MGASC -Chapter 206 The Little Girl with a Greedy Mouth

After all, Zhang Qiao had eaten at and visited countless internet-famous restaurants. She was experienced and well-informed. On top of that, she worked in self-media herself and understood exactly how to crack the code of traffic and popularity.

For now, these were just small tactics. She would test the waters first and see the results.

Keeping a straight face, Zhang Qiao asked, “Gu Yu, you said Yuehai Hui had very few customers today?”

“Very few. Not even half of what they usually have. I just came from there and heard Gu Junye complaining for quite a while. No offense, but people are already used to his style. Sure, it’s grand and impressive—but it’s nothing like your place, Sister-in-law. Yours feels fresh and novel everywhere you look.”

“You flatter me, Gu Yu.” Zhang Qiao replied modestly, though inwardly she was thrilled.

She had once worried that Gu Junye would pose a serious threat. Now it seemed her opening move wasn’t bad at all. Still, she couldn’t afford to let her guard down.

After a long, exhausting day, they finally sent off the last group of customers at ten that night. Zhang Qiao stayed behind at the restaurant to do the accounts. The day’s revenue had actually exceeded 6,000 yuan. After deducting costs, the net profit was over 2,000 yuan.

Most of the diners were private business owners or corporate hosts. High-end cigarettes and liquor had sold quickly. This was far more profitable than when she used to sell pickled fish noodles, earning money a few cents at a time.

Today was the grand opening, so business was especially booming. Even if she calculated future income at just one-third of today’s revenue, the monthly profit would still be forty to fifty thousand yuan. She and Lin Tianyue held the largest shares. After distributing dividends to Yingzi and Gu Yu, they would still have at least twenty to thirty thousand yuan left.

Zhang Qiao estimated that twenty to thirty thousand yuan in this era was equivalent to several hundred thousand in her previous lifetime.

“Big brute, we’re getting rich!” Her excited eyes sparkled. Before, she earned in the thousands. Now she could earn in the tens of thousands. The sense of achievement was overwhelming.

Sure enough, hardworking people would never go hungry in any era.

Now she not only had enough to eat—she could eat very well.

Lin Tianyue had just finished inspecting the restaurant. Seeing his little money-lover wife’s delighted expression, he teased, “Oh? So how much did we make this time?”

Zhang Qiao flashed him a peace sign.

“Two hundred?”

“Multiply that by ten!”

“Two thousand? Wow, my wife is getting more and more capable.”

Lin Tianyue was currently earning no less than Zhang Qiao—perhaps even several times more. But seeing her so happy made him feel that the past two months of hard work had truly been worth it.

Over the next few days, customers flooded in daily. They were busy beyond measure.

There weren’t many high-end restaurants in Jiang City. She and Gu Junye had both seized the opportunity early. Even if business ended up evenly split between them, they would both still make plenty of money.

It took Zhang Qiao half a month to straighten out management. She hired a female manager to oversee Kemanlou and the guest rooms. Yingzi and Chen Gang continued to handle franchise stores and the sales of pickled vegetables. Zhang Ling was arranged to work in the kitchen, learning pastry-making from Li Enhua.

As for Zhang Qiao, she still devoted most of her energy to caring for Xia Xia.

Coincidentally, Lin Xun, Lin Ran, and Lin Jin were all on winter break. They came to Jiang City as well. Lin Tianyue’s company dormitory couldn’t accommodate everyone, so through Su Yin’s father’s connections, he bought two apartments urgently put up for sale by a former leader of an electrical appliance factory who was moving abroad.

The two apartments were adjacent and combined into over 130 square meters. Back then, there was no shared public area calculation, so Lin Tianyue was able to divide the space into four bedrooms and one study. The living room was bright and spacious, with solid red wooden flooring.

Now the whole family could move in comfortably.

On the day the three children arrived, Zhang Qiao deliberately took them to Kemanlou for a meal to celebrate their housewarming.

The restaurant was still bustling but orderly. They were arranged in a private room on the second floor called “Fragrant Study Pavilion.”

“Aunt Qiao, those big sisters are so pretty! Did you hire them all?”

“Aunt Qiao, is this really our restaurant? It’s so grand and beautiful!” The three little ones’ eyes couldn’t keep up from the moment they walked in.

The last time they ate at Yuehai Hui, they felt their horizons had expanded. They hadn’t expected their own family’s restaurant to be no less impressive.

The three children had suffered a lot since childhood. Over the past six months, they had watched their home life improve day by day. When their house burned down, they didn’t end up homeless. Instead, they moved into the most impressive Western-style house in the county.

They had once been illiterate, yet now attended the county’s best primary school. Their father even said that after the New Year, he would transfer them to study in Jiang City.

Now the family had bought an apartment in Jiang City and opened such a large, luxurious restaurant. Adults understood this was the result of step-by-step hard work. But to the three children, the speed of change felt like a dream.

In just half a year, they had gone from three little kids abused by their stepmother to children envied by city kids.

The dream was so beautiful that even Lin Xun secretly pinched his thigh, trying to determine whether it was real.

Of course, everything was real.

Zhang Qiao held Xia Xia in her arms. Xia Xia twisted her neck, watching her three older brothers act like country bumpkins in the city, and burst into giggles.

The little girl could already laugh out loud. Her round face was plump and fair, irresistibly adorable.

When the dishes were served, Zhang Qiao urged the children to quickly eat the crispy duck while it was still hot.

“Our restaurant is beautiful, right? You three need to study hard and work hard. In the future, our family will open many, many more restaurants. When your aunt and your dad grow old, we’ll be counting on you.”

Lin Ran was the most enthusiastic about this. “Aunt Qiao, don’t worry! I’ll definitely earn lots of money for you and little sister!”

Lin Jin was gnawing on a duck leg and spoke with his mouth full, “How could Aunt Qiao grow old? You’ll never grow old—you’ll always be the prettiest little girl in my heart! I might not be good at making money, but I’ll protect little sister. And I’ll find a girlfriend as pretty and capable as Aunt Qiao.”

Lin Xun noticed that while he was eating, Xia Xia kept staring at him, drooling.

He placed the duck meat from his hand onto his plate. The little girl lowered her head too, still staring at the piece of meat.

“Aunt Qiao, is little sister hungry?”

Zhang Qiao looked down. Goodness gracious—the shameless little thing wasn’t just staring at her brothers eating meat; her drool was practically dripping down to her neck.

“Xia Xia, have you no dignity? You’re a little girl! Look at all that drool.”

Zhang Qiao quickly wiped her clean with a drool cloth.

Lin Jin even brought the duck leg to his sister’s mouth. “Xia Xia, here. Eat.”

Xia Xia beamed and actually leaned forward to take a bite.

Of course, without any teeth, she bit nothing—just a mouthful of oil.

Even so, she was delighted, waving her little hands and babbling “Ah, ah, ah,” still demanding more.

Lin Ran pulled Lin Jin back. “Third Brother, don’t mess around. Little sister can’t eat that yet. Here, big brother will feed you.”

Lin Ran pretended to pick something up from the plate with his chopsticks—catching nothing but air—and brought it to Xia Xia’s mouth.

She opened her little mouth to accept it. Naturally, she ate nothing.

Yet her expression was as if she had tasted something delicious. She danced her hands in excitement.

“Xia Xia, was what big brother fed you tasty?”

Xia Xia pointed her tiny finger at a brightly colored dish, asking for more. Lin Ran pretended to pick up another bite and “fed” it to her again.