Lin Wenxue took out the kitchen scale, salt, sugar, MSG, soy sauce, cooking wine and 56-degree Red Star Erguotou and started making rice dumplings. Photo by Zhu Yonghong

Lin Wenxue became a news figure, but he was helplessly compared with the meat sellers. He couldn't compare even if he didn't want to.

He is a master's student in animal nutrition and feed science at Zhejiang University. He was an outstanding graduate of the school when he graduated from the university. On October 30, he officially came to a restaurant to sell rice dumplings made with his own ingredients.

The news that Peking University graduate Lu Buxuan became a butcher once spread all over the country, and triggered a big discussion about whether this behavior was a waste of talents. A few years later, another Peking University talent, Chen Sheng, also quietly entered the pig industry and opened nearly 100 pork chain stores in Guangzhou in less than two years, with a turnover of 200 million. He was known as the "Pork King of Guangzhou" ".

Almost everyone who knows this matter cannot help but compare the two. But comparing the two sides, Chen Sheng entered the Slaughtering Pig Sect as a civil servant, while Lin Wenxue entered the Zongzi Sect because of the downturn in the foreign trade industry. Lin Wenxue's confidence was obviously not as strong as Chen Sheng's.

What's more, comparing back and forth, it seems that he is very uncreative.

On the first day the rice dumpling shop opened, all the customers came here because of its reputation

"Yes, I sell rice dumplings here... it just opened... until 9pm... do you want to Are you here to buy rice dumplings? ”

On October 30, Zhejiang University master’s degree graduate Lin Wenxu’s rice dumpling shop opened on Sanzhong Road, Yongkang City. At about 4 p.m. that day, someone called to inquire.

A lady parked her car in front of the shop, got out of the car and asked Lin Wenxue: "Are you the rice dumpling seller mentioned on TV?"

Lin Wenxue smiled and nodded. Saying yes, his wife Lin Meijin hurriedly came forward to greet him.

The lady ordered more than 20 rice dumplings in one go. The various flavors of rice dumplings looked the same but had different tastes and different prices. The couple was in a hurry and ended up getting confused. In the end, I could only calculate a rough amount and let the lady take it.

So far, Lin Wenxue has sold 66 rice dumplings that day. Compared with the more than 200 sales per day at the agricultural exhibition, this result is simply too shabby.

Fortunately, when I got off work that night, a few more customers came here, and the number finally exceeded 100. Lin's rice dumplings are relatively expensive, usually 4.50 yuan each.

The deserted first day was almost predictable. On the 29th, when Lin Wenxu passed by this street, he saw that this small store that originally sold Cantonese claypot rice was for sale, so he negotiated a store transfer fee of 18,000 yuan with the boss and signed a contract on the spot.

That night, Lin Wenxue and his wife collected the four words "Lin Family Zongzi" from the copybook, designed the sign, and commissioned an advertising printing shop to print it out and hang it up that night, and opened it early the next morning.

However, the size of the signboard was not measured properly. It was a little narrow and looked a bit weird.

Lin Wenxue also made an advertising painting and posted it in front of the stove outside the door. The red paper with the words "happy opening" written on it fluttered in the wind on the forehead. Everything is self-made, and except for the store name and owner, almost nothing has changed in the store.

"It will be renovated another day." The proprietress Lin Meijin is smart and capable, and everything is in her planning. "The decoration should be more comfortable, warm and clean."

With Compared with his wife, Lin Wenxue is obviously much more "dumb", and Lin Meijin answers many questions on his behalf. However, Lin Meijin's answers were mostly based on trying to figure out the visitors' intentions, while Lin Wenxue's answers were obviously much more sincere.

This couple were childhood sweethearts who grew up in the same village. Lin Wenxue received a master's degree from Zhejiang University, while Lin Meijin worked in cost estimating and final accounting for a construction company in Yongkang after graduating from technical secondary school. They are all children of farmers, and their family background is not strong.

Lin Meijin was quite satisfied with 100 sold on the first day. After all, no one knew that the store had opened, and the so-called reputation was gained during the three days at the exhibition, plus media interviews.

Everyone knows that his rice dumplings are delicious, but they don’t know about opening a shop.

"Many people don't know that as long as it can sustain itself and have more repeat customers, the store can survive." Lin Meijin said.

On November 1, Lin Junbo, general manager of Yongkang Jinhui Materials and Chemicals Co., Ltd., came here to order rice dumplings for his son’s 20th birthday. Lin Wenxue couldn't restrain his excitement and sent a text message to tell reporters about the incident.

Master students majoring in animal feed used scientific methods to prepare "Master's Rice Dumplings"

The rice dumpling shop was purely "eaten" by Lin Wenxue.

Lin Wenxue has loved eating rice dumplings since he was a child. He can eat 5 rice dumplings made by his mother in one sitting.

