That’s right, Lin Dan did intend to compete with Yan’s Restaurant when he returned to Beijing this time. She had no resentment about losing to Yan Langqing, but the predecessor of this Yan's Restaurant was Lin's Restaurant, which was founded by Lin Baotian. Every signature dish in the restaurant was the result of his hard work, but in the end it was taken away by the second and third wives and the Yan family. Is there such a good deal in the world?
The Yan family did not feel guilty, but Lin Dan, who inherited the original owner's will, could never get over that hurdle. As I said, she has to take back what belongs to her, and she won't take what doesn't belong to her even if it's given to her for free.
As the saying goes, "Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles." If Lin Dan wants to compete with Yan's Restaurant, he still has to taste their dishes to see how they taste. But her facial features had not changed much over the years. If the people from the second and third rooms recognized her, they would definitely do something bad to her. She could only ask the handsome man to pack up a few signature dishes and take them to eat somewhere else.
After finishing their meal, the two sat in a private room in the teahouse and talked. The handsome man asked in a low voice: "How does Yan's food taste?"
"The cooking skills are excellent, worthy of being from a royal family." Lin Dan commented fairly.
“Compared to you?” The handsome man had never tasted the Shandong cuisine made by Lin Dan and wanted to try it very much.
"You'll know when I open the store." Lin Dan smiled faintly, pushed the door and left. Although she did not give a direct answer, her nonchalant attitude was enough to show her confidence.
The handsome man stared at her tall back, shook his head and smiled.
The two continued to wander around Qingyun Lane. When they reached a corner, they saw another Shandong restaurant. Lin Dan waved and said, "Let's go in and have a try." Since they were going to open a store, they naturally had to find out about all the nearby restaurants. Not to mention stealing business, it was always necessary to play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses.
The name of this restaurant is Qiaoyuan Restaurant. It is twice as big as Yan's Restaurant and is extremely luxuriously decorated. It has pavilions, towers, bridges and flowing water, and the environment is extremely elegant. High officials and nobles always like to pay attention to the ostentation when they go out, and the ostentation of Qiaoyuan Restaurant is far more luxurious than that of Yan's Restaurant. Logically, the business should not be bad, but Lin Dan and the man sat in the hall for a long time and only five or six tables of guests came. It was far inferior to the Yan's Restaurant which was packed with customers.
It was not until he tasted the dishes that Lin Dan found out the reason. It was because the chef of this restaurant was not skilled enough and the Shandong cuisine he made was not authentic.
"After having the Yan family's dishes, the taste of this restaurant's dishes is one or two levels worse. No wonder they can't keep returning customers." Lin Dan put down his chopsticks and sighed.
The handsome man didn't say anything, but just waved to the waiter to come over to settle the bill. As soon as Lin Dan took out her purse, he held her down. With a flip of his wrist, a small silver ingot of half an ounce fell into the waiter's palm. He paid the bill as quickly as he could. The waiter got the silver and had no idea how this thing appeared. He scratched his head and face for a long time, puzzled.
Lin Dan was amused, curled his lips slightly, and started a conversation with the waiter: "Does your restaurant need dried goods? They are all top-quality goods I brought from Southeast Asia, including abalone, bird's nest, sea cucumber, scallops, etc. I also have wild delicacies here, and there are many varieties. I can provide a stable supply for a long time."
In order to support his family, Lin Dan had to do some small business while learning the skills. Over time, he established a caravan that specialized in reselling dried goods. He brought seafood from the coast to inland, and brought delicacies from inland mountains to the seaside, making a lot of money from the trip.
The store specializes in serving high-ranking customers, so of course the ingredients must be top quality. The waiter didn't dare to make a decision and quickly asked the shopkeeper to come out. The shopkeeper was naturally happy to have an additional stable source of goods, so Lin Dan asked his servant to bring the goods to the store for inspection.
The shopkeeper didn't know the quality of the ingredients, so he had to call the chef. The chef has just turned twenty. He has a fair and handsome face and looks very young. Although his cooking skills were not good, his eyesight was excellent. He said with certainty: "The abalones are all double-headed abalones, the bird's nests are all official bird's nests from the first day of the rainy season, the shark fins include sea tiger fins, group fins, and sky nine fins, all of which are top-quality products... The fungus is not ordinary fungus, but rock fungus picked from cliffs, which can be called the best of mountain delicacies. They are all good ingredients, not fake."
After he finished speaking, he let out a long sigh, as if a huge stone had been lifted from his heart. With this batch of top-quality dry goods, you don’t have to worry about not being able to make delicious Shandong cuisine. He originally had two years before he could finish his apprenticeship, but his father suddenly died of a sudden illness. This restaurant was his father's hard work, so he had to run it well. But his cooking skills are still lacking some perfection. Ever since he took over as chef, the business of the store has been getting worse and worse, and there are even signs that it is difficult to sustain. If he wasn't the chef and the owner of the restaurant, the shopkeeper would have kicked him out long ago.
"We want all the goods. Manager Lin, please name a price." The chef made the decision decisively.
Lin Dan gave a moderate price, not too expensive, but not cheap either. Seeing that the other party readily paid the bill, her attitude became relaxed. "Are there any other restaurants nearby? Please give me some directions so that I don't have to make unnecessary trips. Don't worry, I don't have any top-quality goods anymore. They are all inferior products. It won't affect you if I sell them to other restaurants." By selling all the inventory on hand, she could fill the funding gap.
The handsome chef shook his head and said in a bad tone: "There is no other restaurant. There are only Qiaoyuan Restaurant and Yan's Restaurant in the streets nearby. You are outsiders, so you may not know that the owner of Yan's Restaurant is the imperial chef in the palace. He is very powerful and will not allow any Shandong restaurant to compete with his business nearby."
