Rebirth of Siheyuan starts in the 1980s

Obviously, the previous incident in which foreign tourists said "superb" at Shiweitian was a self-directed and self-acted promotional article.

If this were placed in 2022, this kind of soft advertising news would be seen through by netizens in minutes, and they would have to tell whether it is true or false.

But in 1983, not many people saw through it, and everyone believed it.

The result of believing this is that everyone comes to Shiweitian to have a taste and feel what the food that foreign friends say is really like.

At this time, as long as the quality of the food is a little better and the dining environment can contrast with the surroundings, then it is not unacceptable to everyone that the food is more expensive.

So you see, the price is the same. If you don’t advertise or shout out, people will think you are expensive.

But if you advertise, especially an advertisement that foreigners say well, then it is worth the money.

In the final analysis, people in this era are too simple, have not been bombarded with many advertisements, and trust people too easily.

Cao Zhiqiang took advantage of the common people's simple psychology and a little bit of admiration for foreigners, and found some foreigners to act in a play. He also asked reporters to "capture" them by chance, and then wrote a small soft article.

It became like this.

During the whole process, the foreigner who acted got money, the reporter Cai Ling who wrote the article got money and was recognized and valued by the leadership, and Cao Zhiqiang's Shiweitianze received huge customer flow, and everyone was very happy.

Even diners are of course very happy to be able to eat the authentic food that foreign guests say so well.

Of course, although this trick seems simple, it is actually not simple at all, at least it is not something that ordinary people can implement.

The biggest difficulty is not the problem of money or journalists, but where to find foreigners to be actors.

Yes, it is true that the country has opened up to international tourism during this period, and it is true that many foreigners come to travel domestically. However, these foreigners traveling domestically have been approved at all levels and are then led by state-owned travel agencies. There are very few singles.

Came here personally.

In other words, the total number of foreigners is still too small, and access to these foreigners is also a problem.

The best way is, of course, to find a foreign-related travel agency directly and let the travel agency take the lead. However, a well-known travel agency may not be willing to help you connect and let foreigners help you fake it.

Therefore, you must find ways to contact those foreigners yourself, and this requires good foreign language support.

The reason why Cao Zhiqiang was able to find those foreigners so smoothly was not because he was familiar with the leaders of foreign travel agencies, but because he was in an environment where it was easy to encounter foreigners.

For example, the first batch of Japanese customers were the first few Japanese who said it was delicious and were photographed and interviewed by Cai Ling.

In fact, they were originally a group of several families traveling in China, and they happened to stay at the Peking Hotel.

Then one time when I went to the restaurant of Peking Hotel for dinner, I happened to meet Cao Zhiqiang.

Cao Zhiqiang heard them chattering in Japanese, and he happened to be able to speak Japanese again. At that time, he had just been called by his eldest sister to talk about it, so he had an idea and came up with an idea to find foreigners to act in a movie to advertise.

After thinking about it, Cao Zhiqiang took the initiative to contact those Japanese guests.

Because he behaved well, was handsome, took the initiative to treat guests, and spoke fluent Tokyo-accented Japanese, he quickly became familiar with the Japanese guests.

Of course, there are plenty of topics to talk about. Anyway, at this time, it’s enough to just brag about Japan’s economic miracle.

Everyone likes to talk nicely, and foreigners are no exception.

After saying some nice words and having a free dinner invited by Cao Zhiqiang, it was natural for Cao Zhiqiang to bring up acting in an advertisement.

Although there are very few advertisements in China and the forms of advertisements are very simple, this does not include Japan.

Japan was at the peak of its prosperity at this time, and of course there were various forms of advertising, so the Japanese customers could understand the kind of advertising Cao Zhiqiang mentioned.

As long as the price is negotiated, it won't be a big problem.

Anyway, from the perspective of those Japanese guests, it is nothing more than going to have a meal, and then talking to the camera in Japanese and broken Mandarin about how delicious it is, how good it is, and so on. It is easy and simple.

After negotiating the cost of the performance and the specific script, Cao Zhiqiang called Cai Ling over and explained the situation to her in detail. Everyone found a conference room and rehearsed together for a while, and then a commercial scene was released.

Then, find a time at noon when there are fewer people, and let the Japanese customers go to Wangfujing Shopping Mall first, and then "accidentally" pass by Shiweitian Restaurant, pretending to be attracted by the aroma inside, and then go in for a meal.

