Chapter 146: Let You Open a Food Shop, But You Operate at 3 AM

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

Li Hong'an tucked his mobile phone into his pocket, lowered his head, and glanced at the high-grade tea leaves and two bottles of Moutai he was carrying.

These were originally meant to be given as a thank-you gift after An Liang's column was published.

He had prepared these things long ago, planning to send them after the column came out; on one hand this wouldn't count as bribing An Liang, and on the other it would bring him closer to An Liang, making future cooperation smoother.

Who knew the situation would develop beyond his expectations, so naturally these things were never sent.

Li Hong'an also wanted to use these things to properly apologize to An Liang, hoping to salvage the restaurant's reputation, but right now he couldn't reach An Liang or his assistant no matter what.

Ever since An Liang left his place, calls went unanswered, and WeChat had been blocked.

He had also gone to the hotel where An Liang had been staying, but the front desk told him the other party had already checked out.

The situation couldn't be more obvious — An Liang was deliberately avoiding him, simply didn't want to be found by him.

The path through An Liang was hopeless now; for the sake of the restaurant's business, Li Hong'an could only come seek out Lu Feng, hoping to invite the other party to his restaurant as Master Chef.

Li Hong'an's mind was a mess as he walked, pondering how to persuade Lu Feng to come to his restaurant when they met.

He was deep in thought when his shoulder was suddenly bumped by someone walking toward him.

"Holy shit!"

Li Hong'an staggered from the impact, the things in his hands nearly slipping and falling; he retreated two steps before steadying himself.

He had already been holding a bellyful of anger over the restaurant matter, and that bump made it explode instantly.

The person opposite also paused for a moment from the collision; upon seeing Li Hong'an, his eyebrows knitted deeply, he swiftly raised a hand to pull his mask higher, and pressed his hat brim lower.

He glanced at Li Hong'an and said muffledly, "Sorry."

The voice sounded somewhat muffled through the mask, and Li Hong'an didn't pay attention.

He just felt this person was a bit crazy — in thirty-plus degree scorching heat, wearing a long-sleeved jacket, wrapped up tight.

Both a hat and a mask — what celebrity is this guy pretending to be?

"Motherfucker! Don't you have eyes when you walk! Psycho!"

Li Hong'an's anger surged; he pointed at the man in a flustered rage and let loose a torrent of abuse.

The one who collided with Li Hong'an was none other than An Liang, who had just left Lu Feng's shop.

He recognized Li Hong'an too, but because of the food column matter, he didn't want to be recognized by the other party.

Hearing Li Hong'an's piercing curses, An Liang also felt anger rise.

In all his life, aside from family, he had never been scolded like this by anyone else.

But right now he didn't want to get entangled with Li Hong'an either, so he suppressed his anger, didn't reply, lowered his head and mumbled another apology, then hurriedly skirted past Li Hong'an.

Li Hong'an stared at his retreating figure and spat viciously, his mouth still cursing nonstop.

Only when that figure disappeared into the crowd around the street corner did he stop.

Li Hong'an never would have imagined that the "psycho" he had just cursed up and down was exactly the An Liang he had been bitterly searching for two days.

After all, in his eyes, a foodie like An Liang would probably be savoring delicacies in some lavishly decorated big restaurant right now, and absolutely wouldn't appear in a place like Food Street.

Li Hong'an calmed his mood, carried the gift bag, and continued forward.

Turning the street corner, Lu Feng's shop was not far ahead.

The queue of diners stretched from the shop entrance all the way to the street end Li Hong'an had just walked from; the diners chatted and laughed while tiptoeing to peer toward the shop entrance.

Looking at this long queue, Li Hong'an couldn't help revealing a trace of envy on his face.

Since his Hong'an Restaurant opened, even at its best business, the entrance had never seen a queue this long.

If his own shop could have this many customers every day, even if each only ordered one dish, a day's turnover would let him earn quite a lot.

If his restaurant's business could be like Lu Feng's here, why would he need to invite some foodie to write a column?

The resolve in Li Hong'an's heart grew even firmer.

He absolutely had to poach Lu Feng!

To invite Lu Feng, this was already his third time coming to Food Street.

The first two times he came up empty because he hadn't figured out Lu Feng's business hours.

Before this visit, he had specifically inquired clearly — Lu Feng opens at six this week, closes at seven.

Although he found Lu Feng's practice of operating only one hour a day puzzling, he couldn't worry about that much now.

Li Hong'an glanced at his watch; it was already six forty.

While Lu Feng was still in the shop, he had to hurry in and discuss things, striving to finalize the matter today.

He took a deep breath, straightened his clothes, lifted his foot, and prepared to walk into the shop.

"Hey! That fatty over there! Stop!"

A vigorous shout rang out from among the queuing diners.

Li Hong'an's steps halted; he turned his head toward the direction the voice came from.

He saw an old man in a floral shirt, hair mostly white yet combed meticulously.

The old grandpa was currently glaring at him, and behind him stood three people of similar age, each with unfriendly eyes.

Li Hong'an frowned, looked left and right, confirmed no one else was around, looked up at the old grandpa: "You're calling me?"

"If not you, then who?"

Grandpa Qin stared wide-eyed, fixed his gaze on Li Hong'an, pointed at the queuing diners and said loudly: "Don't you see so many people lining up? You want to cut in line?"

The moment the words "cut in line" were heard, the surrounding diners instantly whipped their heads around in unison, and Li Hong'an instantly gained over a dozen unfriendly gazes.

Still, Li Hong'an was ultimately the Boss, and a scene like this meant nothing to him.

"Screw queuing! I'm here to talk business with the Boss, serious business!"

Li Hong'an suppressed his anger, said something to Qin Ye, and then tried to keep going into the shop.

He had just taken a step when his vision flashed, and two figures suddenly appeared before him, blocking his way.

Li Hong'an opened his mouth to curse, but when he looked up and saw the burly builds of these two people in front of him, he swallowed the obscenities that had yet to leave his lips.

"What are you doing? Move aside! I want to go in!"

Li Hong'an stuck out his neck and let out a low growl, but his momentum had already weakened considerably.

"Qin Ye said you should go queue at the back."

Little Li, wearing a black tank top, flexed his fingers; his joints cracked loudly, and his face was grim.

Li Hong'an was arrogant, but he wasn't stupid.

It was clear these two were with Qin Ye and the others.

"I'm not here to eat! I really have business with the Boss, can you let me in?"

Li Hong'an grew anxious and shouted loudly at Qin Ye.

Qin Ye stood with his hands on his hips and said sternly: "You can't talk business either! Everyone knows Xiao Lu only operates for one hour every day this week; with this delay of yours, how is everyone else supposed to eat?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the diners around them all chimed in.