Chapter 537

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

"Alright, sir. Thank you once again for your patient explanation."

Xiao Lin hurriedly replied with a smile; to thank Zhao Yan for his cooperation, and also to soothe the regret in his heart at this moment, she immediately added: "In a moment I'll go to the kitchen and apply for a complimentary dish for you, as a small token of our restaurant's appreciation."

"Thanks."

Zhao Yan smiled and nodded, then turned and walked back to the dining table he had been at before.

He picked up his knife and fork again, and ate the remaining steak on his plate in an unhurried manner.

A strong curiosity suddenly surged in Xiao Lin's heart.

She simply couldn't understand — her family's restaurant had an elegant environment, exquisite decor, and service that was meticulous and attentive.

Although this complimentary steak wasn't made by the head chef personally, it was also served to customers only after his approval, so the steak's flavor naturally had no issues.

But with all of these added together, how could it still not compare to that little restaurant next door?

That boss merely released a new dish; it wasn't some earth-shattering event.

How could it attract all the customers away at once?

Xiao Lin hesitated for a few seconds, but in the end couldn't help turning around, walking to Zhao Yan's table, bending down and carefully asking: "Right, sir, I still have a small question I'd like to presumptuously ask — between our shop's flavor and the dishes made by that Boss Lu you just mentioned, which one suits your taste more?"

Her eyes were full of curiosity, and also held a trace of hard-to-detect unwillingness to accept defeat.

In her view, her family's high-end restaurant led by a wide margin in every aspect, so how could it lose to that little restaurant next door?

"Miss, you mean you want the food made in your shop to compare with the dishes Boss Lu makes?"

Zhao Yan stopped the motion of cutting his steak, slowly raised his head to look at the waitress Xiao Lin, raised an eyebrow and asked.

His tone was a bit strange, as if he had heard something inconceivable.

"Yes, what is your feeling?"

Xiao Lin still maintained a gentle smile, staring intently at Zhao Yan's expression, waiting for his answer.

"Uh, miss, do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"

A meaningful smile surfaced on Zhao Yan's face as he looked at Xiao Lin and asked.

"Of course the tru—"

Xiao Lin had just been about to blurt it out, when she suddenly froze in place, the smile on her face also freezing for an instant.

At this moment she seemed to suddenly understand a little.

This kind of question — judging by the look of it, this customer already had the answer in his heart long ago, the kind that didn't need any thinking at all.

If he really felt our restaurant's flavor was superior, he would definitely have said so directly, with absolutely no need to ask a superfluous question.

The very fact that he asked this way was itself a tactful answer to my question just now.

It was very obvious that the meticulously cooked steak and other things in our restaurant, in the face of that Boss Lu's culinary skill, simply weren't worth mentioning.

The reason he didn't say it outright was merely because he was considerate of still dining in the shop — speaking bluntly to my face would only make things awkward for me.

After figuring this out, waitress Xiao Lin couldn't help but feel an indescribable sense of loss well up in her heart.

She sighed inwardly, readjusted her expression, bowed slightly to Zhao Yan, and said in a calm tone: "I understand. Thank you for your answer."

After speaking, she didn't ask anything further, turned and left this area.

Zhao Yan watched waitress Xiao Lin's departing back, and muttered softly: "Interesting... she actually still wants to compete with Boss Lu's cooking?"

In his heart, this question fundamentally didn't even need to be asked.

Because he had never once thought that the food made in this Western restaurant that just opened today could be mentioned in the same breath as Boss Lu's culinary skill.

To be precise, Zhao Yan felt from the bottom of his heart that for any restaurant to want to compare with Boss Lu's culinary skill — that was simply overestimating oneself and inviting humiliation.

Not only did he think this way; those customers who just now, in order to snatch a taste of the new dish Lu Feng made today, decisively left and ran to queue at the entrance of Lu Family Restaurant — every single one of them held the same thought.

You have to know, most of the diners who came to eat at this Western restaurant today were old customers of Lu Family Restaurant who had received invitation cards.

In these people's hearts, the dishes Lu Feng makes had long since ceased to be mere food, and had become a kind of irreplaceable faith.

For them, this so-called comparison fundamentally didn't need any thought — they could directly give the same answer.

If it weren't like this, how could there be so many people who, before their ordered steaks had even been served, before they'd tasted a single bite,

merely upon hearing the news that Lu Feng released a new dish, immediately had the waiters pack it up without the slightest hesitation and rushed frantically to queue at the entrance of Lu Family Restaurant?

But these matters — I'm afraid the other people in this Western restaurant don't know any of them.

Zhao Yan shook his head, picked up his knife and fork again and continued eating the steak, thinking to himself: Looks like this miss probably has never tasted a dish personally made by Boss Lu.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have asked that question just now, which makes him feel a bit amused now that he recalls it.

Here, waitress Xiao Lin had just turned and walked out not far, when she heard a burst of urgent footsteps from the stairwell.

The hall manager hurried down from the second floor with quick steps, the expression on his face very tense.

Just now after he left the private room, he learned of the situation on the first floor from a food runner, immediately felt something was seriously wrong, and practically ran down from upstairs.

Now that he reached the first floor, his gaze swiftly swept across the current hall, and the scene before his eyes still left him dumbfounded.

The hall that should have been packed full now had only a few scattered tables of customers, becoming nearly empty.

The hall manager's face instantly went pale; this situation was something he hadn't anticipated in the slightest.

The next second, his brows knitted tightly, his expression becoming unprecedentedly grave.

"Who can tell me what exactly is going on? I only went upstairs for a few minutes — how did all the customers leave at once?"

The hall manager walked quickly up to several waiters, gritted his teeth and asked in a lowered voice.

His tone carried deep anxiety and panic.

All the big bosses of the company are dining in the private rooms on the second floor right now!

If they come downstairs later and see this situation, and I don't do something about it, this lobby manager of mine will have to pack up and get lost tomorrow.

"Manager, I already asked the customer just now."

Waiter Xiao Lin cautiously raised his head, looking at the lobby manager's grim face as he responded in a low voice: "The customer said it was because Lu Boss of the neighboring Lu Family Restaurant notified the restaurant to open early today, and launched a limited new dish; as soon as the customers heard this news, they immediately packed up what they ordered and ran to the door of the neighboring restaurant to queue."