Chapter 75 Early Preparation
Being three inches shorter when meeting an official seems to be the subconscious reaction of most ordinary people.

Zhao Jin and Cao Jianjun are the ones.

Although what they did at the dinner table were just clerks and section chiefs, not directors or department heads.

Besides, there is a saying that goes, "You don’t know how low your official position is until you visit the imperial capital, and you don’t know how little money you have until you visit the devil’s capital."

The section chief is just a small official in the imperial capital, but he still makes these two people feel tremendous pressure.

My hands and lips were shaking, and I wanted to raise the glass to toast, but I didn't dare.

I feel like I'm a mouse, but now I'm in a cat's nest. I don't feel comfortable at all.

Speechless and at a loss, this describes the current state of these two people.

"Your friend..." Cao Jianjun quietly nudged Zhao Jin with his elbow.

At this moment, Zhang Yuan felt like a fish in water. Within half an hour, he had become one with everyone else. As they drank and chatted, they talked about everything from the housing prices in the capital to the secrets of the crew.

Especially when he mentioned a few beautiful actresses, all the men at the table became excited and listened to Zhang Yuan's bragging, as if he was at home.

"I didn't know he was so amazing. When I had dinner with him before, he was quite casual. I thought he was just like us, an ordinary young man who had never seen the world."

"I almost believed your words, thinking that he got ahead because of his ability and luck." Cao Jianjun looked at Zhang Yuan, who was drinking with his arm around someone else's shoulder, with envy: "I think he has some luck, but not much. He still has to rely on his strength."

"Anyway, we can't handle this kind of situation."

As a friend who came with Zhang Yuan, it was impossible not to drink.

After drinking half a bottle of Wuliangye, Zhao Jin's face turned red, his eyes were dazed, and he sat in the chair, breathing heavily, and didn't move.

He could normally drink some wine, but when he was at the table he felt nervous and got drunk after a few drinks.

Cao Jianjun is better. He joined the army after graduating from junior high school. After the experience in the army, he has a pretty good alcohol tolerance.

You have to know that people there don’t drink from small wine cups, but from big teapots!
The military culture in the 80s and 90s was different from that of later generations, and people drank a lot.

He grew up in a poor family, was short in stature, and joined the army early. He could not keep up with the training at the beginning, and his physical fitness scores were at the bottom of the class.

After the military training, the squad leader felt sorry for him and transferred him to the kitchen squad.

This adjustment actually discovered his talent as a chef.

There was no shortage of food and drink in the kitchen, and I soon became strong and lived a happy life.

Unfortunately, he was born at the wrong time and soon ran into the 97 military downsizing.

The Chinese army has carried out a total of 11 major disarmament reductions, including four large-scale disarmament reductions of millions in 57, 75, 82, and 85.

While the Gulf War in 90 opened the eyes of the entire world, it also made China's top leaders realize that times have changed and that the world of the future will be information warfare.

Therefore, from 97 to 00, the army was reduced by 50 in three years to make way for the future transformation of "high-end, sophisticated and cutting-edge" troops.

Cao Jianjun's troops became a grain of sand in the 50-strong army, but for him personally, this change was as heavy as a mountain.

Fortunately, he had the skill of cooking, and he inherited the hard-working style of the Chinese army. After retiring from the army, he worked as a security guard, a waiter, and a big armor. Finally, he saved money and set up this small stall.

Although he can drink, he is not good at drinking and is very stiff when toasting.

He stood up, raised his glass, at a loss for words, and for a long time he was unable to utter a word. Then he tilted his head back, and drank it all in one gulp, shocking all the guests at the banquet.

Zhang Yuan deliberately delayed the banquet, which lasted for four or five hours. After everyone was drunk, they said goodbye one by one.

After seeing off the guests, he walked to the curb and handed a cigarette to the two people leaning on the fire hydrant.

“These are the people from the HD area.”

"Do you know why we have to invite people from Haidian to dinner?"

The two drunks shook their heads with difficulty.

Zhang Yuan gave everyone a head bang: "Beijing Film Studio is in Haidian!"

"When you sober up tomorrow, come with me to find an agent and rent a store that's not too far from the Beijing Film Studio so it's convenient for you to get business."

"I remember that after I opened a shop, I always had a few cartons of cigarettes on hand to distribute in case of inspection."

"Aren't we treating everyone today? Do you still need to pay for it?" Zhao Jin's stingy nature came up again.

"Can you take care of me for my whole life just by eating one meal?"

"Besides, the King of Hell is easy to deal with, but little ghosts are hard to deal with, you know?"

"Even if we have a friendship, we still have to give some benefits from time to time." Zhang Yuan took a deep breath and looked at the cigarette butt in his hand.

