Chapter 317: Let You Open a Gourmet Shop, You Open for Business at Three in the Morning

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

The bearing of these few people before him made it clear at a glance that they were the big-boss type.

Originally he had thought they would act like what was shown on TV.

One phone call summoning a large crowd, aggressively hauling away the machines, and incidentally shutting down the braised food shop as well.

But upon second thought, this was a harmonious society now; they were bosses, not triad members.

Doing it that way did indeed count as solving the problem.

It was just that he was puzzled: since they were going to do it, why not solve the problem earlier?

"No rush today; first let them taste a bit of sweetness."

Lin Yiming smiled and spoke slowly: "Today let them sell a while longer, let them feel they can indeed make quite a bit of money here; once they've tasted the sweetness, they'll definitely stock up. Then when the free soy milk arrives, no one will buy their drinks—only then will the contrast be great."

Hearing this, Qian Laoban and Zhao Zhenhui exchanged a tacit smile.

The thoughts of the three of them happened to align remarkably with Lu Feng's plan.

Zhu Chang didn't understand this kind of business tactic; he scratched his head and muttered: "Why not just find a few people and directly haul the machine away? Isn't that more convenient?"

He still felt this method was simple and rough, and also the most efficient.

For these three people before him, such a small matter was simply too easy.

Zhao Zhenhui smiled and patted Zhu Chang's shoulder: "Think about it—they were able to place the machine here, so they must have already greeted the Street Office. If we directly haul the machine away, tomorrow he can go reason with the Street Office people and have them move the machine back; that treats the symptom, not the root."

He paused, then added: "More importantly, we're here to help Lu Boss, not to cause him trouble. If word gets out, it would instead affect Lu Boss's reputation and bring a bad influence to the shop. We are all civilized people; our methods cannot be too rough—we must pay attention to approach."

"When the shop opens for business later, I'll tell Lu Boss to set up a stall at his shop door tomorrow, put the soy milk at the door, and let customers entering the shop get it for free."

Qian Laoban said with a happy laugh.

"Fine, this can also be considered a small benefit we bring to Lu Boss's fans."

Zhao Zhenhui nodded with a smile.

Zhu Chang suddenly understood, scratched his bald head, and muttered softly: "You rich people sure have complicated thoughts, more convoluted than the novels I write. If I were like the protagonists in my novels, I'd just flatten everything and be done with it."

"That's why your novels keep flopping!"

A diner behind Zhu Chang patted his shoulder with a laugh, speaking in a teasing tone.

This made the surrounding diners all burst into loud laughter.

…………

At half past twelve, Hu Xiaoyun, as usual, carried a basket of fresh vegetables into the shop.

"Boss, hello."、

Hu Xiaoyun put down the basket on her back and shouted loudly toward Lu Feng in the kitchen.

"There's mineral water at the door, just taken out of the refrigerator; help yourself."

Lu Feng poked his head out from the kitchen, smiled, and said.

"Mm, thank you, Boss."

Hu Xiaoyun responded cheerfully, took the mineral water at the door, and drank two mouthfuls.

While drinking water, she habitually turned around, her gaze falling on the price list on the hall wall.

Every time Lu Feng came out with a new dish, he would first lightly write it in pencil.

When Hu Xiaoyun came to the shop, she would then write it down stroke by stroke with a writing brush.

This had also become her habit every time she came to the shop.

Hu Xiaoyun soon noticed the new handwriting added at the very bottom of the price list. She leaned in to look, then turned with some surprise and shouted toward the kitchen: "Boss, you're making hot pot this week?"

"Mm, yes, a new dish just added today."

Lu Feng responded from the kitchen, still busy with his hands.

"Great!"

Hu Xiaoyun couldn't help but be happy for a moment.

The day before yesterday, Jiangcheng had rained for two days, and the temperature had dropped somewhat.

In weather like this, eating a steaming hot pot was the most comfortable.

She was happily so when she suddenly saw a line of small text behind it, and immediately frowned.

"Boss, what does that line of text behind mean?"

Hu Xiaoyun said she didn't quite understand that line of text behind, and turned to ask again.

"It means exactly what it says; just write it down."

Lu Feng's flat voice came from the kitchen; it seemed he didn't intend to explain anything.

"Oh oh, okay, Boss."

Hu Xiaoyun nodded half-understanding, and didn't ask anything more.

Working part-time at Lu Feng's shop during this period, she had seen no shortage of strange things.

She gradually discovered that behind the boss's seemingly capricious rules, there was always his own intention.

As an employee, she only needed to obediently follow the boss's orders.

However the boss said, she would just do it that way.

Hu Xiaoyun turned and walked behind the counter, took out brush and ink from inside, and facing the pencil draft on the wall, carefully began to transcribe, writing that line of small text carefully as well.

Lu Feng in the kitchen, watching Hu Xiaoyun's serious back as she wrote, couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

He wasn't unwilling to explain.

He couldn't very well tell Hu Xiaoyun that the Spicy Hot Pot had no side dishes because of the system's willful settings, right?

Faced with the pit the system had dug for him, he could only accept it helplessly, too lazy to even complain.

…………

In the blink of an eye, the time had arrived at one in the afternoon.

Seeing the time had come, Hu Xiaoyun walked to the store entrance, cleared her throat, and shouted loudly at the diners lined up in a long queue outside: "Everyone's waited long! Business hours have started, please order in sequence, don't crowd!"

Finished speaking, she quickly ran back behind the counter, preparing to start receiving today's customers.

The diners' faces carried long-awaited excitement, queuing up and surging into the shop from outside.

Zhu Chang was still at the very front, his round, plump figure appearing remarkably agile.

He swiftly walked to the front of the counter, face full of excitement, and loudly asked: "Xiao Yun, what's today's new dish?"

Hu Xiaoyun smiled from behind the counter and replied: "Brother Zhu, today there's the new dish Spicy Hot Pot available."

"Holy crap? Today's new dish is Spicy Hot Pot?"

Zhu Chang's eyes instantly widened, his voice rising several notches, causing the diners queuing behind to all look toward the price list on the wall.

Immediately, people began whispering discussions.

"Get me a portion to taste! I've wanted to eat Boss Lu's hot pot for ages!"

Zhu Chang didn't care about anything else, immediately saying excitedly to Hu Xiaoyun.

"Brother Zhu, why don't you look at the menu on the wall first?"

Hu Xiaoyun hesitated a moment, carefully reminding: "Boss's hot pot... might not be quite the same as what you eat elsewhere."