Chapter 516

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

"Alright, I understand. I'll call the Tax Bureau right now."

Bureau Chief Cheng nodded, having already formed a preliminary judgment in his mind, then hung up the phone.

Hearing Bureau Chief Cheng hang up, Guo Mingyuan's face immediately broke into a victorious smile.

He was just about to stand up, preparing to take advantage of Bureau Chief Cheng having just made a decision and strike while the iron was hot to directly finalize the approval for Garden Road No. 55, which was the Lu Family Restaurant's location.

Unexpectedly, before he could speak, Bureau Chief Cheng raised a hand and made a "wait a moment" gesture toward him.

Then Bureau Chief Cheng, holding his mobile phone, dialed the Tax Bureau's number while walking briskly out of the private room.

When he left, he even deliberately closed the door tightly behind him.

Guo Mingyuan couldn't help but frown; as he slowly sat back down, his mind was full of doubts.

He had seen clearly from the side that when Bureau Chief Cheng was on the phone just now, his facial expression was still perfectly normal.

How come after hanging up, it felt like Bureau Chief Cheng's complexion looked a bit off?

And now he went out alone to make another call — could it be there was some content inconvenient for outsiders to hear?

Guo Mingyuan felt a faint unease in his heart; the originally nine-tenths-certain, fully confident feeling now had a slight waver.

He picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip, his eyes occasionally drifting toward the tightly shut private room door, secretly speculating on what Bureau Chief Cheng might be discussing right now.

Time passed minute by minute; the private room was unusually quiet.

Guo Mingyuan waited a full ten minutes in the private room before the door was finally pushed open.

Bureau Chief Cheng walked in from outside, his expression somewhat unnatural, his eyes seeming to still retain a few traces of shock that hadn't fully dispersed, looking like he hadn't fully recovered his senses yet.

After entering the private room, he sat back down at the dining table and smiled at Guo Mingyuan.

Seeing the smile on Bureau Chief Cheng's face, Guo Mingyuan's unease faded considerably, and his face once again showed that nine-tenths-certain confidence.

He straightened his posture, waiting for Bureau Chief Cheng to speak the good news of agreeing to the approval.

After all, they had just discussed a lot; the words that should be said, the attitudes that should be shown, had all been very much in place.

Bureau Chief Cheng picked up his teacup and took a sip, then slowly spoke — but the words that came out chilled Guo Mingyuan's heart halfway.

"I'm sorry, General Manager Guo, this time I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. Shop No. 55 on Garden Road cannot be approved for you."

"What?" The smile on Guo Mingyuan's face froze.

The core purpose of his inviting Bureau Chief Cheng this time was to secure Garden Road No. 55, which was the Lu Family Restaurant's location.

If Bureau Chief Cheng didn't agree to the approval, then wasn't this trip all for nothing?

Guo Mingyuan took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, his face quickly returning to his usual composed look, his tone carrying a probing note as he asked carefully: "Bureau Chief Cheng, may I ask why?"

He pointed at the proposal in front of Bureau Chief Cheng and said sincerely: "You've already read our proposal carefully just now. Whether it's brand influence, financial strength, or subsequent economic benefits, I feel our high-end restaurant completely meets your requirements and can indeed elevate the Food Street's commercial form considerably."

"Of course, General Manager Guo, your proposal is indeed well done, and I acknowledge your strength."

Bureau Chief Cheng nodded, his tone softening as he suggested with a smile: "Shops No. 48 to 54 on Garden Road, I can still approve those. If you feel that location isn't suitable, I can also help you coordinate the area near the Food Street intersection — the foot traffic there is also very large, and I feel it's more suitable for your commercial planning needs. General Manager Guo, would you like to consider it?"

"Bureau Chief Cheng, I'm afraid that won't work."

Guo Mingyuan shook his head, his tone very insistent: "Our commercial plan has been finalized with headquarters. We want that specific shop; other places……"

The smile on Bureau Chief Cheng's face faded a few degrees. He reached out and pushed the proposal on the table toward Guo Mingyuan, saying in a tone that brooked no argument: "Then there's nothing I can do. Shop No. 55 is impossible to give to you; I definitely won't approve it here. You can go find other people to coordinate, but what I'll say is, the final approval process still comes back to me, and my attitude remains disagreement."

Guo Mingyuan fell silent for a moment, then sighed, his tone somewhat unwilling as he asked: "Bureau Chief Cheng, if you disagree, at least tell me the specific reason, so I can have an explanation to give headquarters when I go back."

"Since you're asking like this, I won't hide it from you."

Bureau Chief Cheng didn't conceal anything either, speaking quite frankly: "I just called the Tax Bureau to verify, and this Garden Road No. 55 shop isn't as simple as you and I originally thought."

"Although it's just a small restaurant right now, its sales performance and the customer flow it brings in are more outstanding than many high-end restaurants; calling it the traffic core of the Food Street would not be an exaggeration."

"General Manager Guo, think about it — such a shop with enormous value, how could I possibly approve it for you and disrupt the existing healthy business ecology?"

Hearing the reason Bureau Chief Cheng gave, the expression on Guo Mingyuan's face actually relaxed a few degrees.

He knew the Lu Family Restaurant did booming business and had long prepared corresponding talking points; he immediately continued from Bureau Chief Cheng's words: "Bureau Chief Cheng, I know you value the worth this restaurant brings, but you should think of it this way: our company's strength and scale far exceed that privately operated small restaurant. If handed to us, whatever that small restaurant can do, we, relying on a mature operational system and resources, can certainly do even better."

"General Manager Guo seems very confident about your new store, not bad, not bad."

Bureau Chief Cheng smiled, first praising Guo Mingyuan's words, then switching topics and asking directly: "Then can you guarantee that after your restaurant opens, within one month you can make its performance number one in the entire city?"

"This……"

Guo Mingyuan's face showed difficulty, the confidence on his face disappearing.

He couldn't help but start grumbling inwardly.

This Bureau Chief Cheng was really making things difficult — this was clearly a deliberate impossible task set up just to refuse them!

Although Guo Mingyuan was confident, he also had self-awareness.

Their company, while having some reputation in the domestic catering industry, still had a significant gap compared to those well-known top-tier catering big brands.

Jiang City had quite a few of those top-tier big brand restaurants; wanting to surpass them and become number one in the city was simply a pipe dream.

Jiang City has quite a few of those top-tier brand-name restaurants; wanting to surpass them and become number one in the entire city is simply a pipe dream.