Chapter 84 Two Sides: He had only one thought left: to take her away! ...
After getting off work, Yu Heng came out of Qingfeng Pavilion, carefully observed his surroundings, and then slipped into Qingyuefang.
Su Mei's office was dark, so he assumed she wasn't there. Just as he was about to make a call, two hands suddenly wrapped around him.
"Why haven't you come over for so long? Have you been blinded by the prosperity of Qingfeng Pavilion?"
Su Mei's voice carried a natural allure, and few men could resist her charms. Yu Heng would usually reciprocate with passionate lovemaking, but lately he hadn't been in the mood. Not wanting to arouse Su Mei's suspicion, he only used his lips and hands to please her.
After she was satisfied, Su Mei looked at him with an ambiguous expression, "You've been so well-behaved lately, have you been cheating on me?"
She walked over with her arm around his shoulder, and when she got behind him, she suddenly reached down, weighed him in her hand, and said, "It doesn't feel like it's been eaten out."
From her perspective, she couldn't see the fleeting look of disgust on Yu Heng's face. He suppressed his discomfort and laughed, "I have something else to tell you. If we really do it, I'm worried that if it takes too long, the people at Qingfeng Pavilion will become suspicious."
"What is it?" Su Mei sat lazily in the swivel chair in front of her desk.
Yu Heng: "I have successfully infiltrated Qingfeng Pavilion, but I haven't spent much time with everyone yet, so I may not be able to get the secret recipe so quickly."
The subtext is that he might need to stay at Qingfeng Pavilion for a while longer.
It wouldn't hurt for him to stay there a little longer; Su Mei didn't expect him to get the secret formula so quickly, but...
She sighed softly, "My husband's business hasn't been going well lately. He hasn't been able to meet with the big shots he wanted to do business with, so he definitely won't be as generous with money as before."
Qingyuefang is still in the break-even stage and needs money everywhere. She had mentioned this to Zhao Ye, who said in a very casual tone that she could just close the shop first and he would help her reopen it when he had more funds. He even shamelessly said that he could open ten more shops.
Su Mei didn't believe the man's empty promises; by then, it would be too late.
A dark glint flashed in Yu Heng's eyes. "If you're really short of money, I do have a way."
"What method?"
“My friend invests abroad, and some of his products have pretty good returns. I’m a bit short on cash lately because I’ve invested all my money in those products.”
How much did you invest?
"It's close to 100 million; I've invested all the cash I have on hand."
Su Mei gasped, "So many?!"
Yu Heng said nonchalantly, "It's nothing. I'll break even next month. Besides, I wasn't that reckless. I only bought it because I got insider information."
Su Mei hesitated. Zhao Ye had been quite generous to her over the past few years, and even after spending it all lavishly, she still had eight or nine million yuan left. She was considering investing with Yu Heng, but she didn't know much about these things.
Moreover, this happened so suddenly that if it weren't for Yu Heng, she would have suspected it was a scam.
Yu Heng carefully observed her expression and said in a tactic of retreating to advance, "Forget it, my friend might not be able to release any spots. If you're short on money, you should cut back on costs. Maintaining Qingyuefang's basic operations shouldn't be too difficult. Hold on until the end of next month when my money comes in, and I'll lend you some."
This indeed dispelled many of Su Mei's doubts.
Compared to Zhao Ye, Yu Heng was handsome and talented, and Su Mei liked him somewhat. When it came to feelings, she only saw his good side. The more she thought about it, the more tempted she became. "Saving costs is definitely going to be done. As for the investment, let me think about it first."
-
After talking with Su Mei, Yu Heng brought some barbecue skewers from the night market stall next door and went to the staff dormitory of Qingfeng Restaurant.
Some of Qingfeng Pavilion's employees are not locals, so Zhuang Fuyao rented several apartments nearby to use as dormitories.
Although Yu Heng lived in Qianyue Villa, he often went there after get off work to drink, chat, and play cards with people. He was most compatible with the Nian family father and son.
The Nian family father and son were simple and honest, possessing qualities that Yu Heng had almost never encountered in the people he had dealt with over the years. In just one week, he became a late-night snack buddy and a mahjong buddy with the Nian family father and son.
When Zhuang Fuyao found out, she took the matter very seriously and called the Nian family father and son to her office for a talk.
After opening Qingfeng Pavilion, she would occasionally consult Liang Huaixu about management, and she had now mastered the art of building rapport with her employees. This moved the Nian family father and son to tears.
