Rebirth of Siheyuan starts in the 1980s

Upon hearing what Cao Zhiqiang said, Lou Xiao'e looked slightly surprised and said: "Hey, Xiao Cao, I didn't expect that you also have many ideas."

"That's right." Cao Zhiqiang chuckled, "To be honest, I have already reaped the dividends of the reform. Just recently, it only took me three months to earn half a million, after tax."

After hearing this sentence again, Lou Xiao'e was really shocked: "What, you made half a million in three months? What did you do for money?"

"Of course I'm in the right business." Cao Zhiqiang said with a smile, "But you may not be able to make money in my way. I wrote poems and published a collection of poems, and then earned royalties."

"Collection of poems? Royalty?" Lou Xiao'e was stunned again, "You mean, you made so much money by publishing books?"

"Yes." Cao Zhiqiang smiled and nodded, "So my method of making money is really hard for ordinary people to learn."

"That's true." Lou Xiao'e smiled, "Writing poems to earn royalties for a living relies on personal talent, and most people really can't learn it."

"Hey, Aunt Lou seems to be very understanding." Cao Zhiqiang chuckled, "She knows the market conditions in our mainland very well."

"That's not true." Lou Xiao'e smiled and said, "Don't forget, I grew up here, and I went to Xiangjiang later when I had no choice but to go to Xiangjiang. But even if I went to Xiangjiang, I have always paid attention to the situation here, so here

I may not necessarily know less about things than you do."

"I see." Cao Zhiqiang nodded, "So, Auntie Lou, are you really planning to invest in the Mainland and make money in the Mainland?"

Lou Xiao'e was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously looked around and found that the place was very empty, with few people around and no one paying attention to it. Then she nodded to Cao Zhiqiang.

"Yes, I do mean that."

Upon hearing what Lou Xiao'e said, Cao Zhiqiang smiled and said: "Aunt Lou, can you tell me why you plan to invest in the mainland? What projects do you plan to invest in? If there is a suitable one, we may be able to cooperate."

"Cooperation?" Lou Xiao'e was stunned and looked at Cao Zhiqiang carefully again, "You want to cooperate with me? Is this why you came to see me specially?"

"That's not true." Cao Zhiqiang chuckled, "Aunt Lou, you really think too much."

Immediately afterwards, Cao Zhiqiang deliberately pondered for a moment, and then said: "Actually, when I came to see you this time, I really just listened to my friend's words and wanted to come over and see if you were really Lou Xiao'e. I'm sorry for telling you.

's full name."

"It's okay." Lou Xiao'e waved her hand, "Names are just for people to call, it doesn't matter."

Cao Zhiqiang nodded: "Aunt Lou, I really just want to see if you are serious when I come here this time. After all, I respect Uncle He very much, and of course I am very interested in the person he really likes.

Therefore, the purpose of my coming here in the first place, for no other reason than to confirm whether you are really Aunt Lou, I haven’t thought of anything else.

However, after actually meeting you and hearing these words from you, I started to have some new ideas.

You see, no matter whether you grew up here, your current identity is that you are a Hong Kong person and a serious Hong Kong businessman.

If you want to invest and find a project here, you must find a reliable project.

How to be reliable? It is best to find someone reliable to cooperate with, especially some reliable leaders and departments.

It just so happens that I have just negotiated two projects with some big leaders and they are currently in progress.

I think it might be a good idea if you agree to join and invest together, and we can achieve win-win cooperation and make a lot of money!"

"Oh? Two projects?" Lou Xiao'e smiled and said, "What projects do you have? Tell me about them?"

Cao Zhiqiang raised his first finger: "The first project is a record company.

If you are willing, I plan to partner with you to open a China-Hong Kong joint venture record company in the mainland to develop the music industry.

The mainland's music industry is still quite primitive, far behind that of Xiangjiang, but the market is vast, far beyond what a small place like Xiangjiang can compare with.

In Xiangjiang, if you are a singer and you can sell 10,000 records per album, that is pretty good.

But in mainland China, an album can easily sell 800,000 copies, and that’s just one day’s sales.

