Chapter 169: Barbecue Sauce Analysis And Optimization Successful!
Black Ox Barbecue’s barbecue sauce tastes really good, and they’ve also applied for several patents.
However, it’s not much different from the major barbecue sauce brands on the market; the difference isn’t very big.
After all, barbecue sauce isn’t some high-tech product.
There are at least a thousand brands of barbecue sauce on the market.
Major companies like Haitain, Lee Kum Kee, Red Sun, and Tianyuan Soy Sauce Garden all have their own barbecue sauces for sale.
“Mr. Jiang, why did you think of buying our company’s barbecue sauce?”
Tian Wei smiled and asked Jiang Tao directly.
Jiang Tao smiled calmly, “Of course, it’s because your company’s barbecue sauce tastes better than other barbecue sauces.”
Logically speaking, before Jiang Tao buys Black Ox Barbecue’s barbecue sauce, it’s not appropriate to praise it excessively before he even gets it.
How can you negotiate the price after praising it?
But Jiang Tao did the opposite, speaking his mind, which made him seem incredibly sincere.
Sometimes, sincerity is the ultimate weapon!
As expected, after hearing Jiang Tao’s praise for her company’s barbecue sauce, Tian Wei’s lips curved into a smile; she was very satisfied with his evaluation.
“We are all friends with Du Ennan, and I will definitely give Ennan face.”
“200,000. If Manager Jiang can accept this price, we are willing to sell the recipe.”
“But a non-compete agreement must be signed, and your company cannot open a store within 10 kilometers of our Black Ox Barbecue.”
Tian Wei looked at Jiang Tao, and her expression seemed normal.
The reason Black Ox Barbecue is so popular isn’t just due to its barbecue sauce.
It is the combination of favorable timing, geographical advantages, and harmonious human relations that has led to its current achievements.
Black Ox Barbecue’s greatest competitive advantage has always been the high-quality dishes in their restaurant and their attentive service.
While barbecue sauce is important, it is not the most crucial factor.
Selling the barbecue sauce recipe to Jiang Tao would bring in money and also save Du Ennan’s face.
For Tian Wei, there were many benefits, and she had no reason to refuse.
“Deal!”
Upon hearing Tian Wei’s quoted price, Jiang Tao readily agreed.
He thought Tian Wei would go back and consider it for a few days.
He didn’t expect her to give him an answer on the spot and agree so readily!
Jiang Tao’s prepared talking points hadn’t even been used yet.
200,000 for a barbecue sauce recipe was not a low price.
But Jiang Tao believed that the recipe, after being analyzed and optimized by System Brother, would be worth even more!
In the future, he could earn thousands of times the profit using the analyzed and optimized barbecue sauce recipe from System Brother!
The current investment of 200,000 yuan posed no pressure for him.
As for the non-compete agreement Tian Wei mentioned, it was not a problem at all.
Once he got Black Ox Barbecue’s recipe and System Brother optimized it, Tian Wei probably wouldn’t even recognize it as their barbecue sauce.
That non-compete agreement would be meaningless to Jiang Tao.
Moreover, Jiang Tao never intended to open a barbecue restaurant near Black Ox Barbecue.
After all, it would be rather impolite to compete with them right after buying their recipe.
The progress in acquiring the barbecue sauce recipe was faster than Jiang Tao had imagined.
After the two reached a cooperation intention, Tian Wei drafted a technology transfer contract.
After both parties signed the contract, Jiang Tao immediately transferred 200,000 yuan to Black Ox Barbecue’s account.
Tian Wei also readily handed over a barbecue sauce recipe to Jiang Tao.
She also promised that he could visit and learn at Black Ox Barbecue’s barbecue sauce production workshop at any time.
Until he could independently and skillfully make barbecue sauce of the same quality as Black Ox Barbecue sauce.
Looking at the barbecue sauce secret recipe he received, which only contained less than ten ingredients.
Jiang Tao found it somewhat amusing.
He spent 200,000 yuan to buy a recipe of less than 1000 characters, which was truly worth a thousand pieces of gold per character!
However, Jiang Tao didn’t feel that it was not worth it or that he had been cheated.
