"You're Ms. Su, right?" Meng Yu had heard the neighbors call her that earlier and naturally remembered Su Zhu's name.
"Yes, that's me. Can I help you?"
"Here's the thing, Ms. Su," Meng Yu looked at Su Zhu, "I really like the noodles you make. I think this small place is limiting your potential. I want to invite you to develop your business in the capital. What do you think?"
"With your skills, if managed properly, it wouldn't be hard to become a nationally known brand!"
"When that day comes, I dare say the benefits you'll gain will be hundreds or even thousands of times more than what you earn from this little noodle shop!"
Meng Yu thought such a generous offer would definitely move Su Zhu.
But to his disappointment, Su Zhu shook her head. "Sir, thank you for your kind offer."
"I'm not aiming to become some billionaire. A peaceful life is enough for me. Besides, I like living here. The capital may be great, but it's unfamiliar. How could it compare to the comfort of my hometown?"
"Maybe one day I'll go develop in the capital, but definitely not now. Thank you for your kindness."
Su Zhu wasn't being stubborn—she simply had no idea who this man really was. Without trust, how could there be cooperation?
Moreover, fair cooperation should be based on equal strength. She was just an ordinary person, and the gap in power between them was too vast. Wouldn't she just end up being at his mercy?
To think in the worst-case scenario—what if he used Chenchen to threaten her? What would she do then?
She didn't like putting her fate in someone else's hands. It made her feel insecure.
She would definitely go to the capital one day—but by her own strength. She believed that with the secret manual in hand, all her dreams could come true!
Seeing that Su Zhu had made up her mind, Meng Yu sighed in disappointment and smiled. "Alright then, Ms. Su, I respect your choice."
As he spoke, Meng Yu took a pen and paper from the counter, wrote down a name and a string of numbers, and handed it to Su Zhu.
"Ms. Su, this is my number. If one day you decide to develop in the capital, give me a call. I think I might be able to help."
"Ms. Su, I don't mean anything else by this. I just really enjoy your noodles and I especially like Chenchen—she's absolutely adorable!"
Seeing the genuine look on Meng Yu's face, the guarded expression on Su Zhu's face softened. She took the note and glanced at it, then said gratefully, "Thank you, Mr. Meng Yu. I might really need your help someday."
"You're welcome." With that, Meng Yu turned to the bar and waved at Chenchen. "Little cutie, big brother is leaving. Do your best, okay?"
Chenchen waved back at Meng Yu. "Bye-bye, big brother! Come back again for my mom's noodles sometime!"
"Absolutely. I'll come when I get the chance. You sing beautifully. Keep it up!"
"Thank you for the compliment, big brother! Chenchen will work hard!"
Just as he reached the door, Meng Yu turned around again and smiled at Su Zhu, who looked puzzled.
"By the way, Ms. Su, can I buy two pounds of your beef? I love it so much!"
Su Zhu shook her head apologetically. "I'm sorry, Mr. Meng Yu. Our shop has a rule—we don't sell the beef separately."
"How about half a pound then? Please?" Meng Yu started using the soft and persistent approach.
But Su Zhu still shook her head. If she opened that door, the neighbors would all come asking. She might as well stop running a Hand-Pulled Noodle House and open a deli instead.
"Alright then, I'll respect your rules!"
"Bye-bye, little cutie!"
After saying goodbye to Chenchen, Meng Yu walked out of the Hand-Pulled Noodle House with a look of disappointment.
Moments later, the roar of a Mercedes G-Class echoed as it drove off.
After Meng Yu left, Chenchen ran to play in the backyard while Su Zhu went back to the kitchen to knead dough. Now that Zhao Bing and Wu Xianming were handling the hand-pulled noodles, she could free up her hands to focus on dough preparation and ensure a steady supply.
While kneading, Su Zhu calculated the cost and profit of the hand-pulled noodles in her mind. The profit margin on hand-pulled noodles was actually quite good. Su Zhu never cut corners or used subpar ingredients. Even so, her profit per bowl still reached 50%.
For her hand-pulled noodles, Su Zhu always used the best—Golden Dragon Fish high-gluten flour. A 50-pound bag cost her 125 yuan. After adding water, she could make 60 pounds of noodles from one bag. Normally, restaurants serve 150 grams for a large bowl and 100 grams for a small one. But Su Zhu was generous—she used 200 grams for a large bowl and 150 grams for a small one. Even if every bowl was a large one, 60 pounds of noodles could still make 150 bowls.
The most expensive part of her noodle bowls wasn't the noodles—it was the beef. Premium beef shank now cost 40 yuan per pound. Even as a regular customer, Su Zhu still had to pay about 35 yuan per pound. No exaggeration—a single slice of beef cost about one yuan. That's why many noodle shops cut the beef paper-thin or even used processed beef to save money.
But Su Zhu served solid, honest slices—three of them. That was three yuan for beef alone. Add in the cost of flour, seasoning, water, electricity, labor, and rent… and the cost per bowl easily exceeded five yuan.
Even selling 100 bowls a day only brought in about 600 yuan in pure profit. But Su Zhu never considered raising her prices. Her customers were all neighbors and local residents—she didn't want to raise prices and get bad-mouthed for it.
She planned to save up some money and open another noodle shop with delivery services in the city. That would be the place to raise prices. Su Zhu believed she could make 1,000 bowls of noodles a day with no problem.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。