CHAPTER 36: CHAPTER 36: CAN’T BE TOO AUTHENTIC

Li Xiao finally sat down. His daughter had made a lot of sense. The purpose of running a restaurant was to make money. Here, the rent was expensive, labor was costly, and the ingredients were undoubtedly pricey. Coupled with the upscale decor, pleasant environment, and good service, it was only natural for the dishes to be priced high.

It was like comparing a small inn to a five-star hotel. Both offered a place to stay for the night, but a small inn might cost a few dozen yuan while a five-star hotel cost several hundred. They catered to different clientele, so there was really no basis for comparison. If he wanted to open a large, upscale Sichuan and Chongqing restaurant, he first needed a change in mindset. He couldn’t run it like his small diner back home, where a vegetarian dish was just a few yuan and even meat dishes maxed out at a little over twenty.

This was the center of the economically developed Shenzhen City. As his daughter said, rent was expensive and so was labor, making the cost of opening a business high. If he priced his dishes too low, where would the profit come from?

When the food arrived, Yi Anguo couldn’t drink with Li Xiao because he was driving. So, Li Xiao and his wife opened a bottle of 38-proof Wanjiu Wang themselves.

"Dad! How do these dishes compare to yours?" Li Sisi asked.

"They look quite nice, but the taste is just so-so," Li Xiao critiqued. "The flavor isn’t rich enough, it’s not very authentic. It’s not numbing enough—they used too little Sichuan pepper."

Yi Anguo smiled. "Sichuan and Chongqing cuisine can’t be too authentic once it leaves its home region. You have to adapt to the local environment to survive."

He continued, "Not every place can handle an intensely numbing flavor, especially here in Guangdong Province, where the palate leans toward milder tastes. So, the flavor profile has to be adjusted accordingly."

"Can a changed Sichuan and Chongqing dish still be called authentic?" Li Xiao retorted.

"I mean that while preserving the traditional essence of the cuisine, we should make some adjustments to cater to the local mainstream crowd," Yi Anguo explained. "It’s not about completely changing the flavor. Many people can’t handle a taste that is too numbing at first, so using fewer Sichuan peppers and toning down the numb-and-spicy profile makes it more accessible."

"A lot of people like Sichuan and Chongqing food but can’t stomach the intensely numbing sensation. Many can tolerate spiciness, but not the numbness."

Li Xiao found this hard to accept, or perhaps his mind was just struggling to make the shift. But if he wanted to open a Sichuan and Chongqing restaurant in Shenzhen, he would have to modify the flavors. He had to face reality.

Although there seemed to be many Sichuan and Chongqing restaurants here now, in a few years, they would begin to fall behind. Hunan restaurants would rise to take their place, blooming everywhere. The main reason many people would choose Hunan over Sichuan and Chongqing cuisine was their inability to handle the overwhelming numbness, whereas the fragrant spice of Hunan food was more acceptable. The food industry has to evolve with the times and adapt to the local environment, or it will be phased out.

There were many such examples. The Guilin rice noodle shops, Sha County Snacks, and bucket rice stalls that were everywhere now would all be obsolete in another decade or so. They would be replaced by Liuzhou river snail noodles, Changde rice noodles, Sichuan and Chongqing noodle houses, and grilled fish restaurants. While Sichuan and Chongqing cuisine wouldn’t be completely defeated, it certainly wouldn’t enjoy its current widespread popularity, with its signs visible on every street.

Yi Anguo himself preferred Sichuan and Chongqing cuisine, but he also found it a bit much if it was too numbing. His favorite was a mildly numbing flavor, so whenever he went to such a restaurant, he specifically requested they use fewer Sichuan peppers. A little spicy was fine, just not too numbing.

However, Yi Anguo knew he had said enough. It would be great if Li Xiao took his advice to heart, but if not, there was nothing more he could do.

There were quite a few tourist attractions near the Houhai area. Li Sisi took a few days off to show her parents and two younger sisters around, getting to know the surroundings in the process. Yi Anguo, of course, accompanied them the entire time. After all, Li Sisi’s parents believed they were already legally married, so it would look bad if he didn’t make a good impression.

"Anguo, if you’re busy with work, you don’t have to stick with us. Having Si Si show us around is enough," Li Xiao said to Yi Anguo. "Life is stressful for young people in big cities. It’s not right for both of you to take time off just to entertain us!"

"Dad, my job is just collecting rent. It’s fine if I collect it a few days late," Yi Anguo said with a smile.

"Collecting rent? Didn’t Si Si say you work for a real estate development company?" Li Wanhua asked, puzzled.

"Mom! Yi Anguo’s work at the real estate development company is mainly rent collection. He’s in charge of property management," Li Sisi quickly explained.

It turned out that Li Sisi hadn’t told her parents about Yi Anguo owning 1,600 properties and owing the bank a billion yuan in loans. She was worried they wouldn’t be able to handle it. In many mainland cities at that time, although mortgages were available, most people chose to borrow money from relatives to buy a home outright. Only a minority took out mortgage loans from a bank.

This was especially true for people from rural areas moving to the city. They would typically borrow from every relative they could to buy a house, then slowly pay them back. In the eyes of many, the interest on bank loans was simply too high to be worthwhile. Borrowing from relatives at least meant no interest. You could pay it back when you had the money, and no one would press you for it—unless a relative fell on hard times and urgently needed the cash. If her parents found out the man she married owed the bank a staggering billion yuan, they would be absolutely terrified.

Yi Anguo didn’t blame Li Sisi. He understood her reluctance to tell her parents the truth and played along.

"Si Si is right. My job at the real estate company is mainly property management and rent collection. It’s a pretty relaxed and flexible job, so delaying collections by a few days is perfectly fine."

Hearing this, Li Xiao and Li Wanhua didn’t say anything more. A good job that was both easy and flexible—what more was there to comment on? As for delaying rent collection for a few days, it was no big deal. It seemed quite normal.

Besides sightseeing, they also looked at some storefronts that were for lease or vacant. The locations were good, and they were pleased with the shops themselves. But when they asked about the rent, Li Xiao and his wife were stunned.

"It’s too expensive! Over fifty thousand a month for a place that’s just over five hundred square meters. The money we make wouldn’t even cover the rent," Li Xiao couldn’t help but complain.

"A larger space means you can serve more customers at once. If business is good, the rent is affordable," Yi Anguo said with a smile. "This is the city center, so the rent is bound to be high. If you want something cheaper, you’ll have to go to the outer districts, where rents are much lower."

"But opening a shop here has its advantages, like high foot traffic and a steady stream of customers. That means more people eating out, and you can also set your prices higher. While the rent in the outer districts is much cheaper, consumer spending is also lower, so you can’t price things too high, and the foot traffic doesn’t compare to here. In fact, the competition in the low-end market is even fiercer."

"The competition in the high-end market isn’t as intense. The investment is larger, and so is the risk. Many people are unwilling to take that risk, and many more simply don’t have the capital to invest in the first place. So personally, I feel it’s better to open a large restaurant than a little hole-in-the-wall. And it’s better to open an upscale restaurant than a low-end food stall."

"That’s easy for you to say," Li Xiao said discontentedly. "For a place this big, fifty or sixty thousand a month in rent plus a deposit comes out to one hundred and seventy or one hundred and eighty thousand right off the bat."

"And then there’s the renovation! How much would it cost to decorate such a large space to a high standard?"

"Besides, for a place this big, how many people would we need to hire? We’d need not just servers, but also chefs."