The restaurant was secured, but Cheng Su didn’t rush to open it. She planned to sell fast food, but of course, the restaurant would also serve individual stir-fried dishes.
Fast food required a food cart, the type that could hold water and heat up, which she had seen in her previous life and even patronized. A food cart with dishes neatly arranged inside for customers to pick from was still common in the twenty-first century; it was just that the prices got more expensive with each passing year.
Cheng Su asked around and found a kitchenware manufacturer. She provided her own design for a food cart and dishes, paid a deposit to have them made quickly, and then went to scout the market.
The market was bustling. Besides the market’s own stalls, villagers from several nearby villages brought their produce to sell—meat, vegetables, rice—all available without the need for grain or meat coupons, which was very convenient.
According to Cheng Su’s plan, she aimed to do business twice a day, serving breakfast and lunch.
While waiting for the food cart to be delivered, she didn’t hurry. She first bought some dry and non-perishable food ingredients to stock up, planning to wait for the food cart’s arrival before buying fresh meat and vegetables. Otherwise, storing them now would result in less freshness and affect the taste of the dishes.
So, Cheng Su did a full round of the market, buying a lot of things, and in the end, paid someone with a cart to help transport everything back to the restaurant.
This restaurant was formerly known as Old Wang’s Family Restaurant, and now that she had taken over, she couldn’t continue using that name; it had to be her own.
Beyond that, it was best to publicize it. Yes, print flyers and distribute them near schools to help create some buzz for her business.
Cheng Su personally designed the flyers, sought out a small printing shop to print a generous number of them, and even highlighted a grand opening discount.
After all this was settled, Cheng Su visited the kitchen equipment manufacturer again to check on the progress of the food cart and get the delivery date, then picked an auspicious day to open the restaurant.
From the time she took over the restaurant until now, Cheng Su had been busy outside, truly embodying the early-to-rise, late-to-return work ethic, which made Chunhua and the others very curious.
Commander Qi’s wife had only recently joined the military community and should have been unfamiliar with everything. But on the days when Taiguo was out on missions, she was nowhere to be seen.
When Cheng Su returned home, the nosy Chunhua immediately took the opportunity to ask.
"Oh, sitting at home with nothing to do, I just thought about looking for suitable work or business to do," Cheng Su said, looking visibly tired.
So that was it.
Military allowances were not high, especially for most soldiers who came from rural backgrounds with large families back in their hometowns to support—a meager allowance was never enough.
Therefore, the family members who accompanied the military often worked if they didn’t have family responsibilities, and even those who stayed at home to care for their husbands and teach their children would take on some handicrafts to work on at home, earning a bit extra because, after all, that’s how life goes.
"We earn five cents for every twenty pieces of handicraft we do. If you like, you can also take some to do at home!" Chunhua said with a smile.
Uh, Cheng Su smiled and replied, "Thank you, if I need it, I’ll join you."
Chunhua caught the polite brush-off, glanced at her, and said with a forced smile, "That’s true. You are an educated person; you don’t need to do handicrafts. You could even be a teacher."
Cheng Su had finished high school, unlike them, who were happy just to be literate and able to count after completing elementary schools.
Thinking this, another twinge of sourness crept into her heart. Her husband was a company commander, and she was educated. Whatever job she took would surely be more respectable than handicrafts, right?