Pei Qian introduced Teacher Qiao to the branch manager of this Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. Then, he found a spot on the second floor. That would be Teacher Qiao’s work desk from here on out
Repent and be Saved’s beta version had already been installed on the computer. This version would be updated along with the research and development progress of the game. At the same time, it had simple time-recording functions. Each day, it would record the duration for which Teacher Qiao played the game. He had to fulfill the eight hours.
If he did not play enough one day, he could make up for it the next day. If he still could not make up for it, his pay would be docked.
There were also other things to note. At the moment, Repent and be Saved was still being developed. He could not reveal the plot of the game. That meant that Teacher Qiao could not record videos or discuss too much about the game with his fans.
There were not many customers in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe to begin with, and Teacher Qiao’s spot was located in a deserted corner. That ensured he would not be disturbed while he was playing the game.
Soon, everything was in order.
“Ask the branch manager to prepare your daily meals and drinks. Fish-Catching Internet Cafe adheres to hygiene standards, and the food and drinks would be safe to eat. You can rest assured.
“Try to get used to this environment. We have prepared a welcome feast for you tonight. We’ll pick you up when it’s time.
“If you have any questions about living here, please raise it to the branch manager.”
Pei Qian quickly resolved all of Teacher Qiao’s worries.
Qiao Liang was very moved. “Alright!”
“Go ahead and try out the computer. I’m going to make a move. If you have any questions, contact me at any time.” Pei Qian did not stay to watch Teacher Qiao suffer. Instead, he turned around and left.
This was like the saying ‘one cannot bear to see a living animal die nor eat the meat of an animal after hearing their cries’. Pei Qian could not help but feel sorrowful. Ai, I am really a kind-hearted person.
“Boss Pei is kind indeed. He has taken care of everything. He even has a welcome feast prepared for me tonight. It sounds like it would be high-class!”
Qiao Liang opened the game excitedly. This trip to Jingzhou felt perfect.
Ai, if I had a girl with me, everything would feel even better.
Of course, Qiao Liang knew that it was wishful thinking on his part.
However, girls would not be as fun as games.
He had no idea if Boss Pei’s meticulous care had some sort of psychological effect on him, but once Qiao Liang entered the game, he liked everything about it.
“Indeed, all Boss Pei’s games feel like top-quality stuff! Look at these modelstop-quality! Look at the style-unique! Look at the movements-smooth! “Look at these little monsters…
“Holy shit, that hurt. These are little monsters? “…How did I die?!”
Looking at the black screen, Qiao Liang felt extremely confused.
What just happened?!
He had just touched a villager with torn and tattered clothes, who was holding a hayfork. The villager turned around and stabbed him to death in just two moves!
“I… did I open this wrongly?”
Qiao Liang scratched his head, his eyes filled with confusion.
In the afternoon, at Ming Yun Private Kitchen… “Eh? You have King Crab? Give me one of
those.”
An extravagantly-dressed young man in a private room pointed at the King Crab on the menu and placed an order with the waiter.
“I’m sorry, Sir. You have to pre-order this dish.” The waiter was polite but strictly sticking to Boss Pei’s special request for them to serve customers without ‘over-explaining anything’.
Of course, once the waiter said this, he felt guilty.
The young man in front of him was obviously not lacking money. Based on experience, the waiter guessed that his temper would not be good either.
The customer looked young; he looked about 24 or 25 years old. He was dressed in a gaudy shirt with red, green, and yellow threads intertwined together. It made him look like a ladybug, but the waiter could tell that this shirt probably cost more than ten to twenty thousand yuan.
What’s more, this customer had gold and silver on. The golden necklace he had on looked very expensive. It was heavy, and it did not look at all like the type of necklace that would float in the bathtub. The most outstanding thing was the Spongebob Squarepants, made of pure gold, hanging at the end of the golden necklace. It perfectly expressed the young man’s unpredictable and irrepressible character, coupled with his probable hot temperament because of his wealth.
According to the waiter’s experience, customers like that were the hardest to wait on. If Boss Pei had not given them these instructions in advance, the waiter would have smiled as widely as he could and explained how rare King Crabs were and how difficult it was to import them. That would minimize the chances of the customers getting mad and causing trouble.
However, he had to follow Boss Pei’s instructions now and not over-explain anything
The young man did not look very angry. Instead, he nodded and said, “Oh, King Crabs are not easy to obtain indeed. It’s logical that I would have to pre-order them.
“Give me a sea urchin, then.”
The waiter kept his smile as he apologized again. “I’m sorry, Sir. You have to pre-order that, too.”
The young man frowned. Although he did not say anything, it was obvious he was getting unhappy.
“You should have Bluefin Tuna then, right?”
“I’m sorry, Sir. You have to pre-order that, too.”
The young man looked at the waiter, slightly confused. He did not know if he should laugh or get angry. The waiter very helpfully pointed to a line of words on top of the menu. “These dishes on the front require very expensive ingredients so you have to pre-order them. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.”
The young man glanced and saw a disclaimer on the top of every item on the thick menu. It said that everything had to be pre-ordered. It was not small, but it was not obviously written as well. That was why he missed it.