They felt that it was truly rare to find a boss like Mr. Zhuang these days.
So when President Zhuang asked Yu Heng if he had inquired about the secret recipe, Chef Nian suddenly became serious and dared not take it lightly.
Although they got along well with Yu Heng, compared to the secret recipe, their feelings for each other, which they hadn't known for very long, were insignificant.
Chef Nian: "Is Yu Heng a spy sent from next door?"
Having spent the past few months with the Nian family father and son, Zhuang Fuyao understood their simple, honest, and discreet nature, so she didn't hide this from them. "It's not certain yet, it's just a suspicion for now."
Chef Nian seemed thoughtful. "I haven't heard Yu Heng ask about this yet. I'll pay more attention in the future, and I'll report back if anything unusual happens."
……
With Zhuang's reminder, Chef Nian became more cunning and, just like in the spy movies he watched, deliberately called Yu Heng over for drinks.
He had a high alcohol tolerance, but at this moment he pretended to be unable to withstand the effects of the alcohol and poured out his heart to Yu Heng about the hardships he had endured over the years.
"Although our ancestors were imperial chefs in the palace, my parents' generation were poor people who could barely afford to eat. They didn't have the spare money to eat the former imperial dishes."
"...In the past twenty years, the overall environment has improved a lot. Many of my peers, whose ancestors never came from the imperial kitchen, still use this as a recruitment tactic to open restaurants and make a fortune. My family doesn't have the resources to open a restaurant, nor do we have the business acumen. We can only do some small businesses to barely make ends meet."
"In the end, it was President Zhuang who approached us, offering very high salaries and spending a lot of money to buy the secret formula for raising nine phoenix chicks. Actually, this secret formula—"
“Brother Nian,” Yu Heng interrupted him, “you’re drunk, let me make you a cup of tea.”
"I'm not drunk," Chef Nian chuckled groggily. "When I received that money, I renovated our old, run-down apartment in Yanjing. I never imagined a marinade recipe could be worth so much—"
Yu Heng interrupted him again, "Brother Nian, what kind of tea do you want to drink?"
What kind of tea do you have?
"Black tea, green tea, and oolong tea."
"Then make me a cup of black tea."
Chef Nian was somewhat puzzled, worried that Yu Heng's interruption was just a coincidence. Several times afterward, he intentionally or unintentionally brought up the matter of the phoenix raising nine chicks, but each time Yu Heng interrupted him in time.
The next day, Chef Nian reported this anomaly to General Manager Zhuang.
Zhuang Fuyao frowned slightly, wondering what Yu Heng's intentions were.
This not only failed to put her at ease, but instead made her even more tense, feeling that she couldn't afford to be careless.
Yu Heng didn't even care about the secret recipe, so there must be something more important in Qingfeng Pavilion than the secret recipe. She didn't believe that all these recent events were just coincidences.
-
Yu Heng was very annoyed, feeling that Brother Nian was too honest and open-hearted, wanting to confide in people after just a few drinks.
It was fine before, but now that "Phoenix Sprouts Nine Chicks" has become Qingfeng Restaurant's signature dish, he suspects that if he doesn't stop him, Chef Nian will reveal the key ingredients himself.
He racked his brains trying to avoid any appearance of impropriety by navigating the topic.
Two days passed peacefully, when he suddenly received a message from Su Mei asking him to come over at noon.
During his lunch break, he changed his clothes and sneaked over.
After closing the office door, he said with slight impatience, "Didn't I tell you not to call me unless it's something important? It's not safe in broad daylight."
"Why are you so short-tempered?" Su Mei glared at him, clearly annoyed. "There are two things I want to tell you."
Yu Heng didn't even sit down, thinking he should listen to the whole thing quickly and then leave.
"I've made up my mind. Could you help me contact your friend? I'd also like to invest some money."
The impatience in Yu Heng's eyes subsided slightly. "Alright, what about the other thing?"
"You don't need to go to work at Qingfeng Pavilion tomorrow."
Yu Heng frowned. "What do you mean?"
Su Mei smiled meaningfully and took a document out of her desk drawer. "Take a look at this."
Yu Heng was shocked after reading it. "Where did you get this?"
"It's just a royal dish. There was more than one imperial chef back then. If Qingfeng Restaurant can find someone, I naturally have a way too."
Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?
