69novels Chapter 89 Rivals in the Same Industry
Chapter 89 Rivals in the Same Industry
Chapter 89 Rivals in the Same Industry
As the weather gets colder, Li Baoqing is even more reluctant to get up and go to school in the morning. Every day, he asks Zhou Dali to come up with all sorts of ways to lie and ask for leave, while he sleeps until he naturally wakes up. After getting up, he starts to summarize the experience and lessons learned from cooking yesterday, and also thinks about the side dishes for the day.
He had to go to the dormitory to work in the evenings, so he would usually attend his afternoon classes as well. But even while sitting in class, his mind was full of thoughts about how to improve the taste of the food. He had clearly made this fast food business his main job and completely forgotten his student identity.
With such a lack of focus on his studies, it was impossible to achieve good grades. Although the journalism program at Yuda University had relatively lenient requirements in various aspects, it couldn't tolerate a student like him who repeatedly missed classes right after entering his freshman year. Li Baoqing failed half of his subjects in the final exams, and barely passed the other half with a score of 3 thanks to the teacher's leniency.
"You need to be careful." On the first day of winter break, Hu Yi earnestly warned him in his dormitory at noon: "Even if you don't understand the lessons in class, you should at least sit in the classroom and get to know the teachers. Otherwise, how will you pass the exams? If you fail so many subjects next semester, you'll be in trouble."
Li Baoqing looked unconcerned: "It's nothing, at worst I'll just have to retake the exam."
Are you confident you can pass the retake? You'd better prepare seriously.
"What's there to prepare? No problem!" Li Baoqing said impatiently, "Haven't you heard them say that if all else fails, just give the teacher some rubles, and they'll basically give you a passing grade."
Hu Yi clicked his tongue slightly but didn't say anything. Li Baoqing laughed heartily, "Don't worry about me, let's figure out what to do next!"
"What? What should we do?"
"Many students have gone back to their home countries for the Lunar New Year, and there are fewer people in the dorms, which is affecting our business!" Li Baoqing said sullenly, picking up a cigarette and lighting it. "I think we could change our boxed lunches to be available for both lunch and dinner during the winter break. What do you think? Anyway, the Koreans are going home for the holidays, so we don't have to worry about affecting them."
The topic changed a bit too quickly. Hu Yi paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "I think that should be fine. I'm a little hungry, let's eat and discuss it."
"Okay, what do you want to eat? I'll make it."
"Save your energy. I'm getting tired of your cooking every day." Hu Yi sniffed hard. "Old Fang seems to have steamed some buns this morning. Go buy some and let's change things up."
"Alright, let's have a few steamed buns to satisfy our cravings!" Li Baoqing walked unsteadily to the door of dormitory 902, his hands in his pockets. Just as he was about to go inside, he suddenly heard Fang Qing speaking in a Beijing accent with a Hebei accent: "—Oh my, I know those two kids very well. They only worked on the chopping board in the kitchen for a few days, and they dare to pretend to make fast food."
Li Baoqing paused, involuntarily stopping in his tracks. Then another voice rang out: "I've eaten there once, and it was pretty good—"
"Hey, come on! What's so good about it?" Fang Qing interrupted him rudely, raising her voice. "It's the same few dishes every day, isn't it? Stir-fried chicken, shredded potatoes, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, shredded pork with eggs, that kind of thing, what's so special about it? Maybe cook some eggplant, that's easy too, anyone can make that, and it's ridiculously expensive, why waste your money buying their stuff? Look at my steamed buns, they're delicious and cheap, much more economical than their boxed lunches!"
"Yes, yes," the other person echoed with a smile, "We just wanted to save ourselves the trouble."
"Oh, you just want to save time when eating? Fine, steamed buns are even easier. Today's are cabbage and pork filling, they smell delicious, want a few?"
This was clearly a dig at him and Hu Yi. Li Baoqing felt a surge of anger and was about to rush in and argue with Fang Qing.
But after taking only one step, he abandoned the idea, turned back, and repeated what he had heard to Hu Yi. He concluded by angrily cursing, "Damn it! I never expected Old Fang to talk bad about us behind our backs! That old bastard—on the surface—"
"He's not exactly friendly to us on the surface either. I expected this; we all run fast food restaurants on the same floor, so this kind of thing is bound to happen." Hu Yi smiled faintly. "It's alright, Old Fang isn't a bad person, just petty. People like him wear their hearts on their sleeves; they're easier to deal with than two-faced people. I'll talk to him when I have time."
Everyone worked in the same kitchen every day, seeing each other all the time. At first, Fang Qing didn't care much about Hu Yi and Li Baoqing's boxed lunches, thinking that these two young men were no match for her. She just smiled and watched them work from the side.
Later, their fast food business quickly took off. Some of their old customers who used to buy steamed buns and fried dough sticks now came to buy their boxed meals every few days, and sometimes they would even praise the taste of the boxed meals in front of Fang Qing.
Fang Qing found it grating and quickly changed his mind, believing that Hu Yi and his group had squeezed out his business. From then on, the smile on his face gradually disappeared. Occasionally, when he saw Li Baoqing cooking in the kitchen, he would make a sarcastic remark: "Hey~ what's this? Why is it all black? Can it even taste good?"
Li Baoqing was an honest and simple man, and he didn't mind Fang Qing's sarcastic remarks. He assumed that Fang Qing, having worked in a high-end hotel, must have some knowledge, so he always politely and sincerely asked him for advice. However, Fang Qing was just a pastry chef and not good at cooking, so he couldn't give any meaningful answers and could only give some random, perfunctory responses.
Hu Yi had already sensed the underlying hostility in Fang Qing's words and was mentally prepared for his change in attitude. He lowered his head and pondered for a while, then looked at Li Baoqing thoughtfully: "However, Old Fang is right about one thing: our dishes do lack variety. For three months, it's been the same dozen or so dishes over and over again. It's time to come up with something new."
"Is it really necessary?" Li Baoqing seemed reluctant. "I think the dishes are fine as they are, and the feedback has been good. Why bother making changes?"
Hu Yi patiently advised, "Indeed, your cooking skills have improved a lot, especially your signature dishes. You're getting better and better at them. But you have to be prepared for the worst. Once people lose interest, they'll go back to buying the old house's steamed buns or other food. We need to find ways to keep innovating and keep our customers coming back, so that whenever they're hungry, they'll think of calling us first."
"You're quite the smooth talker, kid." Li Baoqing crossed his arms in annoyance. "But there's some truth to what you're saying. So, what dishes do you want to add?"
"Don't ask me, you're the head chef, adding dishes is your decision." Hu Yi looked at him leisurely: "This can be discussed in detail, let's post the name of the chef who will be providing lunch during winter break first."
Yu Feifei went back to China for the Chinese New Year. Before leaving, she lent her laptop and printer to Hu Yi. The two printed out more than a dozen copies of GG and posted them outside. Then they went to the market to buy some meat, eggs and vegetables, grabbed a quick bite at McDonald's next to the subway station, and after resting for a while, they started preparing dinner.
Fang Qing was steaming buns in the kitchen. Li Baoqing, still harboring resentment towards him, sulked and refused to look at him. Hu Yi, also silent, continued chopping vegetables, pondering how to negotiate with Fang Qing. It wasn't until after 8 PM, when he finished, that he peeked into the door of apartment 902: "Brother Fang, are there any more buns?"
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