Chapter 144 - 143: What Are They Cooking Up?

Chapter 144: Chapter 143: What Are They Cooking Up?

"What’s your take on today’s bidding conference?" The old man sighed softly and changed the subject.

"There are definitely some problems." This time, it was the middle-aged man’s turn to sigh. "The team has grown, and with more people come more agendas. It’s getting harder to lead."

"Haha." The old man wagged his finger in the air with a smile. "I’ll clean house for you before I leave. When an old man on the verge of retirement like me steps in, people will show me some respect."

"Teacher!..."

The middle-aged man wanted to object, but he ultimately faltered under the old man’s overpowering gaze, unable to voice his protest.

With his hands clasped behind his back, the old man stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. He looked out at the recently planted greenery outside the convention center. Tender buds had already started to sprout, but they looked a bit listless under the harsh sun.

「The Greenhouse Farming Area.」

A commercial van pulled up under the large banyan tree at the entrance to the greenhouse farming area. The two Yan Brothers quickly hurried over to greet them with fawning smiles.

The door slid open, and the first person to step out was a woman of about thirty. Dressed in a professional suit, she exuded an air of competence, her face radiating a confident and determined smile.

"President Lu, it’s a pleasure." The Yan Brothers knew from their phone call that the person in charge was a woman, but they were still momentarily stunned to see someone so young.

"Hello!" Lu Shengnan offered them a warm smile and made the introductions. "It’s a pleasure to be working with you. This is Miss Xie Yuting, a reporter from the local Hai City television station. She’ll be handling the filming today."

The Yan Brothers and Xie Yuting then exchanged another round of pleasantries.

After the pleasantries were exchanged, the Yan Brothers led the way, explaining the layout of the greenhouse farming area as they walked.

The first thing Lu Shengnan noticed were several greenhouses near the entrance, where the crops grew lush and green. Pointing toward them, she asked with a hint of curiosity, "Do these greenhouses already have a steady partner?"

The Yan Brothers looked in the direction Lu Shengnan was pointing and smiled. "Those are Aunt Hong’s greenhouses. She partners with Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant."

As he spoke, one of the Yan Brothers pointed to the greenhouses behind Aunt Hong’s, which belonged to Uncle Lin and Hu Juan. "This entire section of greenhouses also partners with Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant."

’Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant?’

Xie Yuting, who had been concentrating on walking, looked up upon hearing this. She gazed with great interest at the greenhouses the Yan Brothers were pointing to.

Not long ago, the local Hai City station had produced a documentary called *Visiting Fast Food Restaurant*. She had been involved in post-production and was quite familiar with the name Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant.

’So their greenhouses are here. The environment here looks quite nice.’

Xie Yuting raised her camera. CLICK, CLICK. She snapped several photos of the greenhouses.

Lu Shengnan had been busy trying to revive Victory Supermarket. She hadn’t had time to watch TV, let alone browse her phone. As a result, she knew nothing about Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant, and a confused expression crossed her face.

"Is this a large chain restaurant? All these greenhouses must produce four or five hundred pounds of produce a day. An ordinary fast-food place could never use that much," Lu Shengnan inquired.

To her surprise, both Yan Brothers shook their heads, refuting her assumption. "It’s not a large chain. The restaurant was just established this past June. But they specialize in delivery and catering for large companies, so their sales are excellent."

Lu Shengnan gave a noncommittal nod and didn’t press the matter, but she made a mental note of the name: Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant.

’So they were snatched away by a fast food restaurant. If it weren’t for this place, this entire area of greenhouses would have been partners with Victory Supermarket.’

’What a pity!’

As they spoke, the group reached the Yan Brothers’ section of greenhouses. Theirs were located on the edge of the entire farming area, backed by a small earthen hill, making the location quite remote.

The script for the greenhouse shoot had already been prepared. With everyone’s cooperation, Xie Yuting quickly filmed the necessary segments.

Afterward, the group did some brief filming of the surrounding area before saying their goodbyes and departing.

Sitting in the van, Lu Shengnan pulled out her phone and searched for information related to Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant.

The search only turned up the official documentary and comments posted by users on various online platforms.

’When is Xu’s Fast Food gonna open a location near us! Seeing you all post what you had for lunch every day is pure torture!’

’Extra! Extra! Xu’s Fast Food is getting ready to serve their braised specialties 24/7! All you fans of their braised dishes are in for a treat!’

’[Image], [Image], look what I found! A Xu’s Fast Food boxed meal stall! I hear they have them at the gates of several construction sites. You all should go try your luck, maybe there’s one near you~’

’...’

’This Xu’s Fast Food... is it really this popular?’

She scrolled down a few times. On this forum, posts about Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant popped up frequently, and the comments were consistently positive.

BEEP BEEP BEEP—

The notification tone for a new text message sounded, and a preview banner covered the comments at the top of her screen.

’Get the Victory Supermarket situation handled. It’s been days. Hurry up!’

Seeing the message, the warm smile vanished from Lu Shengnan’s face, replaced by a look of disgust. Her fingers tapped rapidly on the screen. After replying with a simple ’Got it,’ she locked the phone and gripped it tightly in her hand.

She looked up at the trees and flowers flashing past the window. Normally, such a sight would calm her, but today she felt an unshakable sense of irritation.

She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but she felt as if both she and Victory Supermarket were just disposable pawns, waiting to be cast aside without a second thought when the time was right.

「Yipin Xiang Fast Food Restaurant, 2:00 PM.」

The field employees who had been running stalls at the Xuguang Real Estate construction sites returned to the restaurant one by one to report the day’s sales to Ren Peng.

But the more Ren Peng listened, the deeper his frown became. Every single site had twenty to thirty unsold boxed meals.

’This shouldn’t be happening!’ 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

He had based today’s stock on yesterday’s sales numbers. Having a few leftovers was normal, but for every stall to have twenty or thirty left was highly unusual.

Then, as if he’d thought of something, he grabbed one of the employees and asked, "Was Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant selling boxed meals out there today? Did they pull some new stunt?"

The employee Ren Peng had grabbed thought for a moment before shaking his head firmly.

"I was stationed at the Xiuli Garden construction site. I saw the Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant sign, but they weren’t running any promotions. It was still eight yuan for three dishes and a soup."

’Hmm? If Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant didn’t change anything, why were our sales so bad today? Could it be that my employees were slacking off?’

Ren Peng’s interrogating gaze swept across the staff. Everyone who met his eyes felt a little uneasy.

"But," an employee spoke up at this moment, "there were a lot more vendors selling boxed meals today, almost ten of them in total."

"Ten? Did you see their signs? Which restaurants were they?" A sense of foreboding crept over Ren Peng.

"Golden Dragon Fast Food, Wangwang Fast Food, Happy Fast Food..."

With every name the employee listed, Ren Peng’s heart sank a little deeper.

He was very familiar with these restaurant names. They were all members of the Hai City Fast Food Association...

After the employee finished speaking, he quickly pressed, "Are you sure Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant wasn’t running any promotions or advertising?"

The five employees nodded in unison.

’This is strange. Usually, at the slightest sign of trouble, Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant would be the first to find a solution.’

’With so many new boxed meal stalls popping up all at once, the stall from Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant must have been affected too. Why haven’t they made a move?’

’Could it be... that Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant is planning a big move?’