Chapter 122: Let You Open a Gourmet Shop, You Open for Business at Three in the Morning

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

He had just reached the entrance of the Fan Dian when he saw several regular customers walking out while muttering, vaguely hearing them say things like "This shop is actually so trash, I'm never coming again."

Those regular customers saw Li Hong'an walking toward them and immediately stopped speaking, quickening their pace to leave the Fan Dian.

Li Hong'an frowned and was about to step forward to ask carefully, but then heard someone calling him from inside the Fan Dian, and saw the Manager rushing out of the lobby in a hurry.

"What's this? You look so flustered, what happened?"

Seeing the somewhat panicked expression on the Manager's face, Li Hong'an felt a vague unease in his heart and hurriedly asked in a deep voice.

"Boss! This is the column article An Liang released early this morning. The content on it... you'd better see for yourself."

The Manager fumbled to hand over the mobile phone, keeping his head down and not daring to look Li Hong'an in the eye, stammering as he spoke.

Hearing that An Liang had already published a column article, Li Hong'an hurriedly took the mobile phone and read it word by word.

When he saw the headline, it was as if a basin of cold water had been poured over his head, leaving him stunned.

Li Hong'an continued reading, and the more he read, the darker his expression became; veins bulged on his forehead, and he gripped the mobile phone tightly, almost crushing it.

The Manager looked at his own mobile phone with some distress, but dared not say a word.

After reading An Liang's article, Li Hong'an's complexion was already deathly pale.

An Liang's comments were every word heart-piercing, criticizing every dish of his Fan Dian until it was completely torn apart.

Only now did he understand why those few regular customers who had just left said those things when they left.

However, he was very puzzled about the red packet matter mentioned in the article.

Before An Liang came, his assistant had told him that An Liang strongly resented such behavior, and he had always kept it in mind.

He clearly had not done such a thing, nor had he ordered anyone else to do it.

So where did the red packet mentioned in this article come from?

Immediately Li Hong'an thought of the banknotes scattered all over the floor in the private room yesterday, and his expression instantly became somewhat ugly.

"Who did those money in the private room yesterday?! Have you figured it out?!"

Li Hong'an's eyes almost spat fire, his teeth gritted with a grating sound, staring at the Manager and asking in an angry voice.

"I've already asked, it was... Master Chef Liang who acted on his own initiative and stuffed a red packet for An Liang."

Seeing Li Hong'an lose his temper, the Manager replied tremblingly.

Li Hong'an stared with blood-red eyes, glaring fixedly at the Manager.

If the person standing before him right now were Master Chef Liang, he really wanted to embody a compatriot and shoot two laser beams from his eyes, burning two big holes in him.

"Where is Liang Youcai?!"

Li Hong'an strode toward the back kitchen with surging anger, and as soon as he entered, he roared loudly inside: "Liang Youcai! Get the hell out here for me!!"

The chefs in the kitchen were concentrating on preparing ingredients, and Li Hong'an's sudden shout scared them so much they all shivered; one chef's knife fell to the ground, making a clanging sound.

The chefs looked at the furious Li Hong'an with terrified eyes, not knowing why the boss was so angry, but no one dared to step forward and ask.

"Liang Youcai! I told you to get out here! Did you hear me!!"

Li Hong'an's anger-filled voice echoed in the kitchen, making the ears of everyone in the kitchen buzz, but no one responded.

His gaze swept around the kitchen, not seeing Master Chef Liang's figure, and he began to roar at the others: "Where is Liang Youcai? Speak! Have you all gone mute?!"

Those few chefs shrank their necks and shook their heads one after another, indicating they didn't know where Master Chef Liang had gone.

The Manager broke out in a cold sweat behind Li Hong'an, hurriedly stepped forward, and stammered to Li Hong'an: "Boss, Master Chef Liang was here this morning, but half an hour ago when I came to the back kitchen to find him, I didn't see his figure. I just had the back kitchen staff look for him, and no one knows where he went..."

Li Hong'an's expression instantly turned even darker, staring at the Manager and roaring viciously: "You looked? Did you call him? Did you go to where he lives? Why didn't you keep a close watch on him when he was here this morning? You can't even watch over one living person, how did you become this Manager! Don't think I dare not fire you just because you're my brother-in-law!"

The Manager's voice trembled a little, and he absolutely dared not look up at Li Hong'an's expression at this moment: "Brother-in-law... no, Boss! I've searched every place I should, I also sent people to check where Master Chef Liang lives, but there's still no news."

"Several waves of customers came this morning; as soon as they arrived, they kicked up a fuss about canceling the banquets they had reserved days ago. The Front Desk couldn't handle it, so I went over to help. I really couldn't get away, and I never expected Master Chef Liang to take advantage of that time and just run off..."

"Damn her mother! You caused such a huge mess for me and ran off without even farting? I CTNND..."

Li Hong'an was so angry his words were somewhat incoherent. He took a deep breath, tried to calm himself down, turned his head to look at the Manager and said coldly: "You keep looking for Liang Youcai for me! If you can't find him, you can quit being this Manager!"

The Manager felt bitter in his heart but could only helplessly nod in agreement, then turned around and hurriedly left the back kitchen.

Li Hong'an walked quickly to the third-floor Office with a gloomy face. He now needed to contact An Liang's side as soon as possible, explain the matter clearly, and minimize the impact of that column article.

He held his mobile phone and called An Liang's assistant over a dozen times, but the other end kept playing a cold female voice: "Sorry, the number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable, please try again later, sorry..."

Boom!

Li Hong'an was furious beyond restraint. He grabbed the teacup on the office desk and smashed it hard onto the ground, shards scattering all over the floor.

He paced back and forth in the office, his mood in a mess.

He had originally planned to invite An Liang over, and with Master Chef Liang's five-star hotel culinary skill, use An Liang's food column to promote his shop.

He never expected this Master Chef Liang to not only ruin his good thing but also bring him such big trouble.

After An Liang stirred things up online like this, his Fan Dian wouldn't necessarily go under, but future business would definitely be affected to no small extent.

Those few diners he met at the entrance just now, and those canceled banquets the Manager just mentioned, were just the beginning.

Even more fatal was that now Master Chef Liang had also run away, and he didn't know if the remaining few chefs in his Fan Dian could still keep it running.

Now that he calmed down and thought about it carefully, he felt that Master Chef Liang's so-called five-star culinary skill was probably eighty percent watered down.

The two signature dishes he made, White Cut Chicken and Beer Duck, even his nephew Li Jiang said they tasted about the same as street food costing a few dozen yuan.

Thinking of these things, Li Hong'an couldn't help but curse Liang Youcai's ancestors for eighteen generations one by one in his heart.

He couldn't help but think of that Sunday when Lu Feng tasted those two dishes and said he wasn't used to eating them.

Only now did he somewhat understand that people weren't just not used to them, but were indirectly saying those two dishes were not delicious.

Thinking of this, Li Hong'an let out a long sigh.

If he could invite Lu Feng to the shop as Head Chef, just by relying on his Xiao Long Bao and Fried Noodles, his restaurant would have no worries about business.

It was just a pity that day Lu Feng clearly refused his invitation.

Li Hong'an paced back and forth in the Office, calculating in his heart what to do next.