Luo Qingfeng: "We used to have an oven next to this telephone pole. At that time, it was very dark and oily. That barbecue, the smell of our grilled shrimp, was kept on it for at least half a year."
Before 1998, Luo Qingfeng opened a small shop here to sell barbecues. In 1998, an accidental discovery made him cook grilled shrimp. One day, one of his relatives who opened a restaurant gave Luo Qingfeng the unused shrimp balls, which is what Wuhan people call shrimp balls. In order not to waste, Luo Qingfeng simply treated the shrimp balls and ate them himself. But this move was seen by a guest in the shop at that time.
customer at that time: "I thought it was very strange, so I ordered a bunch and tasted it."
Luo Qingfeng: "He just tasted it and didn't say whether it was delicious or not."
customer at that time: "I tasted good as soon as I ate it. The next day, I introduced it to my friends, and they insisted that I take them to their store to have a taste."
led by this customer, a large number of people came to Luo Qingfeng's shop the next day, so they specially ordered this shrimp ball to eat. Luo Qingfeng, who was unprepared, finally made a plate of roasted shrimp balls after a hurry. At that time, in Wuhan, the traditional way to eat shrimp balls was to fry them or steam them. If they were used for roasting, it was the first time for him. From this incident, Luo Qingfeng was greatly inspired.
Luo Qingfeng: "I just found that there is still a market for making this shrimp ball, which is not available in the whole country. I just wonder if I can make this baked shrimp ball into a fist product in our store."
Barbecue is the most common food eaten by Wuhan residents at midnight snack. It is unusual to use shrimp for roasting, and many people want to taste it fresh. Luo Qingfeng feels that the opportunity to make big money has finally come. He simply erected a light box in the alley and put up the signboard of "Authentic Baked Shrimp Ball". The price was one yuan and fifty cents a string. A week later, his shrimp ball sales reached more than 1, strings every day.
Luo Qingfeng: "Two rooms, just like this size, one is five or six square meters, a little small, plus a dozen tables outside, it sells for 17,8 yuan a day."
At that time, Luo Qingfeng found that this number had accounted for more than half of the daily turnover of the whole store. He decided to work hard on grilled shrimp balls. In the summer of 2, Luo Qingfeng, who had accumulated nearly a million dollars, swallowed four small shops around him, and the sales volume of shrimp balls quickly changed from more than 1, strings per day to more than 3, strings. Every night, it is packed, and there is a craze for eating grilled shrimp balls among Wuhan citizens.
Resident A: "All the people in the courtyard are coming. Taxi drivers all know that there is a shrimp ball roaster in Hongluo village."
Luo Qingfeng: "It's like when it rains, there is only the table in the house, and people outside are waiting outside with umbrellas, waiting for the people inside to finish eating and go out. Then he grabs the table before you clean it, and you are not allowed to drag the floor. For a few hours, you can't clean the house. When you finish your business, you come in and clean the house, and the garbage on the floor is so thick."
Every midnight, this alley becomes Luo Qingfeng's special open-air restaurant. When the residents upstairs fell asleep, it was busy here. There is a crisis behind this scene, and nearby residents are beginning to have opinions.
Resident A: "They are all people from outside. They eat late at night, and others have to work during the day."
Resident B: "There are many people and there is a lot of noise. After eating, the labels are thrown everywhere."
This situation was quickly reflected to the local health department.
Hu Ming, director of the Fourth Division of Wuhan Hongshan District Health Supervision Office, said: "The table is put on the road. Although it is in the community, in the alley, it is put on the road when it is put in the alley. This is not acceptable according to the food hygiene law."
Luo Qingfeng: "The health department, the environmental protection department and the urban management department all came to me, because the residents complained badly, and they complained once in a while." [page]
In April 23, the residents' strong reaction put a lot of pressure on Luo Qingfeng, and his worst fear finally happened.
Hu Ming, director of the Fourth Division of Wuhan Hongshan District Health Supervision Office, said: "The sewer is sometimes blocked. According to our on-site inspection, the hygiene license he used to apply for and the current requirements are definitely not up to the requirements of the people for the hygiene and safety of this food, so he was given a written opinion to suspend business for rectification."
Luo Qingfeng: "The three departments of environmental protection, sanitation and urban management have also given me a notice to suspend business for rectification and are not allowed to operate."
reporter: "when was that?"
Luo Qingfeng: "In May 23, three departments came together one day."
At that time, Luo Qingfeng could sell 7, yuan a day just by baking shrimp balls, and 2, yuan was credited in one month. Suddenly asked to suspend business, this blow made Luo Qingfeng's mood very unstable.
Luo Qingfeng: "I have a very good business. After so many years, I just got a nod and suddenly asked me to quit like this. Then I must be unwilling."
Luo Qingfeng, who was used to being busy, suddenly became a big idle person, wandering the streets all day, always thinking about looking for an opportunity to come again. In May 23, in order to prevent the spread of atypical pneumonia, his shop was completely demolished, and there was no chance to reopen it. Now only this telephone pole still stands in place.
Luo Qingfeng: "Later, when the house was demolished, I often came to have a look and touch it. Anyway, I have an unspeakable feeling."
