pjbooks Chapter 34: [Trickery Questions]
Chapter 34: [Trickery Questions]
Huang Weixiong set up his stall, turned on the light, straightened his back, and scanned the intersection with bright eyes, just like yesterday, waiting for the crowd to arrive.
Despite the bustling traffic at the intersection, only a handful of people were drawn by the "free samples" sign, crowding around and reaching for the small paper cups for tasting.
The expected boiling did not occur; only the sizzling sound of the hot plate preheating and a slight awkwardness filled the air.
A few customers were tasting the food when Liu Zhuohao caught a glimpse of Huang Weixiong's face. The smile on his lips was still half-formed and hadn't been fully wiped away, but his eyes were already clouded with confusion.
The young man's knuckles were turning white as he gripped the clips.
Liu Zhuohao can read minds now; he can read the questions in a person's mind from the emotions on their face.
Why is this happening?
Business wasn't very good yesterday, was it? Or was yesterday just a dream?
And aren't there many customers complaining that the stalls don't have enough ingredients and asking for more today? Where are they?
Fortunately, unlike yesterday, this guy didn't just stand there dumbfounded after seeing no business. Instead, he quickly adjusted and started attracting customers, beckoning passersby to come and try the food.
"Wow, this tastes good, and the steak is quite tender."
At the stall, three women in suits, presumably bank employees, exchanged bewildered glances after tasting the sample. "Is this steak? How come it's so cheap?"
"It's definitely beef, I'm patting it right on the top of my head."
Liu Zhuohao responded as he had yesterday, "Besides, I have all sorts of certificates posted on my stall. Even if the regulatory authorities come now, I will stand here openly and let them inspect me."
The way he said that immediately brought up the endorsement.
At the stall, some customers who had tried the samples but were still hesitant suddenly changed their minds after hearing this sentence.
"Boss, is this meat clean?"
"How much is this?"
"The top of your head..."
The questions kept coming in one after another: some asked about the steak, some about the price, some about the camera...
Liu Zhuohao remained calm and responded to each question.
The night market isn't a school or the entrance to a residential area, so the number of customers isn't constant.
The customers who came yesterday may not come to the night market today. They said they would definitely come, but that may just be empty talk.
For me, as a stall owner, customers keep asking the same questions repeatedly, such as the quality of the beef, and even though the price is clearly written on the stall, customers still ask about it when they get there, and so on...
These questions are perfectly reasonable.
For the customers, this was their first time visiting.
They were unaware that they had explained the steak repeatedly, they didn't read the price list on their stall, and they didn't see any of the supporting documentation.
Patience and emotional stability are very important.
Huang Weixiong shouted "You can try our food!" a few times to attract passersby to gather around before he went over to serve the dishes.
"Young man, how much does it cost to make one slice of this steak?"
As he passed the queue, he was stopped and asked, "You guys sell things for such high prices, you must make a lot of money, right?"
"This, this..."
Upon hearing this question, Huang Weixiong's face froze.
The question was asked by a middle-aged man, who looked to be in his early forties.
"He's just someone I hired to help out; he's a waiter. I'm the boss."
Liu Zhuohao stood in front of the stall and took over the conversation, his face full of helplessness, "Brother, this is steak."
"Even if you convert it to beef, it'd cost over twenty yuan. Then there's the noodles, the eggs, the broccoli... I need to calculate my labor costs..."
Some strange cost practices aren't limited to the internet.
Even if students and working professionals have some thoughts in front of the school, they might not say them out loud. At most, they might chat about it a bit afterward, calculate the costs, and then let it go.
But this is a night market, and people dare to be upfront and ask you how much money you made on this meal.
"Boss, this bill isn't right," the middle-aged man persisted. "I know the Dongmen Market well. Tender pork is at most forty-something yuan a pound, but this piece..."
He narrowed his eyes. "At most four and a half ounces, noodles, an egg, and two florets of broccoli, that'd be three yuan at most, but you got thirty-five..."
