Shu Yu knew that Gu Zheng's culinary skills were very good. She knew it when she was studying.
Later, when Gu Zheng made omelets, she also ate Gu Zheng's omelets, so she knew the taste. After that, Gu Zheng went to participate in the Hangzhou Gourmet Competition, and Gu Zheng won the championship.
At that time, in her opinion, Gu Zheng's culinary skills were very good, and he was definitely at the level of a master, but that was all. She never expected that Gu Zheng would win the championship of the National Gourmet Competition.
And it was said that he was the most powerful champion, the champion with the highest gold content.
The first place in the country was totally different from the first place of the Hangzhou Gourmet Competition. Moreover, the National Gourmet Competition was the most recognized competition in the country. Gu Zheng's first place made him the most famous person in the gourmet circle.
"I didn't hide it. I have always shown my culinary skills before!"
Gu Zheng said with a smile. Shu Yu was slightly stunned. Gu Zheng's words were not wrong. He did not hide his culinary skills, and he even cooked for them before.
They didn't expect that Gu Zheng had such good culinary skills.
"How's your business?"
Gu Zheng changed the topic. He did show his culinary skills before, but at that time, he didn't get the inheritance of Gokusen. Compared with his current culinary skills, it was a world of difference. Shu Yu didn't know this, let alone think about it.
"I have opened 150 direct-sale stores in Shen City, Hangzhou and Sucheng. 70% of them are profitable, 20% are flat, and only 10% are in a state of loss. But they are all new stores, and they haven't made a name for themselves yet. I believe they will be profitable soon!"
Speaking of her own business, Shu Yu became a little more interested. This time, it was Gu Zheng's turn to be surprised. Shu Yu's restaurant had been open for more than a year. He didn't expect that she had opened so many stores, and the most important ones were direct-sale stores.
The direct-sale stores needed to be opened by one's own investment, while the franchise stores could be opened in one's own name by receiving money from others. The meaning was completely different. The direct-sale stores needed one's own investment, while the franchise stores needed to make money.
In more than a year, she had opened 150 direct-sale stores. Although the investment for such a small store was not large, it would cost at least 200,000 to 300,000 yuan. If the store was bigger, it would cost even more. This meant that Shu Yu had invested tens of millions of yuan in more than a year.
Although Gu Zheng also earned a lot of money, he was different from Shu Yu. First, he obtained the Sun family's aged soup, which allowed him to make chicken blood soup that tasted even better. Later on, he also found several types of delicious food.
Secondly, he had the Chang family as his business partner, so he didn't have any worries. Shu Yu made small fast food, very cheap wontons. Lin Run's chicken blood soup was not as expensive as his. Moreover, it was a small restaurant. It was really not easy to open so many direct-sale stores under such circumstances.
Another point was that Shu Yu definitely didn't rely on her parents. Gu Zheng was very clear about this point. If she wanted to rely on her parents, she wouldn't have opened such a small store.
Shu Yu was definitely the first person among their classmates to be able to do this by herself.
As for him, although he earned more than Shu Yu, he didn't rely on himself. He had the cheating device Gokusen's Token and the Chang family's business partner. In the end, he earned so much. The nature of the two was different.
"Not bad. Congratulations!"
Gu Zheng gave a thumbs up. His old classmate had built her own business. He was very happy for Shu Yu.
"But this still can't compare to you. Gu Ji Chicken Blood Soup has become a benchmark in the fast food industry, a benchmark that can't be replicated!"
What Shu Yu said this time was right. Many people wanted to make money like Gu Ji Chicken Blood Soup. Unfortunately, they didn't have the taste of Gu Ji. Without the taste, they couldn't attract customers.
The existence of Gu Ji once again proved the law of taste. The real delicacies must be the best.
"Let's go inside and talk!"
Gu Zheng pointed to the coffee house next to them. They had been talking on the road, and many people had turned around to look at them. This was indeed not the place to talk.
"Okay!"
Shu Yu agreed readily. In the coffee house, Gu Zheng also learned about Shu Yu's entrepreneurial process for more than a year.
Her current development was indeed good, but it was also very difficult. Not long after Gu Zheng left, she began to prepare for the branch. Opening a branch required money. She didn't have much money on hand, so she thought of financing.
She only had one small shop, and financing was easier said than done. Many people were not willing to invest in her. In the end, a venture capital firm took a fancy to her business, but only invested 500,000 yuan.
