The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 388: Chapter 388: The Gourmet’s Taste Test

”Alright, we’ll go by the market price. I can’t exactly force a sale, after all,” Han Xiaorui said with a smile. ’Of course, if someone else offered a higher price than Zhang Guangnan, I wouldn’t sell it to him for less.’

Zhang Guangnan understood. As long as the farmed seafood he served tasted good, he would undoubtedly attract plenty of customers.

With Shencheng’s current economic growth, more and more people could afford seafood.

Several more seafood restaurants had opened this year. To stay competitive, it wasn’t enough to have a good ambiance; the key was flavor.

When it came to seafood, freshness was everything. Quality ingredients were king.

The reason he’d been able to take over the business from his father so smoothly was that he had secured his supply chain.

Summer was the peak season for seafood restaurants, but with the current fishing ban, the supply of wild-caught seafood had dwindled, and prices had skyrocketed.

Crucially, the quantity was also low. He often couldn’t buy enough, leaving his business in a difficult spot. This was Zhang Guangnan’s biggest headache.

Just as Han Xiaorui was chatting with Zhang Guangnan, a few foodies arrived. They stood by the aquariums, looking at the lively seafood inside.

These men loved seafood, and they preferred it fresh from the tank.

Uncle Li was a returned overseas Chinese. His children were all wealthy, having made their fortunes abroad, and he was quite rich himself.

He had returned to his roots to live out his days, and aside from food, he had no other hobbies.

Who would have guessed that the man in cloth shoes, holding a simple palm-leaf fan, was actually a millionaire?

He had brought a few friends to the restaurant today to celebrate his birthday and satisfy a craving.

”Boss Zhang, I’m surprised you still have so much seafood. It’s not easy to source this much during the fishing ban,” Uncle Li praised, pointing at the aquariums with his fan.

Boss Zhang explained, ”Uncle Li, I have to be upfront with you—these aren’t wild-caught, they’re farmed. How else could they be so uniform in size?”

Upon hearing this, Uncle Li was instantly displeased. ”It’s my birthday, and you’re going to serve me farmed seafood? Who knows what they feed those things? I don’t care, you have to get me wild-caught. Don’t try to pass off the cheap stuff as the real deal.”

The others, there to celebrate the birthday, weren’t paying, so they didn’t voice an opinion, but their gazes remained fixed on the farmed seafood in the tanks.

”You know, if you look closely, you can see a slight difference. At a glance, I almost couldn’t tell. Old Li, don’t get worked up. Boss Zhang is an honest man; he wouldn’t try to fool us with farmed seafood.”

Zhang Guangnan smiled. ”For Mr. Li’s birthday, we’ll naturally use wild-caught, just as you wish. We did manage to get some decent wild seafood today, and I’ll have the kitchen prepare it. We don’t have any top-quality wild grey pomfret, though. Later, I’ll have them prepare some of the farmed grey pomfret, on the house, as a gift for you, Mr. Li.”

Uncle Li chuckled. ”You’re a sharp kid. Alright, let’s do that.”

’Seeing how resistant the customers were to farmed seafood, it’s going to be hard to sell it at a high price,’ Han Xiaorui thought.

After the group entered their private room, Zhang Guangnan noticed Han Xiaorui’s slight frown and tried to reassure her. ”Xiao Rui, don’t worry. Once they try the grey pomfret, they’ll realize the farmed ones aren’t nearly as bad as they think. And once the test report is out, things will be even better.”

Hearing this, Han Xiaorui nodded. ”Then I’ll have to count on you to keep promoting it, Boss Zhang.”

”Don’t mention it. If the price is higher, I earn more too. I can’t make a profit just selling low-end products, and I can’t tarnish my restaurant’s reputation,” Zhang Guangnan said with a laugh. He had lacked confidence before, but after tasting the farmed seafood himself and hearing Han Xiaorui’s news about the test report, he felt completely assured.

After Han Xiaorui left, Zhang Guangnan had his staff start preparing Uncle Li’s seafood birthday banquet.

For any seafood lover, the meal was nothing short of a feast.

Although the fish and shrimp were a bit small, the flavor was excellent.

Zhang Guangnan had a server bring over the steamed grey pomfret, as steaming was the best way to appreciate the seafood’s natural flavor.

Too many seasonings would only mask its inherent taste.

When the steamed grey pomfret was served, the group of foodies paused. ”Old Li, this farmed grey pomfret looks pretty good!”

Zhang Guangnan smiled. ”You’re all connoisseurs. Please, give it a try and tell me what you think of the flavor.”

Uncle Li nodded, picked up a piece with his chopsticks, placed it in his mouth, and chewed slowly, savoring it. ”Not bad at all! The flavor is excellent!”

Seeing that the guest of honor had taken the first bite, the others began to eat as well. They all remarked, ”This tastes almost the same as wild seafood, but it has an added hint of fresh sweetness. You didn’t add any sugar to this, did you?”

Hearing this, Zhang Guangnan quickly explained, ”Of course not. It’s steamed the exact same way we’d prepare a wild pomfret. I would never add anything like that.”

Uncle Li nodded. ”You’re right, there are no strange additives, and the flavor really is quite good.”

Zhang Guangnan seized the opportunity and said with a smile, ”I’ll be frank with you all. The test results for this farmed seafood are almost identical to those of its wild counterpart. Director Wu at the testing center saw the report and couldn’t believe it himself. So this morning, he personally led a team to the farm to collect random samples for re-testing.”

”In three days, once I have that new test report, I’ll have scientific proof of this farmed seafood’s quality. I’m planning to host an event for my loyal customers, a special tasting for everyone to try it. I hope you gentlemen will honor me with your presence then.”

Uncle Li loved this sort of occasion and nodded eagerly. ”Of course. Just give us a call, and we’ll be there. If all of it is the same quality as this grey pomfret, then your farmed seafood is definitely top-notch.”

Old Zhou chimed in, ”That’s right. I’ll be very interested to see that report. If this stuff is really that good, I’ll want to start buying it to cook at home.”

Zhang Guangnan smiled. ”It’s absolutely top-quality. I run an honest business here. The product is being tested twice over, so I guarantee there won’t be any issues.”

Trusting Han Xiaorui and believing that diners would accept the flavor of the farmed seafood, Zhang Guangnan moved forward with bold confidence.

He personally wrote out invitations for his major clients—the ones who treated his restaurant as their go-to spot for entertaining. He had Zhang Fa Cai deliver them personally, inviting them to a seafood tasting over the weekend.

Good food was the best way to comfort the soul and bring people together.

All who were free replied that they would be there.

Zhang Guangnan made his preparations and simply waited for the test results.

Meanwhile, Director Wu and his team were working overtime on the tests. All the samples had been randomly collected by them, leaving no room for falsification.

The data came in bit by bit. On the afternoon of the third day, the complete report was finished, and the results were identical to the previous one.

Three separate teams had conducted the tests, and their data showed little variance, proving that the results of the first test had been correct.

Director Wu personally called Han Xiaorui to come pick up the test report. At the same time, he wrote up his own report on the matter and submitted it to his superiors.

They were astonished by the results. This seafood was far superior to farmed seafood from any other region.

At that moment, Han Xiaorui had no idea what a huge impact Jinshan Bay’s seafood farm would have in the future. She was only thinking about selling her farmed seafood for a higher price, earning a bigger profit, and recouping her investment as soon as possible.