Chapter 981 Red Gourd
Ning Weimin thought he was blind at first.
As a result, he stared at it again and searched carefully...
Later, he discovered that there was indeed none.
The tavern jointly opened by Kang Shude and Zhang Dashao looks like a long five-bay room, but this shop has no sign or plaque.
There is only a red and black lettering on the door of the store that says "Have a drink at your leisure".
On both sides of the door is a couplet, "The universe is great in the wine, and the sun and the moon are long in the pot."
The writing is really good and the meaning is good, but this is definitely not the name of the store.
In Ning Weimin’s eyes, if there were no plaques and signboards, how would it look like a shop doing business?
Hey, there is one interesting thing.
That is, under the eaves on the right side of the main entrance of the tavern, a very conspicuous red object is hung with wire.
When the wind blows, it sways and spins around from time to time.
What the hell is this?
Don't be busy, if anyone sees it clearly, they will definitely laugh out loud.
Ganqing is a large gourd with a crooked mouth and red paint, with a wooden old coin attached to it and a few strips of red silk.
There are two big characters written in black paint on the gourd, one side is "Kang" and the other side is "Zhang".
"Old man, your store looks really fresh. Why doesn't it even have a name? And you're so cool with this gourd. I knew you opened a tavern, but I didn't know that I thought you were like this. Are you going to sing "Night Running"? Hey, tell me, if there is a big red-tasseled gun at the door, people will think that Lin Chong is drinking inside. "
Ning Weimin couldn't help his curiosity and joked a few words.
Unexpectedly, his lack of understanding turned out to be his ignorance, which completely exposed his ignorance.
"You know nothing. Have you been doing business for only a few days? Don't always be so self-righteous. You are so weird."
Kang Shude's first words confirmed Ning Weimin's doubts, and then he even taught him a shameless lesson.
"Where is this? The capital city. What kind of business am I running? A tavern in the capital city. In this case, you must follow the business rules of the capital city. Otherwise, it will be a joke. See this gourd No? This is called "Shizhao". Do you see the word on it? This is the name of the store. Whatever you want, I will tell you. You. As long as you hang this, others will know at a glance that this is my pub. Do you still need a sign?” What a joke.
But he was a little unwilling to do so, and his face could not be improved.
The second one is also a little interested and wants to get to the bottom of it.
So in a blink of an eye, he continued to insist on strong arguments.
“Say, old man, I don’t agree with what you say. According to what you say, what kind of signboards and plaques do the villas in the capital need? They can all hang wine gourds. Besides, you are also an old man. Time is so important. Who knows this now? The name of your store cannot be understood by young people. Only older people can understand it. Are you asking an elderly person to come here? So I think you should at least have a sign and a name."
Who knows, but Kang Shude still gave the full answer to his doubts. If you deny it, you will end up even more humiliating yourself.
"You can go cool down somewhere for me. It doesn't matter if you don't understand. I'm afraid you, a smart guy like you, will pretend to be an expert. I also tell you that Master Zhang and I opened this small shop. We just want to relax and have fun, and we don’t plan to make much money. What we want is for older people to come and talk to us, so why do we need to invite a bunch of juniors to wait for them to eat and drink? It's better if young people don't understand. It's still troublesome if you understand. Besides, there are rules for doing business in this capital city. Why should anyone use these signs and pretenses? I know it's to attract customers. But what's the difference between them and how they are used? It's scientific in today's terms. You can't do it randomly. Hey, by the way...I...I remember it's the same. You said there was a difference between the village and the palace. What happened? All I taught you was drinking and eating. Isn’t it a waste of time for me to talk to you?”
Kang Shude became more and more interested, for fear that the old man would lose interest in the conversation.
So he quickly changed his attitude, softened his tone, lowered his body, and rubbed it softly.
"Hey, you just want to use this guise to accurately position and select your preferred customer groups. Gao, you are really good at this! But I don't know your intentions. I'm just kind-hearted, I'm afraid that your business will be slow. As for what you told me, I remember to understand. Counting from top to bottom, these restaurants are restaurants, restaurants, restaurants, and food stalls, right? They also have their own standards and business methods, and I remember them all. But the problem is, you really haven't told me about the brand name. It's not a crime for me to know. Why don't you explain it to me. Well, this will prevent me from showing my timidity in front of others in the future.”
No one understands each other’s nature better than these two masters.
When Kang Shude saw Ning Weimin, he really humbly asked for advice.
No matter how smooth his ears were and how comfortable he felt, he couldn't hide it.
