Chapter 3 03 The First Business

For Yan Si and the company, what they did was just to create a time difference. After Ji Qingzhi proposed not to renew the contract, Yan Si checked her recent schedule and learned about what happened in her family recently. It seemed that she had no time to pay attention to these things. Therefore, after Ji Qingzhi gained a certain amount of favor for Song Panyan, a statement that Ji Qingzhi withdrew due to personal reasons could be released to gain more favor for Song Panyan. By the time Ji Qingzhi found out, the prime PR time had been missed. Yan Si had planned everything well, the only miscalculation was that Ji Qingzhi saw the trending searches in advance and released her withdrawal announcement almost at the same time as they did.

The two statements collided with each other so perfectly, especially the recording in Ji Qingzhi's hand. Yan Si's words of coercion and inducement on the phone aroused disgust among many people. When brought into the perspective of working people, many netizens went wild and expressed their support for Ji Qingzhi.

Yan Si has always been an expert at manipulating public opinion. This was the first time that Song Panyan tasted the backlash of public opinion. She was in a very bad mood at this moment. From the moment she signed the contract, she knew that the first step to her debut was to step on Ji Qingzhi to get to the top. This was not the first time that the company had done this, and Ji Qingzhi had cooperated every time before. Why did she resist when it was her turn? Thinking of this, a trace of resentment flashed in Song Panyan's eyes.

"Sister Yan, what should we do now?" Song Panyan lowered her eyes to hide the calculation in her eyes.

"Don't respond yet." Yan Si's tone was also filled with anger. She didn't expect Ji Qingzhi to backstab her this time. She had clearly been fighting with her for the role in "Deep Palace" before. Thinking of the recording in her hand, she rubbed her eyebrows. She didn't know what she had in her hand now.

"Are we just going to let it go like this?" Song Panyan was a little surprised. After all, Yan Si was a vengeful person.

"There's a long time to come, why rush?" Yan Sike didn't believe that Ji Qingzhi was really going to quit the entertainment industry, as she knew how dedicated she was to acting.

"Oh." Song Panyan felt a little disappointed, but she also knew that she could only listen to her at this critical juncture.

The variety show list can become a hot topic because of the support of many parties, so once they withdrew, the discussion disappeared instantly, and even Ji Qingzhi’s statement quickly lost popularity.

The news of her retirement was very sudden. Some fans were reluctant to let her go, but many black fans flocked to thank her for retiring and for sparing their eyes. Ji Qingzhi was too lazy to pay attention to them. At first, she was even questioning herself because of the comments and sadness from the haters, until that time when she came back and accidentally heard the conversation between Lao Ji and others. Lao Ji said cheerfully: "She is not RMB, so she can't be liked by everyone. It's enough for us to like her."

It was also at that time that Ji Qingzhi suddenly figured it out. Yes, she was not RMB and it was impossible for everyone to like her. There were so many seniors in the circle, didn’t they also have black fans? She probably felt relieved at that time. Thinking of this, Ji Qingzhi put down her phone. She missed Old Ji so much, even if it was just his nagging.

She got up and went to the next room. She stretched out her hand and pushed open the door of Old Ji's study. Old Ji's study seemed to have not changed much over the years. When she was a child, she loved to come there to find books to read. At that time, she thought all kinds of recipes were very interesting, especially those ancient recipes. Thinking of this, she walked to the bookshelf, but was attracted by the things on the first shelf. Those were the magazine pages she shot when she first debuted. This shelf is full of things related to her debut, magazine pages, advertising pictures, and even pirated bags with her portrait printed on them.

Although he said that he did not support her and even ordered her to come back and inherit the family business, otherwise he would cut off all ties with her, he carefully kept everything related to her. Ji Qingzhi could not help but regret her stubbornness and stubbornness.

The notification sound of her cell phone interrupted her thoughts. She lowered her eyes to look at the screen of her phone. On it was a notice from the hospital urging her to pay the bill. After she paid the bill, she opened the screen again and saw that the progress of the egg custard had stopped there. She suppressed her emotions, turned around and went to the kitchen again.

