Food: Selling Boxed Meals at a Construction Site

Chapter 56: Chapter 56: 3-Good Student and

The flyer’s most important information—the menu—was already complete. The second item, the restaurant’s address, was also taken care of. The final piece was the contact phone number.

You couldn’t expect people to just show up at the address on the flyer to place an order, so a contact number was essential. This was the key to the flyer’s success.

He didn’t even need to install a landline; he could just use the old phone from Jiajia Fast Food Restaurant. He just had to apply for a new number, which was a very simple process.

Next on the agenda, Xu An had finally decided to buy a cell phone!

More than half a month after his rebirth, Xu An finally remembered the wonders of a mobile phone and was getting ready to buy one. What a joyous occasion!

Xu An’s requirements for a phone from this era weren’t high. As long as it could make calls, send texts, run various apps normally, and had a decent battery life, it would be fine.

was a year of chaotic free-for-all among the major cell phone brands.

Apple, Nokia, OPPO, Doov, Haier, Koobee, Samsung, Coolpad...

But Xu An wasn’t targeting any of these. His goal was the off-brand phones produced by small manufacturers, which still had a massive market in this era.

In just a few years, phones would be upgraded faster and faster, with more and more features. There was no need to spend a thousand yuan or so now on a smartphone that, by future standards, wasn’t very "smart" at all.

An off-brand phone with a touchscreen, a strong battery, a full range of features, and so sturdy you could crack walnuts with it, all for just 299 yuan. How could you not be tempted?

Wei really lived up to his reputation. By nine that evening, he had already sent the edited photos to Xu An. In addition to the seven they had agreed on, he even threw in two extras.

One was a photo of the kitchen, and the other was of the storefront.

These two photos were quite useful. They could clearly show customers the restaurant’s environment and condition, boosting their confidence in the establishment.

Making the flyer was also quick. The next day, after closing up shop, Xu An went to an internet cafe and finished the design in just two hours.

He then found a print shop to print three hundred copies. Since it was a large order, the color printing cost only thirty cents per sheet, totaling ninety yuan for all three hundred.

The best people for handing out flyers were, naturally, earnest college students. For just twenty yuan a day, plenty of them were eager for the job.

Old Han helped him find two college students. They were to distribute the flyers within a one-kilometer radius of the Hai City Library.

This strategy proved to be quite effective. Starting at nine o’clock the next morning, calls began trickling in to Xu An’s cell phone.

However, they were mostly inquiries about the restaurant; not many actually placed an order.

But at least it left an impression. Perhaps in a few days, when they didn’t feel like going out or couldn’t decide what to eat, they would remember his fast food restaurant that delivered.

Wu Hong was an ordinary office worker, and today was just another ordinary day at work.

He got off the bus as usual, but he still had to walk over seven hundred meters to get to his office.

The road to his company was bustling. Breakfast stalls lined both sides, their billowing steam adding to the sweltering summer heat. He had walked less than three hundred meters, and a thin layer of sweat already beaded on his forehead.

Just then, someone at his side handed him a flyer.

The weather was too hot. He didn’t look at the flyer’s contents or pay attention to what the person handing it out was saying. He just took it and kept walking.

For the next four hundred meters, the flyer served to bring him a sliver of a cool breeze.

That’s right—Wu Hong had taken the flyer for the sole purpose of using it as a fan.

Seven hundred meters wasn’t far, but it wasn’t exactly close, either. As long as he kept walking, he’d get there eventually.

Wu Hong collapsed into his seat, basking in the dual refreshment of the air conditioner and a fan. He finally let out a long, comfortable sigh.

He tossed the flyer he’d gotten on the way onto his desk and then dove into a busy morning of work.

The clock hands slowly crept toward twelve. It was time for lunch break.

After putting his computer to sleep, Wu Hong glanced out the window. The sunlight was even more vicious than it had been that morning. Just looking at it, he could imagine the dreadful heat waiting outside.

Wu Hong, however, was prepared. He pulled two bread rolls from his backpack. This was his lunch.

