Louzheng’s Background
"Hello Louzheng? Is everything all right? Hello?" Wang Ming tried to stabilise his breathing and not panic the crashing sound made him terrified, it was probably his fault if Louzheng crashed. Wang Ming hoped it wasn't because of him. That it wasn't his phone call which disturbed Louzheng making him crash.
But he couldn't help but get anxious when even after a few minutes he couldn't hear anything from the other side. It was just silence he couldn't hear even one sound, no sirens or screams either. Was Louzheng's phone broken in the crash?
Wang Ming kept shouting in the phone for Louzheng, hoping and praying that nothing had happened. He finally felt relief when Louzheng answered the phone.
"I'm Sorry, Mister Ming, but I had a customer who felt dissatisfied with the price and how I drove. So he assaulted me when he saw me taking your call. Which made me crash into a parked car in the front. But everything's taken care of now. What do you need from me?"
Feeling relieved, Wang Ming asked Louzheng for the knives he had forgotten in his car. He also felt sympathy for Louzheng he couldn't understand why people would treat a taxi driver like that.
So he would hire Louzheng to work at his restaurant if he wanted to, instead of working as a taxi driver and have these kinds of customers treating him like trash for horrible pay. Though he would discuss it with Louzheng when he comes to the restaurant.
"Do You remember the knives in the decoration box? I had with me when I took the taxi? If you're free could you take them to me?"
"Oh, only this? No problem, Mister Ming, since I just dropped off the customer. I will come to you now. Where are your restaurant?"
Giving Louzheng the address, he hung up. While waiting for Louzheng Wang Ming planned out his menu. Since he wanted his restaurant to be a family restaurant, he needed to make a menu that would fit many people.
Kids, teenagers, men, and women should all have something to eat when they come to his restaurant. An important aspect of the menu was also budget. Since he only had roughly 10000 yuan left, he needed to make the best use of it.
Thinking so far, Wang Ming didn't know if it was realistic with his budget to make a big menu right now. But after he earns money and has enough to hire other chefs, he would definitely make a bigger menu. Wang Ming thought it would be better if he made the restaurant famous by just having a famous dish.
He still remembered reading about a man in Singapore that had such an incredible soy sauce chicken dish, that he got the most famous award for it. At this point it would probably be easier for Wang Ming if he just focused all of his energy to make a single excellent dish then try to make lots of them.
Wang Ming needed to decide which dish that would be. It shouldn't be an expensive one since he wants to allow everybody to buy the dish. It should be a meat dish as it's going to be the main course. He thought of all the different meats he could use. The three that stood out the most and made most sense to him were Chicken, Pork and Beef.
But Wang Ming crossed out Chicken first because Chicken is mostly lean meat, which makes it very easy to overcook and since he was only one person. It would make it hard for him to control the meat while doing other things.
Like taking customers, make rice and vegetables. If he convinces Louzheng to work for him, then it would make things easier, and he could then maybe choose Chicken.
But Wang Ming felt like Pork would be the superior pick in this situation. Since pork is a more fatty piece of meat, he could cook the pork for a much longer time and still come out with a great product. Leaving him more time to make all the side dishes.
Beef would pose a similar problem as Chicken, with the cooking time being tight.
Pork made the most sense, so Wang Ming chose pork for the meat. Now he needed to decide what type of dish he would make, that would also decide what kind of cut he would buy. Chinese cuisine had a lot of different pork dishes, which uses different cuts. But since he wanted something with longer cook times, the pork belly would be the best.
Thinking of pork belly, Wang Ming instantly knew what dish he wanted to make, just thinking about the recipe made his mouth water. He still remembers when he was young his mother would always make this dish for him to his birthday with two braised eggs.
He wanted to make braised pork belly. His plan would be to cook the pork belly in water, and then when it's cooked through, cut it up into cubes and then fry it in soy sauce and spices. The soy sauce will thicken with the spices and gain a lot of flavor, eating that with braised eggs and cooked white rice would be perfect.
Rice is a great way to balance the strong taste from the sauce, and then he would have a little light soup on the side to wash the mouth. Like how you eat ginger to wash your mouth before you eat the sushi.
Done with the main dish of his restaurant, Wang Ming felt satisfied. Now the next few days he only needed try out his recipe. If everything went well, that including to hire Louzheng then he could probably have his opening day, three days from now.
Though he would have to do marketing for his store, since most businesses in this world don't lack quality but fame. If no one knows of your restaurant, then it doesn't matter how excellent food you have. No one will eat at your restaurant since no one knows of your existence.
Wang Ming initially just wanted to improvise everything, but after talking with Fu Ya in the car. He felt enlightened and saw the big flaws in how he wanted to manage his restaurant. He didn't want to restrict himself too much and wanted to express himself in his food, but understood that ultimately this is a business and to be successful you have to have a good plan.
Since he had would make raised pork belly, he would need the ingredients for it. The most important ingredient is the meat. He wanted to call Weng Ping to order the meat for his restaurant. But he didn't have Weng Ping's number, so he had to call his nephew and ask for Weng Ping's number.
Wang Ming then finished the order of 21kg's of pork belly, which they would deliver 7kg's at a time to his restaurant every day. Since the next three days, Wang Ming would still only be testing out the recipe and not sell anything. Therefore, he didn't need a lot of pork belly. Also, he didn't want to waste more meat than necessary, so he would donate all of it to an organization that helps poor people.
Gearing knocks on the door, Wang Ming yelled out.
"Come in!"
Wang Ming felt terrified seeing Louzheng's condition, he didn't understand why Louzheng would still come here in his condition. Not going to the hospital instead. Louzheng had some bruises on his face, and three shallow cut on his arm. They weren't deep so they wouldn't affect his life, but they definitely looked like they hurt. Wang Ming felt a lot of anger seeing Louzheng's condition.
"Louzheng! What are you doing, why aren't you going to the hospital! Who did this to you?"
Upon entering the restaurant and hearing Wang Ming's words, Louzheng felt like Wang Ming was a family member he never had. Someone that cared for him, not like a girl to a boy, but a big brother to a little brother. Even though Wang Ming looked younger than him by at least 5 years.
These wounds were nothing for Louzheng, since he had been alone ever since he was 6 years old after his parents left him. Ever since then, he needed to fend for himself, fighting for food and shelter. Everybody that had ever approached him all had an ulterior motive, even though he wasn't rich, nor had any connections.
"No, need to worry Mister Ming. I'm used to it, these wounds are nothing. I used to get wounded ever since I was little. It finally stopped when I got out of the slum. But it seems like you can never totally evade it."
Hearing what he said, Wang Ming couldn't help but sympathize for Louzheng. Wang Ming couldn't say that he had a good childhood, but at least he wasn't like Louzheng that had to endure these kinds of things since small. Now Wang Ming felt even more determined to hire Louzheng.