It’s not that there’s nothing else fun in Jiangcheng besides these things; it’s just that Fan Tianyu, with a group of kids who had just turned 18, could only engage in such activities.
After spending 10 solid days playing around Jiangcheng, they began to feel a bit worn out, and as the days went by, they found themselves sleeping more than playing.
However, after 10 days of fun, Fan Tianyu developed a new idea for his future business.
That evening, after dinner, Fan Tianyu called Mei Mengzhen to his room.
Of course, the door was definitely left open. Fan Tianyu cared about these little details. He had thought about calling her out, but it would have been inconvenient with Mei Mengchen involved, and with Liang Xiao following along, it would not be easy to discuss privately. So, he decided to just stay in the hotel.
Each sitting on a bed, they started chatting, "Zhenzhen, I don’t want to sell vegetables anymore. I have another idea."
Mei Mengzhen asked curiously, "Brother Tianyu, tell me."
"I’m thinking of opening a private dining restaurant. The vegetables we have are unique in Xincheng, and unique in Jiangcheng as well. It’s profitable to sell such rare vegetables, but wouldn’t it be even more profitable if we cooked them ourselves? Over these ten days, we pretty much tried all the cuisine in Jiangcheng, yet none tasted better than our own vegetables. If we want to make money, why not aim higher?"
It had to be said that Fan Tianyu’s idea was better than hers. All she could think about was selling vegetables. No matter how high-end a supermarket was, it was still just selling vegetables, with daily earnings limited to that level. But if they were to open their own restaurant, first of all, they could charge much higher prices, and not only would they earn more, but they wouldn’t necessarily need as much quantity.
"When you speak of a private dining restaurant, how large a scale are you considering? And if the restaurant’s prices are too high, will people come to eat? We don’t know any high-end clientele, so how would you promote your private dining restaurant?"
After all, if the food is too expensive, ordinary people won’t be able to afford it.
In 2008, it wasn’t like later years; you couldn’t just use Weibo or short videos to instantly make a place popular. But actually, the most crucial aspect was the price. The prices she set for their vegetables were already quite high. For instance, she priced a head of cabbage at seven yuan for Fan Tianyu, and obviously, you can’t sell it for just seven yuan; the price naturally had to be doubled. But even if you sell it for ten or twenty yuan, you’ll lose money on water, electricity, seasoning, and labor costs. And after all, it is just a head of cabbage. Would you spend fifty yuan on a plate of simple stir-fried cabbage outside?
Without knowing the taste of this vegetable, Mei Mengzhen felt that she wouldn’t spend that much. So the focus returned to marketing again. To succeed in this venture, they had to get the marketing right.
"Even though it’s private dining, I don’t plan to open in a very remote location. Preferably, it should be in the city center. I’m thinking of buying a larger residence and converting it."
Mei Mengzhen was puzzled, as this was the first time she had heard of such a concept. "Explain it to me in detail," she urged.
"Our Jirdan Road area is bustling, right? There are big malls and small shops, a wealth of food, drink, and entertainment options—it’s a complete set. There are also many office buildings around, which means there’s business potential. Due to its prime development, the surrounding residences haven’t been demolished. They cover a large area, and it’s costly to demolish them, so I’m thinking of buying one of those residences there and converting it into our private dining restaurant. That way, there’s bound to be a steady flow of people, and there are also many restaurants and buffet options in a row, so business should be good."
Mengzhen understood immediately, but as much as she understood, she felt that Fan Tianyu’s plan wasn’t that easy to implement. "Brother Tianyu, these past days weren’t just for fun. We also got a rough idea of the housing prices. Generally, they’re around 5,000 yuan." It was much more expensive compared to Xincheng, and as for busy areas like the one Tianyu mentioned, the prices would be even higher—around 10,000 yuan or more.
And that figure of over 10,000 yuan was just an estimate based on varying house prices—those facing the street would undoubtedly be more expensive, possibly around 15,000 yuan. Tianyu had made money recently, but buying a private house to start a restaurant might drain all of his funds. Though she was also going to be part of the venture and could add her own money to his, she wondered whether this location was appropriate.
"Brother Tianyu, why pick that area? Even though there’s a high volume of passersby, our vegetables are not going to be cheap. A big crowd doesn’t necessarily mean wealth, and having money doesn’t mean they’ll come to eat at our place."
"What’s your suggestion, then?" Tianyu asked.
"My opinion is that your idea is great, but the location near Jirdan Road isn’t particularly suitable. You see, those busy shops are small business success stories. It might be better to open near our university, close to the mall we visited previously."
"This area?"
Tianyu was not particularly fond of this neighborhood, which was understandable since it was surrounded by universities and he naturally assumed that students didn’t have money. However, students could actually be the wealthiest group, and there were many entrepreneurial offices and buildings near the schools. Plus, in the near future, the area just beyond would develop further, and this part of the city would become even busier. This wasn’t happening just yet, which meant that property prices were much cheaper here than in the Jirdan area. Property prices in this area were a little over 10,000 yuan, and that was a high estimate. Moreover, in the future, prices here were expected to surpass those in the Jirdan Road area, making it more economical to buy property here.
Tianyu hesitated for quite a while without making a decision. Mengzhen said, "How about you think it over some more, Tianyu? I think your idea is good. Of course, if you still want to open a shop in the Jirdan district, that’s fine too. We’ll just decide on a location."
"I’ll consider it. Anyway, you’re about to start school soon, and while you’re busy with military training, I’ll take some time to make a detailed comparison. There’s no rush to start a business; it’s better to consider everything thoroughly."
Mengzhen agreed. "Brother Tianyu, I guess I’ll be busy during my military training period." After saying this, Mengzhen handed her savings book to Tianyu, "Brother Tianyu, this is my passbook. It has about 4.5 million yuan. You can use it as startup capital for our business venture."
Tianyu refused, "I have enough money already."
"I know you have enough, you’ve got more than 12 million yuan." This was after deducting the money spent on buying two properties in Xincheng. "But I’m your business partner, I can’t not contribute any money. With the high property prices in Jiangcheng, if the place you like is too large and all your money goes into buying it, what will we do about the renovation costs? Let’s keep it as before; I’ll put in 30% and you 70%, and I’ll continue to take care of the vegetable supply for you. Don’t worry about these minor issues, unless Brother Tianyu doesn’t want to start a business with me."
Tianyu had never considered not partnering with her, "Of course not."
"In that case, you really should take the money. Otherwise, how could I have the face to say I’m the junior boss of this private restaurant?"