Chapter 290: "No Acting Cute! No Rainbow Farts!
Chapter 290: Chapter 290: "No Acting Cute! No Rainbow Farts!
The next day was bright and sunny. The wind had stopped, and the temperature had warmed up slightly.
Good weather brought good moods.
Feeling cheerful, Shen Lu made an extra egg pancake for breakfast. After eating her fill, she went to find her previous suppliers.
She hadn’t gone out of her way to ask about the Commerce Association, but Ma Laosan had come by for meals the past couple of days and would always excitedly give her an earful. So, she had a general idea of the situation.
After Boss Jin’s death, the Commerce Association fell into chaos. All the various factions wanted a piece of his assets.
But no one had made any major moves. It was mostly just verbal sparring or orchestrating minor, insignificant disruptions.
There hadn’t been any significant progress.
The most talked-about candidates right now were President Pan and Mr. Sun.
Mr. Sun was the one who ran the restaurant business with General Manager Chen. Besides the Xiangmantian Chain Restaurant, he also owned several high-end restaurants and a hotel.
The hotel was in the Upper City District. Business was neither good nor bad, turning a small profit.
President Pan was in manufacturing. He owned two factories and had several thousand employees under him.
The two of them were at each other’s throats. One day, you’d send people to put bugs in my restaurant’s food; the next, I’d have someone take a dump at your factory’s main gate.
They fought like a pair of brawling roosters.
Shen Lu was rather stunned when she heard this.
’So this is what real business warfare is like,’ she thought. ’So simple, so unadorned... and so disgusting.’
Shen Lu arrived at the storefront of the vegetable merchant, Boss He. All sorts of vegetables were piled up like mountains, and about ten employees were bustling about.
"Boss He," Shen Lu greeted with a smile. "Long time no see."
Boss He tucked an unlit cigarette he had just taken out behind his ear, sizing Shen Lu up.
He remembered this young woman.
"Boss Shen?"
"That’s me," Shen Lu nodded. "I paid a deposit here before. I was wondering if you have my vegetables today."
Boss He raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Your restaurant is still open?"
He was just a vegetable merchant earning a hard-won living. He spent nearly every day immersed in his shop and rarely paid attention to outside affairs.
Ever since he received Boss Jin’s order not to supply Shen Lu, he had naturally assumed her restaurant must have gone out of business.
For someone in the food service industry, if you cut off their supply chain, what could they possibly cook to sell to customers?
"It is. It’s been open this whole time." Shen Lu didn’t hide it. Sometimes, giving others a little shock made things more convenient for her.
Boss He’s expression changed in an instant.
He didn’t know what methods Shen Lu had used to keep her restaurant open despite Boss Jin’s pressure.
But one thing was certain: this young woman was far from simple.
Boss He was silent for a moment, then turned to pull Shen Lu’s old order form from a drawer. "Is it still this list?"
"Yes."
Boss He waved his hand, ordering someone to bring out the vegetables on the list.
"I’ll have someone deliver them to your restaurant."
’You had to be polite and thoughtful with an impressive young woman like her.’
"From now on, Boss Shen, you don’t need to come every day. I’ll have the vegetables delivered. Just message me directly with what you need for the next day."
Shen Lu didn’t refuse. It would save her the trouble.
After they added each other on their Light Brains, Shen Lu went to the meat and seafood shops. The process was largely the same: first, they expressed surprise that her restaurant was still open, then she successfully secured her previous orders and was likewise offered the new home delivery service.
Everything went exceptionally smoothly. On her way back, Shen Lu even had time to buy a few thick sets of clothes and some shoes.
Some for her, and some for Fu Cheng.
The clothes in the Lower City District were primarily functional, with basically no sense of style to speak of.
Shen Lu wasn’t picky. As long as they were wearable, they were fine.
The weather would only get colder, so it was necessary to prepare winter clothing in advance.
When she returned to the restaurant, Cai Su immediately came over to ask about the vegetables.
"Three vehicles just arrived saying they were delivering vegetables you bought. Boss, where did you buy so much?"
"It’s the stuff I ordered before. Remember how my supply was cut off? Now that Boss Jin is dead, of course they’re going to deliver it to me."
Cai Su let out an "Oh." "But this is so much..."
"More is good. We never have enough to sell each day anyway."
Shen Lu took the clothes and shoes she bought upstairs, then rolled up her sleeves and energetically dove into the kitchen.
The weather was nice today, so there should be a lot of customers. Shen Lu prepared double the usual amount of each dish.
[DING~ New Mission: Please sell 990 servings of Braised Pork combo, 890 servings of Kung Pao Chicken combo, and 550 servings of Steamed Fish Head with Diced Hot Peppers combo. Achieve a total turnover of 240,000 yuan with a customer satisfaction rating of three stars or higher. Time limit: eight hours.]
Looking at today’s daily mission, Shen Lu was a bit dazed.
Shen Lu: "Isn’t the mission quota a little high?"
[Not at all! With the host’s current customer traffic, completing the mission will be no problem at all!]
Shen Lu: "But when the weather is bad, customer traffic drops significantly. The sandstorm season hasn’t even hit its peak yet, to say nothing of the winter that follows."
[I’m sure the host can think of a way to increase turnover!]
Shen Lu: ...
Shen Lu: "That flattery of yours is very insincere."
[It’s not flattery, it’s a recognition of the host’s abilities!]
Shen Lu: "No acting cute! And no rainbow-farting!"
’Otherwise, I’ll fall for it too easily!’
Before opening for business, Shen Lu took stock of the prizes in the storeroom.
There were only two pieces of Li Zexing merchandise left. The other prizes were restocked from time to time, so there was still a sufficient supply.
’I need to find time to see Li Zexing and fleece him for some more goodies.’
After all, a third of her business currently came from Li Zexing’s fans. Shen Lu had discovered that these fans had remarkably tough willpower.
They came to check in, rain or shine. Those with money would eat and check in; those without would come every day just to take a photo with the life-sized cutout.
Their devotion was truly astounding.
Just as Shen Lu expected, the customer traffic today was double that of yesterday.
Many people had come out to take advantage of the good weather and satisfy their cravings.
"Boss, when are you going to start serving dinner?"
"Boss, when will delivery be available?"
"Boss, what about new dishes? It’s been so long since you added a new dish!"
One familiar question after another came flooding in. By now, Shen Lu had developed nerves of steel and handled the barrage of inquiries with ease.
Today, another fan won a piece of Li Zexing’s merchandise in the lottery. Shen Lu glanced at the single remaining life-sized cutout, and the matter of finding Li Zexing suddenly became urgent.
[DING! Detected sales of Braised Pork combo: 990/990, Kung Pao Chicken combo: 890/890, Steamed Fish Head with Diced Hot Peppers combo: 550/550. Total turnover has reached 240,000 yuan, and customer satisfaction is three stars or higher. Mission complete. Reward: one Lottery Ticket.]
Good!
’Today’s Lottery Ticket is in the bag.’
"Little Deer." Yang Jing had arrived silently. Her expression was furtive, and she kept her body turned slightly, not wanting the customers to see her.
"Ah, the food!" Shen Lu had almost forgotten. She told Yang Jing to wait a moment, then went to pack up three meals and brought them over on a tray.
"Maybe you could just leave it at the back door from now on," Yang Jing said in a low voice. "So the customers don’t see me."