"But aren't you guys driving just fine?" Lin Dan frowned slightly, and the handsome man also showed a stern look.
"My family is not completely without history. My grandfather served the late emperor, and my father served the empress dowager. They were all imperial chefs from the palace. The painting hanging in my hall is an authentic work of the late emperor. No matter how rampant the Yan family is, they dare not bully me." The handsome chef looked proud, but he was also nervous in his heart. Although his family has a good foundation, his cooking skills are not good and have been declining in recent years. Yan Langqing is already the head chef of the imperial kitchen at a young age and is also the emperor's favorite. His reputation has long spread outside the palace.
Even if these gourmets in Xicheng District did not give her face, they had to give face to the emperor, so Yan's Restaurant became bigger and bigger.
Lin Dan often sent people back to the capital to inquire about the situation, and he knew how Yan Langqing became successful. After she left the Marquis' Mansion, she worked as the head chef in Yan's Restaurant. One day, the emperor came on a secret visit and happened to eat in her restaurant. He was very impressed with her cooking skills and had a good chat with her. He then recruited her into the palace to cook, and she gradually gained his favor.
Lin Dan didn’t pay any more attention to what happened to Yan Langqing afterwards, but she had no idea that she had become so powerful.
Then the chef continued, "The head of the Yan family is Yan Langqing. Her most famous signature dish is Wanfu meat. The emperor loved it the first time he ate it, and immediately kept her in the palace as a royal chef. It is said that the emperor would feel uncomfortable if he didn't eat her cooking for a day. Do you think she is favored?"
Lin Dan was not interested in whether Yan Langqing was favored or not, but was interested in the Wanfu meat. She couldn't help but ask: "How is the Wanfu meat cooked? Is it really that delicious?"
"I don't know either. I heard that when cooking Wanfu meat, Chef Yan Yu would ask others to stay away, and she is the only one who knows the recipe." Chef Junxiu shook his head regretfully.
Lin Dan looked normal, but his eyes were cold. He left after leaving his address. After leaving Qiaoyuan Restaurant, she immediately went back to the grocery store owner and lied to him that the money had been collected and the property could be transferred. As expected, the boss refused and said that after she left, someone bought the shop for a high price.
Lin Dan looked at him carefully and found that his eyes were full of pain of rejecting a good deal. What else didn't he understand? The multiple biddings were all fake. The real thing was the warning from the Yan family not to sell the shop to others to open a Shandong restaurant.
After saying goodbye to the boss, Lin Dan no longer had the mood to wander around and walked back without saying a word.
The handsome man looked at her from behind, his voice a little heavy: "I was traveling in the northwest in the early years, and just returned to the capital recently. I often go out for walks, but I didn't know that the Yan family's actions were so biased."
"Biased?" Lin Dan looked back at him and smiled meaningfully.
Soon, the handsome man knew why she smiled like that. It seemed that Yan Shouye learned from the grocery store owner that someone was going to open a Shandong cuisine restaurant across the street to compete with his own, so he sent people to investigate. However, Lin Dan had no power or influence, so he was soon found out. So no matter where Lin Dan wanted to open a store, it would be ruined by the Yan family. No one dared to sell her a store in Xicheng District, nor in the East District. As soon as she bought the store in North City District, the seller went back on his word and cheated Lin Dan out of her deposit. After wandering around, Lin Dan finally found a shop in South City, located at a dock. The traffic was extremely complicated and the public security was very poor, with thefts and even murders often occurring. When doing business here, let alone making money, it would be good if you don't lose all your money.
So the Yan family was finally satisfied and felt that they had beaten Lin Dan to the point where he could not get up, so they stopped.
The handsome man followed Lin Dan around everywhere every day, watching her being bullied, excluded, and oppressed. Only then did he realize that the Yan family's behavior could not be described as "biased" but simply "despicable." No matter how strong his self-control was or how calm his temper was, he still felt a heavy sense of anger in his chest. But Lin Dan always maintained a positive and optimistic attitude. When she encountered difficulties, she would just frown slightly and then quickly relax, as if no one and nothing could defeat her.
On this day, Lin Dan brought his servants to Nancheng to tidy up the shop, while the handsome man stood guard at the door, looking at passers-by with his sharp eyes, and his aura was strong. He would leave in the evening every day and appear early the next morning. After having breakfast at Lin Dan's house, he would run around with her to do things. Fortunately, with his protection, Lin Dan can come and go freely in this chaotic place of South City. Without this bodyguard in the future, she would have to hire some strong, honest and reliable guys to look after her store.
Thinking of this, Lin Dan sighed and said, "I have already done everything I can do. You don't have to follow me anymore in the future."
The man didn't take the bait and suggested again: "This store's location is not good, I'll change it for you, it's in West City."
"We just met by chance and have no friendship. How can I have the nerve to take over your shop? I will remember your care these days. Whenever you come to my place for dinner in the future, I will give you a 50% discount." Lin Dan refused as usual. She is not an ungrateful person, but she is not a greedy or insatiable person either.
The man pursed his lips, not knowing how to convince her. Seeing that it was getting dark, he turned around and left. When he reached the entrance of the alley, he looked back, his heart filled with worry. This is really not a good place to open a restaurant. Not only is the shop hidden in a winding alley, but it is also surrounded by casinos, cockfighting arenas, docks, brothels and other low-class places. How can it do business here?
Lin Dan was so stubborn that the man didn't know where to start when he wanted to help her.
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