Chapter 138 What's Wrong, Ouni

Six o'clock in the evening.

“It tastes good!”

Zhang Rui tasted the delicious food prepared by Huang Xu and showed a surprised expression.

He didn't expect that Huang Xu had this ability.

When he and Huang Xu were collecting information earlier, he saw that Huang Xu only wanted to replicate these delicacies based on recipes, and he was a little skeptical.

After all, each family’s secret recipe is a secret that is not passed on, and it is also the magic weapon they rely on for survival.

How is it possible to replicate it based on a recipe?

However, looking at the food in front of him, he had to admit that although it didn't taste as good as what they had eaten locally, it basically had 70% to 80% of the original flavor.

At the same time, he also felt emotional in his heart that Huang Xu’s success was not what he said, it was just luck.

However, in response to Zhang Rui's flattery, Huang Xu shook his head, put down his bowl and chopsticks and said:
"If we just open a small store in China, it's okay if the price is a little cheaper, but now we want to open a franchise chain in Korea, so this is not enough."

"I think it tastes pretty good."

Zhang Rui was a little confused now. Although the taste was not as good as what they had eaten a few days ago, it was not bad either.

He even felt that these things tasted better than the food he had eaten at restaurants in Henan Province before. Why did he say that?

Even if the taste isn’t as good as the ones over there, isn’t this the first time we’re making it?

If we adjust it later, the taste will probably be much better.

Huang Xu saw Zhang Rui's confusion and knew that his way of thinking had not changed yet. He was still considering it from the perspective of opening a store, so he pointed at the food in front of him and explained:

"Brother Rui, what do you think a successful franchise chain brand needs?"

“As long as the taste is unique and the market is broad, that’s enough, right?”

"That's what I said, but it's really not that simple."

Huang Xu then began to explain what was needed to successfully create a franchise restaurant chain.

Apart from those commercial promotional activities, he told Zhang Rui several necessary basic conditions.

First of all, the taste should be better so that many people can accept it.

Secondly, it has to be novel and have some innovative points to attract people.

Finally, there is the issue of cost and ease of replicability.

As for the food that had just been prepared in front of them, whether it was the staple food such as Dandan noodles and spicy noodles, or the dishes such as pickled fish, Bobo chicken and Fuqi Feipian, although the taste could not be said to be bad, it was not as delicious as what they had eaten during the inspection.

After all, he just copied these things according to very popular recipes.

The fact that they were 70% to 80% similar was the result of Huang Xu's accumulation in his previous life.

If he had not run a restaurant in his previous life and often watched short video tutorials in his spare time, then what he is doing today might not even be 70% or 80% similar.

After all, although these things have recipes, the recipes in them were basically collected and compiled in the 1980s and 1990s.

There are even original recipes from the sixties and seventies.

Now it is 2013. Not to mention the differences in taste among people from different countries, let's just talk about the new condiments on the market, many of which have not existed before.

The emergence of these condiments has made the taste of today's dishes very different from before.

In particular, the emergence of various additives to enhance flavor and taste has improved the taste of dishes on the market by more than one level.

This is also the reason why the food in many traditional old stores nowadays does not taste as good as those in franchise stores.

Like Huang Xu’s Malatang franchise store, a lot of technological means are used in it, which is why it can cause such a big popularity in a short period of time.

The second reason is his marketing method.

If viewed from the perspective of later generations, Huang Xu's marketing methods were extremely low and common.

To put it bluntly, it is the internet celebrity effect, just taking photos and checking in.

But in this period of time, this is already an extremely advanced technique.

But this is off topic. The main point is that this thing called Malatang appeared in Seoul for the first time and not many people have seen it.

Coupled with the hype on the Internet, it has led to the current hot situation.

But it's more than just these things. These things can only guarantee his popularity, but cannot guarantee that his store will attract so many people to join.

The most important thing is that he adds a lot of black technology into his spicy hot pot. It looks very simple and many people can make it.

But once it’s actually made, the taste isn’t something that can be easily forgotten.

This is also the reason why they still have so many franchisees in the second round.

After listening to Huang Xu's explanation, Zhang Rui finally understood that his previous thinking was a bit simple.

So he asked Huang Xu:

"So what should we do next? Should we go back to China and invite a chef to help adjust the taste?"