"Another thing, remember not to prepare too good cigarettes. Don't prepare expensive cigarettes like soft Zhonghua that cost dozens of yuan a pack. You will be easily slaughtered like a pig."

"Don't use Hongmei. Beidaihe is a way of fooling people. It's easy to make people hate you."

"Prepare some Zhongnanhai or Yuxi-level ones, which are neither too high nor too low, and are just right for your appearance."

"I got it..." Zhao Jin and Cao Jianjun looked at each other. They didn't expect that there would be so many things to pay attention to when smoking.

However, after the banquet just now, the two of them had more faith than suspicion in Zhang Yuan's words, and they immediately nodded and agreed.

The subsequent preparations went smoothly. The shop was rented, and Zhang Yuan took the two of them to get various documents. He also listened to their many complaints.

"It's so troublesome to open a small shop. We have to get so many connections and apply for so many licenses. I see some shops are running well without any licenses."

"When you have a wife in the future, don't get a marriage certificate. If your wife runs away with someone else with your money, don't cry and scream."

Zhang Yuan retorted to Zhao Jin with just one sentence.

When communicating with knowledgeable and cultured people, it is enough to explain the truth in an implicit way. But when dealing with uncouth people like them, you have to use crude metaphors to reach their hearts.

"Remember every account clearly for me. I will find a professional accountant to settle the accounts and pay taxes according to the amount. No fake invoices are allowed!"

These two are interested in saying...

This will cost us a lot of profits!
But recently, after following Zhang Yuan around everywhere, he saw that neither of them could do what they wanted, and what they felt was a big problem, but to him, it was no problem at all.

They had no choice but to nod in agreement, not daring to disobey at all.

"Also, the store renovation does not leave a lobby or individual seats. We do not accept individual customers, only orders."

"Ah, then won't we miss out on a lot of business?" Cao Jianjun frowned reluctantly.

"It's only a few bucks for individual tourists, and it's time-consuming and laborious, and you have to prepare a lot of materials."

“The order business is much simpler and the cost is easier to control.”

Zhang Yuan had worked on construction sites for many years in his previous life and knew very well that doing business and being a human being were exactly the opposite.

As a person, you must be well-versed in both ancient and modern knowledge. You don’t need to seek depth, but breadth, so that you can talk to anyone.

When doing business, remember not to be greedy and try to expand your business, and make sure to focus deeply on a single field.

There are countless large companies that started a large number of side businesses after making money, and eventually went bankrupt due to broken capital chains. The fear is that they want to do all kinds of business but are not good at any of them.

And the restaurant industry is different from other industries.

In ancient times, if a restaurant dared to have four signs, the lobby and the kitchen had to be equally large, otherwise they would be too busy to handle the full occupants.

The shop Zhang Yuan rented was not big, and he used it entirely as a kitchen, where he could arrange the lunch boxes for hundreds of people.

But if you still want to serve individual customers, the size of the shop will have to be increased by at least 30%, and the cost will rise sharply.

Zhang Yuan gave them a detailed explanation, and the two only agreed reluctantly.

After all, they still doubted whether Zhang Yuan could bring in enough orders, fearing that he would be idle and want to earn more to subsidize the rent.

Zhang Yuan took the two of them to a second-hand car market in the suburbs and spent 5 yuan to buy a Songhuajiang minivan with kilometers on it, which made the two of them very sad.

The store hasn't even been opened yet, but the money spent is already tens of thousands, which scared them quite a bit.

Cao Jianjun learned to drive in the army, and he could operate a Dongfeng large truck with ease, let alone this small car.

It took more than half a month to get everything ready, and then...

The two were dumbfounded.

The place was deserted, with not a single bird in sight.

The store had been open for three days and there was no one and no orders. The two were so anxious that they paced back and forth in the store.

"I just said we should put some tables and chairs to receive individual customers. At least we can still have some income." Cao Jianjun stamped his feet anxiously.

"Zhang Yuan is not fooling us... That's not right, all this money is his." Zhao Jin was also puzzled.

It was so busy at first, but why did it become so slow as soon as the opening?

"I'll call Zhang Yuan and ask!"

On the other side, Zhang Yuan, who received a call from Zhao Jin, was on his way to a banquet.

After listening to what Zhao Jin said, he didn't take it seriously.

"I asked you to familiarize yourself with the store in advance. Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Have a good rest tonight and stay alert. Starting tomorrow, you two won't have a chance to rest."

Without waiting for the other party to say more, Zhang Yuan hung up the phone and rushed to the restaurant.

What a coincidence, yesterday he received a call from Yang Tao, asking him to have dinner together.

The participants just happened to be people from the entertainment industry.

This saved him the trouble of treating others to a meal...

(End of this chapter)