Chapter 1782: Growing and Strengthening

Mention the name "Chang Le Ju," and most people in Shancheng know it.

This was a well-known old restaurant before the founding of the People's Republic, experienced various upheavals after, and eventually became a state-run eatery. Following the city's various redevelopments...

It became a local, authentic old restaurant, and mention of Chang Le Ju was something every Shancheng resident could talk about.

But ever since it was renovated and expanded last year, and the teahouse was separated from the main restaurant, mentioning it now doesn't quite carry the same weight.

There's no other reason—it's gotten expensive, far too expensive!

A young girl holding a microphone was interviewing people on the street. Hearing a Shancheng local sigh about how expensive Chang Le Ju had become, her eyes lit up:

"It feels like since it's been operating until now, it's gradually been assimilated by capital, shifting from being accessible to high-end. The direction has changed, hasn't it?"

"Tsk!" The middle-aged man eyed her twice: "That's what you're saying, I didn't say that."

"Look at you, young and inexperienced. Don't always be thinking about taking advantage of things. 'You get what you pay for'—that's always been a truth."

"Chang Le Ju's food used to be affordable and delicious, and I loved going there. Now their food is expensive, but it's even more delicious, and I still love going there! I'm just grumbling because I can't afford it right now, how does that make it 'assimilated by capital'..."

As he spoke, he looked at the phone the girl was using to livestream. He puffed out his chest, chin slightly raised, looking proud:

"I want to state here, although I can't afford it, as an old customer of Chang Le Ju, I was still invited to this Full Fish Banquet."

He even turned to look at the girl interviewing him: "My house is at the end of this alley. If you can wait, I can go back and get the invitation for you to film."

The streamer:...

That really wasn't necessary.

She just wanted to gather more material on Chang Le Ju to edit into a teaser for her livestream!

Otherwise, she wouldn't have spent ten thousand yuan buying a spot for the Full Fish Banquet from someone else, only to miss out on the traffic.

Wait!

The streamer suddenly asked: "Do you need an invitation to attend the Full Fish Banquet?"

The man paused: "Yeah, I think high-level members don't need one, and they can bring friends. Others all need to hold an invitation. They only recognize the invitation, not the person..."

Since Boss Chang wanted to thoroughly spread the restaurant's reputation, he had sent invitations to guests through many channels, including this uncle, who was invited because he was a well-known local gourmet among the older generation.

Others were spots released through special offers, local official account lucky draws, etc., which also accounted for a portion.

Under these circumstances, relying solely on membership cards wasn't appropriate; instead, appropriately opening it up to real-name registration could attract more people from out of town.

And since the invitations could be delivered, holding one to attend the banquet invisibly raised the prestige, which was something he had carefully considered for a while.

The streamer had bought her spot this way.

But at this moment, her mind raced, and she suddenly cursed under her breath:

"Why don't I have an invitation! Don't tell me I ran into a fake scalper, damn it!"

Meanwhile, outside the Shancheng airport, taxi drivers were chatting in their group, also puzzled:

"Why are there so many people heading to Chang Le Ju today?"

"You've been off for a few days, haven't you? They're holding a Full Fish Banquet over there tonight!"

"This setup is huge. Are they planning to set up eight hundred or a thousand tables?"

"It's not that many, they say it's four hundred tables..."

The drivers were chatting lively. Many of them didn't have a concept of what four hundred tables meant, but for many high-end hotels, the capacity of the entire banquet hall might only be seventy or eighty tables.

For Chang Le Ju, four hundred tables was the maximum capacity for all floors combined.

"Invitations were sent everywhere. I heard even the fire department got some..."

"Yo! Did they send any to the police station? Would they dare to go eat?"

In the old Chang Le Ju, they probably would have dared.

In the current Chang Le Ju... with those prices, if a whole group of officers in uniform went, it would end up on the trending list.

"No. They made a big show of bringing a box of invitations over, but the station didn't accept them. In the end, the manager said they'd have the kitchen beat some fish balls and send them over for everyone on duty to have some soup..."

As for those not on duty? That goes without saying; they'd definitely be there helping maintain order!

And after finishing their work, staying for a late-night snack is normal.

Preparing for such a large banquet, they say they're going to eat about five or six thousand fish. The drivers laughed and joined in the excitement:

"Hey, why aren't you going?"

"Don't mention it. My daughter was at home trying to grab one of those 198-yuan special offer spots, but she didn't get one!"

"My son pulled seven or eight friends to help grab one, and they didn't get one either... But to eat at the regular price, the cheapest tier is several thousand yuan. That's not something we can enjoy!"

"Chang Le Ju is expensive, but the food is truly worth it! I celebrated my birthday in the spring, and the kids grabbed one of those Spring Banquet sets there... Goodness! It was so delicious I thought I'd swallow my tongue!"

The drivers' group was the most well-informed. Since Chang Le Ju was renovated, they did less regular business.

Those boutique dishes, costing three or four digits, were simply unacceptable to many.

Drivers often grumbled behind the boss's back, saying he had gone crazy for money.

But as long as someone had eaten there and described how delicious it was, they couldn't help but mention it every day, dreaming about it, and waking up with half a pillow soaked in drool...

