Chapter 26 — Slow Fire, Steady Grill
The smell of grilled beef and toasted buns had begun to spread across the province.
It wasn't just from the first Patriot Burger store — three more had opened in carefully chosen cities, each one looking like a miniature palace of fast food excess.
Keeping the Pace
Li Ming resisted the temptation to go faster.
"Three or four stores at a time," he told his managers.
"No more."
But he couldn't resist one habit — wherever possible, he bought the properties outright.
The accountants stared at the purchase orders in disbelief.
"This will drain our capital reserves," one warned.
"That's the point," Li Ming replied.
The Italian Chain Marches On
The Italian restaurants, meanwhile, were entering their own "polish and perfect" phase.
The supply chain improvements made for Patriot Burger — better cold storage, faster delivery trucks — were also making the pasta dishes fresher, the sauces richer.
Customers noticed. Sales rose quietly in the background.
Li Ming didn't. Or at least, he pretended not to.
A Subtle Problem Emerges
By summer, the cheese plant was running at full tilt, the bread factory's ovens never cooled, and the meat processing plant had expanded shifts.
Yet the factory managers kept sending the same message:
We're running short on good milk. The flour suppliers are late again. Beef costs are creeping up.
Li Ming waved it off.
"Buy from other provinces. Pay extra if you have to."
But sourcing from far away brought its own headaches — delays, higher transport costs, and the occasional spoiled batch.
A seed of an idea began to form in his mind:
If we just made the raw materials ourselves, we could stop these problems… and lose a fortune doing it.
A Hint of Things to Come
In a small meeting with his operations director, he idly asked,
"How hard is it to run a dairy farm?"
The director blinked.
"Why would we—"
"Just curious," Li Ming interrupted, smiling faintly.
It was still too early for farms or dairy plants.
But the thought lingered, quietly waiting for its moment.