In the following time, Luo Qingfeng has been thinking about the future development. With the help of his father-in-law, in June 23, he quickly rented this store on Wuluo Road. He felt that the old shrimp ball shop was already very famous, so we must not lose these old customers. He asked the staff to put up a big sign next to the old shop and told the old customers the news of the relocation. After making these preparations, his new shop opened.
Luo Qingfeng: "At that time, we invited a band to set up a lively atmosphere at the door. In fact, it was all unnecessary, because at night, people came in an endless stream and blocked the door. At that time, business was extremely good."
because the new store is located on the main road in Wuhan, there is a large flow of people. Luo Qingfeng found that business was better than expected. He drew lessons from the past and made improvements in business hours to prevent noise from disturbing the people.
Luo Qingfeng: "It used to start business in the afternoon, but now we start business at noon. After 12 o'clock in the evening, we will not be open. In fact, 12 o'clock to 3 o'clock in the morning is the climax of midnight snack in Wuhan. We gave up these three hours of business hours, mainly for the sake of our residents and not disturbing the people."
after improvement, many problems have been avoided. The renovated new store not only retained old customers, but also attracted a group of new consumers.
Luo Qingfeng: "Nowadays, consumers have more white-collar workers and more petty bourgeoisie. They should pay attention to the environment when eating."
Diner A: "After moving here, the environment has improved."
Diner B: "I feel very atmospheric. Secondly, their store here is very large and cleaner, much cleaner than the street outside. I have eaten it many times, and I have not had diarrhea or anything like eating it outside. Thirdly, their shrimp balls here are very tasty and many of them are even in size, unlike many black and dead shrimps outside."
less than a month after moving to the new store, Luo Qingfeng sold a turnover of 5, yuan. After that, the demand for shrimp balls naturally increased, and black shrimp inevitably appeared.
Luo Qingfeng: "The shrimp taken back by our employees didn't pass the quality control, so we took back the black one, which was actually alive, but after the customer ate it, it reflected that the taste had changed, saying that the shrimp was stale and dead."
Luo Qingfeng believes that although a black shrimp is small, if customers often report it, it will definitely affect the reputation of the whole shrimp ball shop, which is very unfavorable for future development and must not be underestimated. From July, 23, Luo Qingfeng began to shut down the shrimp source. [Page]
Luo Qingfeng: "This is the shrimp that just arrived this morning. The ice cubes in this box are used to keep fresh. If they are not kept fresh, they will go bad in an hour or two. You must keep them fresh to ensure that the shrimp tastes better."
To ensure good taste, the source of shrimp balls is very important. Luo Qingfeng chose Jinyugen from rural Hubei as a supplier. Jin Yugen buys a large number of crayfish from this large aquatic product market in Wuhan every day and sells them to Luo Qingfeng.
supplier Jin Yugen: "The shrimp he uses is different from other people's specifications, he just wants more than seven yuan. That shrimp wants tender shrimp, and his tender shrimp tastes better. Other old shrimps, although cooked as seasoning, taste bad."
Luo Qingfeng: "This shrimp has two varieties. The blue one is very sanitary, and this one is very clean.": This black one can be seen as growing in sewage, and we generally don't use this one. The color is blue, and the grilled shrimp made by this shrimp tastes completely different from this black shrimp. "
As Luo Qingfeng only wants the shrimp tail, and the shrimp head is of no use to him, in order to save time and labor, he reached an agreement with the supplier.
Luo Qingfeng: "Because we don't have much time to spend in this place, the supplier makes preparations for us. He comes here at two o'clock every morning, and he helps us get several thousand kilograms of this crayfish every day."
supplier Jin Yugen: "I collect all the shrimps in the whole shrimp line, that is, their shrimps, and I have other customers looking for me, so I can't cope because his sales volume is the largest."
Luo Qingfeng: "When our business is good, a box of thirteen or four kilos like this will take about fifty or sixty boxes. For example, the consumption of fifty or sixty boxes of shrimp tails will be 5, to 6, kilos for live crayfish, which is enough for our daily consumption."
In Wuhan, among the crayfish directly used for eating, Luo Qingfeng's shrimp ball shop has the largest demand, and only Luo Qingfeng is specialized in baking shrimp balls. Now people who come to the store to eat shrimp balls are no longer for novelty, but for the fame of his shrimp ball shop, which makes Luo Qingfeng very proud. The source of shrimp balls has been solved again, and his business is unparalleled.
Luo Qingfeng: "When business is booming, this stove can't stop for at least three or four hours. Five ovens keep baking at the same time, and three or four thousand strings will be baked in three or four hours, which is not very fast. Now it's almost done. Now you see smoke rising, you should start to brush oil, because if you don't brush oil, it may burn and scorch inside. You see, this shrimp is very good, so if you bake it, the color will change immediately and it will become red. This talk is almost over. It will be over soon. So this is much faster than cooking or something. If the business is good, it will come faster than cooking. This is good, you can go to the table and give it to the guests. "
In the summer of 24, Luo Qingfeng's shrimp balls can be sold for 3, yuan every day, reaching the peak of his business. But after that, he found that various forms of shrimp products frequently appeared in Wuhan catering market, and the shrimp ball business, which was originally in a monopoly position, was divided up by peers. But Luo Qingfeng thinks this is the inevitable result of market competition. For the new challenge, he is confident that he is fully prepared.