Chapter 120: Let You Open a Food Shop, You Open for Business at Three in the Morning

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

On the way back, An Liang's face had remained gloomy, and by the time they reached the hotel, his expression was still grim.

Hearing Xiao Yue's question, An Liang took a deep breath and said to her in a serious tone: "Xiao Yue, don't contact that Hong'an Restaurant for these two days, and don't answer their calls."

Xiao Yue was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

Earlier on the way back, she had seen Li Hong'an's call coming in, but An Liang hadn't let her answer.

It seemed this shop had already been blacklisted in An Liang's heart, and his evaluation of that restaurant probably wouldn't be good either.

I wonder what the boss's reaction would be after seeing An Liang's evaluation—the boss who had gone to great lengths and finally managed to invite An Liang to the restaurant to taste the dishes.

"Xiao Yue, from now on, when arranging tastings, remember to explain things clearly to them in advance. Things like today are not allowed to happen again. Do you understand?"

An Liang looked at Assistant Xiao Yue and said in a very serious tone.

After hearing this, Xiao Yue pouted and nodded, feeling somewhat wronged in her heart.

Before they came to Jiangcheng, she had clearly told the boss of this shop that An Liang didn't like being bought with money.

To prevent such unpleasant things from happening, she had even sent Li Hong'an an email to emphasize it again.

As a result, they still did it anyway.

Does the boss of this shop not understand words, or can he not read?

"Xiao Yue, what do you think is wrong with the catering industry these days?"

An Liang sighed with his back to Xiao Yue, shaking his head helplessly: "Don't they know that the most important thing in catering is the quality of the dishes, not the thickness of the red packets?"

Assistant Xiao Yue comforted him in a low voice: "Teacher An Liang, calm down. This kind of situation isn't happening for the first time. Maybe they just don't understand your personality."

"They don't understand my personality?" An Liang sneered, unable to help raising his voice a few degrees: "Don't they read my column? How many times have I said it? The quality of the dishes themselves always comes first!"

"Do they really think that if they stuff some money at me, I'll give them a good review against my conscience? This is simply insulting me!"

"In tomorrow's tasting column, I will not only write down the flaws of every dish of theirs, but also expose their method of trying to take shortcuts!"

"I want other shops to know that if their culinary skills aren't good enough, no matter how much money they throw, I won't let them get away with it in my place!"

Looking at An Liang's indignant appearance, Xiao Yue nodded repeatedly with deep sympathy: "Teacher An Liang, you're right. This is being responsible to the industry, responsible to the fans, and also responsible to you."

While speaking, the elevator had already reached the floor they were going to.

Xiao Yue followed An Liang out of the elevator, took out her mobile phone memo to check, and asked cautiously: "Teacher An Liang, there are still two restaurants that have booked tastings for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Do you still want to go?"

She saw that An Liang was in a very bad mood now, and didn't know if he still had the mood to taste other restaurants' dishes.

If An Liang refused, she would still have to explain the situation to those two restaurants in advance.

An Liang hesitated slightly, then nodded: "Go. The work still needs to be done well."

"Okay, Teacher An Liang. I'll contact those two restaurants later and confirm the itinerary for these two days."

Xiao Yue secretly sighed in relief and made a note in the memo.

An Liang nodded, and before entering the room, he told Xiao Yue again: "After work ends the day after tomorrow, we'll return to Jingcheng. Book the plane tickets in advance."

After hearing this, Xiao Yue felt a bit disappointed. In the past, when they went on business trips, they would always play in the local area for a few days after work ended.

It seemed that the actions of that restaurant had still affected An Liang's mood.

Xiao Yue sighed, then returned to her own room, lay on the bed, and started booking plane tickets.

…………

The next morning, Hong'an Restaurant.

Master Chef Liang Da Chu arrived at the restaurant early in the morning. He was in a good mood today. After entering the back kitchen, he greeted everyone with a smile, then changed into his chef uniform and began preparing for today's work.

The restaurant had just opened, and no customers had arrived yet, but the preparation work still had to be done.

Master Chef Liang Da Chu opened the kitchen refrigerator and checked the inventory of ingredients inside.

