Chapter 68 Do Young People Prefer Crab Sticks?
"Hmph, isn't Jin Xuan trying to ruin me?" Su Yingxue lightly patted the seasonings on her hand, a confident smile appearing on her lips. "Then let her see that even without her, we can still make this Golden Brilliance a bustling place."
She placed the prepared spicy crab into a specially designed insulated steamer to maintain its optimal taste, while instructing the assistant manager, Liao Ming, to notify the front desk to call regular customers and to put up a large banner.
Today we're launching a special "Autumn Limited Edition Spicy Crab for NT$99," and the first twenty customers to order each day will receive a complimentary special lemon iced drink. Enjoy crab for a special price of NT$99, plus free private room fees.
Sure enough, by evening, the news had spread like wildfire throughout the entire food street. Regular customers who had initially been drawn away by the trendy K restaurant were calling in droves to ask, "Boss, do you really have that super spicy and fragrant spicy crab? Is it true that you waive the private room fee?"
Chen Ru replied with a laugh on the phone: "Of course it's true, and it's the only one available, for a limited time and in limited quantities."
As dusk fell, the golden hall remained deserted, but the kitchen was bustling with activity. Su Yingxue was personally overseeing the preparations, and pot after pot of spicy crabs were being cooked, each one emitting a fragrant aroma that drew passersby to stop and stare.
While the area in front of Trendy K was still packed with people and filled with deafening music, Jin Xuan vaguely saw through the monitor screen that a small queue had begun to form under the golden and glittering sign.
"What's going on?" She frowned, picked up her phone, and dialed the store manager's number: "Why is there suddenly a line across the street? What kind of promotion are they running?"
The person on the other end of the phone stammered, "I heard... they launched a new dish, something like... spicy crab? A lot of people come here specifically for that..."
Jin Xuan was taken aback, then sneered: "Trying to turn the tables with just one dish? Ridiculous. Continue to observe, and report back immediately if anything happens!"
Night falls
Looking at the long queue and the increasingly lively private rooms, Su Yingxue smiled gently, said nothing more, and turned back to the kitchen.
That night, although Golden Glory wasn't as lively as the place across the street, the spicy aroma wafting from the kitchen served as a silent declaration—
The storm has only just begun.
Young people lined up, stretching from one end of the street to the next, like a long, winding, bustling dragon, encircling the once-glorious "Golden Splendor" sign. Holding up their phones, they excitedly took selfies and recorded short videos while waiting in line, then quickly posted them on their WeChat Moments.
"Who would have thought? This old-fashioned KTV has become popular again thanks to spicy crab!"
"99 yuan, and you get to eat crab without paying for the private room! That's amazing!"
"Fucheng's long-established KTV has successfully transformed? I'm the first to comment!"
The accompanying picture shows plates of bright red and tempting spicy crabs, with the crab shells carefully arranged back to their original shape, golden crab roe overflowing from the gaps, and green and red peppers and scallions garnishing them. The aroma seems to waft out through the screen.
However, there are always some people who laugh at others for laughing too soon.
"Hahaha, look at this, even those old-fashioned KTVs are starting to sell crabs these days? Who's going to go?"
A Douyin post, created by a wealthy young man, was located in the vicinity of the shopping district opposite Golden Brilliance—Trendy K. In the photo, he deliberately captured the slightly worn exterior of Golden Brilliance, captioning it jokingly: "Is this old relic still alive? Eating crabs is all the rage now, are they keeping up with the trend?"
Hoping to garner likes and agreement, the comment section quickly erupted in chaos:
"Haha, isn't this Golden Brilliance? It's a long-established KTV in Fucheng. I used to go there to sing when I was a kid!"
"Don't laugh, they're making spicy crab now, it's incredibly popular, my friend queued for an hour to get some!"
"Nostalgia + delicious food, that's the ultimate weapon, you don't understand."
"The person upstairs is right. My dad even took my uncles and aunts out to eat there yesterday, saying it brought back memories of his youth."
The rich kid froze, his finger hovering above the screen, his face flushing red and then turning pale. He quickly deleted the TikTok video, but it was too late; the screenshot had already spread.
Almost simultaneously, in the monitoring room of Trendy K across the street, Jin Xuan was watching the still bustling customer flow in her store, a confident smile on her lips. But when she scrolled through her WeChat Moments and saw those posts about "Golden Splendor Spicy Crab," especially the comments from those uncles and elders, her eyes suddenly turned cold.
"Heh... Spicy crab?" She sneered, tapping her fingers on the table, a hint of gloom and resentment flashing in her eyes.
Of course she knew that restaurant. Before she and Ye Bingbin broke up, she'd occasionally heard him mention it, saying the sound system was great, the service was attentive, and there was a chef with excellent cooking skills. She hadn't paid much attention then, taking it as casual compliments between lovers. After all, the last time she ate there, it was just average. Especially after watching that intimate confession video.
Unexpectedly, it was that "cook Su Yingxue" who has now become her biggest threat.
"Fine, since you want to play the nostalgia game and enjoy the food, then I'll play along with you." Jin Xuan bit her lip, a nameless anger rising within her.
She immediately summoned the marketing manager: "Launch a Crab Stick Snack Extravaganza! Buy three, get one free, plus a free trendy custom mug! The main selling point is—'Who eats spicy crab these days? They all eat crab sticks!'"
She deliberately added a sarcastic line to the promotional copy: "Spicy crab? That's a nostalgia for the previous generation. We only love the trendier stuff!"
However, she knew in her heart that although she was being stubborn, she had secretly tasted that spicy crab.
It happened after a friend's gathering; someone secretly went to Golden Brilliance to buy some. She initially dismissed it, but the moment she took the first bite of crab meat and the spicy, savory flavor exploded on her tongue, she was stunned.
"This Su Yingxue... is not simple." She was angry at the time. What was wrong with this mistress?
But she couldn't swallow her anger.
Uncle Wang is a mid-level manager at an old company in Fucheng. He's in his early fifties and used to be a bohemian young man who loved to sing. Back when Golden Brilliance first opened, he and a few old friends often held annual parties, birthday celebrations, and would sing their hearts out there when they got drunk.
But later, as times changed, the place gradually became deserted, and he never set foot there again.
Until that day, he saw a post on his WeChat Moments—it was from his niece: "Spicy crab for 99 yuan and no private room fee! Golden Brilliance is still open? I brought my colleagues to check it out!"
He clicked on the picture and immediately recognized the familiar signboard, the slightly old but welcoming lobby, and the wall of photos—the "Golden Memories" exhibition area carefully arranged by the shop owner, recording the shop's history from its opening at the end of the last century to the present.
"Hey, isn't this the spot where I used to stand when I sang?" he murmured, a long-lost feeling of excitement welling up inside him.
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