Food: Selling Boxed Meals at a Construction Site

Chapter 63: Chapter 63: The Receptionist Strategy

Xu An nodded, having heard what Liang Dani had to say.

’Looks like my first impression of Jin Dayong was spot on. He’s a sinister, cunning little man.’

In today’s first round of engagement, however, Jin Dayong clearly hadn’t come out on top.

Plenty of workers were swayed, but most just took the tea-leaf eggs and left. Some went back to the construction site, and others returned to Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant.

Take Qiao Xingguo, one of their regulars. He was sitting in the restaurant right now, having polished off the tea-leaf egg in two bites before happily digging into his meal.

He chatted with his wife as he ate. "Xu’s Fast Food is still the best. The portions are huge, it’s filling, and it tastes great."

Delicious Restaurant had been outmaneuvered today, but according to Liang Dani, there was no telling if they would copy their restaurant’s model completely to steal customers tomorrow.

’I was originally planning to wait until business stabilized before introducing new dishes, but it looks like I’ll have to move up the timeline!’

Xu An’s guess was right on the money. Jin Dayong looked at the sparse handful of customers in his restaurant, grit his yellowed teeth, and said to his son, "Tomorrow, we’re doing things exactly like Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant. It has to be identical!"

After mulling it over yesterday afternoon and all through the night, Old Han finally realized the issue wasn’t his delivery speed, but the number of orders going to a single address.

The more orders for the same address, the less time each delivery took. Conversely, a high volume of orders to different addresses would cause the time spent to multiply.

To increase his income, he had to increase the number of orders per address. That was the best strategy.

When he arrived at the shop at eleven to help pack the lunch boxes, Old Han specifically asked for four extra meals, offering to pay for them himself.

Xu An assumed it was a last-minute order for one of Old Han’s friends and didn’t think much of it, so he packed four extra meals and gave them to him.

The first company Old Han delivered to today was a foreign trade company. After asking the young woman at the front desk to notify the customers, he didn’t just stand by the door and wait for them like he did yesterday. Instead, he carried one of the lunch boxes over to her desk.

"I’ve already notified them," the receptionist said, her expression souring slightly. She thought Old Han was trying to rush her.

To her surprise, Old Han held the lunch box out to her and said with a smile, "This is for you. On the house."

The receptionist looked at the smile on Old Han’s face. A saying popped into her head: *no one is attentive for no reason*. "I already have a boyfriend," she blurted out.

?

Old Han was dumbfounded for a second before realizing the receptionist had misunderstood him. "Oh, no, I was just hoping you could do me a small favor," he quickly explained.

The receptionist was still on high alert, her expression full of suspicion as she looked at Old Han.

Seeing this, Old Han walked back to his bicycle outside, pulled a small stack of flyers from his delivery box, and returned to hand them to her.

"The lunch is free. The only catch is, you have to eat it here at the front desk. If anyone asks where you got it, give them one of these flyers. If no one asks, you don’t have to give any out."

She took a flyer and glanced at it. It was for a legitimate fast-food restaurant, not anything shady or weird.

The receptionist looked at the lunch box, then back at Old Han. After a moment’s thought, she reached out and took the meal and the flyers.

"Alright, but I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to hand all of these out."

Seeing the receptionist agree, Old Han let out a silent sigh of relief and thanked her profusely.

The first step was taken. Now, it was time to see if it would pay off.

Just then, the customers who had placed the order came out, and Old Han got busy.

Old Han repeated the same tactic at the next three companies, successfully getting the receptionists to agree each time. Today’s strategy was a resounding success!

The receptionist at the foreign trade company found Old Han’s request baffling, but since she’d accepted the free meal, she had to follow his instructions.

At twelve o’clock, the lunch break began.

The receptionist sat at her desk and opened the lunch box.

She was pleasantly surprised when she saw the soup. It wasn’t like the watery daily specials from other restaurants that had maybe a single strand of seaweed or a wisp of egg and tasted like nothing.

This lotus root soup actually had lotus root! And peanuts! And adzuki beans!

You could tell what kind of soup it was just by looking at the ingredients!

The next container held Sliced Pork in Hot Chili Oil. Tender slices of pork were arranged over a bed of bean sprouts, pickled greens, and tofu skin. Peeking out from between the slices were hints of scallion, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, chili peppers, and sesame seeds. A few sprigs of cilantro garnished the top, making her mouth water and her appetite roar to life.

The second container held Mapo Tofu and Hot and Sour Cabbage. Even with the lid on, she could smell the numbing spice of the tofu and the tangy kick of the cabbage.

The last container was packed to the brim with white rice.

The receptionist stared at the spread before her, stunned. ’All... all of this for only eight yuan? That’s an incredible deal!’

She then pulled the flyer from her drawer to check the menu for the next day.

Steamed Pork Patty with Preserved Greens, Fish-Fragrant Eggs, and Stir-fried Bok Choy, with a Dried Cabbage and Pork Bone Soup.

Then she looked at the menu for the day after tomorrow...

*Hiss!* The receptionist couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath. It wasn’t just today’s menu—every single day looked amazing! And they were all dishes she loved!

’I wonder if he’ll bring me another free lunch tomorrow,’ she thought. ’If not, I should just order one for myself!’

Eating out usually cost eight to ten yuan anyway, and it was never this lavish.

Setting the flyer aside, the receptionist began to enjoy her incredibly sumptuous lunch.

Her colleagues, who had been working hard all morning, began to clock out for lunch. They walked out in twos and threes, discussing where they should go to eat.

As soon as they stepped out of the office, a numbing, spicy, and savory aroma hit them. In unison, several of them swallowed hard.

’What is that smell? It’s amazing!’

During the lunch rush, Xu An’s phone was ringing off the hook. Every call was a new order for a lunch box.

As he took down the orders, Xu An noticed something strange. Almost all the new orders were coming from just four companies.

These were four of the companies they had added to their route after handing out flyers, but they were ones Xu An hadn’t targeted with his "receptionist strategy." They were growing organically.

’Old Han is the one who delivers to those four companies, isn’t he?’ Xu An thought about the four extra meals Old Han had requested at lunchtime, and an idea popped into his head. ’Did that kid use the receptionist strategy, just like I did?’

Xu An opened his chat with Old Han.

’Old Han, congrats! The orders from the companies on your route have increased by twenty-seven. You’re not far from making over a hundred a day.’

’Hehe, guess my trick worked,’ Old Han replied, adding a smug emoji.

’The receptionists?’ Xu An asked tentatively.

’How did you know?! (shocked emoji)’

Seeing the reply, Xu An knew his guess was right. He had indeed used the receptionist strategy.

’How many lunches did you give to the receptionists today?’

’Four.’

’Alright, I’ll reimburse you for the cost of those four meals. Keep up the great work.’

’You’re the best, boss! (thumbs-up emoji)’

After putting his phone down, Xu An rubbed the rough stubble just starting to emerge on his chin.

’Maybe I should try this receptionist strategy with all the companies?’

’I’ll give it a three-day trial.’

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