1: 1
I run a hot pot place back in my hometown. For three years it's pulled in a steady thirty to fifty grand a month.
Then the June numbers came in and I froze.
In one month, rent included, I was down a full hundred grand.
I couldn't make sense of it, so I drove out to the restaurant myself.
On the way, a friend sent me a livestream link.
In the stream, some food blogger was sitting in my restaurant eating hot pot.
"Guys, you have to come try this place. The food's good, but honestly that's beside the point. The two girls working here are just the sweetest."
The camera swung, and there were the two college students I'd hired for the summer back in June, smiling prettily into the lens.
The shot cut back to the blogger's own face. "As long as these two are working, you just follow their account, and the meat's free. Our whole spread here cost us under a hundred. Can you believe that?"
Her camera panned across the table in front of her.
I looked at that full table of ingredients, five hundred easy in cost, and I actually laughed.
I eat the losses, they collect the credit. Dream on.
1
The two summer hires were college-student sisters. Melissa Fox, the older one, and Gretchen Fox, the younger.
My place doesn't take on short-term staff, but they were working their way through school, so I made an exception.
In the video, the blogger explained to the camera, "Today all we ordered was the thirty-eight-dollar broth base and the twenty-five-dollar veggie platter. Every single meat dish here is free, just for following the two girls' account."
"Follow the older sister, get one dish. Follow the younger one, get another. There are four of us, so we got eight meat dishes free."
The second she finished, the comments went wild.
【No way. You'd go broke doing business like that. Has to be a marketing gimmick. They give the big streamers the deal, but a normal person walks in and it's a whole different story.】
【Right? Been scammed too many times. Not falling for it again.】
The blogger glanced at Melissa, a little awkward.
Melissa, unbothered, just squared her shoulders.
"We say what we mean. And this free-dish promotion has been running a good while now. Plenty of customers have already gotten the deal."
Not long after, people in the comments jumped in to back her up.
【It's real. Last time my bestie and I went, we followed Melissa's and Gretchen's accounts and got four plates of beef. I regret not bringing my boyfriend. We could've gotten two more dishes.】
【Melissa and Gretchen are honestly so nice. We went once and already followed them and got the deal. We came back a few days later, and they recognized us as followers and still gave us free dishes. They really take care of their fans.】
【It's true. Free stuff is free stuff, you'd be dumb to pass it up. Miss it and you'll regret it forever.】
...
Those few comments were enough. A lot of the others bought in fast and started asking for the address.
Melissa and Gretchen watched the comments pile up praise for them and their smiles turned even sweeter.
Melissa smiled and said, "Thanks for the support, everyone. Later I'll drop Gretchen's account and mine in the comments. If you like us, follow ahead of time. Fans who come to the store don't just get free dishes, they get a little drink too."
The whole stream was one big happy family.
The blogger's broth base came to a boil.
Gretchen thoughtfully started dropping food in for her.
Tripe and layered tripe stacked up into a tower. A big plate piled high with thin-sliced beef and spicy beef. A whole full bowl of shrimp paste.
Every plate was far past the portion size I'd set.
My prices already ran low. At this volume, I'd have to double the price just to break even.
And Melissa and Gretchen were giving it away for free.
The blogger watched her load the plates and made a big show of dropping her jaw into an O.
"Wow, that's a crazy amount."
She winked, playful. "Melissa, Gretchen, you're not just spoiling me here, are you?"
"Of course not."
Melissa answered right away. "Everyone gets the same."
"Except."
She paused.
"I'll be honest with you all. This hot pot place never used to give portions this big. About half of this, more like."
"The owner, for the profit... you all know how it is."
"It was Gretchen and me. We couldn't stand it, so we bumped the portions up."
"But Gretchen and I are only summer hires. We're only here two months. Once these two months are up, the free dishes and the big portions are definitely gone."
She winked at the screen. "So come while you can."
【Got it. Only supporting Melissa and Gretchen. The owner's no good.】
【I kept wondering how a hot pot place that's been open for years I'd never heard of. Turns out the good part is Melissa and Gretchen, not the restaurant.】
【Ate there, food's nothing special. Worth going for a promotion, but once the sisters leave, no point.】
I couldn't watch any more.
Before I closed the stream, I took a screenshot.
The next moment, I hit the brakes and pulled up in front of the restaurant.