“Alright, alright, alright. Then, tell me what you have in the restaurant.”
The young man couldn’t be bothered to find anything else and decided to ask the waiter directly. Again, the waiter helpfully flipped past 80% of the contents to the last page of the menu. The items on this page of the menu did not have the accompanying disclaimers anymore.
“Sir, we have these.”
The young man frowned as he read the last page of the menu.
Some dishes were more complicated such as the Braised Pork Belly Pyramid and Lion-Shaped Fish. There were also simpler dishes like green vegetables, fried prawns with Longjing, and whatnot. What they all had in common was that they were all extremely expensive. Their prices were slightly higher than other high-end restaurants.
Take the Braised Pork Belly Pyramid for example. It was priced at 270 yuan. The young man remembered having this dish in a city in Hangzhou, and it had only cost him 240 yuan.
Of course, compared to the more valuable dishes in the front part of the menu, these common dishes were considered much cheaper.
The young man felt speechless. The price was not the main problem. The main problem was that he had to pre-order everything that he really wanted to try.
Did he travel all the way just to try common dishes?
Chapter 243 - Bliss Came Mainly from Making Comparisons
He had come to Jingzhou to settle some personal matters. However, he coincidentally saw on Zhang Zuting’s Weibo that there was a good private kitchen in the city. That was why he decided to give it a shot.
Now, he was very unhappy with the way things were going
“Can I pre-order for tonight?” The young man tried hard to keep his cool.
The waiter looked apologetic. “I’m sorry, Sir. Someone has already booked us fo
r tonight. Considering the time required to import the ingredients, you can make a reservation for tomorrow night or the day after tomorrow.”
The young man was now completely speechless. He glanced at the waiter and then at the menu, trying to swallow the urge to curse. Finally, he casually selected two dishes and soup from the menu.
“That’s it for now,” the young man said, handing the menu back to the waiter.
“Alright, Sir. Please hold on.” The waiter took down the order, grabbed the menu, and walked away.
The young man whipped out his cell phone, intending to search for the restaurant on consumer review sites. However, he did not find it. The restaurant’s location could not even be found on the map on his cell phone.
There was also a gentle reminder written on the sign on the table, which had his table number written on it. It said: ‘in order to fully appreciate the dishes, please do not take photos!
The young man thought about having to pre-order all the good dishes on the menu. All those that he did not have to pre-order were common dishes served in other restaurants as well. What’s more, all dishes were priced so highly.
“…Could it be that I’ve walked into a scam?”
The more the young man thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. Something about this restaurant felt strange.
His name was Xue Zhebin, and he was the only son of a coal boss named Xue Yuanqing. Put simply, he was a rich second-generation heir through and through. He was high-profile and flamboyant just like his father, and he did not shy away from showing the public that he was a parvenu.
Xue Zhebin was very rich. Naturally, he had eaten at many private kitchens before. He also knew that most of these high-end private kitchens had strange rules and regulations.
However, he had rarely seen a private kitchen with as many rules as this one had.
Read more chapter on vi pnovel. com
What made him even unhappier was the waiter’s attitude. He was always saying useless things in a polite tone. It was as good as not saying anything at all.
If this restaurant had not been decorated in such a high-class manner and had not been recommended so strongly by Zhang Zuting, he would have slammed the table and left by now.
Speaking of which, he was mainly here because his father-Xue Yuanqing-was one of Zhang Zuting’s fans. He had treated Zhang Zuting to several meals before. That was why Xue Zhebin followed Zhang Zuting’s Weibo and learned about this private kitchen.
Otherwise, he would not have found it.
“I’ll wait for a while more. If the food doesn’t turn up well, I will expose this place on Weibo!”
Xue Zhebin had principles; he would not malign good people. That was why he decided to wait and see.
If the two dishes he ordered were passable, he would make a reservation for the next day or the day after that so he could try their better dishes.
About half an hour later, the food that Xue Zhebin ordered was finally served. He had ordered fried prawns with Longjing, Braised Pork Belly Pyramid, and a soupy dishChrysanthemum Tofu.
There was very little on each plate. The food was not cheap at all.
“They’re not slow in serving the food.”
Xue Zhebin knew that the Braised Pork Belly Pyramid took longer to prepare. Not only did the chefs have to cut the pork, but they also had to braise it. Half an hour was quite a short time to take.
What’s more, while he was waiting for the food to be served, he had some light appetizers. They tasted quite good and successfully dispelled some frustration and anxiety he felt while waiting for his food to be served.
“We’ll soon find out whether this place is a scam.”
Xue Zhebin looked at the two dishes which the waiter served.
He had ordered the Braised Pork Belly Pyramid and Chrysanthemum Tofu on purpose. He knew full well that both of these dishes were the real test of a chef’s skills and techniques.
“Eh? It’s not bad.”
Just looking at the two dishes alone could make one’s eyes light up! To make the Braised Pork Belly Pyramid, the chef needed to cut a whole slab of meat layer by layer, from outside in. He could not break the slices and had to ensure they were of even thickness. Finally, he had to cut them into long, neat strips before putting them into a special mold to roll each layer up and arrange them into a pyramid.
