Chapter 10 – The Sauce Situation
Li Ming was halfway through his morning coffee when Manager Zhao burst into his office like the building was on fire.
"Boss, the tomato sauce delivery didn't arrive."
Li Ming blinked. "So? We have other sauces."
"Not for the pasta. And tonight is Friday—reservations are full."
He set his cup down slowly. "And why didn't it arrive?"
"The supplier… went bankrupt."
Li Ming almost smiled. Bankruptcy was a language he understood. "How bankrupt?"
"They sold the last of their stock to another restaurant in the next city. We're dry."
That evening, Li Ming found himself in the restaurant's cramped kitchen, sleeves rolled up, staring at crates of overripe tomatoes he'd just bought from a farmer who was so shocked by the price offered that he almost cried.
"Boss," said Chef Huang, looking nervous, "you… actually want to make sauce yourself?"
"No," Li Ming replied, dumping the tomatoes into a huge pot, "I want you to make it. I'll just stand here and make sure it costs us a fortune."
By midnight, they had twenty barrels of rich, tangy sauce—more than the restaurant could use in a month.
"Boss, we made too much," Zhao pointed out.
"Then sell it," Li Ming said without looking up from the ledger. "Sell it cheap. Sell it at a loss if you have to."
By Monday, a small bakery down the street was using his sauce for their pizzas. By Wednesday, three more restaurants had signed up.
"Boss, if we keep supplying them, we'll need a refrigerated truck," Zhao warned.
"Fine," Li Ming said. "Buy one. Make sure it's the expensive kind."
Two weeks later, the "temporary" sauce kitchen had become a permanent fixture, the refrigerated truck was making daily rounds, and somehow, the restaurant's name was showing up on menus all over the province—supplied by Ming's Fine Foods.
Li Ming stared at the monthly accounts in disbelief. The sauce operation was… in profit.
"This wasn't supposed to happen," he muttered.
Manager Zhao coughed. "Well, boss, with the cold storage and trucks you bought, we can handle more products now. Maybe… bread next?"
Li Ming rubbed his temples.
He'd just wanted to keep the pasta plates full. Instead, he'd laid the first brick of what, in a few years, would become a full-blown supply chain.
And, worst of all… people thought he'd done it on purpose.