Chapter 144

Regarding the past disputes, Cheng Hui chose to remain inactive for the time being. He was not sure whether what Aqiu said was true or false. After all, intuition was not 100% accurate. Moreover... many times, people looked at things from different angles depending on where they stood.

It's like a couple eloping. From the couple's perspective, it's naturally a rebellion against their conservative parents for true love. But from the parents' perspective, they see it as a wild boar that not only steals their own cabbage, but also takes it away...

All in all, Cheng Hui certainly could not immediately accept the two of them as a couple. At most, because these things might exist, he was no longer so resistant to Aqiu's deliberate approach.

…

…

...emmm, another thing that scared Cheng Hui was...he found that he was not as resistant as he thought.

Cheng Hui: ...It's a bit scary. I feel like I'm not that straight anymore..._(:з」∠)_

A Qiu knew his limits and did not show it too obviously. He just slowly drew a circle and then unnoticedly included Cheng Hui in it.

For seven consecutive days, except for Cheng Hui occasionally eavesdropping on the Hu family's conversation in the middle of the night, Aqiu stayed at home obediently and did not go anywhere.

The bodyguards at home were bored, so Cheng Hui got out a deck of cards and taught them how to play Landlord.

The group of people were having a lot of fun playing it, and they didn't expect that this way of playing would spread so quickly that even Liu's father came over. After knowing that this thing was invented by Liu Qing, he glared at him fiercely, and then gave him two hundred taels of silver the next day.

Aqiu:???

"Mr. Huang in town likes that poker so much that he bought the rules. These are your pocket money." Father Liu stroked his beard, with an indescribable sense of pride in his smile.

So what if the Hu family suppresses their family? As long as his brain is still there, the Liu family will never fall.

"Great, great, Dad, you are still as good as ever!" A Qiu clapped his hands cooperatively and flattered his father a little.

Father Liu glanced at his youngest son and said disdainfully, "Learn a little. Making money is actually very easy. Even if I lose the Liu family's fortune, I can still earn a share."

Although Father Liu said it so easily, Aqiu could hear that Father Liu was already showing signs of retreating.

After all, the Hu family has been suppressing the Liu family very hard in recent days. Because of the existence of that ungrateful person, the Hu family's secret recipes have been mastered by the Liu family, and the other party has also launched a price war.

The Liu family was beaten before and had no power to fight back. Those diners and gourmets don’t care about the disputes between your restaurants. They only care about whether the food is delicious. Your Chunfeng Restaurant has lost its chef, and they can’t sacrifice themselves to support you.

Master Liu has been under a lot of pressure these past few days. Chef Zhao is a good man, but his cooking skills are slightly inferior to that ungrateful person. A restaurant has lost its good chef, and its signature dishes have been learned by others. How can it not go bankrupt?

He hadn't dared go to the restaurant for the past few days, fearing that seeing its deserted state would be too painful. He also hadn't looked at the accounts the housekeeper had sent him for the past few days. What was the point of looking? It would only show how much money had been lost, and looking at it would only make him angrier.

"Dad, have you not been out for the past few days?" Aqiu asked tentatively.

He asked himself that any of the dishes provided by Cheng Hui could be considered a signature dish. Chef Zhao's cooking skills might be a little worse, but the cooking methods of these dishes were relatively novel, so they should not be unpopular.

Mr. Liu's answer did not surprise Aqiu. It was obvious that if Mr. Liu knew the situation of the restaurant, he would not be so discouraged.

Although Aqiu did not go out these days, Cheng Hui often went out for a stroll. Taking advantage of the fact that no one could see him, he was able to get a lot of information. At the same time, he also helped the Liu family guard against the Hu family's frame-up several times.

As a result, many people in the restaurant now wonder if the young master is a prophet or something, otherwise how could he know in advance how the Hu family was going to frame them?

Because of the launch of those special dishes, the restaurant's accounts have actually looked very good in the past few days. It's just that due to the impact of the chef's departure some time ago, there are fewer customers, and naturally fewer people are able to eat the special dishes, so the promotion speed is a little slower.

But after a few days of fermentation, the special dishes have become widely known. While Aqiu and Master Liu were talking, several gourmets had already made an appointment to come to Chunfeng Restaurant together.

"Waiter, give me some of your special dishes. I heard that the dishes you've been making recently were recreated by your young master from an incomplete cookbook. If they don't taste good, don't blame me for destroying your reputation."

"Don't worry, our young master is very talented. The dishes he recreates are absolutely amazing. You can eat them. If they don't taste good, you can slap me in the face." The waiter wiped the table diligently and chatted with the guests with a smile.

The speaker was an old customer of Chunfenglou. He had always supported the food there. When that ungrateful guy jumped ship, he even cursed him. Unfortunately, feelings cannot be eaten, especially for an old gourmet. It is true that he has feelings for Chunfenglou, but it is also true that Chef Zhao's cooking skills are not good, so in the end he had to go across the street to eat.