After graduating with a master's degree in 2003, Lin Wenxing first worked as an office clerk in a company in Jiaxing. Here, he ate "the most delicious rice dumplings in the world", "more delicious than those made by my mother. Why can't my mother make this taste?" Lin Wenxue was simply obsessed with rice dumplings.

Lin Wenxue’s master’s degree majored in animal nutrition and feed science at Zhejiang University. His graduation thesis was “Research on Piglet Antimicrobial Peptides.”

Although the research objects are different, the nutrition and ingredient ideas of feed and rice dumplings should be the same: different tastes must be achieved by different ingredient ratios, and this is Lin Wenxue's strength. Although he didn't know the proportions of various ingredients in Jiaxing rice dumplings, he could figure it out through experiments.

"It is different from the ingredients of Coke. The ingredients of Coke itself are the secret, but the secret of Zongzi is only the proportion of ingredients. As long as you know what ingredients are there, you can always find the proportion of taste." Lin Wen said.

Because his wife was in his hometown in Yongkang, Lin Wenxue returned to Yongkang in February 2004. Since there was no job corresponding to his major, he worked in a foreign trade company in the field of recreational vehicles, and at the same time he also took some small orders. .

"The current economic situation is not good and it is difficult to accept orders. Once the quality cannot be guaranteed, there will be no money to be made and compensation will even be required." Lin Wenwen said that after three years, he felt that if he wanted to do long-term business, he would still have to do it. You have to start your own business. "You can rest assured that the things you make yourself can guarantee the quality, so you can have a good reputation."

However, I didn't think of selling rice dumplings at that time. Only when he has free time, Lin Wen knows how to take out the kitchen scale and keep experimenting at home exactly according to the laboratory process: according to different proportions of ingredients, different flavors can be obtained.

Before this, Lin Wenxue had never been in the kitchen. At first, after the rice dumplings he wrapped were cooked in a pot, they were either shapeless when taken out, or rice grains bulged out everywhere, and they tasted like wax. Some were raw and some were mushy, making them inedible at all.

If the rice is not in shape, it means there is too little glutinous rice. If the filling is exposed, it means there is too much glutinous rice, or the fire is too strong. Lin Wenxue weighed the glutinous rice using a kitchen scale and recorded the quantities one by one. And launched three sets of comparative tests: fierce fire, warm fire, strong fire first and then warm. After more than 10 repeated comparative tests, it was finally determined that the optimal amount of glutinous rice is about 3 taels. Zongzi cooked over high fire are prone to cracking, and the aroma is not produced when cooked over warm fire. The ideal method is to cook the rice dumplings first and then warm them.

The most difficult thing is the taste comparison test. He bought strips of meat, chestnuts, eggs, red dates and other materials, as well as a variety of condiments, and conducted comparative experiments again and again, recording the data in detail for each experiment.

"I am used to using different materials, recording the dosage and process, and improving, and I will definitely get the results. These are all habits formed in the laboratory." Lin Wenxing said, "Jiaxing Zongzi has been made for so many years. The proportion of ingredients is definitely in line with the public's taste. The proportion of ingredients obtained in this test is one of the quality standards of 'Linjia Zongzi'."

Lin Meijin commented that the rice dumplings cooked at the beginning were "as unpalatable as medicine." But by the end of the experiment, Lin Wenxue was able to make rice dumplings that tasted almost exactly the same as Jiaxing rice dumplings. The taste of Yongkang people is precisely controlled.

At this time, relatives and friends all knew that Lin Wenxu had achieved results in his research on rice dumplings and had become somewhat famous. Sometimes strangers would come to buy a few and take them home to eat.

This fame brought him opportunities. From October 23rd to 25th, Yongkang City held an agricultural exhibition.

This exhibition only provides free booths for farmers, but after eating the rice dumplings made by Lin Wenxue, the director of the Industrial Park Women's Federation strongly recommended him to show off his skills at the agricultural exhibition.

There were only two rice dumpling sellers at the exhibition, and the other was a chain store selling rice dumplings for one yuan each. Lin Wenxue's 4 yuan each sold more than 700 in three days.

"Many people don't know that I have a master's degree." So Lin Wenxu printed his master's degree on the business cards promoting Zongzi and distributed them on the spot.

Of course, the media would not miss this opportunity. Soon, news about Lin Wenwen's "Master's Rice Dumpling" appeared on TV stations and newspapers.

"The store has not yet opened, but there is already a buzz. Reporters came to the house to interview, and diners came to the house to buy rice dumplings. I felt very embarrassed, so I just opened a store as soon as possible." Lin Wenwen said that this time he It was like being forced to become the boss.

Lin Wenwen’s mother has always been worried about being laughed at for her son who is a graduate student but sells rice dumplings. But the success at the agricultural exhibition gave her another perspective.

