Old Zhou — whose full name was Zhou Quan — was the most famous epicure in the area. He enjoyed searching for delicacies in the world and looked down on restaurants in the malls the most.
In his words, the dishes cooked in these restaurants were all soulless shells.
However, he still came to Tianda Plaza today.
This was the helplessness of an epicure. His taste was… not enough to fill his stomach. After all, people always had to eat.
After evaluating this net worth, he felt that he didn't have the capital to dine at private restaurants for every meal. He had no other choice other than sighing out of helplessness.
Meanwhile, it was impossible for him to cook. Ever since his wife passed on, the Zhou family's kitchen had been sealed up and the contents of the kitchen were forever fixed in place since that day.
Although his children were filial and paid him a lot of money every month… the person who made meals for him was no longer around.
His purpose for coming to Tianda Plaza today was very simple.
Not long after the opening of Tianda Plaza, many business owners had moved in. Thus, Old Zhou wanted to find a restaurant that was slightly more acceptable and add it to his daily menu.
"The smell of oil and smoke without dreams."
"Tsk, the smell of a communal meal…"
"American cuisine? Can you fill up the contents page of a book on American food culture?"
Old Zhou walked down the stairs from the other side. He shook his head and sighed as he walked past the shops, leaving behind merciless comments.
"Huh."
When he reached a certain restaurant, he stopped.
"Hedilao, what a strange name, but… it seems to smell pretty good?"
Old Zhou raised his nose and flared his nostrils. He greedily sniffed the fragrance that drifted from the shop.
It was a restaurant with a soul.
This was Old Zhao's assessment of the shop.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yi, who had just returned, saw Old Zhou standing at the entrance of the shop and hurried over.
"Uncle, are you going to eat here? Let me get your bag."
Old Zhou handed over the bag in his hand and followed Jiang Yi into Hedilao.
…
In the shop…
When Old Zhou picked up the first piece of beef and put it into his mouth, he couldn't help but tear up.
"Uncle, don't cry even if it's not delicious."
Beside him, Jiang Yi panicked.
"What do you know!" Old Zhou rolled his eyes at him and picked up another piece of beef. "Do you hear the soul of this beef slice cheering?"
Cheering?
Jiang Yi glanced at the slice of beef.
What soul did a dead cow have? If it had a soul, it should have trampled that slaughterhouse with its hooves on the day it was slaughtered, instead of lying here waiting to sent down the sewers afterwards.
After some thought, Jiang Yi said seriously, "Uncle, how about I call your family?"
"Scram, scram, scram. You're the one with dementia." Old Zhou flew into a rage and waved Jiang Yi away. "Don't stay here. I can't eat well like this!"
After putting the beef into his mouth, Old Zhou moaned in pleasure.
Ordinary people would not be able to tell the difference between Hedilao and an ordinary hotpot restaurant. They would only think that this hotpot restaurant seemed to be more delicious than other restaurants, but that would be it.
Only a veteran epicure like Old Zhao would be able to taste its true delicacy.
The combination of the spices was like the most beautiful piece of music in the world.
If it could be labeled as the perfect recipe by the multiple-choice question, how could it be bad?
…
After consuming two plates of beef and a plate of mutton, Old Zhou burped. Then, he picked up the water next to him and swallowed the last of the delicious taste.
"Other people should try such a good store."
Old Zhou typed a line in the group chat. "I found a world-class hotpot restaurant. Come quickly!"
Then, he stood up and paid the bill in one go.
…
"It's only the first day of business and it's already so quiet. I'm afraid that this shop won't last long."
Two Prosperous Flavor employees were commenting on Hedilao.
"Indeed, he's overestimating himself by competing with Prosperous Flavor."
"Their salary is high, but what's the use of that? They'll be out of a job after a few days."
"They might not even be able to pay their salaries."
"What are you doing here instead of working hard!"
Manager Wu walked over and shouted at the two of them. Then, he looked at Hedilao and spoke in a meaningful tone.
"We can't bite off more than we can chew. We work as we are greedy for stability."
"No matter how much money you make, it still belongs to the boss. Only when the boss makes money can us employees have money!"
Recently, when these employees heard about the salary at Hedilao, all of them were moved. It was time to teach them a lesson.
Manager Wu thought to himself that he could make use of Hedilao as a negative example. He could let these people understand that even if their salaries were high, it would be useless if they were not able to survive.
Manager Wu had always believed in a theory. "Letting the low-level employees live too well will only make them let their imaginations run wild."
However, he had forgotten that in Li Xin's eyes, he was no different from these waiters…
"They don't even have the money to ask people for help…"
Manager Wu was a little disdainful.
However, soon after, he could no longer maintain his disdain as a group of people was walking towards Hedilao in a lively manner. There were about 20 people, most of them middle-aged men, while only a small portion of them were old men.
"Manager, they don't look like they can't survive…"
"Shut up. They were all pulled in!"
Since Prosperous Flavor had pulled in so many people to help, Hedilao couldn't possibly not do the same.
As Manager Wu thought of this, he felt that he had fulfilled the logical self-consistency. Then, the disdain in his heart deepened.
"Even if you want to ask people to help you, you shouldn't ask like this!"
…
This was what happened.
After Old Zhou sent that message in the group chat, Old Shen, an old man who had always been at odds with him, immediately started arguing with him.
These two old men usually enjoyed arguing with each other. In other words, they were used to having a love-hate relationship with each other.
After that, the two of them got angrier as they argued. Then, Old Zhou said, "Try it. If it doesn't taste good, I'll pay for the meal!"
Soon after, the nearby epicures were alerted to this, resulting in this scene.
"I think you're just bragging!" Old Shen glanced at Old Zhou. "How can such a place have real delicacies?"
"Last time, you said that you found a particularly delicious private restaurant, but it turned out to be a pile of soulless communal food!"
"That was cooked by the son of the owner, not the old owner!" Old Zhou was furious. "What if this restaurant is really that delicious?"
"Then I'll eat the table!"
Old Shen snorted. Then, he realized that there was something wrong with Old Zhou's expression.
His gaze seemed to be… gloating?
Old Shen had always stubbornly believed that his taste was better than Old Zhou's, but now he was not so sure.
When Qi Yun saw a group of people walking over in a lively manner, he did not dare to neglect them and hurriedly went up to welcome them.
"Give this old fellow a serving of the 'Beaver' set meal that I ordered just now and prepare a table!"
Then, Old Zhou raised his head like a general who had just won a war. "Old Shen, it's not too late for you to admit your mistake!"