Siheyuan: A Cook in the 60s

"Is this true?" Cao Leyao was shocked.

Is my philandering father so powerful?

"That must be true." Lou Xiao'e pointed at the chair and motioned her to sit down.

After Cao Leyao sat down, Lou Xiaoe brought her a bottle of drink.

"To do business, you have to figure out one thing: what exactly are you going to do?"

"Doing business is just about buying and selling, isn't it?"

"Those who do not plan for the overall situation are not qualified to plan for a specific area, and those who do not plan for eternity are not qualified to plan for the moment. Buying and selling, the two words are simple. But when it comes to specific things, it becomes very complicated. Let me first tell you the conclusion. If you go out and open a restaurant, as long as you find a chef who makes interesting food, you will definitely make money."

"why?"

This was something Cao Leyao couldn't understand.

“Don’t understand why I made this judgment?”

"Well, are my efforts worthless?"

"You know what your father always said?"

"what?"

"Times make heroes."

"Business success has a lot to do with the environment. Whether you want to open a store, success or failure, is also related to the current environment. Nowadays, banks are desperately trying to send money out, and the same is true for state-owned enterprises. Everyone has money in their hands and will want to spend it. It doesn't matter what kind of store you open, as long as you have a source of goods, even if you only sell vegetables, the probability is that it will not fail."

"This is the first thing I want to tell you. Never attribute the success of a business to an individual. Many people don't understand this and think they are great. They may be able to make money in the current environment, but if the environment changes a little, they will easily fall."

"Sister E, listening to you say that, it seems like it doesn't matter whether I'm here or not. I don't feel any sense of accomplishment at all."

"A sense of accomplishment?" Lou Xiao'e was happy: "What kind of sense of accomplishment do you want? Successfully starting your own business, or something else. I've already told you that the probability of your success is very high. No matter what you want to do. If you open a restaurant, the chance is even greater. But if you want to surpass your father." At this point, Lou Xiao'e paused; "I think it's probably impossible."

"Sister E, how can you be so discouraging?"

"I'm not trying to hit you." Lou Xiao'e shrugged. "Let me tell you what he has done over the years."

"The opening of Samadhi Tower is not accidental. For ordinary people, if they want to start a business, they probably want to make money. What they can see is the current market. For example, if there is a restaurant in this area that is doing very well, then others will be jealous and probably open one too. Gradually, there will be many restaurants on this street. This is the most basic form of business."

“Isn’t this plagiarism?”

"It's more or less the same. In this world, either you copy me or I copy you. Don't be too superstitious about the so-called patent laws of foreign countries. It's just a clash between interest groups. If their core interests are really touched, they will come up with other means. There's not much difference. However, this has little to do with what I want to tell you. Let's get back to the topic of Samadhi Tower."

"What I just told you is the first type."

"The second type is foresight. For example, if you think a place lacks a clothing store, and you are the first to open such a store, and you are able to maintain stability during the operation, then you are considered a foresighted businessman, and also a second-class businessman."

"And most of the first-class ones are the ones who set the rules. Others are saying that you got a Samadhi Building because you were lucky and were the first one to be in the newspaper. But in fact, do you know how worried your father was when you were the first one to apply?"

"What's there to worry about?"

"That's the problem. Your political sensitivity is too poor." Lou Xiao'e shook her head. "Back then, we wanted to develop the economy, but before that, what kind of life were we living? We focused on life here." Lou Xiao'e pointed to her head. "Do you know how big a risk it was to open a restaurant that belonged to me?"

"Oh, I see. Seize the opportunity."

"You, are impatient. Do you think you can just seize the opportunity? Are you still going to listen?"

"Listen, listen. What happens after you seize the opportunity?"

"Just seize the opportunity. Go to Samadhi Restaurant and have a look at the kitchen, the front desk, the waiters, and other restaurants. Then go and have a look and see for yourself what you think."

"This..." This question stumped Cao Leyao.

"Are you dumbfounded? Do you feel that everything in Samadhi Tower seems to be so smooth? In other restaurants, as long as there are more people, they are always busy and chaotic. Especially in recent days, there are a lot of quarrels in restaurants, right?"

"Don't tell me, it really is..."

When there are many customers, most restaurants are in a mess. When they are in a mess and angry, accidents are easy to happen. Moreover, the most important thing is not this. In this day and age, people forget about hygiene when they are busy. Since the early 80s, only a small number of catering companies pay attention to hygiene, and most of the kitchens are not even good enough.

The main feature of the restaurant is that it is dirty, messy and poor, but Samadhi Tower has never had these problems.

"This is how you see your father's control over details."

"Establishing the Samadhi Building is a vision, and stabilizing the Samadhi Building is a means. In the future, as time goes by, your father will have to update the system again."

"What system?"

"You'll find out this Thursday."

"Hey, Sister E, just tell me."

"If I don't tell you, you still have a lot to learn!"

"Then why didn't my father tell me?" Cao Leyao curled her lips: "He is very supportive of me going out to start a business."

"He's just waiting for you to get out so he can give you a taste of your own medicine."

"But didn't you say that I would definitely succeed?" Cao Leyao widened her eyes.

Lou Xiao'e was amused: "It would be so easy for him to deal with you. You said you wanted to open a restaurant. Do you know who has the greatest prestige among the well-known chefs in the whole city?"

"Who? It can't be my dad, right? How old is he?"

"Yes, it's your dad, because your dad's cooking skills are the best."

"real or fake."

"Really? Why would I lie to you?" Lou Xiao'e counted on her fingers, "As for the chef, even if he doesn't make things difficult for you, if he uses some tricks to deal with the food you purchase, you'll still be in trouble."

Cao Leyao: …

"There are so many restaurants out there now, and they're all short of vegetables. It's probably not easy to find them on your own. You probably know how to use your father's channels, and if you use his channels, he'll have trouble with you, which is easy for him."

"What if I buy it myself?"

"If you buy it yourself, you'll have a lot of trouble. The quality control will be enough to bother you..."