After eating, he would first praise it loudly in Japanese, and then say "delicious", "awesome", "awesome" and so on in broken Mandarin.

When these Japanese guests were acting, Cai Ling and the photographer on the side were already prepared, and even the camera was angled in advance to capture those photos.

To put it bluntly, this is a staged photo shoot.

After the filming was over, Cai Ling went over to conduct a pretentious interview. Several Japanese guests pretended to praise the Chinese cuisine and the food that is the best in the world, and then disparaged other restaurants. By the way, they talked about how "price is not the issue, the issue is quality."

Advanced concepts.

These things were said on the spot through a translator, and Cai Ling competently used a tape recorder to record all the Japanese tourists' words.

In this way, there are photos and recordings, and there is "ironclad evidence". Even if some people question it, as long as the photos and recordings are played, everyone will admit that these are what those Japanese guests said and the article written by Cai Ling.

Not overdoing it, just seeking truth from facts.

Just posting it in the newspaper in this way was already sensational, and the traffic volume also increased rapidly.

But Cao Zhiqiang still feels that it is not safe, or that it is not impactful enough for Japanese guests to come to eat.

After all, in the minds of Chinese people at this time, white people with big noses were the first class people.

So later, Cao Zhiqiang found a few Americans traveling to China, chatted with them in English for a while, and once again paid them to help him act in a play.

What those Americans had to do was to go there with their translators in the evening, when there were the most guests, and eat in front of everyone.

Of course, when those American guests went to eat, Shiweitian happened to have a few newspaper reporters eating, and he happened to use his camera to capture those Americans giving an exaggerated thumbs up while eating.

Look.

Now, there is no need for interviews at all. Just seeing the big-nosed foreigners with wide eyes and thumbs up is enough to make the Chinese people happy.

A few Japanese people said it was good, maybe average.

But if a group of Westerners, especially Americans, say yes, then it must be very good, first-rate.

In this way, Shiweitian's high-end positioning is instantly popular. Even if the price is a little more expensive, as long as the taste is up to standard, the dining environment is better, and the ingredients are indeed higher-end, it is very different from everyone's psychological expectations. So this feature

The restaurant's settings are now stable.

In the entire process, Cao Zhiqiang’s role was indispensable, and it can even be said to be the most important part.

This is not only a matter of money and brains, but you also have to be proficient in Japanese and English at the same time, and be able to access foreign-related hotels such as Peking Hotel and Jianguo Hotel, so as to be able to get in touch with these foreigners.

Others may not be able to come up with these ideas, but they don’t speak Japanese or English, and they can’t go in and out of Peking Hotel and Jianguo Hotel all day long. It’s hard to come into contact with enough foreigners, and even if they do, they can’t express their ideas.

Communicate your intentions perfectly to the other party.

Even if you can convey it to the other party, you may not be able to convince them to help you act, and you may not be able to afford the price they want.

So, behind every success, there is someone carrying a heavy burden forward.

Cao Jiajia seemed to have great luck from heaven, but in fact, there was someone behind her, that is, Cao Zhiqiang, who was silently carrying the burden for her.

In fact, the best way to deal with this matter is to tell Cao Jiajia in advance and let Cao Jiajia cooperate well, and the effect may be better.

But Cao Zhiqiang discovered that Cao Jiajia couldn't hide things in her heart, so he simply didn't tell her.

This is not to say that Cao Zhiqiang is dissatisfied with Cao Jiajia being the manager of this hotel, that's not it.

It's just that Cao Zhiqiang feels that Cao Jiajia's level is only that of a hotel manager. If her status is higher, she won't be able to control it.

In fact, even this hotel manager, according to what Cao Zhiqiang secretly heard from Ma Hua, relied on He Yuzhu for many things.

For example, a few gangsters came to cause trouble before and refused to pay for meals and asked for so-called protection money. Cao Jiajia was blinded at that time and wanted to really take the money to keep her safe.

He Yuzhu happened to be present at that time, leading a group of chefs and waiters, armed with kitchen knives, brooms and rolling pins, and rushed out together. Then He Yuzhu took the lead and beat the gangsters away together.

Those gangsters probably didn't expect that there were more than 20 male chefs and more than a dozen male security guards in just a small restaurant.

At that time, there were only five gangsters in the group, and they only had knives for concealment. At most, they were trying to scare ordinary people in ordinary restaurants. How could they dare to attack people numbering 20 or 30?

It is said that if those gangsters hadn't run so fast, they would have been left behind, beaten up, and then sent to the police station.

