Zhou Yan soaked an extra three jin of dried bamboo shoots tonight, preparing for tomorrow's braised vegetarian dishes.
The popularity of braised vegetarian dishes has indeed increased the restaurant's revenue.
Today, vegetarian dishes alone sold for 28 yuan, with a low profit margin but high sales volume.
Most importantly, the customer base for braised vegetarian dishes differs from that for braised meat. While sales of braised meat have declined, the decline is not significant.
For those who enjoy drinking, braised pig's head meat is still the best choice.
Potatoes and lotus root are very popular; tomorrow, the supply will be doubled. Kelp is also selling well; seafood is indeed a reliable choice, and everyone still recognizes its value.
Zhou Yan didn't dare to add dried bean curd sticks casually, as he knew it was particularly troublesome to make.
His aunt's health isn't very good right now, and Laifu has to make tofu, dried tofu, and dried bean curd sticks all by himself, so production likely can't keep up.
Anyway, starting tomorrow, he'll buy as much as they can make.
Braised vegetarian dishes are selling at full capacity!
So, what's wrong with 40 cents a jin?
Selling 100 jin will still earn 40 yuan!
Zhou Yan took out paper and pen and made a plan in advance for the vegetables he needed to buy tomorrow, calculating and writing down all the quantities he needed so that he wouldn't be confused in the morning.
He had already contacted the two uncles selling potatoes and lotus roots to have them delivered to his restaurant tomorrow morning; he ordered 40 jin of lotus root and 100 jin of potatoes.
For a big customer like him, door to door delivery is standard procedure.
If they were selling to individual customers, they might not sell that much in a whole morning.
And Brother Jie has now become his second large customer; tomorrow he plans to buy five jin of pig's head meat to test the waters.
The flow of people at the dock is indeed quite good, with merchants coming and going, as well as residents from the town going to the market, all of whom have a certain amount of spending power.
Brother Jie and his team have already built up a reputation for Cross-legged Beef. They can sell eighty bowls of Cross-legged Beef a day for sixty cents a bowl, which is only forty bowls less than his restaurant.
When it comes to selling soup pot, Brother Jie is indeed the authority.
Today's revenue was 602.4 yuan, and the profit reached 365.2 yuan, both setting new records.
Zhou Yan counted the money twice, beaming with joy.
The feeling of making money is so reassuring!
Besides braised vegetables, the revenue boost from braised beef was also very strong.
Feiyan Restaurant ordered 20 jin of braised beef for tomorrow, which alone will bring in 60 yuan in revenue.
Thanks to the drop in meat prices, the profit margin has risen accordingly.
So far, it seems that customers are not particularly sensitive to this, at least not in terms of revenue.
The money was tied with a rubber band and put into the box. This money was all saved up to buy the house from Duan Yuyan.
Zhou Yan was a little uneasy, wondering if Old Mrs. Qiu had given her any definite answer. There had been no news for the past two days.
The Duan family wasn't short of money, and neither was Old Mrs. Qiu.
Even if the Qiu family's old house remained empty, it wouldn't affect her at all; keeping it would only serve as a memento.
As long as it was rented out and there was life around it, the old house wouldn't easily collapse.
After all, it was a large family's house with blue tiles, unlike the rammed earth houses in their countryside that were prone to collapse.
Duan Yuyan made him a promise; now it remains to be seen whether she can persuade Old Mrs. Qiu.
Lying on the bed, Zhou Yan pulled up the taskbar and glanced at it.
[Side Quest: Zhao Shulan's Trouble! Progress 16%]
[Side Quest: Master's Obsession! Progress 88%]
[Side Quest: The Battle to Protect the Heritage of Xiba Tofu! Progress: 38%]
"Hmm?"
Zhou Yan's eyes widened slightly as the progress bars for the other two side quests appeared.
Zhao Shulan's trouble was that Huang Ying had lost 60 jin. If the progress was 16%, it meant she had already lost... 9.6 jin!
Zhou Yan raised an eyebrow. This girl was impressive; she'd lost 9.6 jin in a week!