“I’m talking to you now.” Su Mei’s fingertips gently smoothed his slightly furrowed brows, then slowly reached down to his collar. “I’m also worried that you’re having too much fun at Qingfeng Pavilion and don’t want to leave… You don’t have to go to work tomorrow, so why don’t you stay for lunch today? We haven’t done ‘that’ in a long time.”
Yu Heng looked down at Su Mei, a hint of anger and extremism flashing in his eyes. He grabbed her chin and stared at her face.
All these dark emotions transformed into desire, which she unleashed upon herself.
Knowing that she was most afraid of leaving marks on her body and having them discovered, he retaliated by making her skin bruised and purple all over.
The whole process was rude and disregarded her feelings.
Faced with Su Mei's blame, he brushed it off lightly with a "funny" comment, not even bothering to coax her.
The moment Su Mei obtained the secret recipe for raising nine phoenix chicks, he felt that this whole thing was incredibly boring.
Some things annoyed him.
He asked Zhuang Fuyao for half an hour off so he could go home and wash off the filth.
He did not resign from Qingfeng Pavilion as Su Mei had suggested, but instead stayed at Qingfeng Pavilion.
During this time, he was at peace with Zhuang Fuyao and hadn't gambled in a long time.
He felt he wasn't a good person and that he tended to go to extremes when creating songs to express his emotions.
This led him to develop many bad habits, such as gambling and mild sex addiction.
His gambling addiction left him with a mountain of debt, which he kept accumulating while simultaneously paying off his debts. Several times, when he was desperately short of money and his concert plans were not approved, he ended up resorting to fraud to obtain the money.
This fostered another bad habit of his: finding pleasure in fraud.
This was also for the same reason he was with Su Mei. He wanted to make some money off Su Mei, so he guided her to open a shop and invest. But he really didn't expect that the owner of Qingfeng Pavilion would be Zhuang Fuyao.
His previous encounters with Zhuang Fuyao were all deliberate, but his visit to Qingfeng Pavilion that day was indeed a coincidence. He didn't know that she was the owner of Qingfeng Pavilion. He went to Qingfeng Pavilion only to help Su Mei find out the situation.
He knew he was a scoundrel, and Zhuang Fuyao was probably the only conscience he had left, so he hadn't had the face to contact her all these years.
This trip back to China was originally intended to be for rest and preparation for a concert in China.
But after returning to his hometown, he couldn't help but want to know about her situation over the years.
When the private investigator found out and placed it on his desk, he patiently tore it all to shreds.
How dare Liang Huaixu!
It actually caused Fufu to miscarry?
They got divorced five years ago.
Knowing all this, he had only one thought left: to take her away and take her abroad!
That led to what happened next.
But after so many years, Zhuang Fuyao's attitude towards him is indifferent, and the light in her eyes is no longer as bright as it was in her youth.
This stung Yu Heng, especially when she mentioned that she and Liang Huaixu planned to remarry.
But then I thought about it again and realized it was an opportunity.
Since she was willing to go back to Liang Huaixu, doesn't that mean he also has a chance?
He tried many ways to get to her side.
When she refused his request to go to Qingfeng Pavilion to find inspiration, Yu Heng sought another way, deliberately letting Zhuang Fuyao see him coming out of Qingyue Fang.
He wanted to exploit her suspicions to stay by her side, taking advantage of her proximity. The more suspicious she seemed, the easier it would be for her to keep him.
But the idea of stealing the secret recipe was just an excuse he made up; he never actually had that thought.
Ever since he learned that he was the owner of Qingfeng Pavilion, he has done everything that benefits Qingfeng Pavilion, such as the various crooked ideas he gave Su Mei. He has never thought of harming Zhuang Fuyao, not in the past, and not in the future.
-
Even though the objective wasn't achieved, Su Mei still needs to continue putting on an act.
When a group of sexy dancers dressed in ancient costumes appeared at Qingyuefang, Yu Heng finally understood what she meant by "special feature".
Although Qingyuefang was modeled after Qingfengguan, Su Mei was not a blockhead; she had a business mind.
Su Mei's business acumen is evident in this aspect; she knows that the higher-ups are cracking down hard on prostitution.
She only arranged for the dancers to interact with the girls.
The men stood around.
Qingyuefang has taken the "borderline" operation to the extreme, attracting a large number of customers with this gimmick.
Meanwhile, Yu Heng's domestic concert tour also got on track.
China is a society based on personal relationships, and drinking culture is indispensable.
Unexpectedly, he ran into Liang Huaixu at a dinner party.
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