I Have a Countryside Gourmet Restaurant

Chapter 342: Chapter 324: So Many People Are Here to Buy Peaches?

”Only” 3,100 yuan? Was he for real?

And that was with a busy schedule and limited time to catch crayfish.

If he wasn’t busy and had more time, couldn’t he make six or seven thousand, maybe even eight thousand yuan?

Damn, that was probably more than what most office workers in the county town, or even the city, were making.

That was the life.

Was this for real? Could that young guy, Li You, really sell all the crayfish he bought?

”Of course he can,” Liu Liangzhong said. ”Xiaoyou sells several hundred pounds of crayfish a day on average.”

”Several hundred pounds?”

Lin Quan and the other relatives stared wide-eyed in disbelief once again.

’Holy crap, just how good is his business?’

”Business is booming. The place is packed almost every day. It’s not just people from our town eating there. Lots of people from the county and the city make a special trip just to eat at his restaurant,” Liu Liangzhong added.

Lin Quan and his relatives found it hard to believe.

But then they thought back to the exquisite flavor of the steamed perch. ’If his other dishes are just as incredible, then it makes sense that people would make a special trip from the county and city to eat here.’

’With business this good, how much money must he be making a day?’

Lin Quan and the other relatives were filled with envy once again.

But with culinary skills like that, he deserved to be rich. It wasn’t the sort of thing you could be resentful about.

What they truly envied now were the people of Changle Village, like Liu Liangzhong and Duan Cangyun.

Damn, they really had it made!

Lin Quan said, ”Uncle, what if I just quit my job? I could live here from now on and just catch crayfish to sell. How about it?”

Liu Liangzhong laughed. ”You could! If you really want to.”

Lin Quan was actually tempted by the idea, but ultimately, he decided against it.

He was still young. If he quit his job to catch and sell crayfish, even if he earned more than his salary, people would see him as not having a proper profession—as being unemployed.

He himself wouldn’t mind, but the crucial thing was, he didn’t have a wife yet. If he went down that path, it would probably be even harder to find one.

So, he had no choice but to stick to his regular job. ’Life is full of such frustrating compromises,’ he thought.

”Lao Liu, I know crayfish reproduce quickly, but with your entire village catching them every single day, aren’t you worried you’ll eventually run out?” another relative asked.

Liu Liangzhong replied, ”We have a rule: if we catch a female with eggs or any young crayfish, we release them. We also buy crayfish fry from time to time and release them into the local waters. So, we don’t have to worry about running out.”

The relatives all nodded. That made sense; they wouldn’t run out that way.

But why not just farm the crayfish? It would be so much more convenient to harvest them.

”If we farmed them, the density would be too high, and the quality probably wouldn’t meet Xiaoyou’s standards,” Liu Liangzhong explained. ”Xiaoyou is very particular about the quality of his ingredients. If the crayfish aren’t up to snuff, he won’t buy them.”

’So that’s why.’

The relatives all nodded. It was true that farmed crayfish were often a bit lacking in quality.

His high standards for ingredients were admirable. The relatives gave Li You another mental thumbs-up.

’Why couldn’t their own village have a young man like him?’

He opened a restaurant by himself and brought prosperity to the entire village. ’What an amazing young man!’

The relatives sighed with a mixture of admiration and envy. They were becoming more and more curious to see what kind of person this Li You really was.

...

「Jiulong Gorge」

Word had spread among the day’s customers that Li You would be leading a group back to the village around three o’clock that afternoon to buy peaches.

Many of the customers were both surprised and delighted.

’There are peaches for sale already? How much a pound? What do they taste like?’

After asking around, they got their answers.

Ten yuan a pound, and they tasted fantastic.

Ten yuan a pound was a little steep, looking at the price alone. However, it was normal for peaches to be expensive this time of year. Plus, if they tasted great, then ten yuan a pound was perfectly reasonable.

’In that case, I might as well go buy some too.’

More and more customers were thinking the same thing.

As three in the afternoon slowly approached and the last of the diners had left, Li You decided it was time to leave with the customers who wanted to buy peaches.

’Let’s see how many people are going.’

”Alright, everyone who wants to go to the village to buy peaches, we’re about to head out!”

”Great! We’ve been ready for a while.”

”Let’s go, Boss. We can’t wait.”

”...”

A chorus of voices responded.

Only then did Li You realize with a start that the huge crowd outside his restaurant—a good fifty or sixty people—were all waiting to go buy peaches.

’This many people want to buy them?’

’At ten yuan a pound, so many people are willing to spend that much?’

Li You couldn’t help but marvel at how willing people were to spend money.

”Hahaha! To be honest, I’m not usually one to splurge. But the thought of getting to see the boss’s village and joining in the fun with everyone... well, that and the fact that I really love peaches, I just couldn’t resist.”

”Haha! Same here. If they were just selling at the town market, I definitely wouldn’t buy them. But going to the boss’s village with everyone to pick them fresh off the tree... that’s a different story. I’m willing to pay for that.”

”Yeah, it’s mainly about getting to see the boss’s village together. I’ve never been there before.”

”...”

Many people chimed in with similar thoughts.

It dawned on Li You. ’So that’s what it is.’ He could understand why the customers felt that way.

’Well then, let’s get going.’

Most of them were on motorcycles or electric scooters.

So, everyone could just ride their own bikes.