A little over ten minutes later, the once-blank sheet of paper was now completely filled with drink recipes.
Of course, this was just a first draft of the recipes.
The specific measurements and ratios would have to wait for the raw ingredients to arrive at the shop. Only then could he conduct further experiments to finalize them.
After all, raw ingredients from different brands have their own distinct flavors, so repeated testing was necessary to create the best possible combinations.
Time passed quickly, and before long, a Huolala truck parked a short distance from the shop’s entrance.
Then, box after box of new equipment was unloaded.
Li Xiao walked over to the driver and said politely,
"Sir, I might need your help moving this. There’s some stuff in my shop that needs..."
Before he could finish, the driver quickly waved his hand dismissively.
"Sorry, we’re only responsible for delivery. The sender paid a little extra, so me helping you unload it into the shop is already going above and beyond..."
But the driver’s words trailed off as he swallowed the second half of his sentence.
Because two crisp, hundred-yuan bills had appeared before his eyes.
Li Xiao grinned, dangling the cash from his fingers.
"Can’t have you working for free, can I, sir?"
"It’s not much to move, just four or five secondhand appliances and pieces of equipment. The shop doesn’t need them anymore, so you’d just be helping me clear them out."
With that, he stuffed the two hundred-yuan bills into the driver’s hand.
Hearing it wasn’t much stuff and that there was 200 yuan to be made, the middle-aged driver’s expression immediately switched to a smile. His calloused hand quickly snatched the bills as he said graciously,
"You should have said so earlier! Just a few appliances? I can take those off your hands in a jiffy. You’re a generous man, boss!"
Li Xiao, of course, knew the driver was just being polite. If he hadn’t been willing to pay for the extra labor, the driver probably wouldn’t have even taken away a few empty cardboard boxes, let alone several appliances.
He quickly returned to the shop.
Everyone had already heard from Wen Churen that Li Xiao was planning to replace the shop’s equipment.
This sudden arrangement had left not only the Xihuan’Er but even the shop manager, Huang Cuilian, at a loss.
As the new equipment was unboxed one by one, revealing items that were clearly expensive just from their appearance, Huang Cuilian whispered nervously to Li Xiao,
"Boss, this decision is too sudden."
"Our shop has always been operating at a loss. We’ve only been able to stay open thanks to the support of the original Mr. Tang."
"For you to buy so much equipment all at once... isn’t that a bit..."
Li Xiao knew what she was worried about.
She was clearly afraid that if he invested too much without any prospect of a return, he might just accelerate the demise of this already teetering milk tea shop.
Li Xiao chuckled lightly.
"Don’t worry, Sister Huang. My monthly allowance is over a million yuan. This equipment costs about as much as one or two of my meals."
??????
Hearing Li Xiao’s words, a million question marks popped into Huang Cuilian’s head.
But she quickly came to her senses. ’What kind of family gives a monthly allowance of over a million? This new boss must be joking with me.’
The next moment, however, Li Xiao opened his mobile banking app and showed the balance to Huang Cuilian.
Huang Cuilian’s eyes widened as she stared at the long string of zeros.
There were so many zeros that she couldn’t even count them all at first glance.
Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions, ten million!
GULP. She swallowed hard.
Li Xiao put his phone away, a calm and casual smile on his face, and explained in a low voice,
"Sister Huang, are you still worried about the shop going out of business now?"
"Don’t worry, I always think things through before I act."
"I could, of course, just keep subsidizing the shop like the previous owner did to keep it running."
"But what Miss Wen said to me earlier made a lot of sense."
"What these kids need isn’t just a meager salary of 1,500 yuan."
"They need a stable job, hope for their lives, and a sense of their own self-worth."
"In my opinion, continuous cash infusions are just another form of charity. Fundamentally, nothing changes."
"To fix this at its core, we have to solve the problem of the milk tea shop losing money."
"That’s why I believe that for the milk tea shop to be sustainable, it must be able to turn a profit on its own."
"This shop doesn’t need to make a lot of money like other milk tea shops, but at the very least, it needs to have the ability to be profitable and operate sustainably without subsidies."
Hearing Li Xiao’s explanation, Wen Churen, who was standing nearby, had a spark of admiration in her eyes.
She hadn’t expected that this young man, who was three or four years younger than her, could analyze the problem so clearly and concisely in less than half a day.
However, as the shop manager, Huang Cuilian was still worried.
"But just replacing some equipment probably won’t be enough to turn a profit, right?"
"I’ve seen plenty of milk tea shops with great equipment still go out of business due to poor management."
At Huang Cuilian’s words, Wen Churen’s heart also leaped into her throat.
"That’s right. And if we replace so much equipment all at once, the kids might not be able to adapt."
Li Xiao smiled and waved the drink recipes he had written earlier in front of the two women.
"Don’t worry. The equipment I bought is all newer semi-automatic or even fully automatic models. Many of them operate automatically with just the push of a button."
"As long as we give them a little time to learn, I’m sure they’ll pick it up quickly."
"Besides, I’ve already worked out the new menu and recipes."
"In a bit, I’ll prepare them on the spot. Once you’ve tasted the drinks from my recipes, you’ll understand why I’m so confident this shop can become profitable."
Although his words sounded unreliable, even a bit fantastical,
looking at Li Xiao’s confident expression, the two women didn’t argue further.
Soon, the Huolala driver had delivered all the new equipment to the shop and helped unbox it.
He also took away all the old equipment that Li Xiao no longer wanted.
Perhaps feeling he’d earned the 200 yuan too easily, the driver even took all the trash from the packaging with him.
Before long, the installation technician from 58.com arrived at the shop with his tools.
With a few flamboyant strokes, Li Xiao drew a simple sketch showing the installation positions for the various pieces of equipment.
Although the sketch looked rough, it was the product of careful thought.
According to his design, this layout would allow for much greater efficiency.
After confirming there were no issues with the wiring and that the voltage was sufficient, the installation technician began his work.
Meanwhile, the raw ingredients Li Xiao had ordered from various suppliers were delivered by different couriers.
While the technician was busy with the installation, Li Xiao began the process of selecting from the different brands of ingredients and making final-touch adjustments.