Chapter 92 Breakthrough

"Wei Jie is not doing his job well, please punish him, Lord Wu."

After returning to his residence, Wei Jie immediately took the initiative to apologize.

Chu Xianglong and Jiang Wei both won the first battle. Among the three, only he failed, and he failed so miserably, which was really embarrassing.

Even if Lord Wu didn't punish him, he would still feel guilty.

Wu Cheng was indeed very angry about Wei Jie's failure, but he knew very well that Wei Jie had fallen into a trap carefully designed by Luo Tian.

It was also his fault. He had underestimated Luo Tian at the beginning. He thought he was old and incompetent, but he didn't expect that he was still as powerful as before.

It seems he is not the only one who refuses to accept his old age.

Wu Cheng said, "That's all. You deserved to lose to Luo Tian."

Chu Xianglong asked: "Master Wu, who is this old man named Luo Tian? Why is he still so powerful at his age?"

Wu Cheng told the three people what he knew about Luo Tian.

Before he came to Guangzhou, he had collected detailed information about the Guangzhou culinary world and informed the three of the skills and specialties of the key figures so that they could prepare early.

It’s just that Luo Tian seldom cooked himself over the years, and most of the dishes were cooked by another chef named Jidi. This was why he underestimated Luo Tian’s ability and ultimately led to such a big mistake.

As for why Luo Tian still retains such powerful strength at such an old age, even he is not very clear about it.

"You should be careful about Yangquan Restaurant. In addition to Luo Tian, ​​Chef Jidi is also a very powerful figure and should not be underestimated."

The three of them nodded carefully.

"Sir, what should we do next?"

Elder Wu pondered and said, "There are only two ways: lure them with benefits or defeat them with force. Xiang Long, go contact the chef of Taoranju and ask him to come here tomorrow. We will use him as a breakthrough point to completely disrupt this stagnant water."

"Yes."

The next day, Chu Xianglong contacted the chef of Taoranju and secretly brought him to Wu Cheng's residence.

"Master Liang, please take a seat."

The chef of Taoranju is named Liang Jing.

"Thank you. I wonder what Elder Wu wants me to do?"

Although Liang Jing admired Chu Xianglong's cooking skills, he was still a little wary of Wu Cheng.

He didn't know what Wu Cheng's purpose was for coming here, but no matter what the purpose was, it was probably not a good thing for them now.

Elder Wu noticed Liang Jing's vigilance towards him and said, "I wonder how many years Chef Liang has been the chef of Taoranju?"

Liang Jing shook his head and said, "I can't remember clearly, probably more than ten years ago."

"Master Liang's skills are superb, and he is probably among the top five in Guangzhou. But I heard that Taoranju's business seems to be not very prosperous in recent years."

Upon hearing this, Liang Jing's expression darkened.

In fact, before he took over Taoranju, Taoranju had been gradually declining.

He tried his best to prevent Taoranju from declining too quickly.

As for wanting to revive Taoran Ju, he tried many methods, but in the end all had little effect.

"To be honest with you, Elder Wu, it is indeed true."

Elder Wu pretended to be curious and asked, "Why is this happening? With a top chef like Master Liang at Taoranju, there should be a surge in customers. Why is the business declining?"

Liang Jing laughed at himself and said, "I'm afraid it's because of the top chefs that the business is not doing well." As soon as he said this, Liang Jing couldn't help but blurt out his complaints, "Elder Wu may not know that Taoranju has been adhering to the concept of excellence since its establishment. Every generation of chefs has tried their best to present the best delicacies to diners. Dishes that are not exquisite enough are not worthy of being on the table in our opinion."

"To make exquisite dishes, not only the chef's skills are needed, but also the ingredients must be refined. Therefore, most dishes use expensive ingredients, and expensive ingredients themselves are expensive..."

Having said this, Liang Jing fell silent.

Elder Wu also understood that the profit was small, the cost was high, the vegetable prices were high, and the food was too high-brow for the general public, so naturally the business would not prosper.

Liang Jing continued, "I have tried to change the strategy, but Tao Ran Ju's philosophy is to strive for excellence. It is extremely difficult to change it. Moreover, after the change, Tao Ran Ju will no longer be Tao Ran Ju."

Elder Wu said: "I have a way to attract more customers while retaining Taoranju's philosophy."

Liang Jing's eyes suddenly lit up, and he asked in surprise, "Really?"

"Of course, I just need Master Liang to promise me one thing."

"This..." Liang Jing hesitated, "I wonder what it is?"

"Master Liang, you don't have to agree now. Wait until there are results."

"Ok."

……

In the morning, Xu Qing jogged along the river as usual. Although he had been carrying more weight recently, his steps became lighter.

Xu Qing experienced the joy of physical exercise and felt that his body was getting stronger day by day. This feeling was simply fascinating.

Now, even if Master Luo Tian didn't ask him to, Xu Qing would take the initiative to exercise.

But there was a little problem today.

There is a restaurant called Taoran Ju by the river. The restaurant is located by the mountain and beside the water. There is a gurgling stream as soon as you go out. The restaurant is surrounded by lush trees. The decoration and furnishings in the restaurant are also extremely exquisite, striving to bring the best experience to diners.

Needless to say, the food tastes great. One can smell the chef's hard work from the aroma wafting from the food. This exquisite beauty brings joy to the body and mind.

It’s a pity that the dishes at Taoran Ju are too expensive, much more expensive than those at Yangquan Restaurant. Only the rich and powerful can afford it. Ordinary people will shake their heads and leave when they see the prices.

Therefore, the restaurant is always deserted.

But today was contrary to the norm. There was a long queue in front of the restaurant, almost squeezing into the river.

Many people ran forward and joined the already long queue.

Xu Qing walked forward and asked someone, "What happened? Why are there so many people queuing at Taoranju?"

"Don't you know? It is said that the shark fins in other restaurants are defective, mixed with other things, and some are not shark fins at all, but made of vermicelli. Only Taoranju has real shark fins."

Xu Qing was surprised and said, "Isn't this possible?"

Another person said, "How can it be impossible? I saw it with my own eyes. That day at Tianhong Pavilion, a few people found the shark fin tasted wrong and rushed into the kitchen. They found vermicelli in the clay pot where the shark fin was soaked."

"Oh, no wonder I always feel that the shark fins from other places don't taste as good as Taoranju's. I didn't expect that they would use fake shark fins to impersonate them!"

Xu Qing was dumbfounded.

Isn't this too dramatic?
Rushing into the kitchen and finding vermicelli among the shark fins, what a coincidence.

Besides, with current technology, it is basically impossible to completely replace the taste of shark fin with vermicelli.

Once discovered, you will be ruined.

Major restaurants have no shortage of money to buy shark fins, so there is no need for them to do such a thankless task.

(End of this chapter)