After all, he opened the store just to chat, so who was he talking to?
He thought that this thing in his stomach would be of little use if he kept it.
If you give it to your apprentice, maybe it will help this kid learn something.
So he started talking and just faced the red wine gourd outside to teach Ning Weimin a good lesson.
“Want to hear it? If you want to hear it, let me tell you. In our capital city, if you ask about the signboards, there are actually many types. Font size, signboards, signboards, plaques, pillars, etc. There are all kinds of couplets, and they are different from each other, and the styles are all kinds of strange. There are all kinds of new things. For example, people in drugstores like to use plasters, hairdressers like to use shuangguo, and hotels have to use glass electric ones outside. Lamp, this is called industry attribute. There are three hundred and sixty lines, each line has its own characteristics. Every morning, the first thing when any business shop opens is to put down the banner. "
"Why is this? To put it bluntly, it is purely determined by its use. It is equivalent to today's outdoor advertising. Think about it, in a truly prosperous street market, there are row upon row of shops of different sizes and colors. In order to attract business and make people remember you, the signboard must be obvious, so in the past, stores from all walks of life have worked hard on their signboards and pretexts. The writings on the pink wall are either wood carved, some cast in bronze, or hung on wood poppies, or hung on tin lamps, and decorated with tassels. Each one is brighter than the other, and each one is more material than the other."
"Don't look at it yet. No matter how many tricks there are, the established rules have their own rationality, and customers will not admit their mistakes. Merchants in each trading house can never make mistakes or mess up, no matter whether they are willing or not, everyone must follow the characteristics of the industry and their transactions. Arrange signboards and guise according to the scale of restaurants and restaurants. , restaurants, restaurants, food stalls. Generally speaking, as for places with serious hot dishes, almost all halls, buildings, and residences have flat irons sticking out of the eaves above the door. It is rolled up into the shape of several flowers, and two or four wooden plaques are hung two feet downward. The Han people's plaques are made of black or red ground, with three-dimensional gold lacquer characters in relief, and red cloth strips hanging from the flags. The bottom is tied with a blue cloth strip. This is the guise of Zhuangguanxing, which will never be out of shape.”
“The biggest difference is actually in the size and lettering of the signs. Restaurants with the Rutang brand have the most signs. It is best to have hanging tassels with words such as "Celebration Banquet" for foreign parties, "Sichuan-Shandong Dish" or "North and South Full Banquet". If the restaurant sign is less, the words should also be changed to "Joyful Banquet". If you go to "Ju", it will mostly be about signature dishes, and the signboard will be covered with red silk. "
“Further down, there’s the ‘Er Meat Shop’. These small shops also have names on their door plaques, but they can’t even be called ‘Ju’, so they’re just called ‘Heliu Deep’, 'Qianlixiang', 'Haitianchun' and the like. But correspondingly, the guise hanging at the head of the door is usually made of cloth, which is shaped like a flag, with a middle strip about eight inches wide and a white heart. There is a narrow strip about three inches wide on both sides, both about two feet long. Bai Xin wrote four lines of poetry, "Taibai drank wine and drank a hundred poems. He slept in a restaurant in Chang'an City. The emperor called and could not get on the boat. He claimed that he was a minister." "The Immortal in Wine." Each sentence, four in total, the more you can play, the better."
"Further down, there are pubs and restaurants with no name or brand. But the pretense is even better. Just like this wine gourd, it is the usual practice in the past. You can even use your imagination to come up with something unique. For example, if someone sells barbecue and hangs a leg of lamb, if he sells steamed buns, he will hang a steamer, or even if he sells fish dishes, he will hang a copper fish in front of the door. It doesn’t matter.”
“Why? In fact, the reason is very clear from top to bottom. First of all, the facade of a large store is large enough. Couplets, comprehensive and all-round publicity to introduce themselves. Small shops do not have so many signboards and camouflage, and the appearance is not easy to show off. The more you understand the rules, the more customers will trust you. On the contrary, a small shop can easily be ignored due to its small appearance. In order to highlight its existence, it must have other ideas to make it eye-catching. Almost everyone in the capital knows about the Cigarette Pot Shop (Tianheng Cigarette Shop) and the Black Monkey Felt Hat Shop in Xianyukou (Yang Xiaoquan Felt Hat), but few people can tell the real name of the shop. . This is a typical example of a small shop that relies on pretences."