Having seen her eat three meals a day so frequently, Zhou Yan hadn't really noticed the difference.
However, weight loss is usually quite fast at the beginning of a diet. Losing sixty jin requires willpower.
Back in college, the chubby guy who slept in the bunk below him in his dorm weighed 200 jin and started a determined weight loss program. He lost 30 jin in the first month and instantly became a campus celebrity.
But after spending two months in his hometown in Shanxi during summer vacation, he came back weighing 250 jin.
This left Zhou Yan, who was just there to make up the numbers, speechless. He had even managed to develop abs during the two months of summer vacation.
This guy broke his dorm bed on his first night back and even got himself stuck on the bed frame.
Who knows? Firefighters came to the dormitory in the middle of the night and rescued him with a cutting machine.
Fat Brother once again became a sensation in campus.
See? Some people can become famous overnight just because of their talent.
Unlike him, having a good face and a great physique isn't enough; he has to work so hard to become even slightly popular.
However, Zhou Yan thinks Huang Ying has good willpower and seems more reliable than her brother.
Zhou Yan didn't care too much about this task; he'd just leave it hanging, figuring it might be a lifelong project he'd never complete.
The most advanced progress is currently his Master's obsession, which is to make a perfect dish of spicy stir-fried pork liver.
Master Xiao hasn't come to the restaurant to learn for several days; he's been too lazy.
He'll find some time tomorrow to check on the situation.
This won't do.
Strict teachers produce outstanding students.
He's still waiting for his Master to give him a big reward.
The progress bar for the Tofu Defense Battle has increased by another 8 points, which is a bit unexpected.
Is this a source of happiness for them, made from dried bean curd sticks and dried tofu?
Zhou Yan wasn't entirely clear on the situation, but he felt it was all good.
The progress bar seemed to reflect Grandma Sun's changing state of mind; its increase indicated her growing confidence that Laifu could survive by making tofu.
Zhou Yan picked up a book from the head of the bed, "How the Steel Was Tempered" which Grandpa Wang had brought him the day before yesterday.
"Pavel's wages increased from eight rubles to ten rubles. In the past two years, he has grown taller and stronger..."
The book closed, the lamp went out, and Zhou Yan peacefully drifted off to sleep.
...
The next day, Zhou Yan delivered five jin of pig's head meat, along with fourteen other separately packaged portions of pig's head meat, to the dock.
"What are these?" Zhou Jie looked at the dozen or so oil paper packages and asked Zhou Yan in confusion.
Zhou Yan explained with a smile, "It's sliced pig's head meat. The brothers who came yesterday gave each family a package. I'll have to trouble Brother Jie to make the trip. Yesterday was so short, I can't even recognize all the houses anymore."
"Aiya, we're all brothers, let's not talk about these things. Your package weighs a jin, we don't need so much! If you give us so much, you'll have worked for nothing for days." Zhou Jie shook his head repeatedly.
"I braised it myself, why are you calculating the bill like this? It won't take a whole day." Zhou Yan smiled and held Zhou Jie back, preventing him from putting the braised pig's head meat into his basket. He said seriously, "We're family, let's not talk about money, just let everyone have some braised pig's head meat to try. I can't let you repay this favor.
This isn't just about a few jin of pig's head meat. With anyone else, even a lot of pig's head meat wouldn't be enough to call a dozen or so of brothers to help out."
"This…" Zhou Jie hesitated.
Huang Caiyun, the sister in law standing to the side, couldn't help but say, "If he tells you to accept it, then accept it. When you deliver the meat, make it clear to them that it was sent by Zhou Yan. This is to repay the favor. Next time Zhou Yan needs anything, they'll come as soon as he calls. What are you dawdling about?"
Zhou Jie immediately withdrew his hand and nodded, "Okay, I'll deliver it to them later."
Zhou Yan smiled and added, "Two packs are for you and Brother Haizi, okay? Let me tell you how to cut this braised pig's head meat so you can sell it better."
"Okay, I brought a new cutting board today, specifically for cutting braised meat, so the flavors won't mix." Zhou Jie took out a new cutting board.
