Chapter 198: Let You Open a Food Shop, But You Operate at 3 AM

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

"Gold?"

Lu Feng was instantly surprised; he recalled the heavy feel of that business card in his hand.

He had originally thought it was just ordinary metal plated with a layer of gold; he never expected it to be pure gold!

At the time he had thought, rich people are just particular — even their business cards are made so flashy.

It never crossed his mind that the card itself was made of gold!

Lu Feng's gaze subconsciously swept toward the garbage bin in the corner of the Kitchen, and his heart sank.

The garbage bin was empty; before tonight's business hours, he had Hu Xiaoyun clean out the garbage bin.

The garbage bin outside was also empty by now; the public garbage bins on Food Street are cleared by someone at regular intervals.

Barring any accident, the business card is probably on a truck headed for the Garbage Station right now.

"Done for, done for..."

Lu Feng couldn't help clutching his chest, feeling a sharp pang of heartache.

His mind rapidly ran the numbers.

That business card probably weighed thirty-odd grams; at the current gold price, a gram of gold is just over eight hundred yuan.

Thirty grams — that's over twenty thousand!

Over twenty thousand yuan — he wouldn't use that much buying Mall Ingredients in a whole week.

Even if he didn't spend it, it would still be a sum of money gained out of nowhere.

Lu Feng now has a Villa and a Maybach, and over a million yuan sitting in his bank card; he's become a rich man.

But throwing away over twenty thousand for nothing, and into a garbage bin at that, still made him feel unbearably pained.

No matter how rich you are, you can't be this wasteful!

Lu Feng couldn't help sighing repeatedly; back then Qian Laoban had handed him the card with a solemn face, and he hadn't taken it seriously.

Had he known it was pure gold, even if he had no use for it, he should have kept it properly.

"Lu Boss? What's wrong?"

Seeing Lu Feng standing in the Kitchen, frowning one moment and sighing the next, Zhao Zhenhui at the Counter couldn't help asking in puzzlement.

Then he saw Lu Feng's listless, lost-soul appearance, and a thought struck him — his eyes went wide: "Lu Boss, that business card... you didn't... throw it away, did you?"

Lu Feng turned around dejectedly, having already resigned himself to the reality of having thrown away tens of thousands, and was about to speak when he saw Hu Xiaoyun dash into the Kitchen.

She fished something out of her pocket; it glittered gold under the light — precisely the Qian Laoban business card he had thrown away.

The card was clean and spotless; the grime that had been on it had long since been wiped off by Hu Xiaoyun.

"Boss, when I took out the trash earlier, I saw this card was quite exquisitely made and thought it'd be a pity to throw it away, so I casually slipped it into my pocket."

Hu Xiaoyun handed the business card to Lu Feng, speaking a bit embarrassedly.

Just now, hearing Zhao Zhenhui say that card was made of pure gold, she got a fright too.

At the same time, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Luckily she had casually picked the card back up; if it had really been thrown away, such a precious thing — she could never afford to compensate for it.

"Xiao Yun, thank you so much!"

Looking at the lost-and-found gold business card in Hu Xiaoyun's hand, Lu Feng was instantly both surprised and delighted; his earlier vexation vanished: "If this thing had been lost, I'd have been heartbroken for days; you've done me a huge favor this time."

Hu Xiaoyun smiled happily too: "Thank goodness; if it had really been lost, I couldn't afford to pay for such a precious thing either."

"Silly girl, I was the one who told you to throw it; even if it really had been lost, I wouldn't make you pay."

Lu Feng smiled as he took the card from Hu Xiaoyun's hand, slipped it into his pocket and patted it: "This time I really owe you; I'll give you a bonus this week — thank you for finding it for me."

Hearing that, Hu Xiaoyun immediately waved her hands in a fluster: "No need, no need, Boss, I just happened to pick it up..."

"No, a bonus is a must! It's what you deserve."

Lu Feng smiled and cut off Hu Xiaoyun's words; he's not a stingy Boss.

