Rebirth of Siheyuan starts in the 1980s

After Lou Xiao'e left and went back to his room to rest, Cao Zhiqiang did not leave immediately. Instead, he crossed his legs, sat on the sofa and began to review, to see if there was any problem with what he had just said.

In fact, relying on the rewards given by the system, if Cao Zhiqiang simply wanted to run a restaurant business, he would not need to cooperate with Lou Xiao'e or even He Yuzhu.

The reason is very simple. He has "Chinese Cuisine: Three Thousand Foods for You", which contains detailed recipes for 3,000 kinds of dishes. It is extremely detailed. It is not so much about cooking as it is about the application secrets of physical chemistry.

With this secret technique, he can come up with a bunch of popular diet recipes in minutes that others can't learn.

In the final analysis, when running a restaurant business, the food must be delicious. As long as the food is delicious, the business will be fine.

Compared with the taste of the food, everything else is flimsy.

Take Cao Zhiqiang, for example. He has top-notch knife skills and top-notch spoon skills in Chinese cuisine. These two skills are already among the best in the country. But can you say that Cao Zhiqiang is a good chef now?

No, because no matter how good his knife skills are or how good he is at playing spoons, if Cao Zhiqiang doesn't have top-notch chef awareness and doesn't understand the combination of sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty and other flavors, it will be all in vain.

For example, when Cao Zhiqiang had just acquired the knife skills and spoon-bending skills, he excitedly made a fried pork slices with green onions for his sister, but he was so excited that he forgot to add salt, causing the show to fail.

At first glance, it seems that this matter was forgotten due to excessive excitement, but in the final analysis, Cao Zhiqiang did not have the consciousness to be a chef.

You need to find a chef who has learned how to cook seriously and has been cooking for a long time. Adding salt and other seasonings is a subconscious reaction and does not need to be thought about at all, but Cao Zhiqiang does not have this concept.

However, although Cao Zhiqiang does not have the consciousness of a chef, if he follows the extremely sophisticated cooking secrets and imitates cats and tigers, like high school students doing chemical experiments, I believe the taste of the food will not be much different.

Don't do it twice, just do it a few more times and learn from it.

With a complete cooking process and recipes, he never worries about not having special dishes in the catering industry.

Not to mention anything else, there are more than a dozen secret recipes for various spicy hotpots in the menu. Just these spicy hotpot recipes are enough to start a food empire.

As for hot pot base recipes and dipping sauce recipes, there are many in them. With these, he can also create a hot pot alliance by himself without having to partner with others.

So, since Cao Zhiqiang has money and skills, why does he want to rope in Fuzhu and Lou Xiao'e to let them get a share of the pie?

The answer is—interest exchange.

Cao Zhiqiang's purpose of recruiting He Yuzhu to join the group is self-evident, which is for the great leadership relationship behind He Yuzhu and the relationship with Lou Xiao'e.

In addition, He Yuzhu himself is a very high-level chef with a strong sense of chef. Letting him be a head chef and chef teacher will also be very beneficial to Cao Zhiqiang's future in the catering industry.

After all, Cao Zhiqiang cannot spend all his time cooking, nor can he be the principal of a chef training class. That would take too much energy.

At this time, there was really a shortage of chefs in China, especially a lack of professional chef training institutions. Therefore, the value of Cao Zhiqiang's early initiative to do this is self-evident.

He Yuzhu's character is also good. He is the type who works wholeheartedly if you give him some face and benefits, without too much fuss.

As for bringing food home and the like, as long as you include it in the cost accounting, it's not a problem. It's better than paying a higher price to hire an unfamiliar chef.

As for Lou Xiao'e, the purpose of letting her join the team is to build a good relationship with her, let her taste the sweetness of cooperating with him, and then trust him more.

Only by establishing a certain amount of mutual trust can Cao Zhiqiang ask Lou Xiao'e to help and allow Cao Zhiqiang to extend his tentacles to Xiangjiang.