"The last and most critical reason is that in the past, not everyone had different levels. They are all literate. Big merchants mainly deal with rich people, and their customers are mostly educated. But small shops are open for poor people, and many of them are blind, so the small shops sell their signs. See? It’s not necessary.”
Ning Weimin has finally heard this.
He really couldn't help but sigh silently in his heart. In the past, doing business was really very particular.
These things under the guise of signatures are not only reasonable, but also interesting.
It fully reflects folk wisdom and even artistry.
It has the same effect as the lanterns in Japanese restaurants.
It’s really much better than today’s buying and selling shops that are all the same, just hanging a few words on the door and trying every means to make a big statement.
There's no way to describe a restaurant like this. It's obviously a small restaurant but it has to be called a restaurant. It obviously doesn't have a few rooms, but it still dares to be called a restaurant.
It seems that this makes you appear capable and attracts customers.
As everyone knows, a name that sounds good is useless.
On the contrary, it will be counterproductive and will only ruin your reputation.
The name is not worthy of the name, and it will not attract easy prey. In the end, even the original regular customers may be offended.
This kind of "motivation" is really unacceptable.
"Don't say it, old man, there is something in your words that I can really ponder and tease. At least I have a feeling now. In this business, you must first be self-aware, and the correct positioning is more important than anything else. All are important. If you want to make money without losing money, you must first figure out how to make money and whose money you want to make. Take your small store as an example. I kind of understand your thinking. Since we are doing business for neighbors, so that everyone can have a place to have a drink and chat, then if we want to run it well, we must pay attention to the genuine goods and rely on careful budgeting and small profits. That’s right. So, if you over-decorate your store or put up a sign, it’s just a waste and it’ll make the real customers you’re targeting suspicious.”
Ning Weimin revealed his understanding, and Kang Shude was happy.
"Okay, if you can think of this, I won't tell you for nothing."
So he even taught me his business experience.
"But, what you said is still a little short of understanding. Think about it, all stores now have to pay attention to decoration and names. If they are all so bluff, doesn't it become normal? This is carrying a suona on the back. The plane has to blow into the sky. If it turns out that the name is not true, it will become a joke. On the other hand, I will open the store honestly, but it will become a success."
"You have to. Think about it this way, the business has no name, does it sound novel to you? Then it must be the same for others. This is what I want. It won’t take long for everyone nearby to know about our small shop through word of mouth. No, not having a name is the biggest advantage, but it will attract more people. I am serious about doing business, and I am not afraid of not being able to retain people. New customers will become regular customers in the future..."
Hey, what can Ning Weimin say?
He was completely speechless and could only ponder the feeling.
The old man’s brain is amazing, he can actually think backwards.
However, what Ning Weimin didn't expect was that it wasn't over yet. What happened next gave him a little more insight.
At that moment, a young man with a short haircut actually walked out of the store.
This young man has an apron tied around his waist and sleeves on his arms. You can tell he is a clerk in the store at a glance.
But he didn’t expect there was anyone outside.
He glanced at them timidly and called Kang Shude again, "Uncle Kang, you are here."
Then Dou Shou placed the stool in his right hand under the eaves.
He then stepped on the stool and hung the things in his left hand under the eaves on the left.
Don’t tell me, the thing he just hung up is even weirder.
Looking at the top, there is a circle with a barrel shape made of gold paper and red cotton paper strips hanging down, about six or seven minutes wide.
What’s great, this thing actually pairs with the wine gourd on the right.
When the wind blows, one is swaying and spinning, and the other is floating back and forth.
Hey, it looks really funny.
But the wine gourd is okay. It is like a piece of cloth, or a large tassel. What does it mean?
Ning Weimin felt that he couldn't understand it again.
Fortunately, Kang Shude told him the answer to the riddle this time without him having to ask.
"It looks fresh, right? The round barrel on top of this cover represents the noodle pot, and the thin strip of paper below represents the noodles. Now that it's hanging out, can you understand what it means?"
Ning Weimin suddenly woke up. . "It means you sell noodles here now. Drink, old man, this small shop of yours is fine. Two pretense, one eating and one drinking, it's all done."
Kang Shude looked cheerful. smiled. "By the way. Let me also tell you that the noodles here are not ordinary noodles. In addition to the rotten pork noodles that you can't eat elsewhere, there are also authentic Shanxi sliced noodles."
Wave your hand. , and called the guy over.
"Hey, let me introduce to you, this is Fang Bin, the man in my shop. He is from Datong, and his uncle is in charge of cooking noodles. When you see me later, just call him Master Fang."
(End of this chapter)