Chapter 75: 75 Trouble-makers

Xu Yang said, “Dad, it’s precisely because we’re family that I can’t let you suffer a loss, so it’s settled.”

Zhao Hai gave a wry smile, “Xu Yang, but you’re offering way too much.”

Xu Yang said, “Dad, we’re family, so let’s not talk about this anymore. The matter is settled. I have other things to attend to, so I’ll be leaving now. Be at the company by nine tomorrow. I’ll organize a meeting then and formally introduce you to everyone.”

After finishing, Xu Yang left.

Zhao Hai then looked over the materials again and called a staff meeting to explain the situation.

Since he had seen the documentation and knew that Haidilao offered better wages, about half higher than what he was paying his employees, he disclosed the salary details. Naturally, the staff were very happy to hear this and expressed their intentions to continue working.

“Alright, I plan to keep the restaurant open for one more day. Tomorrow will be the last day, and then we’ll start renovations. You’ll all receive training with Haidilao’s staff to ensure a smooth transition,” Zhao Hai said.

“Boss, you can rest assured, we’ve never made mistakes before.”

Everyone expressed their commitment, saying there would be no issues.

Considering they would be receiving higher wages, only a fool would make a mistake.

“Good, it’s about time for dinner. Everyone, get back to work,” Zhao Hai said with satisfaction, nodding and waving his hand to dismiss them.

…

After leaving his father-in-law’s restaurant, Xu Yang went to a private diner.

Tonight, Jiang Yuheng had arranged a dinner gathering.

There were four people in total: Xu Yang, Lin Junyi, and Su Wenbin.

It had been a while since they had all gathered together.

On such occasions, Xu Yang would mention bringing Zhao Yuxin along, but Zhao Yuxin didn’t come, saying it wouldn’t be appropriate for her as she was going to eat at her father’s restaurant.

When Xu Yang arrived at the private diner’s room, he saw Lin Junyi, Su Wenbin, and Jiang Yuheng had already arrived.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

After three rounds of drinks and five different dishes had been served,

“Xu Yang, what have you been up to lately?” Jiang Yuheng asked.

“I’ve recently acquired a hotpot restaurant,” replied Xu Yang.

Upon hearing this, the three of them were taken aback.

None of them had expected Xu Yang, who was successfully running a live-streaming guild, to suddenly start a hotpot restaurant.

Lin Junyi couldn’t help but ask, “Xu Yang, what’s going on with you? Why did you decide to do hotpot?”

Xu Yang responded, “I just felt like there’s potential in this business, and there happened to be a good hotpot restaurant available, so I purchased it.”

The three men looked at each other, somewhat at a loss for words.

Su Wenbin said with a bitter smile, “Xu Yang, the range of your investments is quite vast. You were doing the live-streaming guild, and suddenly you moved to hotpot.”

Xu Yang replied, “To be honest, I just invest in whatever seems viable without much other thought. Whether it crosses industries doesn’t concern me much. I only buy the business; others manage it. I’m not cut out for managing it myself.”

As he finished speaking, his phone rang.

He checked it and saw that it was Zhao Yuxin calling.

“Wife,” Xu Yang answered the phone, and soon his face turned grim. “Honey, don’t worry, I’ll be there right away.”

It was clear to the three men that something had gone wrong.

Lin Junyi quickly asked, “Xu Yang, what happened?”

Xu Yang said, “Someone’s claiming they found a fly in a dish at my father-in-law’s restaurant, and the person is making a scene there right now.”

Lin Junyi exclaimed, “Damn, I know for sure that Uncle Hai’s restaurant is impeccably clean. How could there be a fly in the dishes? This is obviously someone causing trouble.”

Xu Yang nodded and said, “My wife thinks so too. Junyi, Bin, Old Jiang, I can’t stay any longer; I must go check it out.”

The three men exchanged looks and expressed their stance.

“We’re not busy, let’s go together.”

“Right, maybe we can help.”

“Let’s go. I want to see who’s causing trouble for Uncle Hai.”

Xu Yang nodded and stood up, saying, “Okay, then let’s go.”

He didn’t bother with pleasantries because he was worried about the situation in the store and didn’t want to waste time here.

The group left for Zhao Hai’s restaurant.

…

Old Zhao’s Restaurant.

A young man, about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, was pointing at a dish of garlic pork ribs on the table in front of him and loudly said to Zhao Hai, “This is the evidence; you still want to argue with me, claiming your restaurant’s hygiene is up to standard? Ask the people who come here to eat if they are willing to believe that.”

The other customers in the restaurant had already put down their utensils after the young man claimed to have found several flies in the dish, and could no longer eat.

At that moment, hearing the young man’s words, they immediately spoke out.

“Of course we don’t believe it. Finding a few flies, who knows how many more are in the kitchen.”

“I really don’t dare to imagine what a mess the kitchen must be for there to be flies in just one dish.”

“Finding a few flies, there must be dozens or even hundreds more in the kitchen.”

“I’ve been a regular customer here, and the owner seemed like a good person. I always thought the hygiene was fine. I didn’t expect this to be the case.”

“This owner is definitely a wolf in sheep’s clothing, the worst kind of person.”

“It’s not just a hygiene issue. The other ingredients in the restaurant probably aren’t any better.”

“Exactly, this unscrupulous owner might even buy rotten meat. The other vegetables, for sure, are also the worst quality.”

“The owner is too deceitful. I’ll never eat here again.”

“Such a person should be arrested and put in jail.”

The crowd was filled with righteous indignation, getting more and more outraged and more and more exaggerated as they spoke, relying on their imagination without any sense of responsibility.

As for whether the truth was as they described, that was not their concern.

As long as they believed it was so, that was enough for them.

Zhao Hai took a deep breath and asked, “Sir, what do you want to do?”

With his discernment, he could naturally tell that this young man was here to make trouble.

He knew the cleanliness of his restaurant more than anyone else. It was absolutely impossible for there to be flies in the food, let alone several of them.

Moreover, the young man in front of him looked like a hoodlum, and every word he said seemed intended to escalate the situation.

This only reinforced Zhao Hai’s belief that the other party was here to stir up trouble.

As for why the other party would do such a thing, he was at a loss.

But he knew that arguing was pointless at this time.

So many customers were watching, and they had already been influenced by the young man’s accusations.

Yu Xin was so angry she could hardly contain herself, only she didn’t know what to do.

She had no experience in dealing with such matters.

She had called Xu Yang just a while ago, hoping that he might have a solution.

The young man said, “Boss, it’s not about what I want. It’s about what you’re going to do. You run a restaurant as an unscrupulous owner—do you have any conscience at all?”

He indeed came to make trouble today, intending to blow things out of proportion to ensure the restaurant couldn’t continue operating.

“That’s right, this restaurant definitely can’t go on like this.”

“The owner is unscrupulous. Continuing to operate the restaurant just harms people.”

“Now we’ve found flies, who knows what else we’ll find in the future.”

“There might be rats ending up in the hot pot next time.”

“It’s not impossible; maybe it has happened before.”

The restaurant’s customers were all discussing among themselves.