Chapter 507: Gourmet Interview Exclusive
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Gu Zi had heard the news. The men who had been working away from their village for the whole year were finally returning home. No matter how hard life was outside, they would always return home for the New Year. Aunt Yang’s son should be arriving home soon, but from the tone of Aunt Yang’s voice, Gu Zi could not detect any joy. It seemed that the son’s return was the prelude to another drama.
After settling the accounts in the shop, Li Hua walked over to Gu Zi from the counter. “Sister, have you explained everything to Aunt Yang? I have something to tell you. Last Saturday, during our tasting event in the city, we met a local newspaper reporter. He said he wanted to interview us for a culinary feature. He even left us the newspaper’s phone number. Should we accept?”
As she spoke, she handed Gu Zi a piece of paper with the number written on it. Gu Zi took it and looked at it, a slight smile playing on her lips. She hadn’t expected the publicity to be more effective than she had anticipated, even attracting the attention of the newspaper. “Of course we should accept! This is a shortcut to making our name known!”
Li Hua’s face also lit up with happiness. She held a raw peanut in her hand, peeling it to make peanut curd for breakfast. But she was somewhat puzzled about the newspaper interview. “We’re just selling food. What do we need fame for? Even if we become famous, it’s not like the whole country will come to eat our food, right?”
She thought that even if they really attracted people from all over the country to eat here, their small shop wouldn’t be able to accommodate them all. Her sister always said that one family couldn’t earn all the money in the world. Why was she saying something different now?
Gu Zi helped her peel the peanuts and said, “Are you really satisfied with just running a shop ? Sister-in-law, haven’t you ever thought that one day you could be the owner of a national chain of gourmet restaurants? I mean, haven’t you ever thought about expanding Sister Hua’s Gourmet Shop all over the country? Of course, our single shop can’t accommodate that many customers, but what if we had branches all over the country?”
“Of course, this can’t be rushed. We need to build our business steadily. Look, our reputation has already attracted the attention of the newspaper. After the newspaper interviews us and our fame expands, we can strike while the iron is hot and open a branch in the city. Then we can expand to other cities around us, spreading from a single point to cover the whole country…”
The words of Gu Zi left Li Hua, who had been content with the status quo, somewhat dazed. She was stunned for a good while before she stuttered a response. “Sister, it’s easier said than done. Opening so many stores with just us few, can we manage? I think the money earned from this one store is enough for us, why bother with the extra effort?”
Gu Zi looked at her somewhat retreating figure, not in a hurry, but patiently said, “How can we not manage? By then, we will not only be operators, but also managers. We can develop and train our own forces to manage others. You, Aunt Yang, Mom, and I, we can all become independent, commanding generals of thousands of troops!
“Don’t be afraid, sister-in-law. It sounds like a big deal, but it’s actually not that difficult. Once you really do it, you won’t feel overwhelmed. Besides, we haven’t done anything yet, have we? But we still need to look at the problem with a developmental perspective. The opportunity for development is already in front of us. We have to do this interview. You should respond to them.”
Li Hua looked at Gu Zi, thinking about her own business, which she thought she had almost mastered. It wasn’t as difficult as she thought, but now it seemed that her learning journey was still long. She slowly responded, “How should I reply, and when should the interview be?”
Gu Zi’s thinking was very clear, and she replied quickly, “Just say we accept the interview, ask when it is convenient for them. If there’s no problem, next Saturday would be a good time. Then ask what food they are most interested in, and if we need to prepare anything. That should be enough.”
As Gu Zi spoke, Li Hua hurriedly took out a pen and paper to take notes. Li Hua didn’t have this habit before, but now she felt that indeed, the faintest ink was better than the best memory, it was more reliable to write it down.
The main reason was that everything she was dealing with now was too new. Everyone else thought that Li Hua was just opening a store, but only she could feel that this was more like a rebirth with the help of her sister-in-law.