"Boss, our port this time is better than last year's, but the traffic is all attracted by Mamy's. Furthermore, those customers are carrying the things they bought from Mamy's, and they are eating and shopping at the same time. They just skip over our place. We can't go on like this," the shop assistant said with a gloomy face at the stall selling shortbread diagonally opposite Mamy's stall.
The middle-aged boss with a big oily belly touched his bald head, and also felt that he was going bald.
Sma Shortbread made a name for itself last year with a fried shortbread. With its cheap price and decent texture, it became the most popular delicacy at the Gourmet Cuisine Conference.
And with the fame brought about by the Gourmet Cuisine Conference, they opened 10 branches in Chaos City from a street stall in just a year. They could be called a legend in Chaos City's culinary world.
They got a better location at this year's Gourmet Cuisine Conference, which was closer to the entrance. Sma was ready to go all out, and transferred the outstanding employees of all the branches here. He also prepared a lot of ingredients, hoping to create another legend.
They had opened many branches in the past year. Behind the glory, only Sma understood the lack of continuity of the fried shortbread. After the popularity of the Gourmet Cuisine Conference, the profits of the branches decreased day by day, and a few of them even fell into losses.
Hence, he had to make Sma Shortbread famous again in this Gourmet Cuisine Conference, and his ultimate goal was naturally the Gourmet Cuisine Rankings.
As long as he could get into the top five of that ranking, he wouldn't have to worry about Sma Shortbread's business for the next year. He could even open 10 more branches. Anyway, it didn't take a brain to duplicate a shop. He was very familiar with this job.
But now, this beautiful vision was attacked by Mamy's.
The weird queuing rules and the big live broadcast screen that made people's heads go bald were originally thought to be means to drive customers away, but they didn't expect to attract wave after wave of customers.
From morning till now, there were at least 2,000 customers queuing in front of Mamy's stall. As for those who watched for a while before leaving, there were more than 10,000 people.
And their shop … From morning till now, they had sold less than 1,000 fried shortbread and all kinds of shortbread.
This wasn't 1,000 octopus balls that cost 40 copper coins, but 1,000 fried shortbread that cost 3 copper coins.
The 10-odd employees stared at each other, and were so bored that they started to watch the live broadcast.
If this continued, not only would this Gourmet Conference be a total loss, but there would also be no hope of getting on the list. The goal of reviving Sima Shortbread and becoming bigger and stronger would also become an extravagant hope.
"This won't do. I have to think of a way to increase my popularity! Even if it's shit, as long as it looks like it's eaten by a lot of people, it can jump to the top of the rankings. " Sima's mind was very happy. He had used a lot of little tricks to make the fried shortbread popular at last year's Gourmet Conference.
When it came to getting on the rankings, strength was one thing, but skill was equally important.
The deep-fried shortbread tasted better than the shortbread sold on the streets, but the cost was about the same. After being fried in the oil pan, each and every one of them shone with a golden light. They seemed to be of a higher grade than the shortbread. They were wrapped in a paper bag and sold for 3 copper coins, which seemed very cheap.
This big pot of oil didn't cost much, and it wouldn't be a problem to use it for half a year. It was filtered every night, and some bleached stones were thrown in. The next day, there would be a new pot of oil.
In the last Gourmet Conference, the surrounding food was all priced at more than 10 copper coins. The cheapest boiled potato was 8 copper coins with a sprinkle of salt. He decisively lowered the price of the fried shortbread by 1 copper coin, and made the fried shortbread into a popular product at the super low price of 2 copper coins.
In fact, there was no skill involved. It was just a contrast to his peers.
But this year, he had changed to a good port, but it was matched with Mamy's octopus series of delicacies that had become popular by relying on hard strength. The price of 3 copper coins was ten times cheaper than the other party's cheapest octopus balls, but still no one was interested.
"Could it be that the world has changed? These guys would rather spend money to eat good food than eat fried shortbread that cost 3 copper coins? " Sima frowned. In terms of taste, the fried shortbread was really not delicious. It was just cheap, chewable, and filling.
"Why don't we play a big one this time?" Sima's eyes suddenly lit up. He quickly clenched his fist and turned to look at the shop assistant who had spoken earlier. "Go, find the signature shop that we often work with and get a sign that says' Free fried shortbread to eat '. It has to be big enough and eye-catching enough."
"Ah?" The shop assistant and the shop assistants who were in a daze behind were stunned when they heard that.
"You mean … free?" the shop assistant asked uncertainly.
"Yes, free. These guys are too stingy. Even if they just watch, they won't come and eat our fried shortbread that costs 3 copper coins. They can't earn money, and they can't earn money from yelling. Wouldn't this Gourmet Conference be a waste? " Sima waved his hand and continued, "Then let's just make it free. We'll lose money and yell. Let's open the market first!"
"Then in the future, will we still need money to sell shortbread in the shop? Do we … still have a salary? "the shop assistant asked in a low voice, confused.
The other shop assistants also looked at Sima.
"Don't worry, I won't treat you badly. Just do as I say. In the future, even if the fried shortbread doesn't make money, we can still sell other things. For example, the bag that holds this shortbread. If a bag sells for 3 copper coins, a fried shortbread will still be sold for 3 copper coins," Sima comforted them with a smile.
"But the bag wasn't made by us," another shop assistant muttered.
"What's wrong with that …" Sima frowned and said with a sullen face, "Hurry up and get to work. Why are you talking so much nonsense!"
Everyone immediately kept quiet out of fear.
Soon, the temporary signboard was in place.
"Come on, take a look, take a look. Sima's Crispy Biscuits Town Shop's Deep Fried Crispy Biscuits are free of charge. Each person can only get one. First come, first served!" Sima stood on a high stool and shouted through a loudspeaker.
"Free?"
Everyone immediately looked in the direction of Sima's Shortbread.
After a moment of hesitation, a group of people immediately rushed up. Many of them were originally standing at Mamy's stall to watch the show.
This was the first time they were eating for free at the Gourmet Conference. No matter what it was, it was first come, first served. Of course, they had to hurry up.
Soon, the front of Sima's Shortbread stall was completely surrounded. Screams, curses, and exclamations came one after another. It was even more lively and tragic than Mamy's stall.
The housewives in the line only took a glance at the crazy crowd before turning back to watch Meg cook. With such a comfortable waiting environment, if Mamy's stopped selling every day, they probably wouldn't be able to find a second shop.
"They're actually doing it for free. Isn't it too much to steal customers?" Yabemiya looked at the crowd of onlookers who had been attracted and said with some dissatisfaction.
Meg looked at the crowded stall and a trace of ridicule appeared at the corner of his mouth. "It doesn't matter. It's just an opportunistic method. These people don't know that free food is the most expensive. If they miss today, they won't be able to eat fried octopus tentacles anymore."
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