Lu Xingbang insisted on teaching Fatty a new dish every day. In just a few days, he taught Fatty his best dishes, "Braised Pork Trotters," "Dragon Eye and Phoenix Liver," and "Mock Crab."
As for Fatty's two senior brothers, the older one went to Fengzeyuan, and the younger one went to Cuihualou. They can truly be called two outstanding talents from the same family!
Fatty and Yu Li also made a big financial recovery and hosted a banquet at the Friendship Hotel to entertain their friends from all walks of life.
The old man didn't care about the matter of treating people to meals, which presented the fat man with another problem.
This time, hosting a dinner party is a matter of great importance to the reputation of Fatty's entire family. The venue can't be anything less than impressive; something like the Qili Pavilion that Fatty owns isn't quite up to par.
Another point is that high-end, classy places like this aren't places you can just book anytime. They certainly won't give you special treatment just because you're in the same industry.
Therefore, this is also a test of the fat man's network of connections.
Fortunately, Fatty has a "good older brother," Secretary Chen, who should now be called Director Chen, who booked the Friendship Hotel for Fatty.
Today, Fatty, along with his wife, children, second sister, and third sister, hosted a grand banquet for their guests.
Director Chen arrived too, and immediately became rude and hostile: "You've caused me trouble again!"
Then he handed the fat man four packs of cigarettes, all of them Zhonghua brand; and said to him with a strong warning, "If you cause me any more trouble, huh!"
The fat man, both amused and exasperated, ushered him inside. He even went over to take a picture with Old Master Lu. That arrogant jerk…
Even retired Old Wang couldn't refuse to invite him. Upon seeing the fat man, he said earnestly, "Your braised sea cucumber with scallions can finally open for business. You should have listened to me back then. Qili Pavilion has no unique features at all."
The fat man was furious: "So the zoo is special, huh?!"
Old Wang laughed heartily: "You're right..."
"Didn't you even ask the Beijing Zoo if they'd agree to it?"
"Why do you care? If he's allowed to call it a zoo, why can't you? We can just change the name of the place."
"..."
Before the banquet began, the fat man on the stage offered tea to Old Master Lu again in front of the dozen or so colleagues below.
This is similar to the concept of "bai zhi" in crosstalk, which means informing one's peers.
The old man spoke even more directly: "From now on, Fatty is my disciple, Lu Xingbang. Anyone who wants to bully him can come to me; if he bullies others, he can also come to me!"
Wow, no wonder he's a titan, he speaks with such authority.
※※※※※※
After hosting a banquet for his Shandong cuisine colleagues in Beijing, the fat man spent money to have the storefront renovated.
The name "Qili Pavilion" remains unchanged, but the characters "Lu" and "Huai" have been added to a prominent place on the signboard.
The main focus is still Huaiyang cuisine, but Shandong cuisine has also been added to the menu. Now, the first dish on the first page is "Sweet and Sour Carp"!
After Qilige became the authentic Shandong cuisine restaurant, the benefits were simply too numerous to mention.
First of all, people flocked to the place because of its reputation. Unlike later when there were many online celebrity hotspots, the first batch of people who came were all gourmets, and they were all very discerning!
But if you can win over these people with your skills, then that's enough!
Their saying, "There's a restaurant in Bamiancao that serves authentic Shandong cuisine," is more effective than advertising on TV or in newspapers!
Secondly, people in the industry, such as associations and major competitions, all know that there is such a person as Fatty.
Recently, someone came to ask Fatty if he wanted to take the grading exams. They said he could take the Level 1 or Special Grade exams if he wanted.
Sha Zhu came with Xu Damao today.
They had also heard that Fatty had found an extraordinary master. Sha Zhu, in particular, felt even worse. He had worked in countless restaurants under He Daqing's tutelage, and in the end, he had only managed to become a nominal disciple.
I don't know what He Daqing was thinking back then, insisting that Tan Family Cuisine was official cuisine, and ordinary people couldn't afford it; while Sichuan cuisine was popular cuisine and would definitely become widespread throughout the country in the future...
Looking back now, why did Sha Zhu even bother learning Sichuan cuisine? Wouldn't it have been better to learn Shandong or Huaiyang cuisine?
What made Sha Zhu furious the most was Fatty. Not only was he directly taken in, but he also went straight to becoming a disciple of the Shandong cuisine master.
Shazhu was incredibly envious!
As soon as Xu Damao saw the fat man, he said, "Brother, you're not being fair! You didn't even tell me about something this big!"
The fat man sighed helplessly, "Stop talking! So many colleagues are watching me from below the stage, I'm so nervous I could die. Enough talk, let's get to the private room, it's on me today..."
Xu Damao was just hearing what the fat man had in mind, so he happily pulled the fat man into the private room.
As for Sha Zhu, ignore him; he's mainly here to see Xiao Dang anyway.
As soon as he entered the private room, Xu Damao immediately closed the door: "Brother, I have something to tell you."
Seeing his serious expression, the fat man quickly asked, "What happened again?"
"What's going on? It's all because of that old geezer, Second Uncle! That old man wanted me to partner with him in business, but do you know what conditions he came up with?"
Liu Haizhong is looking to do business with Xu Damao?
It seems they did end up trading rebar together after all...
The fat man said, "No need to ask, they're probably just trying to put up the least amount of money and take the biggest share."
Xu Damao slammed his right fist into his left hand: "That's right! This old bastard offered 30%, but he actually wants to split it 50/50 with me."
The fat man pondered for a moment: "Director Lan, right? Liu Haizhong's apprentice. He sponsored Liu Haizhong's university education, and now he's returning the favor."
Xu Damao was so surprised that he stood up: "How did you know? Did he contact you too?"
The fat man pulled him back into the chair: "Isn't my business better than dealing in rebar? To be honest, I don't even care about it."
Xu Damao became anxious: "What do you mean?"
"Think about it, what do you have? You're trying to get something for nothing! It's true that rebar is a hot commodity, but it belongs to Director Lan, not you. At most, you can only make a profit from the price difference, and you'll have to be subservient to him every day. I don't know if you've heard this saying before?"
Xu Damao was dumbfounded by what he said. He felt that he was quite stupid, so he hurriedly asked, "What did you say? Good brother, please tell me quickly."
The fat man cleared his throat: "These favors are all about who owes whom, and who owes whom. In the end, no one can tell the difference. Everything gets mixed up together, and that's when the relationship is established, and the benefits stay with us. People like you and Liu Haizhong, who build relationships and do trade, are owing favors all the time. How are you going to repay them? So do you think this can last?"
Xu Damao understood, and subconsciously took out a cigarette and lit it for the two of them: "That's why you wanted to get me to invest back then, but I've already put the money in..."
The fat man waved his hand: "It's alright. You two can make money at the beginning. After all, it's a hot commodity, so there's no worry about finding buyers."
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