This time, Ji Qingzhi followed the same method as before. She beat the eggs and stirred the egg liquid clockwise. She used her wrist to repeat each step accurately and carefully. When the egg custard was out of the pot, she looked at the light screen first. The progress bar below the egg custard was full. At the same time, she heard the mechanical voice in her mind: "The egg custard is done. You will be awarded 100 points."

One hundred points were credited to his account, and the total points became two hundred. Ji Qingzhi breathed a sigh of relief. Although the points required to exchange for Baining Pills seemed out of reach, he finally saw hope.

After the egg custard task was released, no matter whether the system or the ancestor disappeared, Ji Qingzhi was not in a hurry. She went to the hospital to visit Old Ji every day, then kept an eye on the progress of the decoration, and finally continued to practice steaming eggs. She had a guess in her mind, but she would have to wait until the opening to know what the result would be.

All the neighbors on Boulevard Boulevard knew that Ji Qingzhi was planning to revive the Ji Family Restaurant. To be honest, no one was optimistic. Some even tried to find out from which place the chef was coming from. Until they found out that she was not planning to hire a chef and would cook herself, everyone looked at her with an expression of "Are you crazy?".

Aunt Li hesitated and said, "Qingzhi, we all know that you want to wake Old Ji up quickly, but stimulating him like this may not be helpful."

The neighbors along Boulevard all knew how important the restaurant was to Old Ji. Back then, he would rather get divorced than give up the restaurant. Isn't it inappropriate for this girl to ruin it like this?

"Aunt Li, don't worry, I know my limits. Have you forgotten what my father praised me for when I was a child?" Ji Qingzhi said in a gentle tone. She knew that they cared about her, so this was also an explanation to them.

"You also said that you were a child back then. What's more, our business is just like this now, and don't young people nowadays prefer takeout?" Aunt Li said with a sincere look on her face.

Previously, when the business of Ji's restaurant was declining, it was not that no one advised Ji Yuanfu to launch a takeaway function. After all, the food in his restaurant was really good, but Ji Yuanfu was unwilling to do so. In his words, "The time from when the dishes are out of the pot to when they are in the hands of the customers will make the dishes lose their original taste. I cannot let the Ji's reputation fall on my hands."

"Aunt Li, don't worry. Isn't it my father's long-cherished wish that I come back and inherit the restaurant? I'm just correcting my original path." Although Ji Qingzhi's voice was gentle, her tone was firm.

Everyone was stunned when they heard this, as if it was indeed the case. Wasn’t this the reason for the conflict between father and daughter for so many years? But can she really inherit it?

Ji Qingzhi didn't take everyone's doubts to heart. Time would give everyone the answer. Besides, she needed the tasks issued by the system more than their recognition. Unfortunately, the system had disappeared for three days since the last egg custard task.

The prepared menu was back, and Ji Qingzhi raised the corner of his lips as he looked at the added egg custard. Next, he would just wait for the renovation to be completed so that Ji’s Restaurant could officially open again.

The restaurant matters plus the hospital matters were enough to keep Ji Qingzhi busy, but she would occasionally pay attention to what was happening on Big Eyes before going to bed. For example, after she issued a statement last time, Yan Si finally calmed down, and Song Panyan had already started recording a variety show, but this time she was not there. Another person from the company was recording with her. I guess her role was to set off Song Panyan. Ji Qingzhi could only wish her good luck.

Ji Qingzhi quickly put away her phone. She had already retired from the circle. As long as Yan Si didn't try to drag her down again, she didn't bother to argue with her. After all, the most important thing now was to let Old Ji wake up earlier.

The renovation was completed in less than half a month because the overall layout remained unchanged and only the interior decoration and tables and chairs were changed. Ji Qingzhi originally planned to ask the decoration company to clean up the door plaque, but the old ancestor's disdainful and stern voice suddenly came to her mind, so she took the initiative to take charge of the matter.

The door plaque was quite old and looked very dull. According to the old ancestor, its dullness had nothing to do with cleanliness but was due to the lack of worldly air. Sure enough, no matter how she cleaned it, the door plaque remained dull. She could not help but sigh. It seemed that she had to open the business as soon as possible to absorb more worldly air.