500,000 yuan, at most, could only open two shops. It didn't meet Shu Yu's expectations.
However, being able to open two stores was better than not being able to open any stores at all. Relying on the 500,000 yuan and the three stores, the reputation of the three stores was very good. Moreover, the returns were very fast, which made the venture capital very satisfied. After that, they added an additional 5 million yuan to the investment.
Relying on this five million yuan and a loan from the bank, Shu Yu was able to develop her Imperial Wonton brand to its current scale of 150. Because she had developed too quickly, she was still in negative equity and owed the bank a lot of money.
However, the overall performance of all her shops was very good. Food and beverage was originally a profitable business. Now, 70% of her shops were profitable. More than 50% of them could be fully recovered within a year. According to the current development of the remaining shops, they could be fully recovered within two years at the latest.
Most of the 30% that were not profitable were newly opened. Only three shops had been in a state of loss because of the wrong location. However, the loss was not much. Shu Yu could completely support it.
Because the venture capital investment was early, after a few capital increases, the venture capital firm still held 30% of the shares. Therefore, Shu Yu only had 70% of the shares. The company was no longer hers alone.
The venture capital firm wanted to continue to invest and increase the shares, but Shu Yu refused. Now that they had expanded, they couldn't eat everything in one go. They had to digest all the current assets first and stabilize it. They could expand in the future.
"Why don't you do a franchise? That way, you can be more relaxed and earn more money!"
Gu Zheng asked casually. The direct operation needed to be invested by oneself. A franchise not only didn't need to pay any money, but could also collect a joining fee. Then, they could also provide the source of goods and earn a sum. No matter how he looked at it, the franchise model was more cost-effective.
Shu Yu shook her head. "Many people wanted to join, but I refused. I don't plan to do the franchise model in the future. I will do the direct operation. Franchising is more profitable, but when the forest is big, it is easy for bad birds to appear. One or two franchising shops can destroy my brand. The most valuable thing for me now is my brand. I must protect it well!"
"In addition, the really good and top companies don't do the franchise model. They all do the direct operation by themselves. This way, it is easier to control!"
Shu Yu initially considered the franchise model. However, at that time, she was not famous and no one was willing to join. Now that she was famous, she felt the benefits of doing the direct operation. Therefore, she did not consider joining anymore.
She would rather develop slower to protect her brand. Gu Zheng agreed with this point. Many people wanted to join his Gu Ji Chicken Blood Soup, but he never agreed.
It was a happy thing to meet an old friend in a foreign country, not to mention meeting an old classmate in a foreign country.
Gu Zheng and Shu Yu left after dinner. They agreed to attend the food festival together later. Gu Zheng was a special guest of the food festival. At that time, he would be cooking delicious food. Shu Yu also said that she must go and try it.
When he returned home, Gu Ming was still at work. Gu Zheng simply took out the ingredients from the chaotic space and prepared to cook an even more delicious dinner.
He was the one who cooked yesterday, but he used the ingredients here. The ingredients used by Gu Ming were not bad, but they were only above the low-grade. There were not many second-grade ingredients, and none of them reached the normal grade.
The ingredients used by Gu Zheng were above the normal grade. The texture and taste would be better.
When Gu Ming came back, Gu Zheng had just finished cooking. Gu Zheng cooked four dishes, which were all eaten by Gu Ming. This meal finally made Gu Ming understand why those people said that Gu Zheng's first place this time was the most valuable.
The food made by changing the ingredients was really extraordinary.
He definitely could not make such delicious food by himself. Gu Ming praised Gu Zheng, which made Gu Zheng very proud. Unfortunately, it was not good to be too proud. After praising, Gu Ming changed the topic and asked Gu Zheng to provide him with a portion of the better ingredients.
Fortunately, Gu Zheng did not ask for a lot. If he asked for a lot, Gu Zheng could not do anything about it. These good ingredients were all saved by Gu Zheng through hard work. He did not have a lot of them himself.
Fortunately, Gu Ming asked for common ingredients. Some of them were ingredients that could be improved by Gu Zheng. He could provide a lot of such ingredients.
Even if Gu Ming did not want them, Gu Zheng would leave some for him. After all, this was his father, the person closest to him at the moment.
At the same time, in a small town in England, the leader of the five Indians was kneeling on the ground and looking at a mirror in front of him.
A whirlpool appeared in the mirror. Facing this whirlpool, the leader of the Indians did not dare to raise his head.
"Can he really absorb your strength?"