Moreover, mainland artists have low requirements and low salaries. They don’t need to share their income, so record companies can get more income.

Therefore, if we set up a record company in the mainland and create an artist industry, there will be great potential."

Upon hearing this, Lou Xiao'e frowned, then smiled and shook her head: "Sorry, I don't understand this business, so let's forget it."

Finding that Lou Xiao'e was not interested, Cao Zhiqiang did not force it because he knew that talking more about this issue at this time would only annoy her.

After all, the friendship is shallow and the conversation is deep, Cao Zhiqiang is not a fool after all, and he has no ability to force Lou Xiao'e to lose his wits.

Thinking of this, Cao Zhiqiang raised a second finger: "Then you must be interested in the second project.

My second project is to open a chef training school!”

"Chef training school?" Lou Xiao'e was stunned.

"That's right." Cao Zhiqiang nodded, "Actually, when I talk about opening a chef training school now, it's just to put money on my face.

Strictly speaking, I want to open a chef training class first and then expand slowly.

When the scale grows, we will apply to establish a private technical training school, mainly to train chefs and waiters.

Nowadays, there is no school that specializes in training chefs in China. If you want to learn cooking skills, you have to follow the old tradition and learn the skills from a master, and the master may not teach you the real thing.

Coupled with the relationship between those ten years, China is now a complete food desert, not to mention not as good as Xiangjiang, even not as good as more than ten years ago.

If you don't talk about anything else, let's just say that our capital is the capital. It is said to be the center of the country, so the food should be very good, right?

However, if you go out and take a look at the restaurants here, except for a few high-end places that are only reserved for leaders, what good food can ordinary people eat?

It's not that there are no good chefs left, but those good cooks, like Uncle Ho, are now either working in state-owned hotels or in the canteens of various factories.

Even so, they hide it and never teach the truth, and they have very few disciples. They basically inherit it from the family, and it is passed down from male to female.

Nowadays, there are simply no good chefs who are really good at cooking, who are really willing to teach their true skills, and are willing to make disciples.

In other words, it is not that there are no good cooks in the capital, but the number is too small and there are too few apprentices to create a climate.

However, times have changed. If we continue to be complacent and self-conscious, we will be eliminated by the market sooner or later.

If you have been in Xiangjiang, you should know that in modern society, the key is how to realize your talents quickly and effectively, and formalize and systematize them as soon as possible. Only then can you truly become bigger and stronger in the long run.

If you continue to stick to your own formula and craftsmanship, and continue to play the trick of passing on things from male to female, you will be swept into the dustbin of history sooner or later.

Moreover, cooking is also about innovation. Old things passed down from ancestors may not always be good.

How to innovate? For example, have more chefs, communicate more, and keep pace with the times.

So I came up with an idea, which was to open a cooking training class and openly recruit young people to train them to be chefs.

I have found the teacher who trains chefs, and it’s Uncle He!”

"Silly Zhu?" Lou Xiao'e couldn't help but ask, "Is there him in here?"

"Of course." Cao Zhiqiang nodded, "That's right, this so-called chef training school, no, let's just say it's a cooking training class.

Due to policy factors, this cooking training class is still a restaurant on the surface for the time being, but this hotel is a little special. It is not a single one, but a chain of chains.

That is to say, Uncle He and I formed a partnership and opened a restaurant together. On the surface, it was a normal restaurant business.

But in fact, the kitchen of this restaurant is much larger than that of ordinary restaurants, at least four or five times larger.

In addition, my restaurant has more chefs than other restaurants, at least four to five times more.

To be precise, this restaurant is actually a chef training center, or a culinary incubation center!

At that time, Uncle He would work as a chef in the back kitchen, cooking and teaching his disciples at the same time.

If an apprentice comes to learn a skill, he must sign a serious contract, which is a serious teacher-student relationship.

The contract can stipulate that during the period of learning skills, no tuition is required, and food, accommodation, and work assignments are also included.

During the period of study, students must completely follow the arrangements of our headquarters, such as going to branches to help with internships, etc.

