Get out of my way right now!
A lunch that left me stuffed only cost 12 yuan.
You can imagine how outrageous that price was.
According to Xu Jiafei's estimate, the Community Office canteen would likely be losing money for at least the first month of operation, and possibly even continuously.
For Xu Ning, not making money and losing money were essentially the same.
He just hoped it wouldn't lose too much, because the property management fees were limited, and he couldn't overspend.
Finally, at 11:10 AM, after the kitchen assistants had finished arranging the dishes, people started coming into the canteen.
"Oh, Xiao Xu is here too?"
"Let me see what good dishes there are first."
"Wow, it's quite a feast!"
"This, this, this... Xiao Xu, aren't you going to lose money with this?"
An old man, with his hands behind his back, walked around the self-service area, looking utterly astonished.
While young people might not be very sensitive to prices, the elderly, who frequently buy groceries, were a completely different story.
Leaving everything else aside, just take the tomato sauce prawns as an example.
Prawns cost about 30-35 yuan per jin in the market, but with the canteen's large purchasing volume, it should be around 25-30 yuan per jin.
One jin of prawns usually contains about 30 pieces.
If one person took ten prawns, the cost would already be around 10 yuan. Adding side dishes and seasonings, 12 yuan was perfectly reasonable.
Pork was cheaper in the market, with lean meat around 15 yuan.
One scoop of stir-fried sliced pork would surely contain at least two liang of meat, which would be 3 yuan.
For steak, large pieces of steak, once fried and cut into smaller pieces, two random pieces would cost four or five yuan.
Spicy chicken, crispy fried pork, Hangzhou pepper beef… the ingredient cost alone was already over 20 yuan!
Not to mention the canteen also employed so many people!
This wasn't running a Community Office canteen; it was clearly running a charity!
Soon, with the arrival of the first young resident who excitedly took photos of the dishes and posted them in the group, the group chat exploded.
"Oh my god, there are so many delicious dishes!"
"They're all my favorites, just looking at them makes my mouth water!"
"You call this a Community Office canteen? Even a 50-yuan buffet in a mall probably doesn't have this quality!"
"Manager Xu, you're forcing me to take advantage of you!"
"I've decided, from now on, I'll live in the canteen every day!"
...The canteen quickly became lively. Although not all seats were filled, there were quite a few people.
Moreover, this canteen seemed to have become a platform for residents to communicate face-to-face.
After all, everyone usually posted in the group chat, and only occasionally ran into each other while strolling in the Residential Complex, so most weren't well acquainted.
But now, eating at the same table, chatting while eating, felt quite nice.
Especially since today was the first day of the canteen's trial operation, it naturally became a topic of conversation for everyone.
"The taste is better than I imagined. Although it's not as good as a big hotel, it's definitely presentable."
"The ingredients are good enough, the taste is good, and most importantly, the price is cheap, it's such a great deal!"
"I feel like I'm dreaming. I certainly can't make this level of food myself!"
"They're professional chefs, after all. If you had that skill, wouldn't you be a chef too?"
"Oh no, oh no, I'm so full, I probably won't be able to digest this for an hour if I don't leave now."
"I'm just worried the canteen won't last long. At this standard, Xiao Xu is going to lose a fortune!"
"Yeah, why don't we talk to Xiao Xu and suggest reducing the dishes or simply raising the prices?"
"I know Xiao Xu doesn't want to make money off us, but he can't lose money either."
"Indeed, if such a divine property management company left, all the residents of our Residential Complex would probably cry their eyes out."
"What happened to that idea of finding Xiao Xu a partner in the Residential Complex last time?"
...The canteen had a fast turnover; that's how fast food is, you eat and then leave.
By about 1:30 PM, almost no residents were coming to eat anymore.
Xu Ning checked the data on the cashier system and saw that a total of 450 people had dined at the Community Office canteen throughout the midday.
Among them, 278 people chose the 12 yuan option, and 272 people chose the 10 yuan option.
Calculating it, the midday revenue was 6056 yuan.
If it were any other Community Office canteen, the owner would probably earn over 2000 yuan!
Xu Ning, without counting labor costs, earned 200 yuan!
But if labor costs were included, he would be losing over 1000 yuan.
Xu Jiafei looked at Xu Ning with eyes that seemed to speak, "Are you just going to keep losing money like this?"
Xu Ning, however, was indifferent. After all, it was the first day of trial operation. He could make small adjustments to the dishes later to ensure he didn't lose money.
His gain was not in the revenue he didn't care about, but in resident satisfaction.
The results were remarkable!
In just one midday, resident satisfaction had risen to over 95%, reaching 95.1%.
This was actually easy to understand, because opening a Community Office canteen primarily benefited the elderly in the Community Office.
Previously, the satisfaction of elderly residents was the hardest to improve, but now that they were directly benefiting, how could their satisfaction not increase?
Of course, Xu Ning was not without losses.
At least he didn't go out to deliver takeout at midday, delivering at least 15 fewer orders than yesterday!
That was all money!
So, without waiting until 4 PM, Xu Ning put on his yellow vest and went out at 3 PM.
At this time, there were usually no food orders, mostly milk tea orders. Although takeout orders weren't dense, he wasn't idle.
By 4:30 PM, he had already delivered 5 milk tea orders.
Fortunately, all 5 orders went smoothly, without too many complications.
However, Xu Ning soon learned what it meant to never be happy too early.
He had just grabbed an order, picked up the food, and was heading to the customer's address.
Riding in the non-motorized vehicle lane, there was a red light at the intersection ahead.
Xu Ning didn't have the habit of ignoring traffic lights like other riders; after all, his life was his own, and he wouldn't mess with his life.
So, he stopped before the crosswalk, waiting for the green light.
Even though this particular red light was notoriously long, he had no intention of running it.
But just then, a car drove up from behind and started honking its horn as it got closer.
And it wasn't just one honk, but a continuous stream of "beep-beep-beep"!
Xu Ning frowned and looked back, seeing a man in the driver's seat with an angry expression, his mouth moving non-stop.
Without even thinking, this guy was definitely swearing!
He thought that if he looked back, the man would stop honking.
But to his surprise, the guy intensified his actions, keeping one hand pressed on the horn, turning it into a long, continuous blare!
Many people around frowned and looked over, wondering what was wrong with this car!
Xu Ning also got annoyed. He dismounted his bike, propped it up, and walked towards the car behind him!
The driver of the car behind also opened his door and got out, a ferocious look on his face.
"Are you sick? Why are you honking?" Xu Ning retorted directly and unceremoniously.
"You're the one who's sick!"
"Didn't you hear me honking?"
"When you hear a horn, why don't you get out of the way quickly!"
"Riding a broken electric bike and taking up the road, blocking my right turn, do you know that?"
"Get out of my way right now!"