Chapter 43: Imitation
Ever since Qianhuan's family purchased 30 kilograms of chestnuts, business was extremely hot in the first half of the month, and they were able to sell about kilograms every day. In just half a month, her family sold nearly kilograms of chestnuts and earned back taels of silver.
Until one day, their stall suddenly became deserted, with only a few old customers coming to buy chestnuts all morning.
"Qianhua, why are there so few people buying sugar-roasted chestnuts today? Does everyone no longer like our sugar-roasted chestnuts?"
Liu was a little confused. Business was good yesterday and there was a long queue in front of the stall waiting to buy. Why were there so few people coming to buy today?
"Mom, that shouldn't be the reason. I suspect there may be other stalls selling sugar-roasted chestnuts."
Qianhuan analyzed calmly that after all, the market is so small, and if the number of buyers suddenly dropped, they must have gone to buy from other stores.
As she expected, an old customer happened to pass by their stall with a bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts bought from another stall in his hand.
"Brother Wang, where did you buy these sugar-roasted chestnuts? Why didn't you come to our stall to buy them today?" Qianhuan asked with a smile.
"Today, there are two more stalls selling sugar-roasted chestnuts in the west of the city. The key is that they sell them cheaper than yours. You sell them for 10 wen per pound, while these two only sell them for 8 wen per pound. They are both selling sugar-roasted chestnuts, but they are 2 wen cheaper than yours. If I still buy from your stall, wouldn't I be a fool?"
The man named Brother Wang said to Qianhuan with some dissatisfaction while holding the oil-paper bag. He felt that he had been ripped off when he bought chestnuts from Qianhuan's stall before.
"Brother Wang, have you tasted the chestnuts? Do they taste the same as those at my home?" Qianhuan listened to his complaints and asked another question.
"I bought this to bring home for my son. How could I bear to taste it? Besides, they are both sugar-roasted chestnuts. How can they taste any different?"
Qianhuan didn't say anything to refute him when she saw this. The man called Brother Wang saw that she didn't say anything, so he left.
It seems that many of Qianhuan's old customers have gone to these two stores to buy chestnuts. No wonder there is not much business in front of their stall today.
In fact, because Qianhuan's sugar-roasted chestnuts business has always been very good, everyone has long wanted to follow her example and do the sugar-roasted chestnut business. Unfortunately, no one has figured out what the black stuff in the pot is.
Only recently did one or two smart people finally discover the secret. So they began to imitate Qianhuan's family and set up a stove and a big pot on the stall, and started to stir-fry and sell sugar-roasted chestnuts.
"Qianhuan, what should we do? There are two stalls trying to imitate us in selling sugar-roasted chestnuts. The key is that they are cheaper than what we sell. Why don't we also lower the price to 8 cents per pound?" Liu was extremely anxious upon seeing this.
"Mom, don't worry. We don't need to lower the price of our chestnuts. It's normal for people to imitate us. Sugar-roasted chestnuts are not a difficult thing to make. Anyone who studies them will find that ordinary sand and gravel are used. I have been prepared for this. They have discovered it relatively late. But imitations are imitations. It may be difficult for them to surpass the taste of ours for the time being."
Qianhuan had long anticipated that someone would discover the recipe of sugar-roasted chestnuts, so she was not surprised or worried at all, and still had a confident expression on her face.
"But if we don't lower the price, no one will come to our house to buy. We purchased 4,000 kilograms of chestnuts, and we still have more than 900 kilograms. If we can't sell them all, will they just pile up at home and be wasted?" Liu asked worriedly.
"Mom, no, you have to have faith in me. All this is only temporary. Two more stalls just opened today, and they sell cheaper than ours. It's normal for people to go to those two stalls to buy from them. But business is not something that can be done in a day or two. When we make food, the most important thing is the quality and taste of the food. I have confidence in the taste of our sugar-roasted chestnuts."
Although the method of making sugar-roasted chestnuts is simple, there are many small details that need to be paid attention to. Otherwise, if one detail is neglected, the sugar-roasted chestnuts may not taste very good. For example, the ratio of sand and chestnuts, for example, the chestnuts in the same pot should be of uniform size, otherwise some chestnuts will be raw and some will be cooked.
Fortunately, they still have some loyal old customers at their stall. One brought out 200 kilograms of chestnuts today, but by four o'clock in the afternoon, they had only sold 50 kilograms, leaving 140 kilograms of raw chestnuts and 10 kilograms of cooked chestnuts.
"Dad, Mom, there are two more stalls in the city that are competing with us for business, so let's just call it a day and go home. Cousin Wenyong is getting married tomorrow, and grandpa's new clothes are ready, so I'll send them to him in the evening. Let's take this opportunity to rest for a few days before making any plans."
"Okay, then let's pack up and go home. We can take the ten pounds of ripe chestnuts that we didn't sell back and eat them ourselves." Liu suggested.
"Mom, I plan to send the remaining ten kilograms of chestnuts that have not been sold to the owner of Zuixianju." Qianhuan said to Liu while packing up her tools.
"Okay, let's arrange it as you said." Liu no longer said petty words. She had become accustomed to listening to her daughter's arrangements.
The family of three began to pack up the stall and prepare to go home. They fried two pots of chestnuts today, each pot containing thirty kilograms, and there were still ten kilograms of cooked chestnuts left unsold.
When she went to put away her tools, she gave all ten kilograms of chestnuts to Manager Zhou.
"Manager Zhou, there are ten kilograms of chestnuts left today. Our stall never sells overnight cooked chestnuts. I will give these ten kilograms of chestnuts to you, the waiters and the chefs in your store."
"Brother Liang, ten catties is too much. I can't accept it." Shopkeeper Zhou declined with a smile. Ten catties costs 100 coins.
"Manager Zhou, don't be embarrassed. It would be embarrassing to leave our things in the restaurant every day. Just take them. It would be a waste to take the unsold ones home. You will be helping us if you take them and eat them." Qianhuan pushed the chestnuts over with a smile.
"Okay, I'll take it. Thank you on behalf of everyone."
"You're welcome. Manager Zhou, I'll be leaving first and you can get on with your business." Qianhuan greeted him politely and walked out of the restaurant with Liu.
"Okay. Walk slowly!"
After putting their things away, the family of three went home on Old Man Wang’s ox cart.
Here, Shopkeeper Zhou distributed 10 kilograms of chestnuts to the shop assistants and chefs of Zuixianju. They ate all of them when the restaurant was not busy. Everyone praised the sugar-roasted chestnuts for being delicious.
The shop assistants and chefs were all grateful to Manager Zhou. Although the items were sent by Qianhuan, the decision was still in Manager Zhou's hands, and he could have taken all the chestnuts home to feed his family.
Shopkeeper Zhou distributed the food to everyone, which was also a reward for his employees. Being rewarded by their superiors, everyone worked harder.
Manager Zhou also took note of this favor.