Chapter 245 - 210: The Approaching Crisis

Chapter 245: Chapter 210: The Approaching Crisis

Early in the morning, the furniture and computer stores delivered the desks, chairs, and computers Xu An had ordered. The installation had just been completed when the new employee Xu An hired two days ago arrived at the entrance of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant.

Ever since TaoBao exploded in popularity back in 2008, countless people had thrown themselves into the platform, seeing it as the way to an unlimited future. Gu Jiayi was one of them. She had resolutely quit her stable job and plunged into the completely unfamiliar world of running a Taobao Store, determined to make her mark.

While those who entered the industry in 2008 couldn’t be said to have gotten in on the ground floor, they at least rode the initial wave and reaped some of the rewards. But when the wave crashed and the tide receded, Gu Jiayi found herself left stranded on the shore.

After struggling to keep the business afloat for over three years and losing nearly all the money she had initially made, she finally gave up. Relying on her three-plus years of experience running a Taobao Store, she began looking for a job.

Thanks to her years of operational experience, Gu Jiayi’s job search went very smoothly. Several companies she interviewed with extended her job offers. Just as she was mulling over which offer to accept, she saw a hiring notice posted by Xu’s Catering.

As a Hai City local, she was very intrigued by this restaurant company. It had been gaining a lot of momentum recently, there was a lot of buzz about it, and it had even been on TV and in advertisements. Thinking she should at least check it out, even if she didn’t plan on taking a job there, she went to Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant for an interview two days ago.

’How to describe the interview process?’ Although the boss looked incredibly young, he was the one who controlled the pace of the conversation the entire time.

When he learned that her Taobao Store had failed, he even discussed the reasons why with her. Every single thing he said hit the nail on the head.

By the end of their talk, she was in such a daze that she accepted the job offer right then and there...

Later, she felt she might have been too impulsive, but she didn’t back out. She decided she had to see for herself. ’What’s the secret behind Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant? It’s only been open for three months, but it’s already thriving!’

The moment Gu Jiayi stepped through the doors of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant, Xu An whisked her away on a tour. He introduced her to every employee in the shop, then showed her all three store locations to give her a general overview of the business operations.

Next, Xu An led her directly to the second-floor office of the second restaurant, seating her at a brand-new desk that had just been installed. He unceremoniously dumped a stack of materials for opening the Taobao Store—which he’d been preparing for days—in front of her. Then he gave her a mission: get the Taobao Store registered, design the storefront, and list the products... all within the next two days.

It was all so sudden. She was caught completely off guard. Without even a chance to observe her new work environment or get to know her colleagues, she was entrusted with this huge responsibility and thrown right into the thick of it. She worked nonstop until the twelve o’clock lunch break, her deep focus only broken when a friendly Tang Wen invited her to eat with them.

’This morning’s work wasn’t bad at all,’ she thought. ’My colleagues are nice, and the boss is easy to talk to. The workload is a little heavy, but at least there’s no one breathing down my neck or bossing me around. I can just work at my own pace.’

’And most importantly, the lunch is delicious! And it’s free! That’s like getting an extra two hundred yuan a month in salary!’

’Good money, manageable work, and close to home... this job is actually pretty sweet.’ Gu Jiayi suddenly felt very good about her decision.

「Golden Dragon Fast Food Restaurant.」

Zhang Dezhen’s brother-in-law, Ding Yao, had been slaving away in the kitchen all afternoon. He had simmered eight entire pots of spicy braised dishes, each with a different kind of chili, but none of them had the same addictive kick as the ones from Xu’s Braised Shop.

He threw his spatula down in frustration and sat in the main dining area, trying to figure out why.

’Why?’ he wondered. ’I learned this braising technique from my brother-in-law. Even if I didn’t master it completely, I must have learned at least eighty or ninety percent of it.’

’Logically, even if my spicy braised food isn’t as good as his, it should at least be somewhat similar! So why is there no resemblance at all? Did my brother-in-law secretly hold something back and not teach me?’

’Should I go back and ask him?’

’Since he held something back before, he definitely won’t tell me now. Especially since he’s relying on this very skill to keep his foothold at Xu’s Braised Shop.’

’If asking my brother-in-law is a dead end, what about my sister? She’s just a simple woman from the countryside; she won’t know any better. Maybe I can trick the secret out of her with just a few sentences!’

At this thought, Ding Yao pulled out his phone and called his sister. The first call didn’t connect. The second rang for a long time before it was finally answered.

"Yao, what’s with the sudden call? Are you still in Hai City? Your brother-in-law said you moved out as soon as you found a job, and we haven’t been able to reach you. How old are you, acting like such a child? Don’t you know we’d all be worried sick!" Zhang Dezhen’s wife grew more irritated as she spoke, and her tone became sharp.