Liu Zhuohao remained calm: "Brother, I'll say it again, this is beef steak, and the stall fee, gas, water, and electricity are all paid for by two grown men..."
He would only offer perfunctory replies, occasionally interjecting with a few words to ask other customers what kind of sauce they wanted.
"Can they really offer free refills of noodles? I have quite an appetite."
"If you're selling this steak so cheaply, then aren't those steaks in restaurants that start at 100 yuan making exorbitant profits?"
"Where did you put this video? You can't put it on TV, can you?"
Problems came crashing down like nails, one after another. Liu Zhuohao kept shoveling, sweat pooling on his forehead and running down to his brow bone. He didn't bother to wipe it away; the sweat dripped onto his transparent plastic mask and flowed down his neck along the edge.
Between answers, he had to quickly flip the food, drizzle sauce, and plate it, his words and actions tangled together in the fumes of cooking oil.
Although he has many years of experience in the catering industry.
But answering these questions still requires a lot of thought.
After all, every problem is related to their livelihood.
As for Huang Weixiong standing next to him, he was already sweating profusely just listening to it.
He had no idea how to answer these questions.
But what about the boss? He had already 'calmly' blocked every single customer.
Huang Weixiong didn't dare to respond, afraid of saying the wrong thing, so he could only busy himself serving dishes, wiping tables, collecting money and giving change.
He clearly remembered that there weren't such pointed questions yesterday.
Huang Weixiong was engrossed in wiping the table when a voice rang out: "Young man, your boss... didn't sell out today, did he?"
He looked up and saw a face that looked somewhat familiar.
"I told your boss yesterday to reserve two portions." The middle-aged man in sandals frowned slightly, his gaze sweeping over the queue, his tone tinged with displeasure. "You wouldn't... have forgotten, would you?"
There was a woman standing next to him.
"I haven't forgotten! Uncle, I saved it for you!" Huang Weixiong's mouth was faster than his brain this time. He only realized after the words left his mouth that this was the first "returning customer" to keep his promise.
Oh, no, that doesn't count.
They haven't even had a bite yet!
He instinctively looked at the boss.
But the boss didn't have time to look this way at all—there were still three or four customers blocking the stall, asking questions that were getting more and more difficult. Liu Zhuohao was patiently explaining, his face showing no emotion whatsoever.
Huang Weixiong's throat tightened, and he forced a smile as he turned around.
"I'll definitely save the meat for you, Uncle, but... you might have to wait in line a bit longer."
After he finished speaking, his heart pounded, waiting for the other person's reaction.
Will this first returning customer understand, or will they be even more dissatisfied?
After all, they queued up yesterday.
And after queuing for ages, I still didn't get to eat.
"You saved some for me, right?"
The middle-aged man in sandals hesitated, looking at the long queue, then said, "Okay!"
"……call."
Seeing that the guests were not dissatisfied, Huang Weixiong breathed a sigh of relief, but then an even greater sense of unease gripped him.
Does the boss know?
Did I handle it correctly?
He crept up to the food cart, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping himself.
Amidst his busy schedule, Liu Zhuohao caught a glimpse of him and called out, "What's wrong?"
Then Huang Weixiong leaned over and whispered a few words in his ear.
After hearing the whisper, Liu Zhuohao didn't stop working, but raised his voice and smiled at the end of the line, "Big brother, sorry! I made you come all this way for nothing yesterday. I've saved the meat for you today! I'll add an extra egg for you later, it's my fault!"
The man in sandals at the very back of the line was clearly taken aback, as if he hadn't expected to suddenly call out to someone. He waved his hand, and a smile appeared on his face.
A customer ahead joked, "Boss, business is so booming, you need reservations?"
"What reservation? It's because you're giving me face, brother. I didn't get to eat yesterday, but you weren't angry and you're still willing to come and support me today," Liu Zhuohao replied cheerfully.
Then, he lowered his voice and said to Huang Weixiong, who was standing there stunned:
"You've done a good job. If there's anything you don't understand, or if you feel something is wrong after you've handled it, just let me know so I can cover for you."