Of course, eating was one thing, but he looked down on that ungrateful person, so he would just wipe his mouth and leave after eating. He never gave the chef any more rewards as he used to.

It also shows one's attitude.

Even though we eat, I still despise your character.

The gourmets who ate with him basically had the same attitude, so when they heard that Chunfenglou had come up with some new special dishes that tasted great, they would come back here again.

After a while, the waiter brought over several dishes.

Spicy diced chicken, stir-fried wild vegetables, pine nut corn, squirrel fish, and a pot of kelp and pork ribs soup.

The table was filled with four dishes and a soup, and there were also a few bowls of gold and silver rice. The aroma filled the table, and everyone at the table had no time to chat, and they all picked up their chopsticks and started eating.

"Yeah! Not bad!"

"Hiss... so spicy, so satisfying."

"Huh? This dish is a bit sweet? But the sweetness is not greasy at all, it has a refreshing fragrance."

“It’s really good!”

A group of people were commenting on the food on the table, but only two people were holding their bowls and desperately putting food into them.

No one noticed at first, but as the amount of food decreased, these people realized something was wrong. Okay, you guys are commenting with us here, while you are secretly eating over there?

This time, no one commented on anything. Everyone picked up their bowls and started eating. In a short while, the plates were empty.

Finally, after happily drinking a bowl of kelp soup, the gourmets breathed a sigh of satisfaction.

Cool!

Are these dishes earth-shatteringly delicious? Definitely not.

But it is very delicious. If I were to describe it in two words, it would be... delicious with rice!

Yes, you read that right. While eating these things, I couldn’t help but shovel rice into my mouth, especially the spicy diced chicken. It was so spicy that my tongue was numb, but I still couldn’t help but continue eating it.

"Today's meal is very good. I am very satisfied with it. Call your chef."

Chef Zhao came up quickly and greeted several regular customers.

The gourmets were very satisfied with the meal and naturally did not hesitate to give tips. After Chef Zhao returned to the kitchen, he still felt a sense of unreality when looking at the few pieces of silver in his hand.

In the past, only that ungrateful person had this kind of treatment, but now he has also received it. It is simply incredible.

Of course, Chef Zhao has not only a conscience, but also a knack for cooking. He knows his own cooking skills very well. If it weren't for the young master's guidance, he wouldn't be able to come up with so many dishes.

Therefore, Chef Zhao didn't need to express his gratitude to the young master. These recipes were priceless treasures. The young master had given them to him without asking for anything, which meant that he could pass them down to his son and even keep them as heirlooms.

Chef Zhao made up his mind that he must repay his gratitude in the future. As long as he can work, he will continue to work here. When he can no longer work, he can let his son take over.

In short, he would never betray the Liu family like that ungrateful person!

Soon, news of Chunfeng Restaurant's resurgence spread throughout the town. The once deserted shop was now bustling with customers.

Even Chef Zhao, who always thought his cooking skills were not that good, regained his confidence. He also slightly improved some dishes to make them more in line with the tastes of this era.

After tasting the food, Ah Qiu was also amazed by Chef Zhao. Chef Zhao was definitely an unsung talent. He had limited cooking talent and wasn't very good at creating recipes, but if he was asked to improve on a certain foundation, he would do very well. His keen sense for spices was unmatched, as if he knew by nature which dish would taste best with which spices.

As Chunfeng Restaurant became popular, the Hujia Restaurant across the street naturally couldn't sit still.

The town is so small. If more guests go to your place, there will naturally be fewer guests coming to my house. What's more, the Hu family's goal is to force the Liu family into bankruptcy and then buy their land at a low price. The other party's business is so good that they can't count the money they make. How could they sell the land?

The Hu family also thought about poaching again, but unfortunately, those who could be swayed had been poached last time. Now those who remained all felt that the Liu family had done them a favor and wanted to repay them.

What's more, Aqiu knew very well that if you want the horse to run, you have to feed it grass, so for those who stayed, he gave each of them a salary increase and gave them a lot of chicken soup according to Cheng Hui's method, which moved these people so much that they vowed to live and die with the Liu family!

Aqiu/Cheng Hui: ...That's not necessary...

In short, the tricks that worked in the past no longer work. The Hu family couldn't get the Liu family's secret recipe, so... they started using some unconventional tricks.

The so-called "out-of-the-box tactics" are, of course, tactics that go beyond normal business competition. For example, hiring thugs to disrupt the restaurant, or hiring someone to claim the restaurant's kitchen is not clean.

However, these tricks are okay to use once. After all, the onlookers are not fools. You have just used them not long ago, and things that were already in doubt now come up again. There are very few people who believe them.

Seeing that these two tricks didn't work, the Hu family took ruthless action. They actually hired someone to set a fire outside the restaurant. You have to know that the Chunfeng Restaurant has three floors and is open during the day. The waiters and some kitchen helpers live here at night. If the fire started, no one among these people would be able to escape.

The Hu family's plan was perfect, but they couldn't withstand someone eavesdropping every day. As a result, the arsonist was caught in the act and directly escorted to the government office by the Liu family.

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