Recipes are often like a layer of window paper; once poked, they break.
But if the person who holds the recipe doesn’t help you poke it, you can never figure it out no matter how hard you try.
Jiang Tao had a high school classmate whose parents bought seven or eight houses in the county town by making tofu.
Making tofu seems simple, without much skill or barrier to entry, but the process is actually quite complex.
Ten people making tofu could produce tofu with ten different textures.
A tofu-making technique could sell for sixty to seventy thousand yuan, and it was said they sold over ten such techniques a year, bringing in at least six to seven hundred thousand yuan!
In addition, their tofu tasted delicious, and they supplied dozens of small supermarkets in the county town, with considerable daily sales volume.
The phenomenon of “a unique skill conquering the world” is quite common in real life.
No regrets, since the money was spent, Jiang Tao didn’t dwell on other thoughts.
To obtain the system-optimized recipe, he had to first get the basic recipe.
This step could not be skipped, and this money had to be spent.
Since that was the case, there was nothing to hesitate about.
The cooperation was finalized around noon; it was time for lunch.
Tian Wei invited Jiang Tao and Du Ennan to their restaurant downstairs to eat barbecue.
The three of them occupied a private room, ate barbecue, and chatted, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.
Jiang Tao also asked Tian Wei for advice on many matters related to opening a self-service barbecue restaurant.
Opening a barbecue restaurant seems simple, but there are many intricacies.
Preliminary market research, site selection, price positioning, quality control;
Establishing supply channels, hygiene, service…
And so on, there are many aspects to pay attention to.
The reason for Black Ox Barbecue’s booming business is multifaceted and not achieved overnight.
Tian Wei answered Jiang Tao’s questions without reservation, telling him everything he asked.
She wasn’t afraid of Jiang Tao opening a barbecue restaurant and competing with her, nor did she see him as an adversary.
There are over a dozen barbecue restaurants in the Huilongguan commercial area; one more or one less wouldn’t make a significant difference.
Tian Wei also knew that anyone who could become friends with Du Ennan was certainly not ordinary.
Upon learning that Du Ennan was also the godmother of Jiang Tao’s daughter,
Tian Wei’s level of regard for him increased even further.
The meal finished around 2 PM.
Jiang Tao, Du Ennan, and Tian Wei said their goodbyes and prepared to leave.
As they were parting, Du Ennan smiled:
“Jiang Tao, don’t forget, you promised to treat me to dinner at your place tonight.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t forget. Tell Xu Li what you want to eat, and she’ll prepare it.”
Jiang Tao naturally hadn’t forgotten about inviting Du Ennan for dinner.
He was also planning to complete the task “Compassionate Parents’ Hearts” tonight.
This task couldn’t be done without Du Ennan.
“Where do you get off asking your wife to do that? I’ll go to the supermarket with Lili after work.”
Du Ennan gave Jiang Tao a playful glare and said with a smile.
Tian Wei, overhearing their conversation, sensed something different.
“It seems Jiang Tao and Du Ennan’s relationship is closer than I imagined.”
Tian Wei just smiled at the two of them and didn’t interrupt their conversation.
Jiang Tao and Du Ennan chatted for a few more moments before turning towards the direction of the escalator.
After watching Jiang Tao go downstairs, Du Ennan and Tian Wei chatted for a bit longer.
They then returned to their respective offices to work.
…
Jiang Tao went downstairs to the underground parking lot, found his car, but didn’t drive away immediately.
After unlocking the car door, he opened the rear passenger door, and closed the car door.
In the dim light of the underground parking lot, cars of various brands shone with different glints.
Occasionally, the sound of footsteps and voices could be heard, but they were distant from Jiang Tao’s location.
The windows of the Mercedes-Benz GLS were tinted with privacy film.
He could see clearly outside from inside the car, but no one outside could see inside.
Jiang Tao first took out the barbecue sauce recipe he had just bought today from his shirt pocket.
Then, he summoned the Daily Intelligence System panel and attempted to analyze and optimize it.
【The host is currently in an unobserved state. Do you wish to analyze and optimize the barbecue sauce recipe?】
“Yes!”
