Hearing this, the customer seemed disappointed and said, "Never mind, I’ll save up some money and come back next time."
"Okay, thank you for your patronage, and welcome back again," Xia Chuyi courteously replied.
"Welcome back next time!" Qian Qianqian also called out loudly.
Despite the disappointment of not being able to buy the pickles, the customer ultimately left satisfied due to the polite service from Xia Chuyi and Qian Qianqian.
After the person left, Qian Qianqian came over and asked, "Chuyi, why don’t you sell the pickles separately? They’re cheap, and a lot of people would surely buy them!"
Xia Chuyi smiled and said, "Right, they’re cheap, everyone would buy them and take them home, and then no one would come to our restaurant anymore."
Qian Qianqian was surprised and asked, "Do you think people come to the diner because of the pickles?"
She laughed, "In our diner, although we don’t sell plain broth and braised meat separately, customers can pay more to get more."
"Only the pickles, no matter how much meat a customer adds, one portion of rice comes with one portion of pickles, strictly no additions."
"These are given for free, and since we don’t upcharge, customers can’t complain."
"However, due to its smaller quantity, it paradoxically makes people crave it even more than the braised meat."
Qian Qianqian nodded, "That makes sense."
"With our braised pork rice being tasty on its own, there’s also a unique and fabulous pickle topping that you can’t get anywhere else, drawing more people to dine in."
Having analyzed it seriously, Qian Qianqian looked at Xia Chuyi admiringly and said, "Chuyi, how do you make those pickles? Why are they tastier than any I’ve had before?"
"Crispy and savory, to tell you the truth, even I like using them with rice!"
"However, now that I know we’re using it as a special feature to attract customers, I should eat less of it from now on."
Xia Chuyi burst out laughing and said, "If you want to eat, just go ahead."
"But don’t eat too much, it’s not nutritious."
They were chatting when someone else arrived.
Qian Qianqian immediately went to greet the customer.
The two of them had a clear division of labor, Xia Chuyi was in charge of slicing meat and serving rice, Qian Qianqian took care of welcoming customers, and when it came to taking money, Xia Chuyi handled it at the counter when it was less busy, and Qian Qianqian took it directly at the table when it was busy.
Since the ingredients were limited, on the first day of the trial opening, by noon, all the braised pork rice was sold out.
"Wow, Chuyi, we’re rich, we’re rich, we’re rich!" Qian Qianqian’s eyes sparkled brilliantly as she counted the day’s earnings.
"Chuyi, let’s continue selling rice in the afternoon! That way, the revenue could at least double," Qian Qianqian excitedly suggested.
Xia Chuyi, smiling, shook her head and said, "Qianqian, money is endless."
"I’m about to start school and until we find a suitable part-timer, our place should still only sell at noon."
Upon hearing this, Qian Qianqian was quite disappointed, but she knew that she couldn’t handle the shop on her own.
"I’ll work hard on my knife skills!" Qian Qianqian clenched her fist, "Once I’ve improved, we can sell in the evenings too!"
Xia Chuyi smiled, not wanting to crush her spirits.
During those three days of registration at Kyoto University, the business at "Youwei" improved and they finished earlier each day.
The day before school started, Xia Chuyi told Qian Qianqian, "Kyoto University doesn’t allow students to live off-campus, so from now on, I’ll cut up the ingredients the day before, and you can just scoop them from the pot onto the rice the next day."
"Xia Pan and Xia Ming, let them choose whether they want to stay at home or in the shop, either is fine."
"Just make sure to keep Xiao Kong near them."
After setting everything up and giving her instructions, Xia Chuyi left for Kyoto University and officially started her university life as a student.