A dull voice came from the mirror. The leader of the Indians nodded hurriedly. "Yes, master. He once absorbed Titach's strength, but he returned it later!"
Titach was the unlucky fellow whose strength had been sucked away by Gu Zheng previously.
"He also said that he came from Emei and asked us to tell you!"
The leader of the Indians continued to kneel and spoke softly. The whirlpool in the mirror kept swaying, but no sound came out.
"The plan is canceled. You guys can come back first!"
After a long time, the voice in the mirror said something. The leader of the Indians immediately kowtowed and left the room. After he left, a faint sigh came from the mirror.
"Emei, I haven't been back for a long time!"
The next day, Gu Zheng woke up early in the morning. The opening ceremony of the Lyon Food Festival was today. As a special guest, he had to attend it today. The distance between Paris and Lyon was not close. The high-speed train took more than an hour, so he had to leave early.
Chang Le once said that he wanted to pick him up with a private jet, but Gu Zheng rejected him. He was only there to attend an event and did not want to be so high-profile.
When Gu Zheng arrived in Lyon, he realized that he was wrong. Even if Chang Le sent him with a private jet, he would not be high-profile. There were too many private jets here.
The Lyon Food Festival had become a place for the European aristocrats to play a few years ago. Now, it had become more serious. Not only the European aristocrats, but many aristocrats and rich people from other places had also started to participate.
The most typical were the people from Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. A few princes participated in this food festival. Not only did they have private jets, but they also brought their pets. Some brought eagles, some brought pythons, and some even brought leopards and lions.
However, these pets were required to be kept in cages and were not allowed to be released. Moreover, there were policemen watching over them.
Even so, they were very high-profile. One of the princes walked on the carpet when he got out of the car. The places he walked on had to be covered with carpet. The carpet that he walked on once would not be walked on again. Moreover, it had to be a high-end carpet.
Just like that, he had to walk thousands of meters of carpet in a day.
The aristocrats of the Middle East had many tricks, and so did the ancient aristocrats of Europe. Someone used a car to pull a house over. This was a real RV. There was also someone who brought a cavalry of 200 people. However, his army was dressed as medieval knights and was not a modern army.
A modern army, even if they were aristocrats, could not be brought out so openly.
In short, there were all kinds of things here. There were only things that you could not think of and nothing that you could not see. Gu Zheng sighed. It was an eye-opener. He had never thought that people could play so many tricks.
"Hello, Mr. Gu. My name is Hao Sen, and my French name is Larampe. This time, I will serve you all the way!"
After Gu Zheng arrived at the food festival venue, someone quickly came to pick him up. The person who came to pick him up had an oriental face, but he had already become a French Chinese.
"Hello!"
Gu Zheng reached out and politely shook hands with him. Hao Sen was about 25 or 26 years old. He was not tall, about 1.7 meters, but he looked very energetic.
Gu Zheng had a good impression of him. The reason was very simple. When he introduced himself, he first introduced his Chinese name. Whether it was because Gu Zheng came from China or not, Gu Zheng was very satisfied with his introduction.
This was different from the young man he had met before. That was a scum who forgot his ancestors.
"On behalf of Sir Brown, I thank you for coming to this event!"
Hao Sen took all the things from Gu Zheng and said. Gu Zheng turned his head in surprise. "Sir Brown, what's going on? Wasn't I directly invited by your organizing committee? "
"Sir Brown is one of the members of the organizing committee this time. He invited you to participate, so you are not only invited by the organizing committee, but also a distinguished guest of Sir Brown!"
Hao Sen explained slowly. Gu Zheng widened his eyes and was quite speechless.
His invitation only had the name of the organizing committee. He had never mentioned Sir Brown. He did not expect such a person to appear here.
And listening to what Hao Sen said, it seemed that he was invited by Sir Brown. It was originally a public invitation, but suddenly it became a private invitation, which made Gu Zheng a little difficult to accept.
In fact, Gu Zheng had known this for a long time. The so-called organizing committee invitations were all aristocrats themselves. Although he did not know which aristocrat had invited him, he understood that there must be an aristocrat behind Gu Zheng.
The reason why Gu Ming did not say it was because he wanted Gu Zheng to experience it himself. This way, he would be more disgusted and would not participate in such events in the future.
Sir Brown was a Spanish aristocrat, but he stayed in France all year round. He was young, in his early thirties, and inherited the title. His ancestors had been European aristocrats for hundreds of years.
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