Chapter Fifteen: The Gift of Gourmet Intelligence

Through Hu Zhilong’s introduction, Chen Zhou roughly understood that the development strategy of Tianli Vinegar Factory this time was aimed at the external demand for vinegar in the catering industry. The target users for promotion were small business operators like himself.

For Chen Zhou, this was quite a suitable opportunity.

Soon after, the young lady from earlier brought over their vinegar sachet product—though the packaging was small, the brand logo was clearly visible. Hu Zhilong personally took it, tore it open, and poured the contents into a small paper cup. Then, holding the cup with one hand and supporting the bottom with the other, he brought it to Chen Zhou.

“Mr. Chen, this cup contains our company’s classic aromatic vinegar, which has been sold for many years. Please give it a try.”

“Thank you so much,” Chen Zhou replied... the politeness of the other party felt a bit excessive.

“No problem,” Hu Zhilong answered, maintaining a slight smile and the inviting gesture he had just made.

Chen Zhou couldn’t help but glance away toward the distance, and sure enough, the assistant girl was taking photos of them. So he had unknowingly become part of their work documentation… Seeing this, Chen Zhou smiled faintly.

He cooperated and tasted it.

The small packet of aromatic vinegar still tasted smooth with a hint of sweetness. The fermentation of glutinous rice and other grains gave it a unique aroma. It wasn’t much different from the bottled vinegar at home—probably from the same production line.

At least in terms of flavor, it showed the vinegar factory hadn’t cut corners by selling inferior products in small packages.

Of course, as a free sample, the evaluation could be even more favorable.

After the photoshoot finished, Chen Zhou decided to get straight to the point: “Manager Hu, you mentioned free trials earlier. For a small stall like mine?”

Hu Zhilong pointed to a nearby shelf: “According to company policy, in principle, only one box can be requested.”

The assistant added, “That’s 1,800 sachets.”

Chen Zhou thought silently, “Wow.” Even if each sachet was only 10ml, 1,800 would last him a month.

Before Chen Zhou could comment, Hu Zhilong continued: “Actually, we have a few personal quotas left. If you cooperate with a follow-up survey, Mr. Chen, I can give you another box.”

...No wonder it was only “in principle.” Chen Zhou agreed decisively.

“No problem with the follow-up survey. You can come by anytime.”

The other party then said that it was a mutually beneficial arrangement—Chen Zhou got the benefit, and they fulfilled their sales tasks. No need for excessive politeness.

Chen Zhou could only thank the Gourmet Intelligence for their generous gift.

After registering on-site, Chen Zhou took the initiative to ask, “Is there anything else I need to cooperate with?”

Hu Zhilong had already left, leaving only the assistant girl.

“Wait a moment for our manager. He’s gone to get someone to help you with your goods. You can take a look around our exhibition area, and we’ll deliver it to your car shortly.”

Based on his earlier observations, Chen Zhou had good reason to guess that they wanted to record their attentive service of personally helping customers carry goods.

As expected, when everyone accompanied Chen Zhou to his parked car, Hu Zhilong swapped out with the young man actually responsible for carrying the goods. “Come, let me help this master load the vinegar onto the car.”

The assistant girl, upon hearing this, ran a few steps away.

Click, click—several close-up shots.

Chen Zhou couldn’t judge Hu Zhilong’s sales skills, but his sense of the camera was clearly quite good.

“Take care, Mr. Chen~”

“See you tomorrow, Manager Hu.”

They exchanged final farewells.

Thus, Chen Zhou came back with another box of vinegar. It hadn’t been a wasted trip.

On the way, while driving, he pondered how short a time he’d been in business, yet he’d already arranged several meetings with others.

First, there was his former junior colleague from the design institute, Zhao Yilin.

She had bet him a cup of milk tea on how well his stall business would do, and surprisingly, many people had gotten involved.

Zhao Yilin hoped Chen Zhou would “fulfill the thirty-year promise” and help her win a week’s worth of milk tea.

Chen Zhou thought these people were just bored.

Then there was the urban management officer Wang Meng’s mention yesterday about wanting to shoot a video.

That was serious business.

They discussed on WeChat and tentatively scheduled it for Saturday. The filming plan included everything from setting up the stall to the entire process of purchasing ingredients, preparing food, and selling.

And just now, Chen Zhou had arranged a follow-up survey with Tianli Vinegar Factory. They planned to come by tomorrow.

“With all this intel, life feels pretty fulfilling.”

...

The next day, after confirming the time and place with Mr. Chen, Hu Zhilong arrived punctually at Sunshine City residential complex.

As a veteran employee of Tianli Vinegar Factory for over a decade, Hu Zhilong knew well how to survive and advance in the company—

What the boss cared about, you had to do with full effort.

Your hard work must be visible to the boss.

So he came personally to follow up on the bun stall, intending to demonstrate his dedication by investigating the product’s sales and usage on-site.

As for taking a few photos to document the work?

That was just a convenient bonus.

However, Hu Zhilong truly held no high expectations for Mr. Chen’s buns.

A little stall like that—how delicious could it really be?

Moreover, the company gave out vinegar every holiday season.

At first, it was fine, but after so much vinegar, he was tired of it. Now, whenever vinegar was involved, Hu Zhilong couldn’t summon much appetite...

At the intersection, traffic was a bit congested.

Hu Zhilong honked twice but saw no movement. He turned to chat with the assistant in the passenger seat:

“Lili, what do you want to eat tonight? You’re working overtime with me; I have to treat you.”

“Really, Brother Long? I saw there’s a steamed seafood place nearby. Shall we go there?”

“You really don’t hold back,” Hu Zhilong said, rubbing his forehead.

Zhu Lili then complained:

“If we head back now, I won’t get home until nine. I don’t get overtime pay, so you have to treat me to something nice.”

Hu Zhilong said, “No steamed seafood. Steamed buns are also steamed.”

Zhu Lili shook her head. “You’re too stingy, boss. At least take me out to a restaurant, okay?”

Seeing her relent, Hu Zhilong agreed:

“That’s more like it. I can afford that.”

They continued driving but the traffic was still heavy. They had to find a nearby spot to park and walk.

As soon as they got out, a savory aroma wafted over.

Zhu Lili sniffed the air: “Smells like meat buns.”

“Smells pretty good,” Hu Zhilong agreed.

“Is that the stall our client runs?”

A few steps ahead, they saw a queue of more than ten people.

A clean and tidy food cart.

And the stall owner—none other than the follow-up survey subject.

In some ways, he was partly responsible for the traffic jam.

“Business is quite good,” Hu Zhilong thought. This made his chosen stall more representative.

That vinegar sachet would need to be displayed outside shortly.

Right now, this spot wasn’t very eye-catching.