Zhao Zhenhui, who had been watching the excitement at the Counter, couldn't help laughing; leaning on the Counter he joked: "Lu Boss, your employee is something! If not for her attentiveness, you'd have thrown away tens of thousands for nothing; next time you throw something, you'd better weigh it carefully."

Lu Feng smiled and nodded; the excitement in his heart over the recovered gold business card gradually faded, and now he began to feel fortunate to have hired an employee like Hu Xiaoyun.

After all, just a moment ago even he himself had already believed the card had been thrown away as garbage.

If this had happened with someone harboring ulterior motives, hearing the card was pure gold, they'd probably have hidden it.

Wait a couple of days for Lu Feng to forget about it, then turn around and sell it at a Gold Shop — tens of thousands would silently slip into their pocket.

But Hu Xiaoyun didn't do that.

Just now when she returned the card to him, she didn't even say a word claiming credit.

And the only reason she pocketed the card was that she thought throwing it away would be a waste; she didn't know how valuable it was.

The moment she heard Zhao Zhenhui mention the card's value, she immediately took it out and handed it back to him without the slightest hesitation.

The more Lu Feng thought about it, the more he felt that Hu Xiaoyun's character was even more precious than that gold business card — truly a rare find.

Money lost — at most he'd feel pained for a while, and he could earn it back.

But an employee as steady and meticulous as Hu Xiaoyun, who isn't greedy — that's not something you can just hire anytime.

With such a reliable helper in the Shop, he not only doesn't have to worry about the Shop's miscellaneous affairs, but also doesn't have to guard against whether the people around him might harbor ulterior motives.

…………

Hong'an Restaurant.

Li Hong'an sat at his desk, looking at the business reports from the past few days, and a smile finally appeared on his face.

Previously, the restaurant's business had been affected by An Liang's scathing review, and business had dropped significantly compared to before.

During that period, the shop's turnover declined day by day.

After that fake five-star Master Chef Liang Youcai ran off, the back kitchen didn't even have a single decent Signature Dish anymore.

Regular Customers came and raised opinions every time, and New Customers wouldn't come back after eating once.

Originally when the restaurant business was good, Private Rooms needed to be reserved, and the Hall could be filled to capacity.

But later, customers booking Private Rooms became fewer and fewer, and even customers in the Hall gradually grew sparse.

As the Boss, with a whole bunch of Employees to support under him, he couldn't just let the business continue to decline.

To rescue the restaurant's business, Li Hong'an had tried to poach Lu Feng over.

However, after trying several times, he discovered the other party was completely unmoved, and he could only helplessly give up.

The restaurant's business declined day by day; if this continued, in a few months they wouldn't be able to pay the rent and the Employees' salaries.

Li Hong'an gritted his teeth and simply bought a plane ticket to Jingcheng.

To reverse the restaurant's decline, they still needed to invite a famous Master Chef who could hold down the fort.

Through an acquaintance's introduction, Li Hong'an found Qi Yunfeng, a State Banquet Chef who had been retired for many years.

Qi Yunfeng is a renowned High Hand in the culinary world domestically, having served as Head Chef at state banquets multiple times; although retired now, his reputation in the Chef world remains illustrious.

He has many Disciples, spread almost Nationwide, and after his training, each and every one is Outstanding.

After retirement, Qi Yunfeng has been living Leisurely, enjoying blessings, and rarely cooks anymore.

Li Hong'an knew himself that he didn't have the ability to invite this Big Buddha who had been retired for so long to come out of retirement.

But even if he could invite one of his Disciples back, that would be enough to prop up Hong'an Restaurant.

Regarding Li Hong'an's request, Qi Dachu explicitly expressed refusal at the start.

Li Hong'an truly had no way out; he stayed in Jingcheng for several days, exhausted all persuasion, his lips nearly worn out.

However, his persistence did not move Qi Dachu, but instead attracted the attention of Qi Dachu's youngest Disciple, Cheng Fan.