After these events, Ji Qingzhi, who was originally a staunch scientist, devoutly looked through the perpetual calendar when choosing the opening date and selected an auspicious day as the opening date.

Such good news naturally had to be told to Old Ji. Ji Yuanfu's current condition was no different from that of a vegetative person. Ji Qingzhi sat beside his bed and chatted with him about what had happened during this period. She got up and left reluctantly only when the visiting time was up.

The day before the opening, Ji Qingzhi went to the market to buy ingredients. She was not sure whether there would be any customers coming the next day, but she still needed to prepare the ingredients. She had now mastered the egg custard to perfection, so there was never a shortage of eggs at home.

Ji Qingzhi also talked about the opening with Jiang Lianmeng during their casual chat. After all, she was currently filming on the set and couldn't come over at all. Unexpectedly, she would actually order flower baskets, and even ordered sixty-six of them.

Ji Qingzhi [Jiang Jie 666]

Jiang Lianmeng: [Of course, my sisters must be included. 】

Ji Qingzhi: [Remember to come and eat to get your money’s worth next time you come back. 】

Jiang Lianmeng: [Okay, by the way, what is the signature dish of your restaurant? 】

Ji Qingzhi was silent for a while, and finally said, "Egg custard?" 】

Jiang Lianmeng【? ? ? Custard? Are you kidding? 】

Ji Qingzhi: [You will know once you try it. 】

Jiang Lianmeng [Okay, anyway, anything is better than the boxed lunches of the crew/picture/]

Jiang Lianmeng was soon called away to film a scene. Ji Qingzhi looked at the flower baskets lined up outside and couldn't help but smile and shook her head. The restaurant was just as Ji Qingzhi had expected. What she didn't know was that the neighbors in Boulevard were discussing patronizing her business.

Aunt Li: As long as the food is cooked, it doesn’t matter if it tastes a little bit bad.

Uncle Qiu: If it really doesn’t work, just think of it as buying food.

Uncle Yang: Okay, then let’s decide who will go first. We have to schedule a date and try to make sure she can open every day.

Ji Qingzhi was unaware of the kindness of her neighbors. This was the first time she tried to steam several servings of egg custard at a time. When they were out of the pot, she placed them on a tray and planned to give them to her neighbors on Boulevard. It was also at this time that Ji Qingzhi felt that she should hire someone, at least in this way, someone would do these things for her.

Before the neighbors had even discussed the order of their daily visits, someone had already received the egg custard sent by Ji Qingzhi.

Aunt Li: Well, it looks pretty good at the moment/Picture/

When the neighbors in the group clicked on the picture sent by Aunt Li, they saw the golden egg custard and could feel the freshness of the egg custard through the phone.

It took Ji Qingzhi almost twenty minutes to deliver the egg custard. Fortunately, she steamed it in two pots. When she was walking back with the tray, she was stopped by a group of young couples. They had a child with them. The child in the stroller was estimated to be only about one year old.

Ji Qingzhi knew that they were guests of the B&B next door, so she asked politely, "Excuse me, is there anything I can help you with?"

The young mother was the first to speak: "Excuse me, are you selling the egg custard just now? My child wants to eat it."

After the young mother finished speaking, she looked helplessly at her daughter Mengmeng in the stroller. This little girl, every time her family made steamed egg custard for her, she would only eat two bites at most. So this time when they took her out for a trip, they thought she would just need to drink milk powder. Unexpectedly, when she saw the egg custard held by others, she insisted on eating it. In order to appease her daughter, she could only go forward and ask.

Ji Qingzhi didn't expect the first order to come so quickly. She raised the corners of her lips and said, "Of course, my store is right in front."

The family of three followed Ji Qingzhi into Ji's restaurant. In the steamer was the last portion of egg custard that Ji Qingzhi had left for herself. She placed the egg custard in front of the child and asked the couple, "Do you need anything else?"

"Not for now." The young couple didn't have the habit of eating breakfast. If they hadn't been woken up by the child, they would still be catching up on their sleep.

Ji Qingzhi left with a smile. When she turned around, she heard the mechanical sound again: egg custard, reward of one hundred. The smile on Ji Qingzhi's lips widened. It was just as she had guessed.