After his failed venture at the textile factory gate a few days ago, Zhou Liangliang made a hasty retreat back to the docks.

That evening, he hauled his noodles and meat sauce to the docks and sold them off at twenty cents a serving, managing to sell everything and recoup some of his losses.

The tasty and affordable noodles were quite well-received at the docks, and he smelled a business opportunity.

Starting the next day, he set up his noodle stall there, selling only two kinds of toppings. At thirty cents a bowl, he could sell about twenty bowls a day and earn an extra two yuan.

This made the couple overjoyed. Even though they had lost a few dozen yuan, it wasn’t a complete loss.

What he didn’t expect was that after Zhou Jie spent three days working at Zhou Yan’s restaurant, he came back, changed his sign, and turned his soup pot business into Kneeling Beef, raising the price from forty cents to sixty cents a bowl!

You have to understand, at forty cents a bowl, Zhou Jie’s soup was already the most expensive at the docks.

"Zhou Yan sells his for sixty cents, and now he’s selling his for sixty cents too. Doesn’t that mean those two will be earning even more than before?" Wu Guihua said sourly.

They sold theirs for thirty cents a bowl, and only sold twenty to thirty bowls a day, making one or two yuan.

Zhou Jie’s stall, at forty cents a bowl, could sell over a hundred bowls, making ten or twenty yuan a day.

"Hmph, I don’t think so. I’ve learned one thing from our failure: you have to sell the right product in the right place," Zhou Liangliang snorted, full of confidence.

"Zhou Yan can charge a high price at the textile factory because the workers there actually have money. But here at the docks, it’s mostly manual laborers. Forty cents was already their limit. For that extra twenty cents, you could buy another bowl of soup somewhere else. Who’s going to be that much of a sucker?"

"That makes sense." Wu Guihua’s eyes lit up. "If they think it’s too expensive, will they come to our stall to eat?"

"It’s possible. After all, we’re right next door," Zhou Liangliang nodded, also starting to feel a bit excited.

As noon approached, the number of customers coming to the docks for lunch gradually increased.

Many people headed straight for Zhou Jie’s stall with a clear purpose.

"Zhou Jie, haven’t seen you for a couple of days. What have you been up to?"

"Yeah, your stall wasn’t even set up the day before yesterday. I came for soup and found nothing."

A regular customer greeted Zhou Jie with a friendly smile.

While they were talking, six or seven more customers had already arrived.

Zhou Jie smiled and said, "I’ve spent the last couple of days learning a new skill from a Grandmaster. From now on, our soup isn’t just soup, it’s called Zhou’s Kneeling Beef."

Hearing this, the customers finally noticed the new sign and price list.

"Sixty cents a bowl? You... that’s too much of a price hike!"

"Seriously! At forty cents a bowl, your soup tasted great, and we were happy to support you. But if you raise it to sixty cents a bowl, who can afford it!"

The customers were all a bit annoyed seeing the price had gone up by twenty cents.

Listening with pricked ears from the side, Zhou Liangliang and his wife couldn’t help but start to smile.

Zhou Hai looked at Zhou Jie, feeling a little panicked.

Zhou Jie, however, wasn’t flustered at all. He said with a grin, "Everyone, please don’t be hasty. You all know that my brother and I are dedicated to making good soup; we don’t have any crooked ideas. This time, I really did go to my younger brother, Zhou Yan, to learn the traditional method for this soup pot, the recipe for Kneeling Beef."

"So why does our Kneeling Beef cost sixty cents? It’s because we’ve added many spices and medicinal herbs to this broth. It helps dispel dampness, ward off cold, nourish the stomach, and restore the body’s natural balance. This is no longer just a delicious soup pot; it’s a medicinal dish passed down from an old traditional doctor in Zhou Village."

Zhou Jie’s speech left the customers stunned.

"What’s this Kneeling Beef? Never heard of it. I’m afraid all that stuff you said about its benefits is just a load of bull."

"Yeah, right. If it’s really that good for you, what would we need hospitals for? You could just cure everyone yourself."

But the customers weren’t so easily fooled, and they were experts at arguing back.

Zhou Jie raised a hand, and Zhou Hai, standing beside him, lifted the pot lid.

A cloud of steam billowed up, carrying a rich, meaty aroma that wafted directly toward the customers.

"Hmm? That smells pretty good!"

"This aroma... it’s different from before."

The customers’ eyes lit up, all of them drawn in by the fragrance of the broth.

Looking into the large pot, they saw it was filled with a clear, bright broth, free of any impurities. It was a pleasing sight.

"Talk is cheap. You’re all regulars, so have a taste of the broth for yourselves. If it’s no good, you can throw the bowl right back at me, and I’ll accept it." Zhou Jie grabbed some earthenware bowls, ladled a small amount of broth into each, and handed them directly to the regulars.

With the bowls in their hands, the fragrant steam rising from the hot broth, and Zhou Jie smiling at them, the customers could hardly refuse. They lifted the bowls, blew on the surface to cool it, and took a sip.

The commotion attracted a number of onlookers.

There were other stall vendors and customers eating elsewhere.

A sixty-cent bowl of soup—what a novelty!

If the regulars didn’t accept it, the reputation Zhou Jie had built over the past two years would likely be ruined.

"Mmm! This broth is incredibly savory! It’s so much better than before!"

"It’s so savory it’ll knock your socks off! What did you put in it? There’s not even a hint of a gamey taste from the offal. It’s absolutely perfect!"