A well-behaved scholar wants to make standardized rice dumplings with the safest raw materials

Lin Wenxue tried to register the trademark of "Lin Family Zongzi", but was told that he could only use the store name, not the trademark name. The common name of the product appears, so the registration failed.

The store was opened in a hurry, but there are no clerks. An advertisement for waiters has just been posted at the door of the store. Lin Meijin had to go to work and couldn't run a mom-and-pop shop, so she had to bring her father Lin Xingchao over to help, and it became a father-son shop.

Lin Xingchao did not agree with his son's change of career as a rice dumpling maker. However, both his son and daughter-in-law insisted, so he had no choice but to comply with their wishes and finally supported them through actions.

On the morning of October 31, Lin Xingchao, who usually didn’t do much housework at home, went to the store to help his son wash basins and clean. Lin Meijin also rushed to the store to help before going to work.

Lin Wenxue moved out the kitchen scale, which is his essential tool, and the 56-degree Red Star Erguotou and other items, and prepared to start making rice dumplings.

Salt, sugar, MSG, soy sauce, cooking wine, without any additives, these are all Lin Wenxue’s seasonings. "We who study feed all know that the proportion of various ingredients is very particular. For rice dumplings, the fillings are the most important."

Perhaps due to his professional influence, Lin Wenwen is used to classifying rice dumplings as The "stuffing" was said to be "bait" for feeding fish, but Lin Meijin quickly corrected it with a smile.

He gave an example. Clenbuterol was originally discovered by a feed research institute, but later it was used in an improper proportion and became a disaster. "Raw materials are very important. You can't use unhealthy fillings just for a small profit. There are so many problems with food safety in our country now, because everyone ignored these things in the past."

Lin Wenwen said, If you want to use a filling abroad, it will take seven or eight years of experiments to know whether it is safe. It takes a long time for a new product to appear. "Lin's rice dumplings must meet this standard in terms of safety. My store is now the first one, and it can be a chain in the future. This can only rely on strict quality assurance, and no mistakes can be made."

Becoming a boss , Lin Wenxue lamented, "It's too complicated for me, and there are many things I can't think of." He can guarantee to purchase goods from formal channels, but he cannot guarantee that formal channels will not sell inferior goods. "I must have the ability to identify fillings and be able to tell the quality of raw materials."

However, Lin Wenxue's experience in the foreign trade industry makes Lin Wenxue dare not be careless in this regard: "It used to be a big deal. Return compensation, but the catering industry is life-threatening."

He didn't expect this industry to be so hard. He had to get up at 3 o'clock in the morning, add water, change briquettes, and stare at the rice dumplings until morning.

"The passion for entrepreneurship is there, and it can be considered a different life experience." Lin Wenwen said that this is the first time he has really devoted himself to a career for more than three years.

Lin Wenxue has a high school classmate who is now the CEO of a company and belongs to the "second generation rich". Lin Wenxue once gave some foreign trade orders to this classmate. When he told his classmate that he wanted to sell rice dumplings, the classmate immediately expressed his support: "Okay, as long as we start, there will be a way, and good brothers will help.

"

Although there are good and bad opinions in the village about selling rice dumplings to master's students, Lin Meijin's support for Lin Wenxue is completely unconditional.

She moved out a stack of Lin Wenxue His certificates include the original diploma from Zhejiang University, the outstanding graduate certificate at the undergraduate level, and the CET-6 certificate in college English.

“I admire him very much. At least his English is good and he can sell rice dumplings abroad. go. Lin Meijin encouraged her husband to the point of praising him almost as soon as he opened his mouth, saying, "He is very skillful with his hands, very perseverant, and very steady." "

After Lin Wenwen's former colleagues learned that he wanted to sell rice dumplings through a TV program, they all expressed their support. "Yongkang is a place that advocates entrepreneurship and labor. There are many bosses who have not graduated from elementary school, and no one thinks that he is selling rice dumplings." What a waste of talent it is for graduate students to sell rice dumplings. "

Although he was helpless that others always compared him with Chen Sheng, a graduate of Peking University who sells meat, Lin Wenxue still made a comparison himself: "How can I compare with him? He has experienced many things. There was a lot of discussion at that time, which was more exciting than mine. Hangzhou can now knock off several master's degrees with one brick, but that's not all. "

Before 9 o'clock on October 31, the shop sold more than 20 rice dumplings, and the business was good. A lady came to the door and asked, "Do you have any rice dumplings?" Watched on TV. "

When talking about future plans, Lin Wen said that he needs to find a successful model. "Nowadays, many companies can only survive for three generations, relying on boldness or one new move. This will not last long. In any industry, no matter how low the technical content, to ensure standardized quality, knowledge is still required. "

McDonald's and KFC are typical examples in this regard. There are so many fast food companies, but not many can standardize quality to such an extent.

"Read the rules of the book Be well-behaved, have a strong sense of the law, know how to protect yourself, and know how others come across. "Lin Wenxue.