town's residents and had not become lively.
He asked a friend he'd known since elementary school, named You Meng, to help him find a site for his farm. When they were deskmates in elementary school, the two of them spent all their time figuring out how to beat arcade games with a single coin, the combo techniques for King of Fighters '97, how to make their own fishing hooks, where to watch the latest Doraemon long-running series, and the tricks to winning prizes at the school store. They were inseparable friends driven by shared interests...
Xiang Kun walked into a restaurant called "Youlong Restaurant". Like most restaurants on this street, although it was lunchtime, there was only one customer eating inside, making it seem quite deserted.
A waitress saw Xiang Kun and immediately came over, asking somewhat timidly, "Sir, how many of you are dining?"
"Is your boss in?" Xiang Kun asked.
A moment later, You Meng, who had been called out from the back kitchen by the waiter, was somewhat surprised to see Xiang Kun: "Hello?"
Even his mother didn't recognize him. Xiang Kun was quite used to this reaction from his old friend, and said with a smile, "Fatty, it's me, Xiang Kun."
You Meng's nickname in elementary school was "Fatty," but he's not fat at all now. Although his name contains the character "Meng" (meaning fierce) and he owns a restaurant and is the head chef, he's actually tall, thin, and refined, more like a teacher than a cook.
Upon hearing his nickname and recognizing the familiar voice, and knowing that Xiang Kun had contacted him via WeChat on the way, You Meng quickly recognized the bald, muscular man with glasses in front of him.
"Wow, did you run out of programming and end up doing manual labor? From the IT world to the engineering world... or even the religious world? You've gotten so muscular... and shaved your head, the change is too much, you've ruthlessly abandoned your chubby tech geek persona."
As soon as You Meng recognized Xiang Kun, he immediately started to complain without thinking.
"Isn't this just a prelude to returning to be a farmer?" Xiang Kun said with a smile, then nodded and greeted a short-haired woman who came over from the cashier not far away after hearing his voice. He had returned a few years ago to attend You Meng's wedding and knew that this was You Meng's wife. Her name contained the character "Long," which was why their restaurant was called "You Long." He had even joked on WeChat before that since he used his wife's name, he should also use his first name instead of his surname. How about calling it "Meng Long Restaurant"? It would be so majestic and powerful!
"You haven't eaten yet, have you? Go sit down first, I'll just get you something to eat together."
Xiang Kun pulled You Meng, who was about to turn back to the kitchen, and said with a smile, "I was hungry on the way, but I've already eaten. You can make something for yourself."
"Alright, then I'll prepare a few side dishes." You Meng didn't stand on ceremony with him.
Since there was only one customer in the restaurant, all the dishes had already been served, and there was nothing to do in the kitchen, You Meng and Xiang Kun went to a corner table to sit and chat.
"Business seems a bit slow at your shop?" Xiang Kun said bluntly.
You Meng sighed and shook his head, saying, "It's more than just deserted; it's become unsustainable. Business is bad, the rent is too high, and we're planning to close down next month."
Xiang Kun knew that after graduating from high school, You Meng did not go to university but helped out at the small restaurant his family owned. After the commercial street was built here, he opened his own shop with his wife's support.
When it comes to cooking skills, You Meng is definitely not bad; otherwise, he wouldn't have the confidence to invest so much and open a restaurant as the head chef himself.
When he first entered the store, he had already subconsciously gathered all sorts of information. From the smell of the two dishes that the only customer was eating, the customer's physical reactions while eating, the types and prices of dishes on the menu, and the cleanliness of the store, he had already made a basic judgment.
"Are you really planning to open a breeding farm?" You Meng asked again, "Why not find a place near Citong City? Or open it in your hometown? The transportation and economic situation there are better, and the market would be bigger, right?"
"I'm tired of living in big cities, so I came here to escape to some peace and quiet," Xiang Kun said.
You Meng nodded. "However, the place I asked about for you, my wife heard from someone today that it's not as simple as I said before, that it was shut down because it didn't make money. Apparently, it couldn't get the environmental impact assessment permits, so it was forcibly shut down. If that's the case, then if you take over that place and want to continue running a farm, it will be quite troublesome. The investment in supporting pollution prevention and control facilities is a bottomless pit."
Since Xiang Kun included "cheap" as a condition for choosing a venue, he naturally didn't have much money to invest in it.
Xiang Kun was taken aback. "Is that so?"
You Meng sighed, "You're probably going to make a wasted trip this time. Just consider it a visit to an old friend in Copperstone."
"It's alright, let's go take a look first, maybe we'll find a solution." Xiang Kun said nonchalantly. He wasn't in a hurry, and if things didn't work out around Tongshi Town, they could just find another place. His requirements weren't high.