It was easy to get crumbs everywhere when eating bread, so Wu Hong rummaged around his desk and finally found the flyer from that morning. He was just about to place it on his desk as a placemat when he suddenly noticed its slogan.

"What to have for lunch? Xu’s Fast Food—delivered right to your door, so you can enjoy a delicious meal."

’Delivered right to your door?’

Wu Hong was drawn in by that phrase. He curiously picked up the flyer and read its contents.

The first thing to catch his eye was a set of seven pictures. Each picture showed a different meal. Though the colors on the flyer were a bit distorted, he could still make out what the dishes were.

Below the photos was a block of text.

Monday: Fish with Pickled Greens, Steamed Egg with Minced Pork, Yuxiang Eggplant, and Seaweed Egg Drop Soup;

Tuesday: Braised Pork Belly, Minced Pork with Sour Beans, Stir-fried Cabbage with Vermicelli, and Mung Bean Sweet Soup;

...

Wu Hong subconsciously glanced at the calendar on his desk. Today was Tuesday, which meant the box lunch special was braised pork belly...

He glanced at the photo of the braised pork belly, then back at the bread roll in his hand. Suddenly, the roll seemed incredibly dry and difficult to swallow.

He looked at the flyer again. Three dishes and a soup—such a hearty box lunch was only eight yuan! Even with the delivery fee, it was only eight-fifty!

He flipped the flyer over. There were only two pictures on the back.

One was a photo of the kitchen, which was clean and tidy, with everything arranged in an orderly fashion. The other photo was of the dining area. A quick glance revealed fifteen or sixteen tables; this restaurant was clearly not small.

’A place this big should be trustworthy,’ he thought. ’Why not give it a try?’

’The only thing is, delivery requires a minimum of two orders. I’ll have to find someone to split it with.’

His eyes swept across the office. Several other people were also at their desks, munching on bread and drinking milk.

Wu Hong gave a hard push with his feet, and his office chair shot across the floor like an arrow, stopping beside a coworker. He handed the flyer to him.

"How about we try the box lunches from this place tomorrow?"

...

When packing the box lunches that day, they put a flyer inside each one. Over a hundred flyers were sent out this way with the sold meals.

Some of the office workers who were regular customers of Xu An’s were pleasantly surprised. They could finally see the next day’s menu in advance and know if it was something they liked. It was no longer a mystery box.

Previously, some people had hesitated to order because they didn’t know what the next day’s meal would be, worried they might get something they didn’t like.

Now that the daily menu was printed on the flyer, they could know everything with a single glance, eliminating any lingering hesitation.

「Xu Family Village」

A tall girl in a Hai City Nautical College uniform dragged a suitcase down a small path in the village. As she passed Xu An’s house, she poked her head in for a look but didn’t see anyone.

Seeing no one was around, the girl continued dragging her suitcase down the path to the west. When she reached Xu Guosheng’s house at the end of the road, she banged on the door twice, BANG BANG, and shouted, "Dad, Mom, I’m home for summer break!"

Xu Guosheng and his wife, who were in the middle of a meal, quickly put down their bowls and chopsticks. One of them grabbed the suitcase handle while the other took the girl’s arm, leading her inside.

"Mom, did you make braised pork belly today? I could smell something amazing as soon as I entered the village."

"The village entrance? That must have been Anzi and Heping. They made braised pork belly today."

"Anzi and Heping?"

"You haven’t heard? They’ve started up a box lunch business, selling them at the construction sites. Your Uncle Dongliang says business is pretty good."

"That’s right. Every morning around nine or ten, the whole village is filled with the aroma of their cooking. People in the village have even started eating lunch earlier, just because the smell makes them so hungry."

Finally, the couple leaned in and whispered a few words in their daughter’s ear. Her pupils contracted in shock as she listened.

’Xu An—the honest, by-the-book model student. Xu Heping—the king of the kids, always climbing trees to raid nests and wading in the river to catch fish. The two of them were actually running a business together? It was unbelievable!’

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