According to the character in the TV series, although Lou Xiao'e is very shrewd in the business, she is kind-hearted and very emotional.

For example, in the second half of Qingman Siheyuan, He Yuzhu turned the Siheyuan into a nursing home, and almost all the funds came from the restaurant opened by Lou Xiao'e.

In other words, He Yuzhu and Xiaodang Huaihua almost obviously invested all the profits from the hotel into the Siheyuan Nursing Home.

Does Lou Xiao'e know? Of course she knows, but she chooses to forgive, or in other words, she just thinks that the hotel was given to Silly Zhu for free.

Even Lou Xiao'e's original purpose of opening that restaurant was just for Si Zhu. She also thought that after chasing Si Zhu, she would give the hotel to Qin Huairu as compensation for her.

In addition, Lou Xiao'e also said before that she came to China before taking her son to meet Sha Zhu, and she already had other projects in China.

As for what project, although the TV series did not clearly say it, it is likely to be in the catering industry.

The reason is very simple. If Lou Xiao'e was not engaged in the catering industry, she would not know that much about the catering industry. Moreover, as soon as the restaurant opened for Silly Zhu opened, she immediately transferred her own people from the south as managers and used more advanced management methods.

, fully managed the hotel.

If she had not been involved in the catering industry for a long time, Lou Xiao'e would not understand so much. After all, Lou Xiao'e had never made a living in a restaurant before running away to Hong Kong.

Therefore, there is a high probability that after Lou Xiaoe's family ran away to Xiangjiang, they started the catering industry, or at least there was a catering industry, and Lou Xiao'e took control of it.

This is understandable, after all, when Lou Xiaoe's family ran away to Hong Kong, they had nothing but money.

The catering industry was one of the best jobs for those who fled to Hong Kong.

In addition, Lou Xiao'e likes Sha Zhu, so she may not have joined the catering industry because of Sha Zhu.

Of course, this is just Cao Zhiqiang's conjecture. What other projects Lou Xiao'e has run are not mentioned in the TV series, and Cao Zhiqiang cannot be sure.

But at least, Lou Xiao'e will definitely be tempted by Cao Zhiqiang's involvement in the restaurant business.

After all, one of the reasons why Lou Xiaoe returned to the mainland was to relive her old dream with He Yuzhu.

Because in the TV series, Lou Xiao'e once said that after her divorce, she was in a difficult situation and found that Silly Pillar was her favorite, so she wanted to come back and rebuild the old relationship.

For example, this time, she most likely wanted to take both public and private interests into account. She first looked for suitable investment projects and then went to see Silly Pillar.

If Si Zhu is not married yet, that is of course the best. She can immediately launch an offensive without any scruples.

If Si Zhu gets married, she will have to think of a way, such as not meeting him for now and bringing her son later.

To put it bluntly, Lou Xiao'e is no longer the silly sweet girl she used to be. She also has her own little Jiujiu.

But even so, her kind-hearted and soft-hearted nature is hard to change. No matter how principled she is in the mall, she will still be soft-hearted when she encounters others complaining about her poverty and weakness.

For example, in her later fight with Qin Huairu, she lost because of her soft heart. Of course, her good son who seemed kind but was actually powerful enough to deceive his mother also played a big role.

In addition, Lou Xiaoe was very principled and wanted to reform Fuzhu prematurely, which was also a major reason for Lou Xiaoe's failure.

If Lou Xiao'e hadn't always wanted to change Sha Zhu, violated Sha Zhu's taboos, and caused Sha Zhu's rebound, he wouldn't have been so completely defeated in the end.

After all, from the bottom of his heart, Shazhu was really shaken and really wanted to live with Lou Xiao'e.

If it weren't for Qin Huairu's high level of tea art, coupled with various moral kidnappings by the first, second, third and other uncles, and Xu Damao's reverse help, Shazhu would really have divorced Qin Huairu and then live with Lou Xiao'e.

To put it bluntly, Lou Xiao'e's return to China appears to be mainly for business, but in fact, the real purpose is to find Fuzhu and make the family whole. This is what Lou Xiao'e's mother meant.