With a thought, Jiang Tao chose to analyze and optimize the barbecue sauce recipe he had just purchased.
【The barbecue sauce recipe is being analyzed and optimized. It is expected to take 5 minutes. Please wait…】
Whoosh—
A pillar of dazzling azure light shot out from the system interface, enveloping the recipe in Jiang Tao’s hand.
Beep beep beep, beep beep beep, beep beep beep—
A faint buzzing sound, like a swarm of insects, sounded in Jiang Tao’s ears; it seemed like System Brother had started working.
【Analyzing recipe. Current progress: 1%… 3%… 6%…】
Jiang Tao’s gaze was fixed on the progress bar, patiently waiting for the analysis to complete.
Five minutes later…
【Black Ox Barbecue sauce recipe analysis and optimization successful!】
【Your Black Ox Barbecue sauce recipe has been upgraded to Delicious Barbecue Sauce. Do you wish to learn it immediately?】
Seeing the prompt message on the system interface, Jiang Tao’s heart rejoiced!
“Yes! Learn!”
Without any hesitation, Jiang Tao willed himself to learn the recipe.
The next second, his mind was hit by a thunderous boom, and a vast stream of information appeared out of nowhere.
Jiang Tao closed his eyes tightly, completely opened his mind, and began to absorb the stream of information in his mind.
The information stream contained all the raw ingredients needed for brewing barbecue sauce and the quality control standards for those ingredients.
For example, the ingredients required one tomato.
This doesn’t mean you can just buy any tomato from a vegetable stall.
You must select tomatoes of the corresponding quality according to the quality mentioned in the recipe.
A slight deviation can lead to a thousand-mile difference.
If the quality control of the tomatoes is not done well, and the wrong ones are chosen, the taste of the resulting barbecue sauce will be very different.
There are also various precautions to take when making barbecue sauce.
The ratio of various ingredients, the proportion of water, the control of heat, and so on, and so on…
If it weren’t for System Brother directly engraving the method of preparation into Jiang Tao’s mind as a stream of information.
With his own brain, it would probably take three to five months to master this recipe.
The process of absorbing the information stream felt like a long time, but it actually took at most about ten minutes.
By the time Jiang Tao finished receiving all the information streams in his mind.
He had also completely mastered the method of making barbecue sauce.
The recipe, after being analyzed and optimized by System Brother, not only had its quality greatly improved.
But the difficulty of preparation also increased significantly.
Without Master Jiang Tao’s careful guidance by his side, the possibility of replicating the Delicious Barbecue Sauce would be infinitely close to zero.
“Not bad, another highly competitive product obtained!”
“The future market prospect of this Delicious Barbecue Sauce is likely no less than that of the Eight Treasure Pickles.”
“First, I’ll go to the rental room and make some to test the effect.”
With a thought, Jiang Tao closed the system interface.
Then, he pushed the door open, got out of the car, and moved to the driver’s seat.
After starting the car and driving out of the underground parking lot of Wanxiang Hui, he headed straight for Xiao Shahe Village.
The rental room he rented from Old Lu in Xiao Shahe Urban Village had not yet been vacated.
He was currently using it as a “laboratory.”
He had previously tried making Eight Treasure Pickles here.
This time, when trying to make barbecue sauce, Jiang Tao still chose to experiment secretly in the rental room first, and then surprise everyone.
If the effect is good, this Delicious Barbecue Sauce can be the second product of Jiang’s Food Factory.
In addition to using it for his own barbecue restaurant, he could also expand the business of selling barbecue sauce.
At this moment, Jiang Tao, with Eight Treasure Pickles in his left hand and barbecue sauce in his right, held two trump card products.
The future of Jiang’s Food Factory was undoubtedly promising.
Around 2:30 PM.
The Mercedes-Benz GLS was heard stopping on the open ground outside Xiao Shahe Village, next to a dusty 4.2-meter truck.
Stepping out of the car and looking at the familiar “old friend” beside him, Jiang Tao couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion.
Last year, during the cold twelfth lunar month, he was on the 4.2-meter truck, worrying about how to make money to pay off the debt incurred for building a house.