"No, no, no, this is not important."

"why?"

Huang Xu's words made Zhang Rui even more confused. What was the reason?

Looking at Zhang Rui's confused expression, Huang Xu smiled meaningfully.

"Brother Rui, do you think it will be enough as long as we can reproduce the original taste?"

"Isn't it?"

"Brother Rui, don't forget, this is Korea, not China."

Then Huang Xu began to explain the reason.

There are regional differences in China, but they are not as obvious as those abroad.

Especially among young people nowadays, their acceptance of taste is actually very high.

But it’s different in South Korea. The young people here are fine, but the middle-aged and elderly people are very resistant to new things.

If we talk about food, if these delicacies are not localized to a certain extent, then at most they will become an Internet celebrity restaurant.

There is still a big gap between this and Huang Xu's goal of forming an alliance with Lian Company.

After listening to Huang Xu's explanation, Zhang Rui still didn't quite understand. After all, in his opinion, as long as it tastes good, people will buy it.

Haven’t you seen those foreign restaurants entering the country? Aren’t they doing pretty good business too?
Why Huang Xu said this is not possible.

Huang Xu also saw what he was thinking, but he did not continue to persuade him. Instead, he turned back to the kitchen and tidied up the kitchen that had been messed up by the two of them. He also packed up the ingredients and prepared to make new dishes.

As for how to persuade Zhang Rui, Huang Xu doesn't have to worry about it, because he has already called for external help. Once these external helpers arrive, I believe Zhang Rui will know the specific reason in a while.

Fortunately, the two people ahead had already prepared the seasoning, and now all we need to do is prepare some main ingredients.

It only took them more than twenty minutes to prepare everything, and then they sat in the hall waiting for someone to come.

However, compared to Huang Xu's calmness, Zhang Rui at this time was a little curious.

After all, Huang Xu just said that the person who will come later can give him a surprise.

"Xiao Xu, who do you think will be coming over later?"

"Don't be impatient, you'll know when people come." Huang Xu looked at Zhang Rui's expectant expression. He didn't intend to reveal the secret now. After all, he himself didn't know who would come today.

And if the secret is revealed now, there will be no surprises later.

However, the two did not have to wait long before they saw several beautiful figures appear at the gate, and Huang Xu's phone rang at this time.

When Huang Xu saw this situation, he hurried to the door, opened the shop door, and welcomed the people at the door in.

After a few people came in, Zhang Rui fell into ecstasy. Although he had met many Korean stars yesterday, he had already prepared himself mentally.

However, after seeing the person coming, he still felt very surprised.

So in addition to Sunny and Goo Hara, there were also Seohyun and Jessica Jung from Girls' Generation, and Krystal Jung from YG.

After a few people came in, Huang Xu greeted them and went to the door to close it.

But when he turned around, he saw the sisters Xu Xian and Zheng Xiuyan, who were staring at Huang Xu with curious eyes.

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with me?"

Huang Xu looked at the three people staring at him, and he felt a little uncomfortable.

He was also quite curious. Except for Krystal Jung, he had never met the other two before.

Especially Jessica Jung. This is the third time they have met, including the last time he sent Sunny away. Why is she still staring at him like that?

"No, I'm just curious about what kind of person could take down Sunny."

After hearing Huang Xu's question, Zheng Xiuyan looked at Huang Xu with an even more unscrupulous look, as if she saw Huang Xu for the first time.

At the same time, Xu Xian and Zheng Xiujing, who were standing next to her, were also looking at Huang Xu with the same curious eyes.

It’s just that the points of curiosity of several people are a little different.

In the afternoon, Jessica Jung and Seohyun were very surprised when they saw Sunny saying in the group that if anyone was free in the evening, she would treat them to a big dinner.

As teammates who have been together for several years, they know Sunny's personality very well and know that when she is not active, she is just a stay-at-home girl.

But this time during the break, she was the first one to run away, which made them very curious.

But today he suddenly said he wanted to treat them to a big dinner, which made them feel even more strange.

However, because the break time was longer this time, except for Xu Xian who was in the dormitory with nothing to do, everyone else had something to do.

Therefore, she was the only one who responded to Sunny's call at that time.