After all, as people get older, they actually don’t value money so much. Instead, they value family ties more, and they miss the good things of the past more. This is true for everyone.

Because Lou Xiao'e said that if she wants to make money and find new ways, she doesn't need a fool at all. Now that she is a Hong Kong businessman, there are people everywhere asking for her cooperation, so she doesn't have to worry about business at all.

In addition, does Lou Xiaoe really have nothing to do with herself in the Mainland? Not necessarily!

You know, Lou Xiao'e is not a native of Xiangjiang, but grew up in the capital and is very familiar with the capital.

Her father was still a big capitalist back then and was the major shareholder of the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill.

Thinking about a person like her father, it would be impossible to say that he had no connections back then.

Without connections, her father would not have been able to leave secretly with the family.

It's just that these connections may not be as powerful as the big leaders that Silly Zhu knew. So when something went wrong, all the connections between Lou Xiaoe and her father were useless, and it was the big leaders behind He Yuzhu who saved the day.

If it hadn't been for the help of the big leaders, Lou Xiao'e's parents and relatives would have never had the chance to run away. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that He Yuzhu is the benefactor of the Lou family.

Judging from the subsequent plot, Lou Xiaoe's father should have died a long time ago, and Lou Xiaoe's brothers and sisters probably have no dealings with Lou Xiaoe and have already separated.

Thinking about it, Lou Xiao'e's mother was born as a concubine after all. Lou Xiao'e is her mother's child, but Lou Xiao'e's brothers and sisters are not from the same mother.

It used to be fine in China, but once something happens and you flee to Xiangjiang, do you still expect to continue to be harmonious?

This also explains very well why Lou Xiaoe's mother always wanted to return to the capital and even wanted to live in a courtyard for retirement instead of staying in the bustling Xiangjiang.

Most likely, apart from the fact that the elderly are nostalgic for the past and want to return to their roots, it is also possible that Lou Tan does not like Xiangjiang because it makes her sad.

Don't say that Lou Tan is in love with He Yuzhu's father, that's not true, at least it's not shown in the TV series.

All in all, He Yuzhu and Lou Xiao'e have that kind of friendship. There is no need to say anything or do anything, Lou Xiao'e can do her best to help.

But Cao Zhiqiang is different.

Even though Cao Zhiqiang was born in a courtyard house, this friendship was of little use to Lou Xiao'e. On the contrary, it was a loss of points.

After all, that courtyard house had more bad impressions than good ones in Lou Xiao'e's mind at this time.

Maybe I have to say, why did Cao Zhiqiang have to hang Lou Xiao'e?

Now that there are so many Hong Kong businessmen in China, why can’t they find others to cooperate with?

Yes, there are many Hong Kong businessmen in China at this time, but not many are reliable.

As for Lou Xiao'e, Cao Zhiqiang took advantage of his familiarity with the plot and knew the basics. He knew that this person valued friendship and principles and was the best business partner.

Moreover, her son is a typical bad guy with soft ears, and Lou Xiaoe only has one son, who is usually as precious as anything. From now on, as long as he controls He Xiao, he will control Lou Xiaoe.

In other words, Cao Zhiqiang can rest assured by cooperating with Lou Xiao'e.

In addition, there is another most critical factor for Cao Zhiqiang's choice to cooperate with Lou Xiao'e - policy factors.

You know, the kind of chef training class that Cao Zhiqiang is going to hold may sound very similar, but for now, it is actually a franchise chain restaurant group, or a catering company.

However, in the current country, since the private economy is not allowed to operate in the country, the current domestic companies are either state-owned, collective, or foreign-funded or joint ventures. There are no private companies belonging to Chinese people.

If an individual opens a restaurant, in addition to contracting a public canteen, he or she can only use a self-employed license, and self-employed people have many restrictions, such as the number of employees cannot exceed eight people.

Eight people are enough for a small restaurant, but it is far from enough for the franchise chain group that Cao Zhiqiang wants to open.

