pjbooks Chapter 27: [Losing Face]
Chapter 27: [Losing Face]
"Senior, did you hire a professional photography team for yesterday's shoot?"
A regular customer, whom I hadn't seen for a while since the holiday started, came to the hand-pulled pancake stall.
"...No, we filmed it ourselves."
Liu Zhuohao replied, handing over a scallion pancake, but the words he had been eagerly anticipating never came.
"Is that so..."
The regular customer, after receiving the scallion pancake, still didn't bring up the topic that had been on his mind. Instead, he stood aside with the pancake and continued to ask:
"I didn't realize before, boss, your videos are so professional, just like the professional videos I see on YouTube."
A customer standing in front of the stall asked curiously, "What is YouTube?"
"It's also a video website, but it's based overseas."
Liu Zhuohao replied casually, his hands still moving.
"This video is really well made and has a lot of content. In previous videos, I would just watch a few minutes of the scene where I bought the pancakes and then turn it off. This time, I watched it from beginning to end."
At the stall, another regular customer chimed in, "Who can stand still and watch the pancake frying for two hours from one angle?"
There must be.
There are people watching things like forging knives, repairing cow hooves, and building houses, so there must be people watching people fry scallion pancakes.
But it's definitely a minority.
One, two, three...
Liu Zhuohao's hand-pulled pancake stall has once again experienced a small surge in popularity after he posted a video.
When the company returned after a seven-day shutdown, its revenue caught up with that before the holiday.
But none of these people gave Liu Zhuohao the words he wanted to hear.
The drum in his heart beat faster and faster, yet felt increasingly empty.
"that……"
The bookstore owner's nephew's embarrassed voice came from the stall next to him; it was very faint.
A faint, awkward voice squeezed through the gap between the stalls next to it.
Liu Zhuohao's first reaction was that he had misheard. The buzzing voices in front of his stall were like a thick wall, blocking out all the words.
"that!"
The voice rang out again, a bit higher, with a defiant tremor, "If everyone's worried about getting impatient, I can actually make scallion pancakes too..."
He is the bookstore owner's nephew.
As soon as he finished speaking, the people at Liu Zhuohao's stall fell silent and turned their attention to him.
All the laughter and urging in front of Liu Zhuohao's stall came to an abrupt halt.
A dozen pairs of eyes turned to the young man, his face flushed, who was huddled behind the next stall.
Liu Zhuohao's shovel stopped in mid-air, the pancake sizzling on the hot plate.
He looked through the rising steam from his stall, and at that moment, besides surprise, he felt a great deal of interest.
The nephew, bewildered by the stares of the crowd, trembled slightly before managing a forced smile that looked more like a grimace: "I...I can do business here too."
……
……
The dark-skinned young man used his rough hands to collect the remaining fabric from the stall.
There was almost no damage to the bag.
No business.
Even though he shouted very hard, there were still no customers.
Since he started his stall, he has only made a handful of deals.
Liu Zhuohao suddenly spoke up: "Do you know why there are no customers?"
Seeing his disheveled appearance as he packed his things, she disregarded the advice she had given him the day before and took the initiative to strike up a conversation again.
Under his gaze, the young man paused, did not look up, but his back tensed.
"...My cooking isn't as good as yours, is it?"
The young man turned his back, seemingly feeling that he had come to mock him.
"Because it's a holiday now."
Liu Zhuohao took out a cigarette case, lit one, and slowly exhaled the smoke. "Most of the customers at my stall are students. They have a lot of free time during their holidays, so most of them come here specifically to support my business. They definitely don't go to your stall much."
"But if you come at a different time, after school starts, there will definitely be people who get impatient waiting in front of my stall and go to your stall to buy pancakes."
"At that time, you'll be able to spare some for the rest."
This is a very simple reason.
The two of them are engaging in healthy competition.
Regardless of his original intentions, at least during this period, the young man did not cause trouble for himself or do anything dirty in secret.
In plain terms, everyone sets up a stall and earns money based on their own abilities.
The young man paused, seemingly having never considered this direction before, but simply believing that he was there first, hence the good business.
Because he refused the term "apprentice," no one was willing to share any business with him.
"You're quite suited for business, at least... you have the potential, don't give up."
Looking at him, Liu Zhuohao couldn't help but recall what had just happened. Under everyone's gaze, he had stiffly said that he could also do business and make hand-pulled pancakes.
What conditions?
A condition that requires swallowing one's pride!
In business, how can you not attract customers?
This young man was just like the last one among the interviewees who started working, only to find that there was no job he could do.
He stood there in front of the stall, waiting for customers to come in.
His business was booming, but his side was completely deserted. The longer he stood there, the more awkward and desolate he felt.
The only time they managed to attract customers was at the very beginning, when the bookstore owner spoke up.
Now, he's finally taking the initiative to solicit customers.
Everyone goes through this phase, and Liu Zhuohao was no exception. Back when he was setting up a stall in college, he was initially too embarrassed to solicit customers in front of his classmates or people he liked.
The young man remained silent for a long time, his expression changing several times, before finally managing to squeeze out a curt sentence: "...Are you mocking me?"
Liu Zhuohao shook his head helplessly and stubbed out his cigarette in the tin can he carried with him.
"no."
He stood up and began packing his belongings. His voice was low but clear: "I'm serious. I'm giving you a piece of advice: make sure you're safe and hygienic. Get a health certificate or a food vendor registration certificate."
Everyone has to go through this.
Business doesn't come by waiting; it's by bending down and picking it up inch by inch from the ground.
After Liu Zhuohao finished speaking, he didn't look at him again.
However, the anxiety he felt because the videos and customers didn't give him the feedback he wanted to see or hear dissipated somewhat.
No matter what, now that the decision has been made, we should just keep going.
……
……
"Boss, can we really pull this off?"
On the motorcycle with its engine churning, Liu Zhuohao, who had just taken a quick nap, picked up Huang Weixiong and headed towards the night market stalls after getting their goods from the wholesale market.
"I watched your first video of making scallion pancakes, and the comments were all praising it, saying it tasted good and was clean."
"But our video is all about praising how well it's made."
"Nobody's praised our idea of making street-side steaks, or said they want to try it..."
His incessant chatter filled my ears.
"It hasn't even been done yet, so what's there to look forward to?"
Liu Zhuohao drove calmly, showing no sign of being in a hurry.
"Boss, how can you be so confident..." Huang Weixiong muttered, "I didn't sleep a wink last night, and I only managed to doze off for a little while this morning."
Liu Zhuohao didn't reply; he just kept driving.
When he was alone, he felt uneasy.
But when she's in front of others, she always puts on a nonchalant attitude.
Around 4 PM, the two of them parked their food cart at the night market stalls near the scenic area. In front of each fixed stall, vendors were already cleaning and preparing ingredients, selling barbecue, rice noodle rolls, fruit juice, and so on...
Their food cart, which read "Street Steak" and was marked "35 yuan per serving," stood out conspicuously among the night market stalls.