Before Jiang Zhou could figure out the best approach, something sudden occurred.

A new hot pot restaurant unexpectedly opened in town, offering the same chicken, river shrimp, and even the ingredients in the clear soup pot as Jiang Zhou’s establishment.

However, the impact of the previous oden business might have been too significant. This hot pot restaurant was relatively small, almost like a test run, lacking a second floor.

Lu Dalang had already inquired and learned that this restaurant used to sell drinks but was recently bought, transforming into a hot pot restaurant.

While carefully examining the account book in a private room, Lu Dalang expressed concern, “I find it very strange.”

Jiang Zhou, originally contemplating the time traveler, refocused upon hearing this, asking, “What’s the issue?”

Lu Dalang furrowed his brow, stating, “The cost of building the hot pot restaurant is there. The price of a whole chicken is controlled around fifty wens. Our chickens, sourced by me, have the lowest price, including the labor fees and other expenses. The given price is already the lowest. How is it that this store’s prices are even lower than ours?”

Jiang Zhou was momentarily stunned and glanced at the account book. Having personally managed the accounts with Wen Yan, they were aware that many prices here had been suppressed, leaving minimal profit margins.

Upon delving into Lu Heng’s memory, Jiang Zhou discovered an issue. Restaurants in later generations were highly profitable, especially tea shops like milk tea and bubble tea, boasting profits several times larger. Even ordinary restaurants were quite lucrative, with a substantial profit margin, usually around 50%.

Jiang Zhou considered the pricing issue when opening this hot pot restaurant. After calculating the costs and labor, he aimed to maintain the net profit at 10%. However, based on their pricing and normal costs, this new hot pot restaurant seemed to be operating at a loss.

The timing and significance of its release were subtle.

After careful analysis, Jiang Zhou realized that the restaurant might be either engaging in a price war, luring customers with extremely low prices to accumulate funds while simultaneously undercutting the Lujiang hotpot restaurant. Alternatively, it could have lower costs, allowing for extremely low pricing.

.

After a moment of contemplation, Jiang Zhou inquired, “Apart from your place, are there any other breeding farms near us?”

Lu Dalang, understanding the key point, replied, “Apart from us, there are no big breeding farms nearby. However, a little further away in Nanshan Village, there is a large breeding farm. It opened a bit later than us, and the business is decent.”

Jiang Zhou then asked, “Business aside, what about the prices?”

Nanshan Village and Yanghe Village already had a competitive relationship. Originally, Yanghe Village started raising chickens and ducks due to flooded fields, and unexpectedly, it garnered a positive response. Seeing the profitability, Nanshan Village entered the market to claim a share of the pie.

Although there were occasional frictions, the conflicts were not serious. Out of curiosity, Lu Dalang also went to get to know them.

“Their external prices are indeed lower than ours. I don’t know if it’s a feed problem or something else. The overall chicken size is larger than ours, but the price is lower. I haven’t tasted it in detail, so I don’t know what the meat quality is like.”

Jiang Zhou suddenly had an idea: “Since that hotpot restaurant doesn’t buy its goods from you, it’s probably the one in Nanshan Village that can meet such a large daily demand.” Seeing Lu Dalang nod, he said, “There’s no use in guessing like this. Why don’t we just go eat and see what’s the difference.”

As soon as he left, he changed into less eye-catching clothes, put some black disguise on his face, and swayed to that hot pot restaurant.

The name of this restaurant was also quite interesting. Jiang Zhou’s restaurant was called Lujiang Restaurant, and this restaurant was called Fenjiang Tower. It looked like it was a branch of Jiang Zhou’s restaurant.

Jiang Zhou and Lu Dalang booked a small private room in a low-key manner.

Entering the private room, Jiang Zhou took off his hat and took a look at the furnishings.

Lu Dalang asked: “How is it?”

Jiang Zhou shook his head: “It’s just similar in appearance.”

Lujiang Restaurant required the waiter to sweep and mop the floor after entering the store every day. The counter and table corners were required to be neat and tidy, including the placement of chairs. Jiang Zhou always inspected every day.

However, as soon as he entered Fenjiang Tower, Jiang Zhou couldn’t help but frown. The furnishings in this building were specially designed to be similar to those in Lujiang Restaurant. However, the sanitation was not very good.

Jiang Zhou even noticed a puddle of wine stains in the corner, likely rice wine that hadn’t been cleaned since it was spilled. It was still obvious now.

Although the waiter was enthusiastic, he seemed a bit clumsy and tongue-tied. When Jiang Zhou inquired about the side dishes in the chicken pot, the waiter hesitated for a long time without providing an answer.

After seeing the bottom of the pot, Jiang Zhou breathed a sigh of relief.

.

Once the waiter left, Lu Dalang frowned: “The flavor is not rich enough.”

Jiang Zhou nodded: “He didn’t add enough ingredients.”