After they are successful in their studies and pass the assessment, we will issue them a qualification certificate, proving that they have graduated from our program and have received professional recognition from our training class.

Then, as written in the contract, after the chef graduates and becomes a chef, we have to be responsible for finding a job for him.

Where is the job?

He can go out to find a job by himself, or we can assign him a job.

However, if he works alone and goes out to find a job, he will have to pay for his tuition fees.

If he refuses, then he will not be issued a qualification certificate. He will not be considered Uncle He’s disciple. He can no longer use the banner of Uncle He’s apprentice, nor can he use the banner of our cooking training class. In addition, he will not be able to obtain our professional secret recipes.

.

And if we assign a job to him, as long as he is obedient and works in the prescribed position for at least three years, he will not need to pay additional tuition.

With Uncle He in charge, you don't have to worry about the taste of the restaurant's food, and neither do the guests.

I plan to open the restaurant first and build its reputation, and then we can use the reputation of our restaurant to open branches.

As for branches, we don’t open them ourselves, but find franchisees and partner with others.

At that time, others will only need to pay for the store, and the decoration will be in accordance with our requirements.

If we pass the inspection, we can put out signs and manage it. Of course, we will send chefs from our church to work, and we will even send special personnel to support it in the beginning.

At that time, the franchise store only needs to pay a monthly franchise management fee and a chef's salary, and then they can be a hands-on shopkeeper. They don't have to worry about not being able to hire good chefs or have no customers. They can just make money while lying down.

Of course, if the chefs in our church want to open their own shop, that's fine too.

If the chef we trained wants to pay for the store and decoration, he only needs to pay a franchise fee in the future and does not need to pay a chef's salary, because he is the chef himself.

This is the so-called franchisee model.

Under this model, we can quickly expand and build a catering brand, and unified signboard management also facilitates quality control in each branch.

For those franchisees, they save a lot of risks in opening a store, because they don't have to worry about not having good chefs or good dishes, and naturally they don't have to worry about lack of customers.

At the same time, they can also enjoy our brand blessing. For example, if we advertise, because it is brand advertising, their franchise stores can also get the blessing of advertising because they are all under the same brand and belong to the branch store model.

Also, we can sell ingredients and secret recipes.

For example, we will develop some special soup bases and seasonings. These can only be purchased by franchise stores and our headquarters. Moreover, branches must have a chef from our headquarters who has received professional training, and the quality of the dishes is also controlled.

Can be guaranteed.

To be more precise, it means standardization plus scale.

In fact, the relationship between all franchise stores and our headquarters is a partnership.

That is to say, the franchisee contributes money, we provide technology and talent, and then the headquarters gives the franchisee a franchise certificate, and we both work together to start the business.

All franchised stores need to be under unified management by the headquarters, ensuring that the signboards are the same, the decoration is the same, the dishes are the same, the taste is similar, and the management is consistent. They must give people a sense of formality. All stores must look high-end and classy.

Under this model, franchisees can make money with less risk, and we can quickly expand our scale. It is a win-win model.

Of course, the prerequisite for doing this is that the dishes at our headquarters must have special dishes that cannot be made by other restaurants.

Our dishes must be delicious and delicious, quality control must be good, management must be formal, and they must be like no other.

In addition, when it comes to franchisees, we must look for reliable franchisees rather than unreliable ones.

Are you interested in such a franchise chain business?"

"Join a chain?" Lou Xiao'e's eyes lit up, "This is quite interesting."

"It's more than just interesting." Cao Zhiqiang said with a smile, "In addition to the unique dishes, you also need to have a really good chef.

It is not that there are no good chefs in the city nowadays, but those good chefs are often arrogant and unwilling to work with others.

But Uncle He is different. His cooking skills are impeccable, and he is also a descendant of the Tan family cuisine. He knows all the four major cuisines of Sichuan, Shandong, Guangdong and Huaihe, and is especially good at Sichuan cuisine.

If Uncle He joins us, and with some secret recipes I have obtained, and of course my funds, this business will definitely succeed."

