Chapter 25: Beautiful Girl Child Labor

  On Saturday morning, Wen He and Li Shengli met at the entrance of People's Park, then took bus 103 to get off at Dongcheng Bayi Road. Since that day, Wen He had defined the scope, and Li Shengli had been wandering around this area, familiar with every big and small alley. He took a shortcut and turned several corners to arrive in front of a store. The two-story street-front store was not too large, but looked clean and tidy. This place is close to many units' residential areas, and the location is slightly remote, but it's just on the corner of the street, with bus stops for routes 53, 77, and 88 nearby. Although it was early morning, a lot of people could be seen gathering from all directions.

  "Not bad," Wen Jie praised, not far away is the Dehua business district. After large-scale development next year, this piece will quickly become prosperous and bustling, but at this time, there are not many businessmen who recognize the business opportunities in it.

  "The landlord of this house is surnamed Zhang, and recently he wants to go south with friends to do business together, so he's in a hurry to rent out the house. The price shouldn't be too expensive." Li Shengli was very considerate of Wen Cang, since he knew that he only had that little bit of money, he naturally tried to save as much as possible. Wen Cang didn't tell him where the money came from, and after two years of hardship, Li Shengli had grown a lot as a person, only doing what he should do and not asking unnecessary questions.

  Nodding slightly, this place is not particularly ideal, but it's a good starting point. The investment in the breakfast shop is not large, as long as you pay attention to a few things: first, choose a location in a large residential area or a busy transportation hub; second, choose varieties that are convenient and quick; third, have good quality, low prices, clean environment, and attentive service. Generally speaking, it's hard to lose money.

  In 1995, Qingzhou was in a period of transformation between old and new lifestyles. People were increasingly focusing on living standards and quality, and breakfast, which had never been valued by the people of Qingzhou, began to gain attention under social propaganda. Many people could recite theories such as "eat well in the morning, eat enough at noon, and eat less at night". However, in contrast, except for roadside stalls with poor hygiene, there were few regular breakfast shops in Qingzhou, let alone branded or chain restaurants. Wenxiang was inspired by his mother's complaints about the inconvenience of buying breakfast during summer vacation, and thought of the huge market value of the breakfast industry. For Wenxiang, who had no money and no one to rely on, this was undoubtedly the best choice.

  Upon entering the store, they met with Old Zhang, and after a pleasant conversation, they quickly reached an agreement. Old Zhang had been posting rental ads for two months without any interested parties coming forward, so he was getting impatient. When Li Shengli suggested renting only the first floor for a year to start, and then renting the entire building after 2-3 months when his funds were available, Old Zhang agreed after some thought. They signed a one-year contract for 1500 yuan, and Old Zhang was extremely enthusiastic, patting his chest and saying that he had connections at the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, so they could expedite the procedures, etc. Li Shengli naturally thanked him profusely.

  After settling everything, Wen Ze smiled and said as they walked out: "Uncle Li, now that we have the storefront, whether or not we can make money depends on your skills. Remember my words, keep breakfast simple at first, just four dishes: soy milk, fried dough sticks, plus your signature scallion pancakes and egg cakes. You must win people over with flavor, so they'll be thinking about it long after they finish eating."

  Li Shengli said proudly: "Don't worry, my craftsmanship hasn't declined yet. Just doing these few things will definitely not go wrong."

  Wen Qian naturally trusted his craftsmanship, and in his previous life, he loved to go to his house to eat for free, especially the scallion pancakes and egg cakes were exceptional. As he grew older, Wen Qian often lamented that if Li Shengli's catering business could hold on, it wouldn't be said to surpass Yonghe, at least it would shine brightly.

  Nowadays, people have their own guides, and everything is moving in a possible direction.

  For the next week, Wen Ze devoted himself to the construction of the breakfast shop with great enthusiasm. He adopted a simple and elegant decoration style similar to that of modern Chinese fast food restaurants, making people feel happy and comfortable as soon as they entered. However, he couldn't find any fixed steel-wood structure tables and chairs commonly used in modern fast food restaurants, so he drew some sketches and found a small furniture workshop to make ten sets of 4-person tables and chairs with a yellow and red color scheme, which looked cleaner and more hygienic than the wooden tables used in ordinary restaurants. Wen Ze also asked Li Shengli to create a large colorful poster to hang on the wall of the shop, with the four big characters "Qinghe Dòujiāng" at the top, followed by eight big characters "Healthy, Refreshing, Delicious, Fresh", and then an article proclaiming the long history and culture of Qinghe Doujiang.

