Liang Hongmei told Liang Zhi to stay a few more days before leaving, to hang around and have some fun.

Liang Zhi agreed. When he had nothing to do during the day, he went to the shop with Liang Hongmei to look around, checked out their newly built building, and stared at that luxurious hotel, feeling envious.

But what really stuck in Liang Zhi’s mind was that takeout fried chicken Liang Hongmei was doing.

He thought it tasted great. Not just him—most people who tried this kind of fried chicken would probably want to come back for a second time.

If he opened a fried chicken shop like this in the county, then he’d never have to worry about selling the chickens he raised himself.

After walking a round with Mom, Liang Zhi helped Lin Wan carry back two whole fried chickens. For the kids. Mainly because the chickens weren’t big, about three or four jin each, so two were more than enough for both kids and adults to eat, and Auntie sold one whole fried chicken for five yuan.

The price was a bit high, but there were still plenty of people buying it.

"Xiao Wan, what do you think about opening a fried chicken shop in our county?"

"What’s the living standard like in our county?" After all, one fried chicken was five yuan, and it used a lot of oil.

"It’s okay. There are still quite a few people in the county who can afford it."

Lin Wan chuckled, and suddenly had an idea. "We can split this fried chicken window out into its own shop, and we can do it as a franchise."

"Franchise? What franchise?"

"We provide the ingredients and teach them the production process, then make a standardized shop front and put up a unified signboard. All they need to do is pay us a franchise fee. They use our brand and our raw materials, and we teach them how to make it along the way. Actually, a fried chicken shop doesn’t need a big space, just a few square meters or a little room of a dozen square meters is enough, or they can push a cart and sell at a fixed spot. If it sells well, it’s very profitable."

"So that’s how it is. Then how much do we charge them for the franchise fee?" Liang Zhi asked doubtfully.

"Uh, five hundred yuan per household, for life."

Liang Zhi frowned and said, "That’s not cheap."

"We’re teaching them a lifelong skill. Once they learn it, it’ll benefit them for the rest of their lives. You tried the fried chicken today—how do you think it tastes?"

"Good. Really delicious, the kind that makes you want more after you eat it."

"Exactly. Something this tasty, there will definitely be people fighting to learn it."

Liang Zhi felt that made sense. With this franchise thing, it depended on the individual. If they wanted to learn, they’d pay and they’d get guidance from them; if they didn’t want to, no one would force them.

Liang Zhi had originally wanted to go into the cooked food business, mainly leveraging his own supply sources. With this setup, he could totally learn from his aunt, go home and open a shop first to test the waters. If business was good, he could supply the factory with fresh product.

In the evening, after Liang Hongmei came back, Liang Zhi told her what he had in mind. Liang Hongmei then listened to her daughter’s plan and felt that they could absolutely turn this fried chicken stall into a franchise.

If it could make money, of course Liang Hongmei was willing.

As soon as Liang Zhi heard his aunt was on board, he decided on the spot to become a franchisee. But Liang Hongmei just smiled and said, "We’re relatives, what’s the point of charging you a franchise fee?"

"Auntie, this is your very first franchise store, you really can’t waive the fee. Besides, our family isn’t short of this bit of money. It’s mainly for good luck, to get an auspicious start." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Lin Wan felt Brother Ah Zhi was right. Seeing that Ah Zhi and her daughter both said so, Liang Hongmei had no choice but to accept Liang Zhi’s money.

"If we’re doing a franchise and opening a dedicated fried chicken shop, then we can’t just sell whole chickens. We can easily add more types, like fried drumsticks, fried chicken livers, chicken steaks, chicken wings, and also add some drinks and things. We can do a burger with chicken steak too, just like that burger shop in the Capital City. Three floors, unbelievably popular. If we have the resources, we can also put a few tables in so customers can eat in the shop before they leave. The place doesn’t need to be big." This was Lin Wan’s initial idea—if there wasn’t a good location, they could just do it like they were doing now, and put up a shop front.

Liang Hongmei thought her daughter’s idea was great, and even complained at Lin Wan for not mentioning it earlier. After all, selling whole chickens was too pricey, not something people could afford to eat every day.

Now some people only bought half a chicken, two yuan and fifty cents, half the price, just to have a taste.

If they sold things separately like this—one drumstick, one wing and so on—it would be much cheaper. Drumsticks, two for fifty cents. Wings, four for fifty cents. A lot of people would definitely buy them.

Chicken steaks and such were a bit harder to make; you needed to mince the chicken breast, marinate it, then fry it into a chicken steak. That one would definitely have to be sold at a higher price.