Chapter 21: Issue of Confidentiality

The table was already filled with ready-made hotpot ingredients. Wang Xiang sat on the table and did not hold back. He picked up a plate of mutton and tossed the meat into the hotpot.

“Old Zhao, where’s your hotpot dipping sauce?”

Wang Xiang couldn’t help but ask when he couldn’t find any dipping sauces after looking around.

“Let’s use this first.” Zhao Zhen turned around. Then, he took out a box of dipping sauce he had bought from the supermarket and placed it on the table.

Wang Xiang did not say anything else. He picked up the dipping sauce and poured it into the small bowl in front of him. Then, he began to scoop up the mutton.

“Hm… Hm?”

Wang Xiang’s eyes lit up when he took a bite. Then, his chopsticks did not stop moving as he continued eating.

“It’s delicious, too delicious!”

“It’s fragrant, spicy, and fresh. It smells, looks, and tastes great!”

Wang Xiang praised.

He had traveled extensively and was also involved in the wholesale food business. He had eaten countless hotpot meals in the past, but the one in front of him was definitely the most delicious one he had ever eaten. When that fantastic taste bloomed in his mouth, he almost screamed.

“Based on this taste, I dare to say that your Hedilao will definitely be popular!”

Food was everything to the people. Thus, Wang Xiang knew very well how important taste was to a hotpot restaurant.

With a recipe of this taste, it could be said that Hedilao had already won half of the game in the early stages.

“Did we have to debate over alcohol for so long for you to get me to eat this hotpot?”

Wang Xiang cast a reproachful glance at Zhao Zhen. If he had previously signed the contract because he was returning Zhao Zhen the favor, it was now completely because of Hedilao’s potential.

After saying that, Wang Xiang’s hands did not stop moving. He picked up the mutton, beef, meatballs, and tripe before putting them all in like a swarm of bees. Then, he started eating heartily.

“Hey, Old Zhao, why aren’t you eating?”

When Wang Xiang saw that Zhao Zhen had not moved his chopsticks, he asked Zhao Zhen this question.

“I’ve already eaten.”

Zhao Zhen explained as he touched his stomach and burped.

Before this, he and Ye Feng had already eaten this hotpot to test its taste.

Since there was only one set of ready-base soup bases… Wang Xiang was actually eating their leftovers.

Zhao Zhen started to sweat when he thought of this.

However, seeing Wang Xiang’s reaction, he did not seem to notice it.

“Then I won’t hold back.”

Wang Xiang did not even raise his head and continued to ‘struggle’ as he ate.

…

Half an hour later, Wang Xiang wiped his mouth and stopped eating. However, he seemed to wish to continue eating.

“I’m full.”

Wang Xiang leaned back in his chair, picked up his glass, and drank a glass of water. Then, he started to rest.

However, he did not forget his purpose for coming today. Thus, he only rested for a moment before standing up.

“Brother Zhao, let’s sign the contract.”

Zhao Zhen nodded. Then, they walked towards the living room.

…

In the living room, Wang Xiang signed his name and stamped his company’s seal before handing the contract back to Zhao Zhen.

However, Zhao Zhen had no intention of signing the contract. Instead, he said, “Let our boss sign this contract.”

“There’s actually a boss?”

Wang Xiang was surprised upon hearing this.

He had always thought that Zhao Zhen was the one who had established Hedilao, and that his goal was to go against Prosperous Flavor.

“In that case, I want to meet him when I have the chance.”

Wang Xiang’s interest was piqued. He wanted to know which divine saint could recruit Zhao Zhen.

Could it be that some big shot wanted to enter the hotpot industry?

Their identity must be extraordinary to be able to produce such a shocking recipe and to make Zhao Zhen serve them.

“You’ll have the opportunity to meet him now.” Zhao Zhen smiled mysteriously and said while facing the bedroom,” President Ye, please come out.”

“His surname is Ye?”

