ryethenovel Chapter 54 Intensive Preparations
Chapter 54 Intensive Preparations
Lu Yuan responded, took the keys to the other shops and a notebook from the front desk, and walked towards the front yard.
After lifting the curtain, Lu Wen chatted with three men: an old man and two young men.
Lu Yuan greeted them, saying, "Hello, Third Grandfather, Brother Shan, Brother Qiao!"
Lu Wen was accompanied by his third grandfather's family, Lu Shan and Lu Qiao, who were around 30 years old.
The three of them seemed rather introverted, with somewhat dark skin, and gave Lu Yuan a simple, honest smile.
My third grandfather's wife's family is a family of carpenters, and he also learned some skills from them. Over the years, he has been doing carpentry work with his two sons to earn money.
Although his skills weren't particularly outstanding, he was more than capable of making decorative tables, chairs, and benches for restaurants.
"Xiao Yuan, if you have any requests, just tell your third grandfather. I'll bring the aunties over later."
Lu Wen gave a few instructions and then left. He had a lot of work to do these past two days, and he had practically become the HR director of Luwangtan Village.
"Xiao Yuan, your business is booming! The old man has been praising you to us non-stop these past few days."
Last Saturday, Grandpa Lu watched as Lu Yuan sold a meal for 5000 yuan. He was deeply shocked and praised Lu Yuan's business to everyone he met.
"Let's make do with this, Third Grandpa, let's go inside and talk."
Lu Yuan opened the shop next door and invited his third grandfather and his family inside.
The shop was empty, so Lu Yuan opened his laptop and started talking to the three men.
From the front desk to the tables and chairs, and even the private rooms in the backyard, Lu Yuan clearly marked everything.
The style, size, and color were clearly shown on Lu Yuan's notebook, drawing praise from the three men.
The three of them were meticulous people; they took out rulers to measure and notebooks to copy Lu Yuan's original drawings, keeping busy for quite a while.
About 20 minutes later, the four of them came out of the shop next door. The third grandfather said with a serious expression:
"Xiao Yuan, Grandpa will definitely do your job properly, and I'll make sure this shop looks beautiful."
After saying that, the three of them put away the ruler and notebook and prepared to leave.
Unexpectedly, Lu Yuan shook his head and pointed to the three rooms behind him, saying:
"Third Grandfather, we need to build the three rooms in the back as well."
The news that Lu Yuan had bought this row of shops was known only to a few people. Third Grandfather thought that Lu Yuan had simply rented the shop next door and connected it with his own shop.
Although the transfer of village collective houses requires a vote by the villagers, the procedures are not that strict these days, and Grandpa Lu's will is equivalent to the will of the entire village.
Upon hearing this, Third Grandfather opened his mouth in surprise: "Good heavens, you didn't rent all four shops, did you?"
Lu Yuan didn't explain further, but just smiled faintly and said, "So don't pack up your tools yet, let's look at the remaining three shops as well."
Lu Yuan led the three men around to each of the rooms. The three men went from being nonchalant after seeing the first room to looking worried after seeing the last room.
This time, Third Grandfather slammed the notebook shut and sighed, saying:
"Xiao Yuan, Grandpa can't take this job. It's too much work for you. If we take it, it will disrupt your business."
Lu Yuan remained completely calm after hearing this, as he had already prepared a response. He immediately said:
"Third Grandfather, why don't you hire some carpenters from the Zhou family to help with this?"
The Zhou family is the maternal family of the third grandfather's wife, and they are a well-known family of carpenters in the surrounding area.
Third Grandfather said with some difficulty, "You don't know, the Zhou family's carpentry is very expensive. These four shops of yours will cost a lot of money."
Third Grandfather meant well; he didn't intend to charge Lu Yuan much money. As long as it covered the costs, he considered it a favor to the younger generation.
But given his standards, he couldn't hire craftsmen from the Zhou family.
Although he is the son-in-law of the Zhou family, their rules cannot be changed for his sake.
Lu Yuan said calmly, "Don't worry about the money. Just pay them the due amount, but the work has to be done properly."
Third Grandfather wasn't a talkative person. Seeing that Lu Yuan's expression was very serious, he nodded and said:
"Alright, I'll personally go to the Zhou family tomorrow."
"Then I'll leave it to Third Grandfather."
. . .
As if he had timed it perfectly, Lu Wen arrived with six women as soon as the three men left.
Lu Yuan could name some of the six aunts, but he didn't know which family the others belonged to.
"Xiao Yuan, these six aunties all help with the cooking at the big banquet. They are all very good at chopping and stir-frying vegetables."
After Lu Wen finished his introduction, he patted Lu Yuan on the shoulder and left.
Lu Yuan then took his six aunts back to Xiao Lu Farmhouse Restaurant first.
This is where the older woman's advantage came into play. She warmly invited the women to sit down, poured them tea, and prepared cold noodles for them.
Before Lu Yuan started talking about his business, the old lady created a lively atmosphere, instantly bringing everyone closer together.
Lu Yuan felt a surge of warmth in his heart, thinking to himself that this was truly his own aunt, who knew exactly what situation he needed just by looking at her.
"Shufang is so skillful! Her needlework is excellent, and her whitewashing is even more amazing. Those steamed buns she made are so beautiful."
"I feel a little guilty that Caixia came to help. What will we do for the banquet in the future without your help?"
. . .
The older woman showered them with compliments, and the other women were overjoyed.
Then she took the hand of one of the older women and said earnestly:
"Sister-in-law Guifen, Xiaoyuan has really put in a lot of effort to get this shop up and running. You'll have to help him out a lot in the future."
"Xiufang, what are you saying? They're all our own children. We're working for our own family, so of course we have to put our hearts into it!"
Aunt Guifen was persuaded by the old lady and immediately patted her chest to make a guarantee.
Not satisfied with just making that promise, she turned to Lu Yuan and asked:
"Xiao Yuan, just tell us what you need, we aunties will definitely cooperate with you!"
"I do have a request," Lu Yuan said somewhat embarrassedly, "Could you please cook one of your signature dishes and make a cold salad right here?"
Lu Yuan was preparing to taste the dishes. It wasn't that he didn't trust Lu Wenxuan, but he wanted to understand what the aunties were good at.
Of these four empty shops, the one next door will be incorporated into Xiao Lu's Farmhouse Cuisine, and the one in the middle will be opened as a Mala Tang (spicy hot pot) restaurant.
The two restaurants sandwiched between the mala tang shop and Lu Tao's house are also opening home-style restaurants, but with slightly different styles.
In terms of dishes, the main course is stir-fried lamb, accompanied by a few home-style stir-fries and cold dishes as side dishes.
This format is relatively simple; apart from the signature stir-fried lamb, there's not much difficulty.
Lu Yuan would teach his two aunts, who were the best cooks, how to stir-fry lamb.
As for home-style dishes, Lu Yuan doesn't plan to teach them from scratch. He only intends to adjust their usual methods to bring the dishes up to a standard level.
As for cold dishes, they are even more standardized. Lu Yuan will prepare the sauce in advance to ensure the quality of their products.
The menus of the two restaurants must be completely different, except for the signature stir-fried lamb.
Maintaining a certain level of differentiation among stores is more likely to attract diners to return and dine at the stores.