And when Sunny said that Huang Xu was going to invite them to try new dishes for dinner today, several people in the group became excited. They all wanted to come over to meet Huang Xu and to see the restaurant owner who they hadn't noticed much during the last meal.

Unfortunately, Sunny spoke too late, and the others were either not in Seoul or had appointments in the evening.

Only Jessica Jung had an idea after seeing the news. She gave up her evening activities and came here with Krystal Jung.

Compared to other teammates who wanted to taste delicious food or meet Sunny’s boyfriend, her idea was somewhat different.

She was really curious about Huang Xu, and even gave up the vacation she had finally gotten to spend with her sister.

He brought her here directly and looked at Huang Xu unscrupulously, wanting to see what was so special about him.

However, after observing for a long time, she found that Huang Xu didn't seem to have any other special features except that he was tall and had a good figure.

He looks no different from a student who just graduated.

This made him even more curious.

Because the other teammates just wanted to watch the show, but she was a little different.

She had great ambitions at a very early stage and was not content to be just a girl group idol. She wanted to build her own career.

Therefore, after her success in Girls' Generation, she has always paid attention to making more connections.

When she first met Huang Xu, she didn't pay much attention to him. After all, in her opinion, Huang Xu was just a restaurant owner.

When they met for the second time, he had already become Sunny's boyfriend.

But this is nothing. Although she didn't understand why Sunny found a boyfriend who ran a restaurant, she didn't say anything.

After all, everyone has their own aspirations, and she is not very optimistic about the future of the two of them.

After all, there is a huge gap in identity and status between the two people, and their world views and consumption concepts are different, so it is unlikely that they can stay together for a long time.

But what she didn't expect was that a few months later, when she was shopping, she saw many malatang shops.

It was by chance, at a cocktail party, that I heard about the Malatang franchise stores.

It was at this time that she realized that the small boss whom she used to look down upon seemed to have become very successful now.

Especially a few days ago, when she learned from some channels that the number of Huang Xu's second batch of franchisees had reached hundreds, her curiosity was completely ignited at this moment.

That's why she brought her sister here today.

But now is not the place to talk, so they chatted for a while, introduced Zhang Rui to them, took a group photo, and then turned to the kitchen to start preparing today's dinner.

Only a few girls were left in the lobby. They looked at the empty lobby and started chatting.

She waited until Huang Xu brought the food to the table and asked everyone to start tasting it. Then her eyes moved back and forth between the food and Huang Xu.

"Is this the latest franchise product he is going to launch?"

She began to guess in her heart that the things she was eating today were the new dishes prepared by Huang Xu.

And to what extent can these things become popular? Will they become as popular as Malatang last time and become popular all over Korea?

Just as she began to guess, she suddenly noticed something else out of the corner of her eye.

That is, after Huang Xu brought the food to the table, he actually sat between Sunny and Goo Hara.
There was nothing wrong with this. After all, the table was only this big, and there was nothing strange about Huang Xu sitting next to Sunny.

But what she felt strange was that even though Sunny was right next to them, there was something clearly wrong with the interaction between Huang Xu and Goo Hara, and they seemed a little too intimate.

As close as if they were a couple.

Sunny is Huang Xu’s girlfriend, so it’s normal for them to have some intimate actions, but what’s going on with Goo Hara?

How come he became so close to Huang Xu?
And didn’t Sunny notice anything wrong?

This sudden discovery made her face tense, revealing her signature icy expression, and she frowned.

Her sudden change was noticed by Xu Xian who was beside her, so she looked at Zheng Xiuyan with concern:
"What's wrong, unnie? Are you feeling unwell?"

And Xu Xian's words were also heard by several other people, so they all looked at Jessica Jung, who was frowning, with concern.

Huang Xu, in particular, hurriedly asked.

"Is there something wrong with the taste of the food?"

His purpose today was to get a few people to help him try the dishes, to see how they tasted and whether there was anything wrong.

That's why he was so concerned when he saw Jessica Jung frowning.

But what Huang Xu didn't expect was that his concern made Zheng Xiuyan's expression even uglier.

It was even like seeing something disgusting.

Fortunately, her facial expression management training over the past few years was not in vain, and she was able to control her expression immediately.

"I'm fine, I just feel a little unwell. The food tastes good, no problem."

(End of this chapter)