He was even calculating on his phone how much extra interest he would have to pay if he borrowed money from Alipay.
With a loud bang, his life changed dramatically.
The speed at which he made money seemed like he had cheated.
In less than two months, he had gone from being penniless and in debt of seventy to eighty thousand yuan to a middle-class individual with a net worth of tens of millions.
Everything felt like a dream.
He looked towards the windshield of the 4.2-meter truck; the newly replaced glass showed no trace of being broken.
But Jiang Tao knew that all of this was incredibly real, not an illusion.
“Old friend, you brought me luck. I’ll have someone properly modify and upgrade you another day.”
Jiang Tao retracted his gaze from the 4.2-meter truck, turned, and walked towards the urban village.
Although he no longer needed that 4.2-meter truck, he had no intention of selling it.
Selling it would fetch at most thirty to forty thousand yuan.
He really didn’t lack that little money now; it was better to keep it as a memento.
As a person, one must not forget their roots!
Jiang Tao would never forget the experience of driving a truck and being a truck driver.
If it weren’t for that period of despondency back then, he might not be standing here today in such glory.
Turning around and heading into the urban village, he passed a fruit and vegetable supermarket and walked in.
Upon entering, he went straight to the shelf where the tomatoes were displayed.
In his view, among the pile of tomatoes on the shelf, only two tomatoes had a very conspicuous yellow “↓” arrow marked on them.
This indicated that, out of this pile of tomatoes, only these two met the quality standards for making Delicious Barbecue Sauce.
Only by using tomatoes strictly selected by System Brother can the most authentic Delicious Barbecue Sauce be made!
“The quality control is that strict? The probability is too low!”
Muttering softly to himself, Jiang Tao pulled a transparent plastic bag from the shelf and put the two tomatoes identified by System Brother into it.
Then, he went to the purple onion area on the shelf.
Among the pile of onions displayed, there wasn’t a single one that met the standard!
Fortunately, he found 3 in the net bags placed under the shelf and took them all.
Afterwards, he also bought five bulbs of garlic, a bag of sugar, a bottle of apple cider vinegar, and a jar of yellow mustard sauce.
After buying the necessary ingredients at the fruit and vegetable supermarket, he went to Pang Dongdong Supermarket to buy some seasonings.
Chili powder, sea salt, pepper, syrup, and butter.
These were all necessary ingredients for making Delicious Barbecue Sauce.
Although the requirements were strict, making collection a bit more difficult, he managed to buy everything.
The procurement process ended, and Jiang Tao, carrying bags and packages, arrived downstairs at the dormitory building where he had previously rented a room.
“Xiao Jiang! You’ve been so elusive lately, it’s too hard to see you!”
“Don’t leave tonight, let’s have a few drinks together!”
Lu Qian, who was walking birds downstairs, saw Jiang Tao, greeted him with a smile, and invited him for dinner tonight.
“Unfortunately, Lu Ge, I have plans tonight; I have a dinner party.”
“Another day, I’ll treat you and Aunt Ma another day.”
“Oh, right, where is Aunt Ma?”
Jiang Tao looked around but didn’t see Ma Dongmei, so he asked curiously.
The relationship between Lu Qian and Ma Dongmei had progressed to a point of inseparable companionship recently.
Wherever Ma Dongmei appeared, Old Lu was within ten meters.
As expected, with a creak, the door opened.
Ma Dongmei came out of Old Lu’s house holding a basket.
Seeing Jiang Tao standing at the door, Ma Dongmei’s face broke into a smile, and she waved at him.
As someone who had been through it, Jiang Tao instantly saw through the situation.
Old Lu and Ma Dongmei were living together!
Looking at the loving couple.
Jiang Tao, the “matchmaker” who had brought them together, felt a sense of accomplishment!
“Hehe, by the way, Xiao Jiang, Li Mei and I are getting married this May Day.”
“You must come as the matchmaker then! I’ve prepared a big red envelope for you.”
Lu Qian said with a smile, his old face crinkling with joy.
“Of course! I’ll definitely be there! I’ll congratulate you and Aunt Ma now.”
