Chapter 113

Chapter 113

Xu Meng walked out of Han Jiming’s estate before realizing that earlier call had actually been from him—and in the end, he still hadn’t left his phone number.

She muttered to herself for a moment but quickly brushed it off, brushing off Han Lingling, who kept pestering her for answers, and hurried toward the hot pot place.

"See you next time."

"He said he’d call you next Sunday."

Only then did Xu Meng remember—she could have called him back.

Today was supposed to be the day she met with Zhang Mingqing. When she arrived at the hot pot place, the place was still packed—this time of year always brought in crowds of hot pot fans. Zhang Mingqing wasn’t in the main dining area downstairs. Recognizing Xu Meng, Wang Xia quickly led her to an office upstairs.

Zhang Mingqing was crunching numbers on a calculator when Xu Meng entered. She waved at her to take a seat.

"How’s it going?"

Zhang Mingqing’s face gave nothing away. She barely looked up as she replied, "We’ve only gotten it into two stores so far—too early to gauge sales. I asked you here today because I wanted to take you to check the market situation. I’ve finished up here, so let’s go."

She had just finished calculating the restaurant’s accounts—business had been excellent lately.

"But I expect sales to dip in the summer," Zhang Mingqing said. "Relying on just one hot pot restaurant isn’t enough."

Xu Meng had never brought this up before, but now that Zhang Mingqing had crunched the numbers, she realized that the restaurant had already hit its profit ceiling.

The two drove to the largest wholesale market in Jing City.

This time, Zhang Mingqing led the way, chatting as they walked.

They eventually stopped in front of a seasoning vendor’s stall. Zhang Mingqing scanned the display but didn’t spot any hot pot base on display—already a bad sign. When she put on a smile and asked the vendor, the owner replied impatiently, "Honestly, Boss Zhang, this product hasn’t moved at all. I wasn’t confident about it to begin with. I did put it up front for a few days, but it didn’t sell."

As he spoke, he dug out a packet of hot pot base from under the counter.

Zhang Mingqing wasn’t born yesterday—it was obvious the product hadn’t been promoted at all. Biting back her anger, she pressed, "So… how many did you sell in the past few days?"

The vendor wouldn’t even meet her eyes. "Not a single one. Just wasted my shelf space."

Which meant he likely hadn’t even tried to sell it. Zhang Mingqing saw red.

Just then, someone nearby noticed the hot pot base in their hands and asked curiously, "Is this the hot pot seasoning? How much per packet?"

The vendor’s face changed, and he gave Zhang Mingqing a strange look.

Fifteen minutes later, the two had pulled all the hot pot base from the stall and loaded it back into the car.

Zhang Mingqing took deep breaths, trying to calm herself, but the rage kept bubbling up.

It was clear who was behind this.

She had thought the matter was over—her restaurant was up and running, business was thriving. But the Li family was still targeting her, and that fighting spirit of hers wouldn’t quit.

The more others tried to stop her, the more determined she became.

Were they really going to keep dogging her like this?

Did they really not want her to succeed?

Looking at all that unsold seasoning, Xu Meng also felt a headache coming on. These products had expiration dates—if they didn’t sell, they’d be left holding the bag. The restaurant could use them, but they had already switched to freshly prepared broth. Going back to packaged base would be backsliding.

"What should we do now?" Xu Meng asked.

It didn't even need to be asked—the situation at the other store was likely the same.

Sure enough, when they visited another store, the result was similar. The shopkeeper, with a resigned tone, retrieved the goods from the cabinet and told Zhang Mingqing that they weren't selling well.

Without hesitation, Zhang Mingqing pulled the products from the store.

Both of them were frustrated, especially Xu Meng. Her 6,000 yuan investment came from her dividends at the hot pot restaurant over the past few months.

Zhang Mingqing was even more discouraged. Most of her customers were students who lived in dorms with limited living conditions. However, the residents around her restaurant were really into the hot pot base. Her shop could sell about a thousand or so packs of base per month, but this volume was nowhere near enough to clear stock. And in a few months, as temperatures rose, the base would become even harder to sell.

*What to do? What to do?* Zhang Mingqing kept asking herself the same question.

Xu Meng clenched her teeth. "Better than sitting on unsold stock, why not get people to sell it directly?"

Zhang Mingqing asked, "How?"

Xu Meng had once sold watermelons and maps outside the train station and knew just how crazy the crowds were there. Even if the hot pot base had failed in the condiment market, moving this stock wouldn’t be difficult.

"I want to find a group of people to sell it at the train station," Xu Meng said, getting more fired up as she spoke. "The cut we give these distributors is 30%, right? If I find people to sell it directly at retail, we won’t even need a 30% margin. With the huge flow of people at the train station, no way we won’t sell out."

Zhang Mingqing, too beaten down to hope by the setbacks, asked, "Is this really feasible?"

But Xu Meng was brimming with confidence. "What’s our edge?"

Zhang Mingqing replied, "Isn’t it just a hot pot place?"

Xu Meng shook her head. "Wrong. Ours is the hot pot restaurant right outside Peking University and Tsinghua University. The customers who eat here are students from the top schools in the country. Think about it—every Chinese person has heard of these schools."

In those days, just showing a student ID from these universities would score you a free meal elsewhere. That’s how strong their appeal was.

Business travelers, tourists—who wouldn’t want to bring something back from the capital? Something local?

"But what does that have to do with our hot pot restaurant?"