After a brief pause, Cao Zhiqiang said: "To be honest, I originally wanted to do it myself, but if you are willing to join the team, then I can count on you."

"Is this?" Lou Xiao'e thought for a while, "That's good, that's good, but if you say that rashly, I still have to think about it."

Speaking of this, Lou Xiao'e looked up at Cao Zhiqiang: "Do you have a detailed plan?"

Cao Zhiqiang smiled slightly: "Professional, as expected from Xiangjiang!"

Speaking of this, Cao Zhiqiang nodded and said: "Don't worry, if you are interested, I will give you a detailed plan tomorrow. Not only that, I can also take you to see the restaurant that will be shortened soon.

To be honest, I have bought a house to open a restaurant, no, a cooking training class, and I am currently renovating it and it will be completed soon.

If you're willing to join us, you have to hurry up.

At that time, after you officially move in, I will buy several adjacent houses, expand the scale from the beginning, and do better decoration.

I believe that by working together, we can build a real catering group and become the largest hotpot chain store in the country!"

"Of course that's the best." Lou Xiao'e smiled slightly, "By the way, can you show me the collection of poems you published?"

"No problem." Cao Zhiqiang said, "When I send you the plan tomorrow, I will also send it with my collection of poems."

"That's the best." Lou Xiao'e smiled and nodded.

After saying that, Lou Xiao'e thought for a moment and said, "Well, it's too late today. Come find me here at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

Speaking of this, Lou Xiao'e asked Cao Zhiqiang if he had any pen and paper. Cao Zhiqiang quickly took out a small notebook and a ballpoint pen.

Lou Xiao'e wrote a room number on a piece of paper in a small book, and then handed it to Cao Zhiqiang: "This is my room number. You can come here to find me at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. I will have seen your room number by then."

Let’s talk about the plan later.”

Cao Zhiqiang looked at it, put away the notebook, and then said to Lou Xiao'e: "Don't worry, I will be there on time tomorrow."

"That's good." Lou Xiao'e nodded, then suddenly smiled and said to Cao Zhiqiang, "I didn't expect that there would be a person like you in that courtyard. It's really rare."

"It's nothing to me." Cao Zhiqiang smiled slightly, "It's this era that gives me the opportunity to be a trendsetter of the times. If I catch up with the era when you left, my brain will be useless."

Lou Xiao'e was stunned for a moment, then nodded sadly: "That's right, that era... Hey, don't mention it anymore, it's all over."

"Are you really not going to visit the courtyard and meet Uncle He?" Cao Zhiqiang suddenly asked.

"Forget it, let's not go." Lou Xiao'e shook her head, "If we rush over now, we will only embarrass both of us.

If...well, let's talk about it next time when we have a chance.

In short, since I, Lou Xiao'e, am back, I will go find him sooner or later.

Please keep it a secret for me and don’t tell him I’m here.”

"Don't worry." Cao Zhiqiang nodded, "I promise not to tell anyone."

Lou Xiao'e nodded, and then said sheepishly: "Well, you really can't secretly give me our family's heirloom? Don't worry, I'll tell Shazhu later that it's okay."

Cao Zhiqiang laughed: "Aunt Lou, you are making things difficult for me.

Yes, the family heirloom may have been yours originally, but when you gave it to Uncle He, it was a gift. Due to emotions and reasons, that thing now belongs to Uncle He.

If I take it away rashly, it would be taking it without telling me, and that would be a thief!

Even if it's secretly given to you.

So, if you really want to go back, you'd better ask Uncle He in person.

Don’t worry, the things you took are still there and haven’t been lost!”

Lou Xiao'e was stunned for a moment, and then smiled dumbly: "That's right. That's okay, I won't embarrass you. I'll go with Sha Zhu later."

"That's right!" Cao Zhiqiang laughed.

"Okay then." Lou Xiao'e stood up, "In that case, let's go here first today.

To be honest, I am really tired today and want to go back and rest first.

Come to me tomorrow and we can have a good talk, okay?"

"Okay." Cao Zhiqiang also stood up, "Aunt Lou, please go back and rest quickly. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." Lou Xiao'e smiled and nodded.