Wang Xiang racked his brains but could not think of any big shot in Quan City with the surname Ye.

Just as he was thinking, a young man in his early twenties walked out.

“Are you Boss Ye?”

Wang Xiang exclaimed and stood up in shock. He had never thought that the boss Zhao Zhen was talking about would be so young.

“Hello, Boss Wang. My name is Ye Feng, the founder of Hedilao.”

Ye Feng walked up to Wang Xiang and was not afraid at all. Instead, he extended his hand and began to introduce himself.

“Hello, Boss Ye.”

After all, Wang Xiang was a wily old fox in the business world. Thus, he was only slightly shocked before he recovered. Then, he was immediately full of smiles.

After they shook hands, Wang Xiang stared at Ye Feng’s face until Ye Feng suspected that there was something on his face. Only then did Wang Xiang look away.

“Boss Ye, heroes really emerge from among the youth!”

Wang Xiang could not help but say.

…

“Brother Zhao, how was it?”

After watching Wang Xiang leave, Ye Feng closed the door and asked Zhao Zhen.

“The price was very reasonable. It’s about the same as the contract that he signed back when I was still with Prosperous Flavor. Wang Xiang didn’t play any tricks in this aspect,” replied Zhao Zhen.

“Yeah.”

Ye Feng nodded.

Although he was the one who signed the contract, Zhao Zhen knew the market rate better than anyone else.

Ye Feng had a reason for asking this question. If Wang Xiang had played any tricks to negotiate for a price, Ye Feng would not do anything now as he was in urgent need of a supply chain.

However, once the contract expired and the operation of Hedilao had matured, he would have to consider switching suppliers.

After signing the contract, Ye Feng did not leave. Instead, he discussed the issue of their employee numbers with Zhao Zhen.

Opening a store wasn’t that simple. They couldn’t just hire a few employees casually.

After all, they had to consider the cost of manpower.

If they hired too few employees, they would not be able to keep up with their service. However, if they hired too many employees, it would affect the profits.

“According to our service model…” Zhao Zhen took out a piece of paper and wrote down a line of numbers on it. “We need about 8 to 10 servers, including a head waiter.”

“Let’s take the highest number and consider 10 employees for now.”

Ye Feng spoke without even thinking about it.

“We still need two staff members at the bar.” Zhao Zhen wrote down another line of numbers.

“The kitchen also needs dishwashers and handymen. We will need about three of them.

“As for the chefs, considering that we haven’t introduced any other dishes other than hotpot, we probably need two chefs to be in charge of the seasoning.”

“We also need to think about the recipes. Considering that we are operating at a small scale now, I suggest for the master who produced the recipe to make them personally.”

This was how Ye Feng explained the origins of the recipe.

“I bought the recipe from a veteran master.”

Although this explanation was far-fetched, Zhao Zhen didn’t probe any further.

“The veteran master is old and doesn’t intend to come out of retirement anymore.”

Ye Feng thought for a moment and said, “Let’s invite three masters. We’ll make three copies of the recipe and have them sign a confidentiality agreement.”

Larger chain hotpot restaurants would usually maintain the confidentiality of their recipes by building their own factories or splitting up the production process.

However, Hedilao did not have such conditions now. Thus, they could only restrict the spread of the recipe by signing a confidentiality agreement.

However, even though this was the case, Ye Feng still planned to personally grind the main spices into powder according to the ratio in the recipe. Then, he would give the spices to the masters for them to mix.

Although it was a little tough, there was no other way to do this before he found someone he could trust.

Even Zhao Zhen didn’t know the specific contents of the recipe.

“In that case, we’ll need about twenty employees.”

When Zhao Zhen made this conclusion, even he was shocked.

This meant that they would need to fork out over 100,000 yuan just for the salaries of their employees every month. This did not even include Zhao Zhen’s salary.

After considering the other costs of the hotpot restaurant, they would make a loss if their monthly turnover was less than 300,000 yuan.