"You can taste a hint of medicinal herbs, but it just enhances the flavor and aroma. After drinking it, I really do feel warmer all over."

As the regulars finished their samples one by one, their faces lit up, and they were full of nothing but praise.

The soup made by the Zhou brothers was definitely top-notch at the docks. The beef offal was always cleaned thoroughly, and the broth tasted good, which was why customers were willing to pay an extra ten cents to support them.

But today’s broth... it tasted so much better than before!

They were regulars who came two or three times a week; they could taste the difference in a single sip.

The onlookers were surprised and intrigued by the regulars’ reactions.

’Could the soup really be that savory? That delicious?’

"The broth is good, but that price hike is still pretty steep," said an older man, holding his bowl, his tone softening a bit.

The other customers nodded in agreement. An extra twenty cents a bowl was too much.

"Actually, it’s only ten cents more than before. Look, a bowl like this is fifty cents. It has beef intestine, beef tendon, tripe, and beef heart. The portion size is the same as before, but the ingredients are better. Plus, the medicinal herbs I added are all high-quality, so my costs are much higher now." Zhou Jie blanched a standard portion of Kneeling Beef on the spot to show the customers.

As he spoke, he picked up four slices of beef, swished them in the pot for a few seconds until they were still slightly pink, then immediately took them out and placed them on top of the bowl. "A portion of Kneeling Beef with this added beef is sixty cents. To be honest, I don’t make a single cent off that extra ten cents. This is real, fresh *diao long* sirloin, four big slices, just so you can taste it for a mere ten cents more."

"You all know how much beef costs per jin. And this *diao long* cut... you can’t always buy it even if you have the money. The co-op never has it on display; it’s always reserved for people with connections."

"So tell me now, is sixty cents for a bowl of Kneeling Beef like this expensive?"

The crowd fell silent.

Abacuses were clacking away in everyone’s minds.

"I admit, I might have been a little loud just now," the older man from before said, holding out his earthenware bowl. "Give me that bowl of Kneeling Beef. I need to eat and get to Jiazhou for some business. You can just pour it into this one. I’ve already used it, so it’ll save you from washing another bowl."

"I’ll have a bowl too, with the beef! Use my bowl."

"I don’t think it’s expensive. I’ll have a bowl, with the *diao long* too."

The others couldn’t stay put any longer and eagerly held their bowls out toward Zhou Jie.

Was it worth it?

Did they even need to ask? It was an incredible deal!

The broth was genuinely delicious; they would have accepted an extra ten-cent charge for the flavor alone. The addition of medicinal herbs and spices meant higher costs, which was also understandable.

But for just one more ten-cent coin, they got four slices of *diao long*.

Was there any need to hesitate?

Who wouldn’t want to taste how tender that perfectly blanched, pink *diao long* was!

The situation was completely reversed in an instant.

It went from angry questioning to a crowd of people holding empty bowls, scrambling to order.

The nearby vendors and passersby were left dumbfounded.

’A sixty-cent bowl of soup was in such high demand?’

’But that *diao long* did look amazing!’

Immediately, a few passersby also came over to order.

"I’ll take the bowls. Everyone, please have a seat inside. The Kneeling Beef is blanched to order so it’s perfectly fresh." Zhou Jie collected the bowls, placing them directly into a wooden bucket nearby. He gave the finished bowl to the older man and said with a smile, "Uncle, you’re in a hurry, so you eat first."

"Alright, you kid really know how to do business." The uncle happily took his bowl of Kneeling Beef, sat down, and nodded as he ate. "This *diao long* is so fresh and tender. It’s sliced thin enough, the blanching time is just right, and with the dipping sauce, the flavor is just out of this world."

"Boss, give us two bowls of Kneeling Beef, the sixty-cent ones."

"One bowl over here. I want to try it too."

In no time, the eight small tables were nearly full, and everyone was ordering the sixty-cent bowl.

Zhou Jie greeted customers while he and Zhou Hai cut beef intestines and blanched tripe, so busy they couldn’t catch a break.

"Zhou Yan is a freaking genius. We did it just like he said, and the customers really accepted the new price right away," Zhou Hai muttered under his breath, beaming with joy.

"Of course. Zhou Yan is way smarter than us. Let’s work hard. We’ll follow him and make big money in the future. We can’t drag him down," Zhou Jie whispered back, his own grin stretching from ear to ear.

...

"Wait, is this right?"

"How can a sixty-cent bowl be so popular even at the docks that people are fighting to order it?"

"Are you all putting on a show to mess with me?"

Zhou Liangliang clutched his head, a look of disbelief on his face.

"Maybe... we should raise our price by twenty cents too?" Wu Guihua whispered.

Zhou Liangliang shot her a look. "You stupid woman, what reason do you have to raise the price?"

"’Stupid woman?’ You’re getting bold, aren’t you!" Wu Guihua leaped up and headbutted him.

"Hiss..."

...

Zhou Yan was unaware of the situation at the docks; he was busy stir-frying dishes.

"One order of Twice-Cooked Pork with Garlic Sprouts!"

"Another order of Twice-Cooked Pork with Garlic Sprouts!"

"Twice-Cooked Pork with Garlic Sprouts..."

Zhao Hong shuttled back and forth from the kitchen, carrying out dishes and relaying new orders.

The newly introduced Twice-Cooked Pork with Garlic Sprouts had already become the customers’ new favorite, a must-order dish for any large table.

The King of Sichuan Cuisine, truly worthy of its name!