Zongman: A Second Dimension Girl Comes to Me

"That's great, Toru-kun."

Kato Megumi is happy for Duanmu Che.

Duanmu Che's cooking skills have definitely reached an extremely high level, as he can cook dishes that make people cry.

In her opinion, even the chefs at Michelin restaurants are no better than this.

However, the 27th is the bank's final collection deadline. Otherwise, if Duanmu Che is given another month, he will definitely be able to revive Yuedaoxuan.

Kato Megumi felt both regretful and sad.

After much thought, she still felt that it was too difficult to earn 400,000 yen in just over ten days. After all, Tsukishimaken had been closed for more than half a year and the chef had passed away. This was undoubtedly a heavy blow to any restaurant. With repeat customers almost gone, reopening would mean starting from scratch to attract customers.

Moreover, Duanmu Che is a high school student and has to go to school during the day from Monday to Friday. He only has time to run Yuedaoxuan after the evening.

For the sake of Yuedaoxuan's business, Duanmu Che can't ask for leave from school for the next ten days.

The leave system at Shuchiin Academy is very strict, and there are clear restrictions on the hours students can work. According to the Tokyo Minors Protection Ordinance, the hours cannot exceed 28 hours a week.

If the school found out that Duanmu Che worked as a cook at Yuedaoxuan every day after taking leave, he would definitely be punished and might even be expelled.

Just when Kato Hui was worried about Duanmu Che, Duanmu Che's words interrupted her thoughts.

"Mei, I'm planning to change Tsukishimaken's positioning from a restaurant to an izakaya. What do you think?"

"Izakaya?" Kato Megumi was surprised.

Izakaya originated in Japan's Edo period and is a traditional tavern. In the 21st century, Izakaya has become a place with a rich variety of alcoholic beverages and meals for office workers to entertain and socialize.

After a busy day at get off work, office workers will go to an izakaya near the company alone or with colleagues to enjoy delicious food and relax their tired minds.

Therefore, many izakayas are only open after 6 pm. If Tsukishimaken is converted into an izakaya, it should only be open for about four hours a day, so Duanmu Che will not violate the school's part-time job regulations.

"It should be suitable, but compared to restaurants, izakayas will have less customer traffic, and there are already two izakayas on this street." Kato Megumi thought for a while and said.

"That's true. However, I've thought about it. Tsukishimaken can choose the high-end route and solve the problem of low customer flow by increasing the unit price of dishes. In this way, it can also create differentiation and does not have to compete with other izakayas for the affordable market." Duanmu Che said with a smile.

He targets high-income, industry elite white-collar workers who love to enjoy delicious food.

Ikebukuro is a prosperous place in Tokyo, on par with Ginza, Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Asakusa. It stretches from the station to the east and west, with a total flow of nearly one million people per day in the East Exit and West Exit areas.

The street where Tsukishimaken is located is adjacent to many skyscrapers and office buildings. Many branches of well-known companies are located here, including a branch of Sumitomo Mitsui Bank, one of the five major banks.

Every night, these elite white-collar workers pass by this street.

As long as it can make delicious food that attracts them, Tsukishimaken will be able to survive well.

"With Mr. Che's cooking skills, he can indeed go for the high-end route." Kato Hui nodded in approval and asked Duanmu Che a new question, "But after Tsukishimaken reopens, how can we quickly attract customers?"

In the catering industry, the most difficult thing is to have the first batch of stable customers.

Generally speaking, Duanmu Che could rely on his cooking skills to slowly build up his reputation and attract customers, but time is running out. If he wants to keep Tsukishimaken and make 400,000 yen, he must be able to attract a large number of diners as soon as he opens.

"Don't worry, I will cook a classic dish to attract diners." Duanmu Che was not worried about this and said confidently.

"What dish?" Kato Megumi asked with a hint of curiosity.

"Buddha Jumps Over the Wall." Duanmu Che said.

"Is it the famous Chinese dish Buddha Jumps Over the Wall?"

Kato Megumi had some impression of these three words. She had seen them on a food variety show and remembered that the preparation process of this dish was particularly complicated and time-consuming.

Can you attract customers by relying on Buddha Jumps Over the Wall?

She was skeptical and felt it was not very reliable, but seeing Duanmu Che's confident look, she thought maybe it could really work.

"By the way, Hui, I have an unwelcome request." Duanmu Che suddenly felt a little embarrassed at this time, "Yuedaoxuan is short of staff now, can you come over to help in the next week?"

He had just calculated that with the last bit of money in the family, after buying food and alcoholic beverages, he could not afford to hire a waiter.

With only him, he would definitely be too busy when Tsukishimaken opens.

Now, Duanmu Che can only rely on Kato Hui for help.

Of course, he would not let Kato Keibai work. As long as Buddha Jumps Over the Wall was sold out and Tsukishima Ken had some income, he would give her a generous reward on the same day.

Faced with Duanmu Che's request, Kato Hui agreed without any hesitation.

This was exactly what she had been expecting.

Afterwards, the two went to the market together to buy ingredients.

Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is also known as Man Tan Xiang and Fu Shou Quan. The ingredients include dozens of kinds of sea cucumbers, shark fins, fish lips, scallops, abalone, deer tendons, pork tripe, etc. Some of these rare and precious ingredients are not easy to find in Tokyo.

Duanmu Che searched for more than a dozen shops and stalls before he could barely gather all the raw materials. As he was short of money, he could only choose the cheaper and smaller sixteen-head abalone. He also replaced the deer tendons with hoof tendons and bought only a little dried turtle skirt.

By the way, I also bought some ingredients for making side dishes such as pickles, tofu, edamame, and fish belly, as well as alcoholic beverages such as sake and beer.

When he returned to Tsukishimaken, Duanmu Che had only 300 yen left in his pocket. This time he gambled everything on one throw and spent almost all of his money.

Duanmu Che cleans the seafood and soaks it.

On the other hand, Kato Megumi went to a printing shop and used her own pocket money to customize a cloth banner with the words "Tsukishimaken" written on it, and also bought two big red lanterns at a department store.

Cloth banners and big red lanterns are both special features of izakayas. In the past, people called izakayas "red lanterns."

Tsukishimaken used to be a restaurant, so it didn't require any renovation to be converted into an izakaya. All that was needed was a slight change in the arrangement of tables and chairs inside the house, and some cloth banners and big red lanterns hung up.

However, even so, it is still a considerable amount of work.

The two of them worked until dusk before they completed the renovation of Tsukishimaken.

After processing the tendons and shiitake mushrooms, Duanmu Che and Kato Hui sat on the sofa on the second floor to rest.

By the end of the day, they were exhausted.

"Hui, thank you." Duanmu Che turned his head and said seriously to Kato Hui beside him.

He was very grateful to Kato Megumi. If he were alone, it would be impossible for him to accomplish so many things so quickly.

"Tetsu-kun, I'm glad that you are willing to rely on me." Kato Megumi smiled and gently held his right hand.

Duanmu Che was startled when he felt a soft touch from his right hand.

The two of them just sat there quietly, and the atmosphere in the room became quiet.

Duanmu Che sighed silently in his heart.

He is really lucky to have such a childhood sweetheart.