The refrigerator was full of fresh vegetables and meat that had just been delivered in the morning.

Master Chef Liang Da Chu nodded with satisfaction and began thinking about what dishes needed to be prepared in advance today.

"Master Chef Liang Da Chu."

The Manager had arrived in the back kitchen at some point. His expression was somewhat gloomy, and his tone was cold: "Come here for a moment."

Master Chef Liang Da Chu had just picked up the spatula to prepare ingredients. Hearing the Manager's voice, the spatula in his hand paused: "What's wrong? Something the matter?"

The Manager didn't speak. He looked at the others busy in the kitchen, then waved his hand to signal Master Chef Liang Da Chu to come out.

Master Chef Liang Da Chu felt somewhat puzzled. He wiped the water off his hands and followed the Manager to the Storage Room.

As soon as the door was closed, the Manager spoke: "Yesterday, the dishes you made for An Liang—did you see his review afterward?"

"Not yet. Doesn't An Liang usually update his column around noon the next day?"

Master Chef Liang Da Chu scratched his head. After returning yesterday, he had taken a bath and gone to sleep, never thinking about looking at An Liang's column.

"He posted it in the early hours!"

The Manager suddenly pulled out his mobile phone from his pocket, almost poking it into Master Chef Liang Da Chu's face, and said with a somewhat trembling voice: "Look at it yourself! See how An Liang evaluates your culinary skill, how he evaluates our restaurant!"

Master Chef Liang Da Chu's heart gave a jolt, and he couldn't help swallowing.

He glanced at the mobile phone screen in the Manager's hand, and his face turned deathly pale in an instant. Cold sweat broke out on his back and trickled down along his back.

The mobile phone screen displayed An Liang's column homepage. The title above made Master Chef Liang Da Chu's eyelids jump wildly.

"The Dishes Are Bad, So Red Packets Make Up for It? Where Is the Bottom Line of This Restaurant!"

Master Chef Liang Da Chu felt a chill rise from the soles of his feet straight up, and his breathing became rapid.

He trembled as he took the Manager's mobile phone with his hand, sliding the screen to carefully read the column article An Liang had published.

In the article, An Liang gave an extremely venomous evaluation of almost every dish.

From the freshness of the ingredients, to the cooking heat control, to the flavor of the dishes, it was an almost all-round, no-dead-angle scathing criticism.

What made Master Chef Liang even more horrified was that the article also specifically mentioned Hong'an Restaurant's attempt to bribe An Liang with a red packet; the wording was extremely sharp, practically piercing the heart with every word.

After reading the article, Master Chef Liang was struck as if by lightning, standing frozen in place for a long time without recovering his senses.

He did not understand; An Liang had clearly taken his money yesterday, so why would he write such a ruthless, severe evaluation?

The Manager stood to one side watching Master Chef Liang's reaction, and a surge of anger rose in his heart.

He snatched back his mobile phone in one motion, advanced a few steps toward Master Chef Liang, and asked with an iron face: "Master Chef Liang, what is this about the red packet mentioned in the article? Yesterday the Boss saw a pile of money on the floor of the private room — was it yours?"

"I..."

Hearing the Manager's words, Master Chef Liang's face turned deathly pale.

It's over now!

An Liang never accepted his red packet at all!

Even more fatal, this matter was also discovered by Boss Li Hong'an!

Master Chef Liang's lips trembled a few times, and he nodded mechanically like a walking corpse.

"Look at the fine thing you've done!"

Seeing Master Chef Liang admit it, the Manager trembled all over with rage, pointed at his nose, and cursed angrily: "Do you know how much trouble your doing this has brought to our restaurant! What An Liang hates most is being bribed; you pulling this stunt has ruined our restaurant's reputation!"

"Does the Boss... know about this?"

Master Chef Liang dared not meet the Manager's furious eyes, and asked with a tremor in his voice.

"The Boss probably doesn't know yet."

The Manager looked coldly at Master Chef Liang, then said with a cold sneer: "But do you think you can hide this from him? You'd better think carefully about how you're going to explain to him when the Boss arrives later!"

Finished speaking, he opened the storage room door and left the back kitchen without looking back.