"Professional." Zhou Yan smiled.
Zhou Jie had been butchering cattle for ten years. His knife skills weren't as good as Zhou Miao's, but they were certainly not bad.
Zhou Yan only needed to teach him the standard thickness for slicing. He sliced three pieces, all evenly thick, basically meeting the standard.
"Alright, just use this standard." Zhou Yan nodded.
Zhou Yan suggested that Zhou Jie only sell pig's head meat, firstly because pig's ears and snouts were prioritized for restaurants, and secondly because pig's ears required more skill with the knife and would take more time.
In any case, Zhou Jie's main product was cross-legged beef; braised meat was only a side dish.
After chatting for a while, Zhou Yan hurried back to the restaurant.
The chopped vegetables were eagerly awaiting braising; today's quantity was unusually large.
Forty jin each of potatoes and lotus root, two jin of dried bean curd sticks soaked, that was all they had at home and six jin of kelp soaked.
This morning he went to Laifu's tofu stall and got three jin of dried tofu, which he braised today.
Six jin of dried bean curd sticks were delivered, but they couldn't be soaked and used today; they'd have to wait until tomorrow.
Zhou Yan told Laifu that he would take as much of the dried bean curd sticks as they could make, since they keep well anyway.
He wants five jin of dried tofu starting tomorrow, and he'll add more if it sells well.
Laifu's eyes cleared upon hearing this.
Three jin of dried bamboo shoots, after soaking, would weigh fifteen jin.
This exaggerated water absorption shocked Zhou Yan.
At fifty cents a jin, the dried bamboo shoots would only cost ten cents a jin after soaking.
Zhou Yan thought for a moment and decided to price the braised bamboo shoots at 60 cents per jin, placing them in the same price range as the braised dried tofu.
However, Zhou Yan scooped a soaked bamboo shoot from the bucket; it was a thin bamboo shoot tip he had specifically picked out yesterday.
These dried bamboo shoots were bought to braise with beef, so they're a little tough.
Generally, tender bamboo shoot tips are used for braising dried bamboo shoots, resulting in a product that is both visually appealing and sufficiently crisp.
After finishing his braising today, he will check the finished product and customer feedback. If it sells well, he will go and find better quality dried bamboo shoots suitable for braising.
In his memory, the bamboo shoots of Ebian in Jiazhou were quite famous. He wondered if they were sold in Suji. If not, he might have to make a trip to Jiazhou to check.
Today, the amount of braising liquid for vegetables has increased significantly. The fire is already lit, and Zhou Yan is putting various vegetables into the pot and taking them out one after another.
Round after round of vegetables are being taken out, the heat is carefully controlled; he dares not be distracted for even a moment.
Last is the dried bamboo shoot, which is simmering in the braising pot over low heat for at least an hour to become tender.
Zhou Yan picked up a pair of chopsticks and chose a piece of braised dried tofu, about ten centimeters square and one centimeter thick. The semi-finished product was a pale yellow from baking; after braising, it was a bright red, oily, and glossy color, much more vibrant than the braised dried tofu his aunt had made the day before yesterday.
He placed it on the cutting board and sliced it into pieces about the thickness of a copper coin.
The cut is smooth, and the color of the brine seeps from the outside to the center, gradually fading in color.
[A Perfect Piece of Dried Tofu]
Zhou Yan picked up a piece of dried tofu and put it in his mouth. The slightly dried outer layer, having absorbed the braising liquid, softened, while the tofu inside remained tender and smooth with a slight chewiness, somewhat like dried egg.
The braising aroma wasn't just on the surface; it had permeated the dried tofu, making it incredibly flavorful and aromatic.
The dried tofu itself was of such high quality!
It saved him a lot of trouble.
Zhou Yan nodded repeatedly after finishing it; he was extremely satisfied with this braised dried tofu.
No wonder she was the old lady's long-term strategic partner and core supply chain partner.
"Master Xiao, Master Zheng, you're here."
"Zhou Yan?"
"He's in the kitchen, you can just go in."
At that moment, Aunt Zhao's voice came from outside.