Lujiang Restaurant’s chicken hotpot was known for its spiciness. Even the non-spicy options had a kick. The spiciness enhanced the overall experience, making it enjoyable even if people were sweating.

However, the one at Fenjiang Tower lacked that.

Ever since Jiang Zhou introduced spicy food, businessmen in the town had been buzzing, cultivating chili seedlings and selling peppers.

Fenjiang Tower used chili peppers from these merchants.

Jiang Zhou put down his chopsticks after one taste.

Lu Dalang, influenced by Xu Chang, sampled a piece of meat, paused, ate another chopstick, and finally commented: “It feels weird.”

Not being a professional chef, he sensed something was off but couldn’t pinpoint it. He just didn’t find the taste appealing.

Jiang Zhou shook his head: “The seasoning is too bland, and the chili peppers aren’t spicy enough. To intensify the flavor, he added too many chili peppers, filling one-third of the pot with them, overshadowing other flavors like chicken. The cooking temperature was a bit too high, resulting in tough meat.”

He used chopsticks to turn over the pot: “The meat in this pot is too minced, so it’s hard to tell if there is any shortage. Take a look. It seems like chicken hearts and gizzards are missing inside.”

Lu Dalang also examined it and confirmed that they were indeed missing.

Jiang Zhou reiterated: “The meat of his chicken is too loose and not firm enough. It doesn’t feel like an ordinary chicken. Although there is a lot of meat, the flavor is average.”

“It’s not an ordinary chicken? How else can we raise it?”

Jiang Zhou summarized the knowledge in his memory: “Most of our ordinary chickens are fed vegetables and insects, often allowed to roam freely, resulting in firm meat.”

“But that’s not the case with broiler chickens. They are kept together and fed a specific chicken feed ratio. Lack of exercise leads to lose and poor-tasting meat with average nutrition.”

Lu Dalang pondered: “So the cost of raising broiler chickens is lower?”

“Exactly.” Jiang Zhou sighed, “No wonder their prices are cheaper than ours.”

Lu Dalang sat for a while, hesitantly asking: “Should we adjust the price?”

“No need.” Jiang Zhou reassured him, “Our price is reasonable. Going too low won’t generate profit. If this restaurant is determined to start a price war with us, we can’t compete.”

Lu Dalang appeared anxious: “What can we do then?”

“Nothing, what we’re aiming for is word of mouth and reputation. Perhaps they can attract some business initially with lower prices, but with this pot of meat, do you think they can retain customers? Would you want to be a diner here?”

Jiang Zhou expressed confidence in this.

Didn’t restaurants rely on word of mouth and taste to gain fame? He had never heard of a place with poor taste that could still thrive.

Lu Dalang responded, “The next step is to find out who opened this store.”

“There aren’t many people in this town who can invest so much in opening a store. We’ll find out with a little investigation,” Jiang Zhou suggested. “Even though the shop seems mediocre, the owner likely has business experience.”

Lu Dalang nodded, “I’ll pay attention to the few shops around when I go back.”

With nothing else to do, Jiang Zhou took another bite of chicken and suddenly displayed a strange expression.

Seeing his odd expression, Lu Dalang raised his eyebrows: “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Zhou spat out the chicken, wiped his mouth, and his face darkened: “This meat is off.”

“What?”

Jiang Zhou tried to ignore the unpleasant taste: “The meat seems to have been stored for a long time, but it hasn’t expired. It must have been in the ice cellar for an extended period.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Dalang immediately exclaimed, “How can there be stale meat in restaurant?!”

“Maybe they thought the strong flavor of chili pepper could mask the taste.” Jiang Zhou speculated, surprised at the sensitivity of his taste buds.

Unable to stay seated any longer, he declared, “Let’s go; this place probably won’t last long.”

.

After the two left, the waiter entered. Seeing the untouched pot of meat, he took it back. The shopkeeper, inspecting the kitchen, saw him returned with a big pot and questioned, “What’s going on?”

The waiter explained, “I don’t know; the guests at that table left without eating much.”

Pressed for time with an incoming order, the shopkeeper waved his hand, saying, “If the original pot is still there, bring it out. We can save a pot of chicken. Be smarter in the future.”

The waiter hesitated, “Isn’t this…”

“Whatever it is, bring it out!” The shopkeeper snapped, then turned to the staff, warning, “These things will get eaten either way. Anyone who leaks this will not get next month’s salary. Understand?!”

.

Jiang Zhou was unaware of the kitchen turmoil. He and Lu Dalang had barely walked a hundred meters from Fenjiang Tower when they spotted “Zhuo Yan”, Liu Buping, and a group of familiar affluent youngsters. Walking in the middle like surrounded by stars, they appeared quite triumphant.

“Isn’t it just a minor issue? I’ll definitely have my dad sort it out,” Zhuo Yan declared confidently.