Seventies Sweetheart: From Breakup to Billionaire-Chapter 295: No Leftovers Sold

In the blink of an eye, another month had passed.

Business at Xingfu Restaurant had stabilized, with a steady daily footfall of around five hundred people and an average net profit of about two hundred and thirty yuan.

Business was better on Saturdays and Sundays, typically busy from morning till night, and sometimes even the vegetables and meat delivered from Quanfu Building were not enough, so Lin Xiang had to go and borrow some from them.

After figuring out this pattern, Quanfu Building’s procurement would send extra vegetables and meat every weekend.

Besides Zheng Miaoyue, the other four roommates would come to work part-time on weekends.

Lin Xiang paid them a part-time wage of one yuan a day, along with two meals, and settled the wages on the spot.

This way, during the busiest times, the restaurant had adequate staff, and the roommates could also earn a little extra money.

One yuan a day might not sound like much at first, but it adds up to eight yuan a month, which is especially helpful for Wu Yan and Mao Ying, making their lives a bit easier.

This situation continued until the National Day holiday.

The day before National Day, Mrs. Lin specifically instructed a few of the sisters-in-law to be sure to come early the next day for preparation.

However, on National Day, Xingfu Restaurant experienced its first wave of low business.

Mrs. Lin occasionally glanced at the wall clock, "It’s already half-past eleven, why isn’t anyone here yet?"

Lin Xiang was munching on sunflower seeds, "Aren’t there guests here?"

"Usually, at least half of the tables in the restaurant are full. But look, today there are only a few people scattered around."

Weren’t there supposed to be more customers during the holidays?

By twelve-thirty, the usual lunchtime peak, the number of people in the restaurant was less than a fifth of what it usually was, let alone compared to a typical weekend.

"Girl, why are you still eating sunflower seeds?"

Mrs. Lin was full of worry, "There’s hardly anyone here today, why aren’t you worried at all?"

Lin Xiang blinked at Mrs. Lin, her eyes full of confusion, "What am I supposed to be worried about?"

"Mom, we opened this business knowing we had to accept fluctuations in business. Although the foot traffic has been relatively stable this month, it doesn’t mean our business will be good every day. If you can’t handle this disparity, you’ll break down sooner or later."

"Besides, today is a special situation. It’s the National Day holiday, and many people use this time to go out and play; there are hardly any people in school, let alone those who would come to our place to eat."

As soon as Lin Xiang finished speaking, Su Yu couldn’t help but nod, "Lin Xiang is right. I don’t know about the boys, but in our girls’ dormitory, at least half have left. When we went out, we saw a lot of senior sisters arranging to go for a walk together."

They also wanted to take advantage of the National Day holiday to explore around Beijing.

They had been in Beijing for over a month, but their activities were mostly limited to Huaqing University, with the farthest place they had been being Quanfu Building when they went with Zheng Miaoyue.

Apart from that, they had not seen the famous landmarks of Beijing themselves.

But Su Yu and the others thought that, given the National Day holiday, Xingfu Restaurant’s business would be booming, so they resisted the urge to travel and specially came to help.

Who would have thought that by after twelve, the hall still wasn’t full?

They hardly helped at all.

"You four should take the chance to go out for a couple of days too. October, with the weather neither too hot nor too cold, is perfect for going out and having fun."

"But what about Xingfu Restaurant..."

Lin Xiang pointed to the few tables of guests, "Judging by the looks of it, the business will stay like this for the next four days. You can use these three or four days to explore around Beijing, and come back to do part-time in three days."

"Now that there are many people traveling, no matter which scenic spot you go to, there will probably be crowded situations, so you must ensure your safety. Also, carry less cash when going out to avoid losing it in the crowd."

Before Su Yu and the others left, Lin Xiang wanted to settle today’s wages for them, but the four of them adamantly refused.

"We didn’t really help out today, and besides, you’ve already treated us to a meal, so it doesn’t make sense to take the wages."

"Then it’s settled, we’ll report back in three days in the morning."

Lin Xiang waved at them, "Stay safe!"

After one o’clock, when the last table of guests left, no one came to the restaurant anymore.

Mrs. Lin and a few sisters-in-law looked at the buckets that were more than half full, feeling a bit worried.

"Girl, what are we going to do with all this leftover food? How about we keep selling in the afternoon?"

Lin Xiang immediately shook her head and rejected Mrs. Lin’s proposal, "Didn’t we agree at the beginning that food safety and hygiene must be strictly controlled, even if there are leftovers from lunch, they cannot be sold again."

Even now in October, as autumn is here and the weather isn’t hot, meaning food could last, Lin Xiang still did not plan to sell the leftovers from lunch.

Once this precedent is set, it will not be easy to control later.

Mrs. Lin suggested again, "How about we give some to the neighbors, let them share some, and that would solve the problem of the leftover food."

Mrs. Lin’s thinking was simple. Although everyone had probably already eaten by this point, the fast food from Xingfu Restaurant was tasty, and the meat slices in the dishes were substantial, which compared to ordinary home-cooked stir-fries, were much better. If it was free, many would want some.

But Lin Xiang rejected Mrs. Lin’s proposal once again.

"Mom, what if someone claims to feel stomach pain or has digestive discomfort or other issues after eating our freely given food? Even though we mean well, some people might use this as an opportunity to blackmail us."

Mrs. Lin whispered, "It shouldn’t happen, right?"

"Anything is possible; we cannot think from our perspective alone."

"Then what about selling them at a discount?"

"Why sell at a discount? Is there something wrong with our food?"

"There’s nothing wrong with our food. It’s just that there aren’t many people today, so we couldn’t sell as much, leading to these leftovers. We don’t want to waste the food, and you won’t let us give it away, so we’d have to sell it cheaply."

Lin Xiang continued, "If we explain like this to everyone, they’ll understand and take it to heart. This way, in the future, everyone might deliberately avoid regular meal times to get cheaper, discounted meals. What will happen when this becomes unbearable and we are forced to lower prices?"

Mrs. Lin remained silent.

She had suggested several ideas, all of which Lin Xiang rejected, yet Lin Xiang’s rejections were reasonable.

"Girl, what do you think we should do?"

Do we really have to throw it away?

That’s food!

"When the sisters-in-law go home after work, let them take it back to the family quarters."

Most of the people in the family quarters are military dependents, and many households rely on one person’s allowance to support the entire family.