Chapter 121: The Culinary Tycoon

The Real Culprit

Yu Qingze dragged the eight sacks of flour purchased at a wholesale price back to the snack shop. He didn’t expect to actually be able to buy them, and his smile never left his face along the way.

Brother Chang and Tie Zhu noticed the cart full of flour and asked where he bought it from.

Yu Qingze smiled and replied, “Hongyun just arrived today with a shipment of flour. I bought it from them. It’s only one and a half wen per jin, much cheaper.”

“Really? Weren’t they supposed to prohibit Boss Kang from selling to us? How did they sell it to you?” Brother Chang asked in astonishment.

“The person in charge didn’t recognize me,” Yu Qingze chuckled.

“Hahaha!” Brother Chang burst into laughter and said after a while, “That person in charge probably hasn’t been to our shop, so they don’t know you.”

“Yeah, I probably shouldn’t go next time. When I was leaving, I coincidentally ran into their boss, so they might recognize me now,” Yu Qingze replied.

Tie Zhu grinned and said, “Next time, I’ll give it a try. And the time after that, Er Niu can go. If they don’t sell to us, we’ll specifically go and buy from them at a lower price! Let’s make them furious!”

Yu Qingze nodded with a smile and said, “Alright, you can give it a try next time. But tomorrow, we still need to continue buying from the stores in the city. Let’s stock up while we haven’t attracted their attention yet.”

Tie Zhu and Er Niu nodded and responded, “Alright.”

After unloading the flour, Yu Qingze returned to the restaurant, which was still open at that time.

Chang Le and Jiabao were in the kitchen cooking, and when they saw him return, they looked at him.

Yu Qingze smiled and told them the whole story.

Upon hearing it, everyone was delighted.

Da Song said, “So when the seafood boat returns, can we also go and buy some?”

Yu Qingze replied, “Yes, but we don’t know when the seafood boat will come back. I’ll continue to go and check tomorrow.”

After washing his face and changing his clothes, Yu Qingze took over Jiabao’s tasks.

“Big brother, there are a few special dishes ordered in the private rooms on the second floor. We have three servings of Peacock Unfolding Fish, two servings of Five-Cup Duck and two servings of Braised Pork with Preserved Vegetables. You’ve come back just in time, so can you handle this? I’m afraid I won’t handle it well,” Jiabao said.

“Okay, you take a break,” Yu Qingze tied on an apron, glanced at the menu the customers had ordered, and skillfully began preparing the dishes. His expression had lost the previous ease.

Although they happened to buy flour today, the fundamental issue was far from resolved. He still hadn’t figured out who was behind Hongyun, and that weighed heavily on his mind.

He didn’t believe that the round-faced boss of Hongyun was the one trying to harm them. They were in different industries and didn’t even know each other, let alone have any dealings. It was impossible for him to have a vendetta against a small restaurant owner like Yu Qingze for no reason.

However, who was the person behind it all? Was it Xiang Man Yuan, or another restaurant?

If they didn’t solve this problem, their food supply would continue to be affected, and the feeling of being constrained by someone was not good.

If only he could obtain high-quality flour and seafood on his own.

Such a thought flashed through Yu Qingze’s mind.

The next morning, Yu Qingze woke up early as usual and went to the pier to keep watch. However, he ended up waiting in vain again.

After two consecutive days of waiting in vain, it seemed that tomorrow would be the day the seafood boat returned.

Seeing that it was already late, close to noon, Yu Qingze stood up, patted the grass crumbs off his backside, shook his legs to relieve the numbness, and waited until the tingling sensation subsided and his blood circulation improved before heading back.

Just as he entered the North Gate for a while, Yu Qingze suddenly saw two people coming out of the alley ahead.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

The round figure, round face, small eyes, and big ears—it was the boss of Hongyun, accompanied by the young man who was responsible for transporting the flour yesterday.

As they walked and talked, the round-faced boss seemed excited, gesturing with his hands. The young man turned his face sideways and spoke, but his expression didn’t seem very good, as if he didn’t fully agree with what the round-faced boss was saying.

In the midst of their conversation, it appeared that they had a difference of opinion and stopped. The round-faced boss pulled the young man aside and continued talking.

Yu Qingze quickly walked behind a small stall nearby, getting closer to eavesdrop on their conversation.

“…Sigh, why don’t you listen? Do you think I want it to be this way? We’ve been running our business for so many years, and it was not easy to establish ourselves. If we provoke him, everything will go up in smoke,” the round-faced boss expressed his frustrations.

The young man defiantly replied, “Why do you care so much? You know very well about his reputation in his own territory. Supporting someone like him is equivalent to aiding the oppressor!”

The round-faced boss sighed and said, “What else can we do? He’s still your cousin, and you know what his uncle does. Besides, if we don’t help him and he creates some obstacles for us, we won’t be able to carry on smoothly either.”

After a moment of silence, the young man continued, “You’re afraid of him and his uncle, but aren’t you afraid of the other side? That Yu, the owner of that shop, has such good connections with the Cai family and Zhao family. I heard even the new county magistrate has meals at his place every day. By doing this, aren’t we offending several people at once? He asks you to handle it, oh, we’re the ones taking the blame while he sits there waiting to collect money. When things get exposed, at most, he’ll leave and set up elsewhere. How can we continue staying in Tongshan in the future?”

The round-faced boss explained, “I didn’t completely cut off Yu’s path. Your cousin originally asked me not to let them sell to him, so I thought it wasn’t appropriate. I just asked them to raise the price. Besides, I heard the county magistrate doesn’t eat seafood.”