You Meng nodded, got up, went to the cashier to get the car keys from his wife, and was about to leave.
"Wait a minute, it's lunchtime right now. What if more guests come?" Xiang Kun said.
"It's alright, my nephew is in the kitchen watching over things. He can cook most of the dishes on the menu. If he doesn't know how to make a dish, he can just tell the customers that it's unavailable. Anyway, we're closing down the restaurant soon," You Meng said nonchalantly.
Xiang Kun said, "No rush, let's go check your kitchen."
You Meng assumed Xiang Kun wanted to tour his shop, so he led him to the kitchen as instructed, saying, "There are three private rooms upstairs. Damn it, we were so optimistic back then, thinking that everyone's income had increased and the new commercial street here was so upscale, we should also go for a higher-end route with higher profits, so we invested a lot in the renovation. Sigh... my wife is really unlucky, her dowry is all gone."
Upon arriving in the kitchen, Xiang Kun saw You Meng's nephew, a chubby young man in his early twenties who appeared somewhat shy. After You Meng's introduction, he greeted him as "Brother Xiang."
"Let's go, there's nothing much to see in the kitchen. I'll show you the private rooms upstairs. I put a lot of thought and effort into decorating them; I've used up all my artistic talent," You Meng said, preparing to leave the kitchen.
Xiang Kun stopped him. "Do you have any rabbit meat?"
You Meng said, "Rabbit meat? No, what, you want to eat rabbit meat? That stuff isn't popular around here. Uh, I have some bamboo rat meat, do you want to try some? Damn it, there's this group called 'Farmer Brothers' online that specializes in bamboo rats, they're super popular these past two years, and now there are so many more people raising bamboo rats, but the price has actually gone up, 75 yuan a pound, damn it!"
His nephew behind him muttered quietly, "It's the Hua Nong Brothers..."
Xiang Kun said, "Bamboo rat meat will do too. Here, let me marinate it first, and I'll show you my skills when I get back tonight."
You Meng asked in surprise, "You can cook too?" He knew his friend's personality; he wouldn't make such a request in front of him, the head chef of a restaurant, unless he was truly skilled at it.
"I have a little insight. You don't have any other plans for this bamboo rat meat, do you?"
"No, no, do whatever you want."
After Xiang Kun finished marinating the bamboo rat meat and had his nephew You put it in the refrigerator, the two left the restaurant and took You Meng's minivan to Chongyun Village, which was more than 20 kilometers away from the town.
Jianzhou City truly lives up to its reputation of being eight parts mountains, one part water, and one part farmland; everywhere you look, there are mountains, and the roads are naturally winding and rugged.
The last seven or eight kilometers were entirely unpaved, making them extremely difficult to traverse.
Fortunately, You Meng was an experienced driver who frequently traveled this road and knew exactly which pitfalls to avoid. Even so, the undercarriage of his minivan was still frequently scraped, and the creaking and scraping sounds made Xiang Kun's eyebrows twitch. However, You Meng didn't care at all, saying that this vehicle had been through countless battles and was born for bad roads, making it a reliable old partner.
"When you first said you wanted to come back and open a farm, I thought you were just joking. I didn't expect you to be serious. What were you thinking? With your abilities, you shouldn't be unable to survive in a big city, right?" You Meng asked curiously as he drove.
"I'm just too tired in the big city, so I wanted to move to the mountains to relax. Look at my head, I've been using my brain too much, I'm bald." Xiang Kun said self-deprecatingly.
"You shouldn't open a farm; it's not an easy job," You Meng his head.
"Let's not talk about me for now, let's talk about you. I don't think your restaurant is entirely without potential." Xiang Kun changed the subject.
"What's the point? You should have seen it when you came here. The whole commercial street is practically dead. It's because the developer didn't plan well and wasn't supportive enough. It's not something that one shop or a few people can change."
"Actually, your food is definitely not the problem. The main thing is promotion. Nowadays, with such convenient transportation, if your restaurant becomes popular, whether the street has a lot of foot traffic or not doesn't really matter."
"How could there be no advertising? When we first opened, I even used connections to rent a billboard outside the highway exit for ten days to display ads. I also asked friends to run a 20% discount promotion on WeChat Moments, and posted on local forums... Sigh, it's all useless. Now, the most popular orders are from food delivery platforms, but the profit margin is too low. My rent is too high, I can't afford it. So I've decided that once I close this shop, I'll focus solely on delivery." You Meng was also full of grievances.
Xiang Kun shook his head. "That's not how propaganda is done these days."
Thank you to readers Yi Yu Si?_?, Zai Xia Gou Zi, Feng Shui Yin, Lu Tong Shu, Chi Rou Cai Shen, Bing Hong Cha Gang Hao, and Li Ming for their generous donations.