So, after hearing that story, Cao Zhiqiang knew that it was definitely a wise move to find He Yuzhu to join the restaurant.

With He Yuzhu here, not only the quality of the food is guaranteed, but he can also help teach his disciples, and he can really do it at critical times.

During this period, it is up to people like this to keep the situation under control.

On the contrary, my own sister Cao Jiajia would not be able to cope with this kind of thing. She only settles accounts, collects money, and chats and laughs with regular customers during peacetime. She really has no other abilities.

However, Cao Zhiqiang did not expect Cao Jiajia to have any great abilities.

After all, Cao Jiajia is just an ordinary housewife, unlike Cao Zhiqiang, a time traveler whose abilities are ordinary and normal.

On the contrary, the brother-in-law Xia Siming who had not come over yet made Cao Zhiqiang take a slightly higher look.

If not for anything else, Xia Siming is worth cultivating because he sees things clearly and has a gentle personality.

Xia Siming is not in good health and lives in a remote small county, so he cannot perform half of his abilities.

As long as you give him a chance and get his body in good condition, if nothing else, becoming a small leader shouldn't be a problem.

"Hey, Zhiqiang, you're here."

It was He Yuzhu who said this. The reason was that Cao Zhiqiang saw that there were not many people around, so he sneaked into the kitchen to check out the situation.

It was agreed at the beginning that the kitchen was He Yuzhu's territory, so when Cao Zhiqiang arrived, He Yuzhu discovered it.

"Hello, Mr. Cao." Some young chefs also greeted him.

"Okay." Cao Zhiqiang smiled and waved his hand, "Everyone is busy. Don't worry about me. I'll just come over and take a look. It's nothing."

Upon hearing this, He Yuzhu, who was holding a big teapot, said with a smile: "Did you hear that? They just came over to take a look and they were all busy. Didn't they see that there were any guests outside? Hurry up, finish your work early and rest early.

"

After hearing He Yuzhu's order, everyone stopped greeting Cao Zhiqiang and continued busy cooking.

Yes, although the official meal time has passed and dine-in is no longer available, takeout is not over yet.

And some pastries and the like need to be made now.

To put it bluntly, it is at this time that these apprentices can actually start practicing.

When the restaurant is actually open for business, the food cooked by these apprentices cannot be served. It is all cooked by He Yuzhu and the apprentices he brought over. These people are at best a nuisance.

That is, after the meal is over and the takeout is not over, let these people try to make some simple noodles, soups and stir-fries. Only after He Yuzhu passes the evaluation can they be sent out as takeout.

"Zhiqiang." He Yuzhu, who took a sip of strong tea, said with a smile, "They are still busy, so I won't greet you for now. You can just take a look at it. After a while, the takeout time will be over. Let's

Find somewhere else to have a good chat."

"Okay, I'll listen to you, Uncle He." Cao Zhiqiang chuckled, "But Uncle He, are the quality of the people I sent here okay?"

He Yuzhu clucked his lips without hiding anyone, and said directly: "It's okay, maybe. Although there are not many people who are particularly talented, the best thing is that they are willing to work hard and are quite obedient.

Anyway, come here and learn from me, I can’t say you have any extraordinary skills, at least you should be fine as an ordinary chef.”

"That's fine." Cao Zhiqiang chuckled.

Yes, those gangsters at the beginning would never have thought that Shiweitian looks like an ordinary restaurant on the surface, but is actually a chef training school, with most of the chef students in the back kitchen.

Let's put it this way, there are currently a total of twenty-four people in the back kitchen. Except for He Yuzhu and the three apprentices he brought, the other twenty people are all apprentices sent over by Cao Zhiqiang.

The new chef trainees are all young men selected by Cao Zhiqiang from Hongguang Machinery Factory. They are all people with formal worker status, they are just interns.

The reason for this is very simple. Cao Zhiqiang plans to use this method as a pilot to gradually transform Hongguang Machinery Factory.

Hongguang Machinery Factory has many problems, such as backward technology and obsolete equipment. Cao Zhiqiang will not be able to solve them for a while, but if he solves the financial resources and personnel problems first, there will be no problem.

To put it bluntly, Cao Zhiqiang decided to downsize and transform Hongguang Machinery Factory.

The production department cannot move for the time being. After all, the production department still has to produce according to the plan. As long as it stops for this year and waits for the dual-track system to be released and unplanned products can be sold, it can quickly come back to life.