"Come on, I’m twenty-seven! Twenty-seven! I’m not a kid anymore, what is there to worry about?" Ding Yao deflected, then cut straight to the chase. "Sis, I’ve been craving the family’s braised food lately, but I’ve tried cooking it a few times and it never tastes like the way my brother-in-law makes it. Can you tell me how he does it again? I’m craving that spicy flavor!"

Zhang Dezhen’s wife may not have seen much of the world, but one of her brother’s friends had come by before to tell her about his situation. That, combined with the fact that her husband was now earning a living with his braising recipe, made her cautious. "If you want to eat some, just go find your brother-in-law. There’s no need for you to make it yourself."

"No, I just want to make it for myself. Do you know how or not? If you don’t, just forget it," Ding Yao said impatiently.

"How would I know? Go ask your brother-in-law. You’re both in Hai City; you should keep in touch, talk more. We’re one family..."

"Fine, if you don’t know, then forget it." Hearing his sister start nagging again, Ding Yao impatiently cut her off and hung up.

’So my sister doesn’t know. Do I really have to go ask my brother-in-law?’ A look of disgust crossed his face.

Just then, the owner of the Golden Dragon Fast Food Restaurant, a middle-aged man with squinted eyes, walked in. The crescent slits of his eyes curved even more as he smiled and asked, "Ah, Yao, how are the experiments coming along? Have you figured anything out?"

"No." Ding Yao shook his head. "I’ve tried every chili pepper on the market, including that so-called ’Hottest in the Nation’ signature pepper from their shop. I can’t replicate the flavor of their spicy braised food."

The squinty-eyed man’s gaze swept over the complete mess in the back kitchen, landing on the still-steaming pots of braised meat. A flash of displeasure flickered in his eyes, but they were so narrow that even Ding Yao, who was standing right in front of him and watching him closely, failed to notice.

"You learned the technique from your brother-in-law, and you’ve tried every chili on the market. You should have gotten some results by now. So why haven’t you..." the squinty-eyed man murmured to himself. Suddenly, a glint flashed in his eyes as a possibility occurred to him. "Unless... they’re adding something illegal? Like..."

"Opium poppies!" The two of them said the words almost in unison.

"That has to be it! That’s definitely it! Otherwise, why haven’t we been able to figure it out after all this time? It’s the only possibility!"

"Found your weakness," the squinty-eyed man muttered under his breath. He turned, walked out of the restaurant, and pulled a phone from his pocket.

Standing inside, Ding Yao watched his boss and had a sinking feeling he knew what the man was about to do, but he felt powerless to stop him. His mind flashed with images—first, his brother-in-law patiently teaching him; next, his sister at home, looking worn and old from a life of hard work.

’Even though my sister hasn’t had a single easy day since she married him... if he went to jail for this, she would completely fall apart! No, I can’t let him go to jail!’

Then, under the pretext of going back to the kitchen to clean up, he sent a quick text to his brother-in-law: Be careful. Someone’s reporting you!

Outside Xu’s Braised Shop, a challenger had made it to the final stage on the last day of the event. Having already swallowed one Shuanshuang Spicy pepper, he was now lifting a second one to his lips. As the shop manager, Zhang Dezhen was naturally outside overseeing the event and was completely oblivious to the phone vibrating in his pocket...

「Food and Drug Administration.」

"You, you, you, and Lin Xu Yang—the four of you, come with me. Grab the sampling kits and testing equipment!" A supervisor suddenly entered the office, his expression grim. He had the four of them grab their gear and they all hurried out.

Lin Xu Yang, taking advantage of his status as the youngest in the department, sidled up to his supervisor and asked in a low voice, "Chief, what’s going on? Is there a food safety issue somewhere?"

The supervisor shot him a look and, uncharacteristically, didn’t answer. He just said, "Stay close."

In the official vehicle, the others asked the same question one by one, but their supervisor remained silent. Lin Xu Yang got the feeling that his boss was deliberately withholding the details because he was there.

As the car drove on, the route started to look increasingly familiar to Lin Xu Yang. Racking his brain, an image of a young man surfaced in his memory. Behind him was a restaurant named ’Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant’...

’Could it be? Did Xu An’s restaurant have a food safety problem?!’

At this thought, Lin Xu Yang grew anxious, desperate to pull out his phone and ask Xu An what was going on. But the moment his right hand twitched, his supervisor’s intimidating gaze landed squarely on him. The hand, which had been heading for his pocket, quickly changed course, landing on his thigh and giving it a couple of light scratches.

"Must be a mosquito..."