To make the Chrysanthemum Tofu, on the other hand, the chef would have to make bean curd-which resembled congealed fat-and cut it horizontally 108 times into fine strips. Again, he had to make sure the thickness of the strips was even. What’s more, the chef could not break a single strip. After that, he had to put the strips into a bowl of water and arrange the strips to resemble a Chrysanthemum flower. Xue Zhebin ordered these dishes because he wanted to see whether this restaurant lived up to its name or was a scam.
He ordered the fried prawns with Longjing just in case the Braised Pork Belly Pyramid and Chrysanthemum Tofu turned out horrible. At the very least, he would have a common home-made dish as a back-up.
However, to his surprise, the Braised Pork Belly Pyramid and Chrysanthemum Tofu far surpassed his expectations!
Both of these dishes tested the chefs’ knife skills. Only first-tier chefs who have trained their knife skills for tens of years could achieve this type of perfection.
What’s more, there was no limit to these dishes. For example, the thinner one cut the meat for the Braised Pork Belly Pyramid, the more layers there would be. Normally, the dish had to have nine layers to constitute a passable Braised Pork Belly Pyramid. However, the one in front of Xue Zhebin had a total of seventeen layers. Based on looks alone, this was much better than Braised Pork Belly Pyramids that Xue Zhebin normally saw. Xue Zhebin could not help but pick up his chopsticks to try a fried prawn. The fried prawn was tender and smooth, and it carried the fragrance of Longjing. Although this dish cost nearly three hundred yuan, Xue Zhebin thought that it was worth every cent.
He had tried this dish once before at a very good Chinese restaurant in Hangzhou City. It tasted very much like this one!
Then, he tried the Braised Pork Belly Pyramid and Chrysanthemum Tofu. The flavor did not disappoint him. Everything tasted perfect!
Coupled with the warm, comfortable environment in the restaurant, Xue Zhebin truly felt like he had misunderstood it in the beginning
In order to make dishes like that successfully, the restaurant had to hire the best chefs who were experts in Hangzhou delicacies from thousands of miles away. It was impossible for Jingzhou to produce talent like that.
More importantly, the dishes on the menu were not just Hangzhou delicacies; there were also many other types of dishes!
That meant hiring one professional chef alone would not be enough.
One could not attract a professional chef like that without enough money. After all, these chefs would be able to earn a fair amount from working in regular high-end restaurants in their own city. What’s more, they could look for restaurants closer to their own home. Why would they want to travel all the way to Jingzhou?
The owner of this restaurant must have been paying a huge amount to employ so many chefs.
Could he recover this expense?
Before this, Xue Zhebin had thought that the dishes on the menu were priced too high. After tasting the dishes, he realized that they were not highly-priced at all. Instead, they were quite cheap.
Could the owner of this restaurant recover his capital?
The main problem was that this restaurant was located in a desolate place. Marketing and advertising aside, there was not even a sign placed outside the main entrance. Until now, Xue Zhebin did not even know what this place was called.
It was about lunchtime now. Yet, in such a huge restaurant, Xue Zhebin was the only customer.
Was this restaurant incurring losses?
Xue Zhebin looked at the dishes and then at the waiter, still smiling next to him. Finally, he looked around the restaurant, at the outstanding dining environment,
and the high-class, fine tables, chairs, and cutlery… “Could it be… there’s something illegal going on behind the scenes here?”
Xue Zhebin immediately became wary.
However, on second thought, that did not seem right.
The restaurant was not just an empty shell. Although there were no customers, the food they were selling was well worth its price. They were more on the expensive side, but the prices were still reasonable.
From various angles, the restaurant just looked like it was not well known. Nothing else was suspicious.
“I’ll come again tomorrow to see how the pre-ordered dishes taste. If they can still keep up the standard… I’ve really stumbled upon a treasure!”
In the kitchen of Ming Yun Private Kitchen…
Lin Canrong looked nervously at the waiter. “How did it go? Was the customer satisfied with our food?”
The waiter nodded. “Yes, it looks like he was quite satisfied.”
Lin Canrong heaved a long sigh.
That’s good!
There had not been any customers during this time. It was only the day before that they began to have customers, and there were only seven or eight since then at that. Among these seven or eight, some had been scared away by the menu. Others realized that all the best dishes had to be pre-ordered and left.
Only two or three people remained behind to try the other dishes. However, all of them ordered common home-cooked dishes. Although it was obvious that they were satisfied with the food, Lin Canrong guessed that they would not return in the short-term.
The food was too expensive. It was obviously more than they could afford.
That was obvious from their orders. The cheapest dish here cost about fifty to sixty yuan. Even if one ordered only common home-cooked dishes, the average cost per person could easily add up to about a hundred yuan.
This amount of money could buy a lot of food in Jingzhou.
Thus, even if the chef’s standards were high, and the ingredients were good, and the dishes were much more delicious than other restaurants; it was still far more expensive than the average person could afford.
Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883 Page 132