I Bacame the Mother of His Child-Chapter 22 - 21: Booming Business

Sichuan Pavilion opened for business on its first day, and Xu Xiuxiu sent Song Chengguang off to the military. Cai Qiufen was very fond of Song Chengguang, and knowing that Xu Xiuxiu would be too busy with the opening of Sichuan Pavilion to take care of him, she had made arrangements with Xu Xiuxiu early on to help look after him. Xu Xiuxiu originally felt it was inappropriate, but since she couldn't find a better candidate, she had no choice but to trouble Sister Cai Qiufen.

On the first day of its opening, Xu Xiuxiu was both nervous and excited. Although she had distributed flyers quickly in the previous days, as the owner, she still felt anxious not seeing customers. However, as the head chef, she forced herself to be patient and waited in the kitchen. Around noon, Sichuan Pavilion welcomed its first table of customers, and Su Juan, thrilled, rushed into the kitchen after taking their order.

"Xiuxiu, hurry, our guests are here." Su Juan was quite restless, her professional demeanor in front of the customers completely vanished.

Xu Xiuxiu smiled at her and then took the order book from her hand, "Calm down, remember, the customer is king, and service is paramount." Xu Xiuxiu comforted Su Juan.

Su Juan nodded at her words then walked out of the kitchen with a smile.

Xu Xiuxiu quickly started cooking. Since it was the first day of business, Xu Xiuxiu wasn't completely sure, so she had prepared a lot the day before. The dishes and ingredients were already ready, so the food was served quite quickly.

Gradually, the second, third, fourth, and fifth tables of customers arrived.

Clearly, many people came for the grand opening promotion of an 8.8% discount across the board. Though some felt the menu prices were a bit steep, curiosity and the attitude of giving it a try drove them into the restaurant. However, after tasting the dishes, most people were conquered by the spicy flavors and immediately felt that the money was well spent; delicious food understandably commanded a higher price.

Noon passed in a blink, and Xu Xiuxiu was busy from eleven until two in the afternoon. She counted the order book and found that eight tables of customers had come—a much better turnout than Xu Xiuxiu had anticipated.

However, in the evening, Sichuan Pavilion hit its peak.

Xu Xiuxiu was busy from four until past nine at night. By rough calculation from the order book, there had been nearly twenty tables of customers. Though the numbers were boosted by the good location and proximity to several companies, Xu Xiuxiu couldn't help feeling excited.

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At ten o'clock at night, Xu Xiuxiu began to close.

Su Juan and Zhao Xiumei were also exhausted from the day's work, but they couldn't hide the excitement on their faces. The three of them quickly had something to eat to fill their stomachs and then sat with Xu Xiuxiu at the counter, watching as she began to do the accounts.

Xu XIuxiu rapidly tapped on the calculator, and after deducting a series of costs, she came to a conclusion. She discovered that the day's turnover was as high as 500 yuan. After deducting 300 yuan in costs, she had made a net profit of 200 yuan, a margin that somewhat astonished Xu Xiuxiu.

"Xiuxiu, how did it go? Did we lose money on our first day of business?" Su Juan, somewhat educated, had a rough idea after seeing Xu Xiuxiu tallying the accounts and was not too worried, but Zhao Xiumei, less educated, saw Xu Xiuxiu's stunned expression and became somewhat anxious.

"This can't be making a loss on the first day of opening!" Xu Xiuxiu thought again about the grand opening discount of 8.8% she had planned, and it no longer seemed strange that all the profit was discounted away; a loss wasn't surprising.

"We didn't make a loss," Xu Xiuxiu replied, pulling herself back to the present with a slight smile, then took out US$ 20 and handed Zhao Xiumei and Su Juan US$ 10 each. "This is a red envelope for the auspicious opening today, a reward of US$ 10 for each of you. You both worked hard."

"Xiuxiu, what are you doing?" Zhao Xiumei was somewhat bewildered as she looked at the US$ 10 handed to her. When her younger brother Zhao Jian Country had brought her the message to help, she knew the salary Xu Xiuxiu offered was high, including food and accommodation, nearly 50 yuan a month, even more than what she could make in the factories back home! But now, just after one day's work, Xu Xiuxiu was giving out a red envelope with US$ 10. What did this mean?

"I made some money today from the opening. This is the reward I owe you, take it. There might not be such benefits in the future," Xu Xiuxiu said gently.

"Then thank you, boss," Su Juan was more composed. Seeing the US$ 20 from Xu Xiuxiu surprised her too, but after the surprise, she gratefully accepted.

Her family's conditions were average. Her husband Wu Peng sent most of his modest monthly salary back to his parents, occasionally covering expenses for his younger sister and brother-in-law. She hardly ever had enough money to buy an egg for her son; by month's end, there was no money or food left in the house. If not for her husband and son getting their meals from the army, they would be starved, forced into desperation. The US$ 20 red envelope from Xu Xiuxiu was exactly what she needed to get through. Not wanting to seem ungrateful, she accepted without hesitation, planning to work even harder in the future.

Seeing Su Juan gratefully accepting the money, although Zhao Xiumei still felt a bit uneasy, she didn't refuse and thanked Xu Xiuxiu before taking the money.

"Let's go! Get a good rest at home. We need to open the doors promptly at ten tomorrow morning!" Sichuan Pavilion, specializing in Sichuan cuisine, operated only for lunch and dinner; hence there was no need to open too early. However, Xu Xiuxiu had precisely scheduled the opening hours from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., a total of twelve hours.

"Alright, let's head back," Su Juan said as she stretched and stood up to leave, but the joyful smile on her face was unmistakable.

Zhao Xiumei also stood and followed out. Xu Xiuxiu went last, and as she left, she pulled down the metal shutter, and the three of them happily headed home to rest.

People love to join in the excitement, and with Sichuan Pavilion offering an 8.8% discount on its first day, many came to check it out. Xu Xiuxiu had thought business would probably be average the next day, but unexpectedly, it was still incredibly booming.

Chen Hualong alone brought people who spent almost 200 yuan, and that was after Xu Xiuxiu gave a 30% discount. Numerous others came as well, not less than twenty tables in total. Xu Xiuxiu was so busy she felt like she was flying all day, but thinking of counting the cash in the evening oddly filled her with motivation.

But with the store being so busy, her chances of keeping up with young Song Chengguang had reduced. She also wondered if the boy was behaving at his aunt Cai Qiufen's place and if he missed her. Xu Xiuxiu took a moment to think of the boy, her feelings mixed.

Xu Xiuxiu missed Song Chengguang so much, but she couldn't just leave the newly opened Sichuan Pavilion to visit him. After all, the round trip to the army base took three hours. She couldn't spare the time, and being the sole head chef at Sichuan Pavilion, it wasn't like Su Juan and Zhao Xiumei, who could cover for each other; the restaurant couldn't operate normally without her.

Thinking of this, Xu Xiuxiu started to contemplate hiring another head chef, but for now, she planned to keep busy for a while longer. Recruiting more staff would have to wait until Sichuan Pavilion entered a more stable phase.