Shortly after starting work, one evening, Ping and Fan went to a nearby small restaurant for dinner. The waiter approached, arranged seats, poured tea, and handed over the menu. Ping looked at the menu for a moment and said, “Who is the owner? Call your owner here!” Then he passed the menu to Fan, who glanced at it and said, “Yes, have your owner come over.”
The waiter, confused, quickly fetched the restaurant owner. The owner, relatively young and from out of town, was a little anxious about the two visitors. Ping looked at him and said, “There are five typos on your menu. Please correct them.”
The owner laughed, repeatedly thanked him, and said, “Thank you, I will fix it right away,” then turned to leave. Fan called him back, pulled over a chair, and said, “Come, sit down. I’m a newspaper reporter. I noticed your dishes are a third cheaper than other restaurants. How do you make a profit?”
The owner, realizing it was a reporter interview, relaxed and shared in detail the ups and downs of his business over the years. Fan went back and wrote a vivid and insightful piece titled “The Story of a Small Business Owner,” which received a strong response. Fan then continued to report on ten more small business owners’ entrepreneurial stories, drawing widespread attention.