  The Qinghe River originates from afar and flows long, flowing out of the Tongjiang River and into the East China Sea, nourishing the five grains and benefiting the people of three towns. It raises fish and shrimp to sustain the people of four seas. In the seventh year of the Tang Dynasty's Zhenguan era, Wei Zheng, who was then serving as the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, happened to pass by Qinghe River. He heard that east of the ancient city gate of Qingzhou, thirty steps west of the boat bridge, there was a hundred-year-old shop that used bean paste to make soy milk. The aroma wafted far and wide, and when he drank it, the taste was delicate and smooth, with an aftertaste that lingered for three days. Thus, it was named Qinghe...

  This script was created by Wen Chen, processed by Xu Yao, and polished by Ning Xiao'ning. The three of them, who are not well-versed in the arts, racked their brains to come up with this mediocre piece. However, since Qinghe Doujiang is positioned at a mid-to-low level, it needs to be straightforward for others to understand. As for why Wei Zheng was chosen as a guest star, I'm sorry, but that involves Ning Xiao'ning's personal idolization, which can't be discussed in detail.

  During the few days when the procedures were being approved, Wen Chen told Ding Mei about it and almost every night after school, he stayed at Li Shengli's house. Later, with his experienced palate, he offered opinions on various dishes and continuously improved the taste of Doujiang You Tiao. Unexpectedly, Li Siqing's culinary skills were not inferior to her father's.

  Wen Chen was overjoyed and deceived Li Siqing by saying that having a backup chef is a configuration only available in five-star hotels. With you, our breakfast shop can become a chain within half a year, a company within a year, and a group within three years. It's no longer an unrealistic dream, and the future prospects are limitless.

  The poor little girl's thoughts were simple and pure, but her worldview was distorted in a shameless way. She secretly made up her mind that from now on, she would definitely become a better chef than her father!

  During that time, Wen Xiang sent Li Siqing to Minghua Middle School. With the relationship of Zuo Yuxi, the principal personally arranged for Li Siqing to be in the best class, with a warm and thoughtful attitude, which goes without saying.

  After school that day, Xu Yao and Ning Xiao Nian intercepted him at the usual place. He hadn't contacted them for a while due to being busy with miscellaneous tasks, but one look at their faces told him the situation wasn't good. Wen Chen decisively decided to take the initiative and strike first, sneering: "Ah, isn't this the legendary One Middle School's Double Jiao, Cold Nian and Hot Yao? Long time no see, how did you two have time to think of me?"

  Seeing his rascal appearance, combined with extremely shameless words, the two women simultaneously became enraged and held him from both sides to a small alley.

  Xu Yao only wanted to press Wen Qian to the ground and give him a good scolding, but Ning Xiao Bing was so angry that she grabbed Wen Qian's arm. At this moment, she regretted it, feeling an unprecedented sensation spreading throughout her body, as if an electric current was overflowing from her heart, making her dizzy. Her legs felt weak as she walked.

  "Hey, what are you doing in broad daylight? Xǔ Yáo, Níng Xiǎo Níng, I'm warning you, just because you look pretty doesn't mean it's not against the law to have ulterior motives towards a handsome guy!"

  "Pfft!" Ning Xiaocong could no longer maintain her calm demeanor, her face slightly flushed as she took the opportunity to release her hand.

  Xu Yao returned to her usual self, with a classic look of disdain on her face, saying: "With your looks, even Zhu Bajie from Journey to the West would be proud to have you as his companion. Would I dare to be rude to you?" Then, in an extremely coquettish tone, she shook Wen Qing's arm and said: "Wen Qing gege, what are you playing at? Why didn't you bring me along?"

  Wen Chuan was frightened and let out a long sigh: "It's not that the National Army is incompetent, but mainly because the Communist Army used a clever trick. I can only counter with another trick..."

  It was funny listening to him, and Xiu Yao, who had been pretending to be serious, burst out laughing. She was glared at by Ning Xiao Ning before she remembered that they were there to settle accounts today and needed to be serious!

  "Hmph, don't try to sweet-talk me!" Xǔ Yáo shook off Wēn Chén's hand and said fiercely: "Tell the truth, what have you been doing sneaking around these past few days? Wēn Chén, don't learn from Mù Shānshān...". The last sentence was spoken in a softer tone, with concern that even a deaf person could hear.

  Warmly moved in his heart, he hurriedly said: "Who told you that I was late? Actually, I wasn't late many times. Recently, my uncle opened a breakfast shop and I went to help him out. With the economy being bad, he can't afford to hire employees..."

  Xu Yao patted his head and sighed, "Alas, child labor is so pitiful." After finishing speaking, her eyes rolled around Ning Xiao Bing's body and she said in a tone used to coax little boys into taking off their pants to play, "There are two more beautiful child labors, I wonder if Young Master Wen wants them?"

  Wen Cheng shuddered all over and raised his hands in surrender.

  (Tonight at three more, another chapter tonight)

  Starting point welcomes readers to visit, the latest, fastest and most popular serialized works are all on the starting point of original!