"It’s not about the hot pot itself, but our connection to Tsinghua and Peking University. Even though hot pot isn’t native to our region, out-of-towners don’t know that. Plus, this is the same hot pot that the smartest kids eat—bringing it back for their kids to try would be a great omen." Xu Meng pointed at the packaging. "The packaging’s still too bland. Next time, we should print something like—'The Same Hot Pot as the Top Scholars'—and include our address, right outside Tsinghua. That’s our selling point. Hurry and find an ad agency to print a giant promo banner. You handle that, and I’ll go find sellers."

"Can you find people?"

"I’ll try first."

Changchun Alley and the old locust tree area had many familiar faces, and lots of folks with time on their hands without steady jobs. After word spread that Xu Meng had made money selling watermelons, several people had approached her for advice. By then, watermelon season was over, and Xu Meng had moved on, so she openly shared her experience.

Later, a whole bunch jumped on the map-selling bandwagon—that was another story.

Most of those map sellers were old neighbors from the locust tree area.

For a long time, they had been active at the train station until colder weather made business slow down. Some had quit, but a few still sold maps, supposedly still making bank.

So the two split up. Zhang Mingqing hauled the goods back to the restaurant and then went to an ad agency to order new labels.

Xu Meng headed straight to the locust tree area to find Huzi’s mother.

Huzi’s mother wasn’t employed but kept busy helping at her son’s noodle shop. Now, even Huzi’s father worked there, meaning the small shop supported three people. For other restaurants, this wouldn’t be excessive, but Chen Hu’s place was tiny, with razor-thin margins. At one point, Chen Hu’s mother had even joined others in selling maps at the train station.

Later, when Feng Yanwen became a teacher, she took over some of her leftover inventory.

She kept doing it until more and more people started selling maps, and business really dried up. That's when Huzi's mom stopped doing it.

Now that business was slow, the three members of Chen Hu's family were killing time in the shop. When Xu Meng arrived, Chen Hu blushed, and he quickly invited her to sit down. "Want anything to eat?"

Huzi's mom also hurriedly poured her some tea.

Xu Meng had eaten a little at Han Jiming's place at noon, but after running around all afternoon, she was hungry again. Indeed, teenagers get hungry fast—she got hungry quickly. Glancing at the menu, she said, "I'll have a bowl of hand-pulled noodles. Is that all you serve here?"

She used to come here often for noodles. A small bowl of lamb broth noodles cost just eighty cents; they kept prices low for the regulars.

Chen Hu immediately went to the kitchen to prepare the noodles, while Huzi's mom sat outside and chatted with Xu Meng. "This shop is too small—it can't seat many people. We're not exactly go-getters either. Huzi only graduated from middle school. If he hadn’t been stuck for options, he wouldn’t have thought of starting this small business to make ends meet. Unlike you—you’re smart, got into university, and will land an office job in the future. Now that’s how you get ahead."

Only Huzi's dad in their family had a steady job, but his income wasn’t high either.

A few years ago, the unit leader wanted to make room for a relative, so they pushed Huzi's dad into early retirement.

For those who took early retirement like this, the unit only provided basic living allowances. The full pension wouldn’t come until official retirement at fifty-five. So, the Chen family, which had once been relatively well-off, suddenly took a nosedive.

Xu Meng still remembered how Chen Hu's family had been better off when she was little. Back then, his grandparents were still around, and with three paychecks coming in, the family could rely on the elders for support. But after his grandparents passed away, their income dropped sharply. Fortunately, thanks to both parents being workers and Huzi’s grandparents having only one son, they managed to keep a small storefront.

"Have you ever thought about selling something else?" Xu Meng asked.

Huzi's mom sighed. "Who wouldn’t want to? But in a small place like this, we rely on neighborhood customers. If things are too expensive, no one will buy them. If the food isn’t good, no one will eat it either. I originally wanted to sell breakfast, but we’re not good at making buns. After some trial and error, we stuck with noodles—it’s safer. At least the shop is ours, so we don’t have to pay rent. We barely make ends meet each month, but—"

What she didn’t say was that it would be hard to find a wife for Huzi.

Even this shop was just a tiny ten-square-meter space carved out of their living area.

With such a tiny shop and three people working in it, no wonder Huzi’s mom was stressed.

While they were talking, Chen Hu had already started pulling the noodles and dropped them into the pot.

In less than a minute, a bowl of noodles was placed in Xu Meng’s hands.

Xu Meng looked at the enormous bowl and had to laugh. "Huzi, I ordered a small bowl."

The small bowl was eighty cents, the large one a yuan. She had only given him eighty cents, right?

Chen Hu rubbed his hands together, unusually shy. "Get your fill."

Huzi's mom smiled. "That’s our Huzi. Since he’s given it to you, just eat. Did you come here for something today?"

Feng Yanwen still dropped by occasionally for a bowl of noodles to support their business, but Xu Meng rarely came anymore. Chen Hu had liked Xu Meng since childhood, but he knew he wasn’t smart enough for her, so he never let himself dream too big. Still, every time Xu Meng came for noodles, he made a little extra, afraid she wouldn’t have enough. Huzi's mom knew this but never pointed it out.

Plenty of boys liked this girl—Huzi wasn’t the only one. Could they all really marry Xu Meng?

She was a looker with more sense than most. It was rare for any boy in the neighborhood not to like Xu Meng.

With the whole Chen family staring at her, Xu Meng lowered her head, took a bite, and praised, "It’s really good—just like the old days."

Chen Hu lit up.

Xu Meng quickly added, "But next time, just give me a normal-sized bowl."

Huzi's mom said, "Did you hear that? If you keep this up, she’ll be too embarrassed to come back."

Chen Hu, nearly two meters tall, grinned like a shy kid and nodded in agreement.

Xu Meng was genuinely hungry this time. After eating a few mouthfuls, she finally came out with it to Huzi's mom. "There’s a business idea I’d like to discuss with you. You game to try?"