Jiang Tao smiled at the two of them, silently congratulating the “new old couple.”
Finding a soulmate in the latter half of life is also a very comforting thing.
“Since you have plans, then forget it for today; we’ll arrange another time.”
“Xiaomei and I are going to the market to buy groceries; I won’t waste any more of your time here.”
Old Lu smiled, waved goodbye to Jiang Tao, and turned to walk towards the alley entrance with Ma Dongmei, chatting and laughing.
After watching them walk a short distance, Jiang Tao turned and entered the dormitory building, going upstairs to his room.
When the food factory wasn’t finished renovating a while ago, his parents made Eight Treasure Pickles here.
The room was kept quite clean.
After entering the room, Jiang Tao took a bucket and went to the village’s direct drinking water machine to fill a bucket of purified water for 2 yuan.
Then he began to process the ingredients he had bought.
He sliced the onions, roasted the tomatoes over a flame, discarded the skins, and chopped them into small pieces.
He then peeled 6 cloves of garlic, dazed them when they weren’t looking, and minced them.
After the raw materials were prepared, he placed a clean non-stick pan on a small liquefied gas stove and heated it dry.
After drying the water in the pan, he turned down the heat and added 4 pieces of butter, the size of mahjong tiles, to heat and melt.
When the butter reached about 88 degrees Celsius, Jiang Tao poured the pre-sliced onion strips into the pan and began to stir-fry them.
Soon, the unique aroma of the onions was stir-fried out.
At this point, he added the minced garlic and continued to stir-fry.
After the aroma of the onions and garlic had been fully released, he poured in the diced tomatoes.
Then, he added an appropriate amount of apple cider vinegar, syrup, white sugar, yellow mustard sauce, chili powder, sea salt, and pepper.
He then added an appropriate amount of water and began to simmer over low heat.
The proportions of all ingredients and seasonings had to strictly follow the ratios marked on the 【Delicious Barbecue Sauce】 recipe in Jiang Tao’s mind.
Even a slight error in the ratio would affect the taste of the resulting barbecue sauce.
The closer the ratio was to the recipe, the higher the quality and perfection of the barbecue sauce produced.
The information stream that Jiang Tao received was directly imprinted in his mind.
Although it was his first time making Delicious Barbecue Sauce, he was as skilled as if he had done it thousands or tens of thousands of times.
The barbecue sauce simmered in the pot over medium heat for five minutes, and a unique aroma began to fill the room.
Sniff, sniff, sniff~~~
Jiang Tao sniffed his nose vigorously, smelled the unique aroma of the barbecue sauce, and his eyes showed a look of joy.
“This sauce aroma is quite pleasant!”
“As expected of the analyzed and optimized recipe, it smells even better than Black Ox Barbecue sauce!”
Looking at the barbecue sauce bubbling in the pot, Jiang Tao excitedly swallowed.
It seemed like the barbecue sauce was a success!
After simmering for another 10 minutes, Jiang Tao turned off the gas stove, looking joyfully at the reddish-brown barbecue sauce in the pot, feeling a sense of accomplishment!
“Let’s have barbecue again tonight! Let everyone taste my barbecue sauce.”
It was still very cold outside in early spring; it was only about six or seven degrees Celsius in the afternoon.
Jiang Tao opened a gap in the window, and the cool breeze outside flowed into the room, quickly cooling down the barbecue sauce in the pot.
He picked up a large ladle and directly scooped the barbecue sauce from the pot into an enamel basin, filling it perfectly.
He put on the lid, then put the barbecue sauce into a clean plastic bag and tied it.
Finally, he placed the plastic bag containing the enamel basin into a white shopping paper bag and carried it downstairs.
After all the fuss, it was already past 5 PM.
The roads in the urban village were getting crowded with pedestrians.
Ding ding ding—
Jiang Tao had just walked a few steps with the barbecue sauce when his phone rang.
He took out his phone and saw the caller ID was “Wife.”
“Hello, Wife.”
“Have you and Du Ennan gone to the supermarket already? That early.”
“Let’s have barbecue tonight! I made some barbecue sauce this afternoon, let everyone taste it.”
“Okay, see you later.”
