Chapter 538: Group Photograph

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Upon recognizing the woman, Li Hua paused momentarily. Wasn’t this the mother who, on the opening day, had refused to let her child enter the shop to make a purchase? Nevertheless, Li Hua quickly regained her composure and skillfully weighed out two pounds of pork head meat for the woman, thanking her for her patronage.

The woman’s cheeks flushed a deep red as she spoke, “Of course, I’ll bring my child for breakfast tomorrow. You’ll be open, right?” Li Hua responded with a warm smile and a nod.

Just then, a male customer behind the woman grew impatient. He urged the woman who had just purchased the pork head meat to move along, “Don’t stand here chatting, we’re waiting to buy meat too. I need three pounds of braised pork trotters, and make sure they’re fatty ones!”

At that moment, Guan Xin had taken Xiao Luo to interview customers at the entrance. Seeing Li Hua struggling to keep up with the demand, Gu Zi stepped in to help. She picked up a large pork trotter with a pair of iron tongs and offered it to the customer, “How about this one? It’s very fatty!”

Gu Zi understood that in this era, fatty meat was considered more desirable than lean meat. She would, of course, respect the customer’s preference.

The male customer hesitated, stuttering, “This looks like it’s more than three pounds… I can’t take that much…”

Gu Zi was quick to reassure him, “We can cut off the excess for you. We won’t force you to buy more than you need. We’ll cut exactly how much you want, it won’t affect our sales. Is that acceptable?”

The man was taken aback. He hadn’t expected such flexibility when buying meat. He could choose exactly where and how much to cut. He nodded in agreement, his earlier discomfort dissipating.

And so, the shop bustled with customers for about an hour. Guan Xin and her team had almost finished their interviews and were preparing to leave when Guan Xin asked, “May we take a group photo with the shop owner and her partner?”

Xiao Luo was surprised by the request and said to Guan Xin, “It seems you really like this shop. You’ve taken many photos during your previous interviews, but never as many as today. And you’ve interviewed so many customers.”

Guan Xin was adjusting her camera as she casually replied, “Didn’t you notice? Their service towards customers is excellent, something I’ve never seen in the city.”

Guan Xin was genuinely impressed. She had found a sense of service consciousness in a small town shop, a rare sight indeed.

She could also tell that the person who held the core cohesion of the shop was the partner, Gu Zi. This was no ordinary individual, so when she spoke, she usually addressed Gu Zi directly.

At this point, Gu Zi had a moment of respite. She responded to Guan Xin, “How about this, let’s not just take a photo of the two of us. Let’s take a big group photo.” As she said this, excitement flashed in Su Li’s eyes. He was going to be in the newspaper!

Su Bing, holding his little sister Su Le, also looked forward with anticipation. Not because he was particularly eager to be in the newspaper, but because he thought it would be nice to have a group photo with his brother, mother, and sister. It was a good thing, and they should take a family photo together when they had the chance.

Guan Xin agreed, “Let’s all take a photo together then. You two stand in the middle, and everyone else can stand on either side. Let’s take it in front of the shop. We can use this photo as the main theme.”

As Guan Xin spoke, Xiao Luo began arranging everyone outside. Gu Zi could tell that they made a good team. From her observations, Guan Xin was in charge of interviewing, photographing, and recording, while Xiao Luo handled all the miscellaneous tasks.

Their small team worked seamlessly together. Soon, everyone was lined up. Gu Zi and Li Hua stood in the middle, with Mother Lin and Aunt Yang on either side, followed by Su Bing and Su Li. Little Su Le was held by Su Bing.

The curious onlookers were intrigued. They had seen newspapers before, but this was their first time witnessing a newspaper interview and photo session.

Gu Zi noticed that many of them wanted to join in the photo. She announced, “If anyone else wants to be in the picture, feel free to join us. A big group photo would be nice!”

Her invitation was met with enthusiastic responses. Many joined in for the photo, and Guan Xin thought that the final photo would look better with the customers included. She asked Xiao Luo to arrange for willing customers to join the photo, and the front of Sister Hua’s Gourmet Shop was bustling with excitement.