So Cao Zhiqiang took a sideways approach and started a chef training class.

In this way, those chef students who come to the hotel to learn their craft are in the apprenticeship model. They are apprentices who come to learn their craft, not hotel employees who are hired to work.

Since you are not an employee, you do not need to follow the eight-person limit for self-employed individuals.

As for apprentices, they also participate in cooking and serving dishes during their studies...

Well, people do this voluntarily, and we can’t stop them.

As long as you are not paid, you are just an apprentice, not an employee!

You see, in this way, Cao Zhiqiang can circumvent the limit on the number of employees for self-employed businesses.

As for the franchise model, the franchisee contributes the money, and Cao Zhiqiang's hotel provides the people and technology. The two parties cooperate together, and can avoid investment scale restrictions.

If people really ask about this matter, you can put it this way: someone else opened a restaurant, and then he learned the skills from me, and I recommended him as a chef. It is a cooperative and mutual-help relationship between friends.

As long as there is no direct subordinate relationship or a business license, you can avoid the business scale restrictions of self-employed businesses.

As for during this period, other people opened a restaurant with the same name as mine and the same decoration. It can be said that they thought my sign was good and wanted to use it directly with my permission.

There is no patent law in this area in China at this time. Their restaurant has the same name as yours, and the decoration and dishes are almost the same, so there is no problem at all.

As for the franchise fee and management fee, you can say it this way, just say it is a personal thank you fee, or an earnest money fee. Anyway, as long as it is voluntary, it is easy to say.

In other words, the franchise chain established by Cao Zhiqiang can avoid various business scale problems of self-employed businesses, and can also build a brand and expand its influence.

As long as Cao Zhiqiang has mastered the secret recipes of special dishes and the loyalty of the chef apprentices, he has mastered the core technology of this franchise restaurant chain. In this way, there will naturally be no need to worry about franchise stores not cooperating.

This point can be seen from the original plot when Yu Li drives away He Yuzhu and makes He Yuzhu's apprentice Fatty the chef. As a result, the business plummets.

The key to the taste of many dishes is the recipe. As long as these recipes are not handed over and are only seasoned for the finished products of the franchise stores below, there is no need to worry about others stealing them.

Just like Coca-Cola, it only provides the original puree to various places, and the branches in various places only dilute the puree and sell it.

The same goes for franchised chain stores. As long as the seasonings for all franchised dishes are provided by the headquarters, then the lifeblood of the franchised store is controlled.

If the franchise store refuses to obey the management and does not provide secret seasonings and ingredients, you will not be able to make special dishes.

Without specialties, you are just an ordinary restaurant. If you have the same name, it will only be regarded as a poor imitation. Customers will never go back after eating once.

In addition, people in this era pay more attention to the inheritance of master and apprentice. If the apprentice secretly betrays the master for profit, everyone will look down on you, even the guests will look down on you. You will be a bad name in this circle, and no one will do it again. Use you.

In the original plot, after the fat man betrayed He Yuzhu, he was humiliated and ostracized by He Yuzhu and others, which was a typical portrayal of that time.

In other words, the chef training course project that Cao Zhiqiang is planning to launch is essentially to use the traditional master-apprentice relationship, and of course the benefit bundle of regular salary payments from the headquarters, to maintain a small and close group of chefs.

Use this method, plus a secret recipe that is not disclosed, to control other franchisees, thereby circumventing the country's self-employed policy.

But this kind of thing is just a side ball after all, and there is still a certain danger. After all, this model has no backend, and once you make money, it is easy to be targeted.

Originally, Cao Zhiqiang had an alternative plan, which was to affiliate with Hongguang Machinery Factory and use Hongguang Machinery Factory to scare away ghosts and monsters if there was any trouble.

But now, since I met Lou Xiaoe so early, I have a new operating mode.

If Cao Zhiqiang can get Lou Xiaoe to agree to investment cooperation, he can go to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce to negotiate with Lou Xiaoe's plan to open a catering company with him, plus the letter of introduction from Uncle Wang.