Over time, even those who hadn't eaten there knew that it was truly a case of "you get what you pay for."

It was just hard to imagine exactly how delicious it could be.

Everyone was chattering away. As the fleet of cars moved forward in an orderly fashion at the airport, three or four out of every ten customers mentioned Chang Le Ju, and the drivers couldn't help but praise it too.

They couldn't help but sigh:

"This banquet scale is really not small."

In truth, when the wealthy people of Shancheng hold banquets, this is about the scale. Logically, it shouldn't be this noisy.

But the problem is, this isn't a banquet for friends and family! Instead, it's a mix of people from all over the country, gourmets, food critics, internet celebrities, and streamers.

Not to mention, if a slightly famous internet celebrity comes to eat, even if they can't livestream, their team has to be outside preparing.

Plus, a Full Fish Banquet is different from a regular wedding banquet.

Wedding banquets emphasize cold dishes and hot courses, with a set order for pots, soups, and staples. Preparing these hours in advance is fine.

But Boss Chang wouldn't dream of doing that!

He wanted it fresh, he wanted everyone to eat it at its best!

Because of this, the number of temporary kitchen helpers arranged was countless, and everyone was busy.

The back kitchen was packed, the front hall was lively, and the private rooms were quiet and elegant.

If Chang Le Tian didn't have some connections and ability, he wouldn't have been able to get the event approved so quickly. He had to hire many people just to maintain order on-site.

But all of this was worth it.

Boss Chang had just returned to the hotel. After washing up, he opened his Douyin account, watching the follower count climb and the private messages pile up, and he couldn't help but beam with joy.

If it weren't for the fact that the food supply couldn't keep up, he'd really want to expand the land next door right now!

Dad! Grandpa! Your good son and grandson have made the family business bigger and stronger today!

But while making it bigger and stronger, he changed his clothes and hurried back to the back kitchen:

"How is it? Are the fish all okay?"

Chef Qian was so busy his feet barely touched the ground. He scooped a fish out of the tank, watched it flick its tail and slap him, his eyes filled with joy:

"Look at this silver carp! It's so energetic!"

Boss Chang looked at him, thinking that this tone was about the same as when he held his grandson in the hospital.

But he wasn't a man without emotional intelligence. He stared at the fish and asked:

"How are we serving it?"

How to serve it? Naturally, the most classic methods: chopped chili fish head and fish balls.

Boss Chang nodded: "Prepare more fish balls today. For those invited who can't make it, or those on duty, pack some buckets and send them over for everyone to have a taste."

Chef Qian nodded: "Don't worry, there'll be plenty of hand-pulled noodles with fish soup today."

Can't just eat fish balls, right?

Boss Chang checked the lively fish in the tanks one by one, finally feeling relieved, and turned to find the logistics manager:

"Did you prepare the small matching boxes I told you about?"

The logistics manager really wanted to roll her eyes at him.

What kind of day is this? It's the day of the Full Fish Banquet!

And the boss is still arranging this and that.

He called at 5 AM, and he wants them now?

But as a veteran in the industry, she sighed: "I asked a few familiar merchants and found some that were close enough, and had two thousand of them transferred over..."

Boss Chang breathed a sigh of relief: "That should be enough."

Dr. Guo's regular hawthorn pills weren't in such large quantities; bringing two thousand today was the limit.

Plus the two or three hundred of the more expensive ones, that was plenty.

He opened his mouth, wanting to arrange the hawthorn pill matter, but hearing the logistics manager's walkie-talkie constantly ringing, he paused:

"Nothing much, I'll tell you later."

The logistics manager's eyes widened: "Boss, don't make temporary arrangements, tell me now!"

Boss Chang paused: "It's nothing, I just want our service to be perfect. It doesn't look good to keep asking waiters to dig out digestive tablets. I specially got some hawthorn pills from an old Chinese doctor to serve as snacks."

"There are regular ones and good ones. Use different boxes for our top-tier members. Serve the regular ones to the others..."

"The process isn't complicated, it'll be fine to prepare them when the banquet starts."

The logistics manager stared with dead fish eyes, her voice sounding like she was summoning spirits:

"Don't the hawthorn pills need to be packaged? Don't the high-end and regular ones need to be clearly separated? How should the waiters introduce them to customers to make it sound classy? And you want to wait until the banquet starts to prepare them? Will the waiters be free once the banquet starts?"

Logistics needs to prepare the packaging, cleaning, and disinfection. The front-of-house and customer service staff all need to be briefed, and the waiters need to coordinate...

At this moment, the logistics manager opened her mouth, really wanting to learn from the fearless groundhog—

"Add a bonus," Boss Chang decided decisively.

"Didn't I say that after these three days of work, everyone gets overtime pay and a bonus? Since this is so hard, I'll add another 200 for every waiter, cleaner, and kitchen staff, and the management will be calculated separately."

The logistics manager closed her mouth, smiling like a spring breeze:

"That's fine then. Whatever arrangements you have, just tell me. I'll call the front-of-house and customer service managers over to taste the hawthorn pills first..."

?? No way, how can we not rise up after the holiday?! We must tomorrow!!!