You know, the products of Hongguang Machinery Factory are all very good. If nothing else, the rebar produced here will definitely be very popular once it comes to the market.

The current situation is just that planned production has limited the production capacity of Hongguang Machinery Factory, and a large number of tertiary industry personnel have too heavy burdens.

Cao Zhiqiang is temporarily unable to reform the production sector, but there is still no problem in reforming the tertiary industry sector.

The main problem with the tertiary industry departments is that they have too many redundant staff.

To be more precise, the vast majority of workers in the tertiary industry are formal workers and cannot be dismissed easily, and they do not have many projects to bring in money, so they cannot make ends meet.

Cao Zhiqiang's method was to let the vast number of people in the tertiary industry department find a way out. In the later words, it was called training and re-employment.

The first thing to catch is the group of interns who were brought in by various connections.

Although interns are labeled with the word "intern", it is actually only related to income. The actual file is already in the labor bureau, and they have a serious worker status. They cannot be dismissed easily without justifiable reasons. Of course, resigning yourself will be a separate matter.

In fact, these interns who came to the tertiary industry can't do much, at least they can't produce much benefit.

Cao Zhiqiang's plan is to open a joint venture restaurant chain with himself in the name of Hongguang Machinery Factory, and then gradually transfer the large number of unused young labor force from Hongguang Machinery Factory to work in the restaurant chain group.

To put it simply, young people who have nothing serious to do are allowed to work as chefs and waiters in restaurants, and the catering industry is used to absorb these labor forces.

These people may not be willing to go to ordinary small restaurants, but if it is a chain restaurant with a better environment and a higher income, it should be no problem.

By engaging Hongguang Machinery Factory in a joint venture, firstly, you can take advantage of the Hongguang Machinery Factory's brand name, which saves you a lot of trouble. Secondly, after the joint venture, the new catering company will be a subsidiary cooperative enterprise of Hongguang Machinery Factory, and there will be no need for human relations.

If there is a seamless connection, employees from the original machinery factory can naturally be transferred to the new unit.

This group of twenty people is the first group, mainly experimental in nature, to see what the effect is.

If the effect is good, these people will be the seeds. After learning the craft, they will all become teachers when they return home, teaching the next batch of selected factory workers how to cook.

As for whether this will lead to a decline in cooking skills, it actually doesn't matter.

Anyway, Cao Zhiqiang has thought about it. The restaurant chain mainly focuses on hot pot or spicy hotpot. There is no need for many chefs with high cooking skills. The chefs are more likely to help cut the vegetables, and ordinary cooking skills are enough.

To put it bluntly, the restaurant chain that Cao Zhiqiang wants to build next is not a high-end one like Shiweitian, but a civilian one, with high quality and low price, small profits but quick turnover.

In addition, the waiters will also be temporarily thrown here for internship. They not only have to learn how to serve the dishes, but also how to smile at the guests.

It can be said that Shiweitian is a base and Hongguang Machinery Factory is the backup.

Cao Zhiqiang wants to cultivate a group of seed chefs and seed waiters through Food for Heaven, and then use this group of seed chefs and waiters to train more people.

Once Cao Zhiqiang has enough chefs and waiters with official worker status, he can open a chain of restaurants.

When McDonald's and KFC have not yet arrived, the power of Chinese chain brands will definitely shine.

Of course, this is also inseparable from Cao Zhiqiang’s special formula.

If there were no Chinese cuisine recipes that would make you hungry, Cao Zhiqiang would not dare to open that kind of chain restaurant.

Whoever uses it knows the power of technological catering.

When the time comes, there will be no need to worry about sweeping thousands of armies.

As for whether technological food is harmful, of course there is no problem.

The so-called technological food is harmful because the dosage is too high and harmful additives are used.

As long as the additives are harmless and the dosage is small enough, then there will be no problem.

For example, if you use food additives such as citric acid in moderation, there is absolutely no problem.

Anyway, if Cao Zhiqiang doesn't do it, others will do it sooner or later, so it's better to do it yourself. At least you can do it yourself with more confidence.

In particular, after using it early, if you become an industry leader, you can also specify a strict standard.

In the final analysis, the later generations of Hex Food Technology still have national standards that are too loose and not as strict as those in Europe and the United States.

But who sets the national standard? Is it not set by the leaders in partnership with some leading companies?

If I become the leader, then I don’t have the final say on the indicators?

Therefore, I am doing this for the benefit of the people!