The young man looked at his father speechlessly and said, “Father, doubling the price for seafood and doubling the price for flour, how is that any different from cutting them off? The county magistrate may not eat seafood, but his family doesn’t eat it either? The people from the Cai and Zhao families don’t eat it either?”

“…They can buy flour from other shops,” the round-faced boss replied.

The young man: “…”

“Alright, enough, it’s already like this, there’s no use in saying more. Go to your cousin’s place first.”

“He’s really annoying. Why did he come to Tongshan of all places? Does he think this is his home? What kind of strange and crooked methods does he dare to use here? Even the cooks in his shop don’t have half the skills of Yu’s restaurant and snack shop. It’s normal for him to lose business! “

“Alright, don’t let your cousin hear you say that later, or you might end up empty-handed.”

The young man grumbled and walked away, while his father shook his head and sighed as he followed behind.

Hearing their conversation, Yu Qingze thoughtfully watched them. He had a rough idea of who might be behind them, but he still followed them slowly, wanting to confirm where they were headed.

He followed the two men for a few more minutes until they finally stopped in front of Xiang Man Yuan. The young man clearly didn’t want to go in, but his father pulled him a couple of times, and reluctantly, he entered.

Yu Qingze watched as Jia Xiaoren, the owner of Xiang Man Yuan, greeted them with a smile and welcomed them inside. Then he returned to the restaurant with a serious expression on his face.

Indeed, it was Xiang Man Yuan!

Inside Xiang Man Yuan, Jia Xiaoren led the two men to a table by the window, they sat down, and a waiter came over to serve tea. Jia Xiaoren smiled and said, “Ah Chang, have you finished selling all the goods? You must be tired.”

“About 80% of it,” casually replied the young man called Ah Chang. Then he looked around the restaurant, noticing that there were about three or four occupied tables, and he remarked, “Cousin, your business seems to be doing well. You already have customers during lunchtime.”

Jia Xiaoren shook his head and said, “It’s not like it used to be. In the past, by this time, half the restaurant would be full. Nowadays, we have more customers who are traveling merchants from the north and south, and fewer regular customers.”

“Oh,” Ah Chang responded, thinking to himself that any regular customer with eyes would know that Yu’s restaurant and snack shop has excellent culinary skills.

While they were talking, a group of people entered the restaurant. Jia Xiaoren noticed them and said to the two men, “Some customers for the private room have arrived. Let me go greet them. Feel free to order whatever you like, no need to be formal with me.”

Saying that, Jia Xiaoren approached the group of customers at the entrance of the restaurant and welcomed them, “Oh, Master Liao, Shopkeeper Xu, you’ve arrived. The private room is ready for you. Please follow me inside.”

“Ah, Boss Jia, you came over in person. Thank you for your efforts,” the leading person, Master Liao, exchanged pleasantries with Jia Xiaoren and then led his guests into the only private room in Xiang Man Yuan.

Once inside the private room, everyone took their seats, and a waiter served them tea. Jia Xiaoren greeted them and said, “Please take a look at the menu and let me know what you’d like to eat. We’ll prepare it immediately. Master Liao, what would you like to drink? Zhaoyuanhong or Zhuyeqing?”

Master Liao asked the others and replied, “Let’s have Zhuyeqing, bring a cask. As for the food, take a look and decide.”

The table quickly finalized their order.

“Alright, feel free to enjoy yourselves. I’ll go make the arrangements,” Jia Xiaoren said before leaving.

Just as he stepped outside the room, he heard a customer inside complaining, “Master Liao, why did you book this place? Weren’t we supposed to go to House of Prosperity at the intersection? The food here doesn’t taste that great.”

Master Liao sighed and replied, “There’s nothing I can do. All the private rooms at House of Prosperity were already booked, and there were no available spots.”

The customer remarked, “You must have made the reservation too late.”

Master Liao replied, “Yesterday morning, I sent someone to House of Prosperity to make a reservation, but there were no available private rooms left. They were all booked for yesterday’s lunch, dinner, today’s lunch, and dinner. So I had no choice but to book this place.”

Someone else chimed in, saying, “House of Prosperity is always packed. You have to book a private room three days in advance. Last time, for my elder sister’s birthday, our family wanted to have a nice meal at House of Prosperity. We had to book it three days in advance, and it was only because Boss Yu heard about it and specifically communicated with the Cai family that we managed to get a private room.”

“They even had the Cai family vacate a private room?”

The person replied, “Yes, I heard that it was Boss Yu’s birthday that day, and the Cai family wanted to come and celebrate with him. That private room was originally reserved for Boss Yu’s own birthday celebration, but they gave it to us instead.”

“I see. Boss Yu is really a generous person. I heard that because of his secret recipe, every household in his wife’s village is now making cured meats, and they’ve all made quite a bit of money. It’s the most prosperous village nearby. Speaking of which, in a little while, the cured meats should be ready for sale. Just thinking about the taste of the cured chicken I had last year makes my mouth water. I particularly love stir-frying it with celery and garlic. It’s delicious even without fancy cooking skills.”

“Yes, the taste is absolutely amazing, especially when paired with alcohol! Next time when the cured meats are available, I’m sure House of Prosperity will introduce dishes using them. Let’s make an early reservation and enjoy a good meal there!”

“Deal! But you can’t keep finding excuses and dragging your feet next time.”

“No problem! As long as it’s House of Prosperity, you can call me anytime to drink!”

…

Jia Xiaoren stood outside the door, his face as black as ink.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Thandar: Ladies and gentlemen, we have another Boss Wang.