Soon the group arrived at Qinghe Restaurant. As expected of the franchise flagship store, the aroma of delicious food wafted out as soon as they arrived at the entrance.
"It smells so good! The aroma here makes me hungry," Li Xue said.
Upon seeing so many guests arrive, the waiter immediately went to greet them.
"Please come in, esteemed guests. Welcome to Qinghe Restaurant." The waiter greeted guests with a very professional gesture.
While greeting the guests, the waiter kept glancing at Zhao Xian, feeling like he'd seen him somewhere before, but couldn't quite place him.
"Do you have any private rooms?" Zhao Xian asked.
"There are private rooms upstairs, please come upstairs, gentlemen." After saying this, the waiter led the group upstairs.
After Zhao Xian ordered the food, the waiter took the menu downstairs, then suddenly remembered something and hurried to find Manager Huang to inform him.
Although Huang Bo was the manager of Qinghe Restaurant, he was a chef by training and loved cooking. When he didn't have much to do, he would go to the kitchen to develop some new dishes.
During this period, Huang Bo developed some new dishes. He let diners taste these new dishes, and if they were highly praised, the dish would be promoted in the restaurant and eventually extended to all franchise stores.
Just then, the waiter walked into the kitchen and told Huang Bo about Zhao Xian and his group's visit to the restaurant. Upon hearing this, Huang Bo immediately became excited.
Some time ago, Huang Bo was overjoyed to learn that the Emperor had bestowed upon Zhao Xian the title of Marquis of Zhengyang. Earlier this year, his cousin married Da Ni, and the Huang family and Zhao Xian's family were now one.
Zhao Xian was the Marquis of Zhengyang, and his cousin, who worked in the government, also rose in rank and had a bright future.
He prepared to go upstairs to pay his respects to Zhao Xian, but felt it wasn't the right time yet. He took the menu from his servant's hands, glanced at it, and then laughed.
Huang Bo immediately called Zhao Xiaoshan and Zhao Dani over and told them that Zhao Xian was coming to the restaurant for dinner. The two of them were very happy.
Huang Bo told the two that in addition to the dishes they had ordered, he would also prepare a few new dishes that he had recently developed for the Marquis of Zhengyang to taste.
Next, the chefs got busy, with Huang Bo personally preparing the delicious food.
When Zhao Xian and his companions arrived at the private room, they saw playing cards on the dining table, which reminded Zhao Xian of the time he made playing cards on the merchant ship.
Later, Yang Hong started making playing cards, turning them into an industry. Now Yang Hong's business has grown very large. The fact that playing cards can be found in restaurants shows that they have become quite popular.
In ancient times, people had few forms of entertainment. The emergence of playing cards brought them a lot of fun. Zhao Xian began to consider whether to promote mahjong as well.
Zhao Xian knew that playing mahjong was a very good form of entertainment, but in ancient times, most people had a hard life and worked hard to make a living. They had no time to play mahjong.
Only princes and nobles, young masters, have time to play mahjong. If you want to make money off these people, it's worth considering.
This matter isn't urgent; let's discuss it later.
Upon seeing the playing cards, Li Xue immediately became interested and pulled Zhao Xian and Li Guang to play cards.
Li Guang didn't know how to play cards, so Li Xue started teaching him. Li Guang was very clever and quickly learned how to play cards.
All of them were exceptionally intelligent, and their card games were a battle of wits and courage, like masters sparring on the battlefield. Li Guang quickly grew to love this game.
After only a few rounds, the waiter started serving the dishes, and the group had to call a truce.
The food was served very quickly this time, with several waiters taking turns to fill the table in no time.
Zhao Xian glanced at the dishes and saw that there were quite a few that he hadn't ordered, but they looked very good and he had never tasted them before.
"Waiter, come here for a moment. We don't think we ordered these dishes. Did you bring the wrong ones?"
"Sir, these are some new dishes at the restaurant. Manager Huang asked us to serve them."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xian couldn't help but laugh. It seemed that Huang Bo knew he had come.
These dishes must be newly developed. Now that they're served, let's try them out.
Without any hesitation, everyone picked up their chopsticks and began to eat.
The dishes that Huang Bo developed were indeed delicious, and everyone enjoyed them immensely, praising them highly.
Just as the group was enjoying their meal, Huang Bo knocked on the door of the private room and came in.
After Huang Bo entered, he bowed to everyone. Huang Bo knew Li Xue, but not Li Guang, so Zhao Xian introduced him to Li Guang.
It turned out that the young man in front of him was none other than the young prince Li Guang, who would later become the emperor of the Great Northern Dynasty. This terrified Huang Bo, who quickly knelt down and kowtowed to Li Guang.
Li Guang quickly got up and helped Huang Bo to his feet. He felt unworthy to kneel and kowtow to him, as he was only a young prince and not yet the emperor.
There were many diners at this time, and the restaurant's kitchen was at its busiest. Xiaoshan and Dani didn't have time to come over, so it seemed that they would only be able to see them when they returned home in the evening.
In order not to disturb the group's meal, Huang Bo left after exchanging greetings.
Because the food tasted good, the group ate quickly and were full in no time.
Seeing that everyone had finished eating, the waiter cleaned up the table and then served them tea.
Just then, Liu Xuan knocked on the door and entered. Upon seeing everyone, Liu Xuan bowed in greeting.
Li Xue stood up and pulled Liu Xuan to sit down next to her.
Liu Xuan hasn't changed at all; even after getting married, she's still so beautiful.
"Cousin, I just returned from my inspection trip. I heard you were here, so I came up to visit you."
"You haven't eaten yet, have you? You must be hungry. Go get something to eat first," Zhao Xian said.
“I’m not hungry at all, I just want to talk to you.”
"How is the franchise business developing now? I passed through Pingyang County on my way back this time, and there is a Qinghe Restaurant franchise there."
We even made a special trip there, and both the restaurant's decor and the taste of the food were excellent.
Upon hearing this, Liu Xuan became excited and said, "The franchise business of Qinghe Restaurant is booming right now. People from many places are coming to discuss joining us."
Because joining Qinghe Restaurant requires a lot of work in the early stages, it takes a period of time from when the other party expresses their intention to join to when the franchise store finally opens.
Of course, the pace of franchise expansion shouldn't be too fast; if service can't keep up, it won't promote the healthy development of franchise stores.
Zhao Xian nodded. That was indeed the case. The development of anything must follow the principle of gradual progress; otherwise, haste makes waste.
After chatting for a while, Zhao Xian prepared to leave the restaurant and go back to rest.
"Cousin, let's have dinner at home. Xiaoshan and I will go back and cook later," Liu Xuan said.
"Okay, it's settled then. We'll have dinner at home. Do you want me to buy some groceries for you?"
"No need then. My cousin isn't familiar with the market here, so I'll buy the groceries myself. I know where the ingredients are not only good but also very fresh."
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