Chapter 95 - 90: Vegetarian Restaurant

Chapter 95: Chapter 90: Vegetarian Restaurant

"Right now, our shop’s business is split into two parts. Downstairs will mainly cater to customers coming for malatang, and upstairs will serve Chinese cuisine." Ning He looked at Vance. "Vance, I’m leaving the malatang entirely up to you. Can you handle it?"

Vance looked at Ning He, then at Ah Huai, who nodded at him. He straightened his posture.

"I can! I can do it!"

"Good. From now on, you’ll be in charge of the shop’s malatang business, and your salary will be doubled. I’ll also assign you two assistants to help out and greet the customers."

Vance could hardly believe it.

"R-Really?"

"Of course. You’ve been working really hard lately and have learned all the necessary skills. I believe you’ll do a great job," Ning He said.

Vance stood up, overwhelmed with excitement.

"Thank you, Sister Ning! I will definitely work hard!"

Ning He smiled and motioned for him to sit back down.

"Now, let’s discuss how we’re going to handle the Chinese food business." Ning He paused before continuing, "At this point, finding a stable supply channel is impossible. The only places we can source ingredients from are the small shops in the community. Their stock is inconsistent, and we have to prioritize the malatang ingredients first. As for premium ingredients like meat, those are completely out of the question. The previous à la carte model definitely isn’t going to work anymore."

"I have two ideas right now. Hear me out, and we can all discuss them together."

"The first is to run a vegetarian buffet. We can hit up a few extra small shops every day and use the surplus vegetables to prepare eight to ten different dishes. I can guarantee the taste won’t be an issue. However, I can’t make up my mind on the pricing, and I’m not sure if there’s even a market for vegetarian food in Beiluo City. It carries a certain amount of risk."

"The second is a cook-to-order service. Customers would bring their own ingredients, and we’d charge a preparation fee. That way, we won’t have any pressure regarding sourcing. But time-consuming dishes would require advance reservations, which is a bit of a hassle. Plus, this model places very high demands on the chef, meaning I’d have to stay in the shop most of the time. That could end up affecting my work at the cafeteria."

After Ning He finished speaking, everyone at the table sat in stunned silence.

These two proposals were completely unprecedented to them. They hadn’t even seen anything like it before, and for a moment, no one knew what to say.

"I think... it’s actually quite doable," Connie said hesitantly. "When I used to work part-time at a restaurant in the First Ring, I met quite a few customers who were vegetarians. The city really doesn’t have any dedicated vegetarian restaurants, so those people usually just survive on salads and mashed potatoes. If the vegetarian food we make is of good quality, it should definitely attract a certain crowd."

Youzhen seemed to think of something as well, his eyes lighting up.

"I also think we should give it a shot. At Mr. Leitel’s banquet, I noticed quite a few guests only serving themselves vegetables. They absolutely loved our corn chip salad and shredded potatoes with dried tofu. I heard a lot of people praising how delicious it was!"

Ning He nodded. "That’s exactly what I was thinking. Regardless, it’s an opportunity worth trying. And comparatively speaking, the overhead costs won’t be too high."

By serving vegetarian food, she could supply a portion of the ingredients herself, which would drastically reduce costs. This was the primary reason she had come up with the idea in the first place.

"But pricing is indeed an issue. Since it also has to include staple foods and drinks, the price can’t be too low. But if we set it too high, I’m afraid people might not be willing to pay."

"I wouldn’t be so sure about that," Ah Huai suddenly chimed in. "We’d be the first and only vegetarian restaurant, which means we have zero competition. Even if we set our prices a bit higher, there’s nothing for customers to compare them to. As long as we’re offering dishes they can’t get anywhere else, a lot of customers actually won’t care about the price."

Ah Huai’s words were like a sudden epiphany. Ning He instantly understood.

"You’re right. Since we’re going to be the trailblazers, we might as well take it to the absolute limit. I’ll handle the menu and guarantee that every single dish is something they can’t find on the outside. We can also add some staples and snacks. The fermented rice wine, deep-fried dough sticks, sugar cakes, and pan-fried crepes we’ve made before will all work perfectly. With all that, I refuse to believe this business won’t take off."

In that moment, Ning He’s confidence was fully restored.

"But I think the cook-to-order idea is pretty good too. After all, a buffet still requires us to stock up on ingredients. What if we run short, the spread looks sparse, and the customers leave unsatisfied? Wouldn’t that ruin our reputation?" Connie pointed out. "The cook-to-order model has a lower risk and ensures we won’t lose money. If we’re preparing major dishes like beef, the prep fee would definitely be substantial. Combined with the malatang business, keeping the shop running steadily definitely wouldn’t be an issue."