However, Cao Zhiqiang remembered that in his previous life, the first private company in China was founded because the boss of that company, Jiang, wanted to cooperate with a Hong Kong businessman. However, he was originally only a self-employed person, and self-employed people were not eligible to form a joint venture.

In the end, after many efforts, he finally obtained special approval and established the first private company.

It was also from that moment on that private enterprises began to relax, and various private companies sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. Therefore, that year was also called the first year of domestic enterprises.

Cao Zhiqiang decided to copy the story of Boss Jiang and write a cooperation plan with Lou Xiao'e. Then he took the plan of the joint venture catering company, plus Uncle Wang's letter of introduction, to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce for negotiation.

At that time, the other party will most likely agree to let you set up a private catering company.

As long as he agrees to set up a private catering company, he can happily enter into a joint venture with Lou Xiao'e.

Once it becomes a joint venture catering company, there will be many benefits. It will be tax-free for at least three years, right?

Moreover, even if joint ventures pay taxes, they are much less than state-owned enterprises, which can be said to be quite cost-effective.

Furthermore, the joint venture can facilitate import and export trade. If the internal employees of the joint venture want to travel between the inland and Hong Kong, the review by the relevant departments will be looser and easier to pass.

This means that once Cao Zhiqiang and Lou Xiao'e really form a joint venture, if Cao Zhiqiang wants to go to Xiangjiang to do business, at least the approval will be more convenient inland.

It means that through this joint venture, Cao Zhiqiang has an identity and a platform that can easily travel to Hong Kong from the mainland.

Furthermore, if due to this incident, domestic private enterprises are opened up, the hidden benefits to themselves will be even greater.

For example, the title of the first person in a private enterprise must be worn by oneself.

At that time, you can register several companies by yourself.

For example, if I register a hot pot chain company or a Malatang chain company, I can do these things by myself.

All in all, the advantages of recruiting Lou Xiao'e to join the joint venture company outweigh the disadvantages.

These are the benefits that Cao Zhiqiang can think of. More benefits may only be known later.

"Oh, this is really not easy."

Thinking of this, Cao Zhiqiang pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I can't help it. I'm just starting out now. I have to be carried in a sedan chair. There's no future for me to live alone!"

Just when I thought of this, a shadow suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.

Cao Zhiqiang looked up and saw that Shen Zhenhua was here.

"Boss, are you done with your work?" Shen Zhenhua asked with a bow and a smile.

"Yes." Cao Zhiqiang nodded, no longer sitting, but stood up directly, "It's done for now, Hua Zi, you did a good job, I will give you a bonus later."

"Then can I go back?" Shen Zhenhua smiled, "I'm hungry and want to go back to eat."

As soon as he said this, his stomach suddenly growled.

Cao Zhiqiang was stunned for a moment, then suddenly laughed: "What are you going to eat when you go back? Let's go, I'll take you to eat Western food, just from here!"

"Ah?" Shen Zhenhua was also stunned, and then quickly waved his hand, "I can't help it, the Western food here is expensive, but I can't afford it."

Cao Zhiqiang laughed and patted Shen Zhenhua on the shoulder: "Okay, stop pretending, I'm treating you and you don't have to spend money!"

"Really?" Shen Zhenhua's eyes lit up.

"Really!" Cao Zhiqiang smiled and nodded, "You have helped me so much, what's the point of treating you to a Western meal?

Besides, I’m hungry too, so why don’t we come together and treat it as if you’re eating with me?”

"Hey hey hey." Shen Zhenhua scratched his head, "The relationship is good and it's what you want, so I don't dare to ask for your ear."

"Hey, kid." Cao Zhiqiang shook his head, "You are much more cunning than Lao Yang."

Shen Zhenhua quickly smiled and said: "No, boss, I'm just a slippery talker, but I'm never slippery in my work!"

"Okay, okay, I know you are reliable." Cao Zhiqiang shook his head, "Let's go eat Western food! Let's try what the Western food here tastes like!"