She made a fair point, but Ah Huai quickly shook his head.

"Although it seems risk-free, the actual logistics are too complicated. First of all, some dishes would require a reservation, meaning the customer would have to make at least two trips here, which isn’t very practical. Secondly, if we hit a peak dining hour with a lot of customers, and they all order dishes that only Ning He knows how to make, she’ll be completely overwhelmed. Don’t forget, we still have our jobs at the cafeteria. We might not have the energy to handle that many orders."

Connie paused for a second before letting out a defeated sigh.

"You make a good point. It really would be too much of a hassle. I just feel like only making vegetarian food is a waste of Ning He’s culinary skills. The dishes at the banquet were so incredibly popular. It’s just a real shame that we can’t sell them."

"Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out," Ning He said, patting Connie on the shoulder. "Let’s focus on getting the vegetarian buffet up and running first. We’re opening the day after tomorrow, so we don’t have much time left. We need to start prepping right now. The two of us will take Youzhen and head straight to the market to buy the tableware we need for the buffet. Ah Huai and Vance, I’ll need you two to make a trip out to the Fourth Ring to talk to a few vegetable vendors. They aren’t under the Chamber of Commerce’s jurisdiction, so they should be willing to make a deal. The more variety you can get, the better—especially soy products. We need at least one type of those."

"Understood. We’ll head out right now."

Ah Huai immediately stood up, and everyone sprang into action.

Fortunately, things went relatively smoothly this time around.

The small vegetable vendors in the North Third District were more than happy to cooperate. Although the quantities they could provide weren’t large, when combined with the "secret channels" introduced by Ning He’s mysterious supplier, it would be just enough to scrape by.

Meanwhile, Ning He dropped a hefty sum to purchase a complete set of buffet serving equipment. They even dismantled her and Connie’s food carts, hauling any usable parts into the shop.

The group completely rearranged the layout upstairs. A ten-meter-long buffet counter was placed against one of the walls, spacious enough to hold twenty different dishes. The stove dismantled from the food cart was set up at one end, dedicated entirely to making various fresh pan-fried crepes on the spot.

Even without any meat dishes, the variety and freshness of the vegetarian spread Ning He could provide absolutely surpassed that of any other restaurant in Beiluo City.

With the setup complete, the only issue left to resolve was staffing.

After discussing it with Connie and Ah Huai, Ning He decided to officially keep all six of the temps who had been helping out previously.

Two of them would assist Vance with the malatang business. Two would follow Ning He and Connie to help at the cafeteria, allowing Youzhen to be swapped back to the shop to prepare the staple foods for the buffet. The remaining two would serve as backup staff for the buffet, temporarily working under Youzhen’s direction.

"Until they get the hang of things, I’ll come back from the cafeteria early at six every morning to prep lunch. Once they know what they’re doing, only one of the three of us will need to stay at the cafeteria. The other two can take turns coming back here with me to learn on the job."

"Sounds good. We’re about to level up anyway. After that, selling noodles won’t be nearly as hectic, so it shouldn’t be a problem."

"Then that’s the plan. Everyone head back and get some rest for now. We’ve got a tough battle ahead of us over the next two days."

Vance and Youzhen eagerly hurried back to share the good news with their classmates, while Ning He returned home and immediately went to check on her secret base upstairs.

It had only been three days since she planted the new seeds, yet many were already nearly ready for harvest. The vegetables she had previously gathered were already cramming two whole refrigerators full—at least three hundred pounds’ worth. And that wasn’t even counting the ones she had pickled in jars or left out to dry.

’Logically speaking, with a cheat like this in my hands, I shouldn’t be struggling this much,’ she mused.

Ning He stroked the emerald green cabbage leaves and let out a long sigh.

’Sneaking around like this isn’t a long-term solution. Even with the outside sealed up tight, it’s not foolproof.’

’I need to figure out a way to solve this once and for all.’

As she thought this, the words Leo had spoken that day suddenly echoed in her ears.

"Become the true master of the ghost? What kind of weird nonsense is that? Has he been reading too many supernatural web novels?"

Mid-complaint, Ning He’s hand suddenly froze over the cabbage leaf. Looking as if she had just been struck by lightning, she frantically dug out her phone and searched for something online.

As she skimmed the text at lightning speed, the corners of her lips curled higher and higher until her uncontainable joy practically spilled over.

"So that’s how it works! Why didn’t I think of this sooner?!"

"That Leo... he’s actually somewhat useful."

After taking a screenshot and saving the page, Ning He marched off to bed, feeling exceptionally triumphant.

’Once I succeed, whether it’s Gates or Plates, no one will be able to threaten me!’