Chapter 38 (1/2)

“It’s over.”

Manager Wu’s vision darkened. He couldn’t accept this.

Even though becoming the Acting Manager at Ji City seemed to be a same-rank transfer, this was not the case in reality.

After all, Quan City was the territory of Prosperous Flavour. Prosperous Flavour had been operating here for many years and had long been deeply rooted.

On the other hand, Ji City was a newly-established market. Every step the manager took there was like walking on thin ice.

Furthermore, the Vice President was in charge of that shop, but the Acting Manager would be the one in charge. Thus, as the manager, he didn’t have much authority and would be easily blamed.

If it were anyone else, they might feel that their opportunity had come. After all, while it was easy to take the blame, it was also easy to produce results. However, Manager Wu only wanted to live a good life. Thus, to him, transferring to Ji City was like a bolt from the blue.

Manager Wu wanted to explain but Li Xin didn’t give him any chance to do so. He had already walked out of Prosperous Flavor.

…

At Hedilao…

Looking at the crowded scene at Hedilao and then at Prosperous Flavor, Li Xin felt slightly annoyed. Then, he rubbed his cheeks and walked into this competitor’s hotpot restaurant.

After more than 20 days of operations, the service system at Hedilao was much better than it was at the beginning. It had already developed a very mature process.

Therefore, when Li Xin walked in, a waiter immediately came up to him.

“How many people are there in your group?”

“One.”

“Alright, please wait here.”

After receiving an answer, the waiter led Li Xin to the waiting area and handed him a number plate.

“This is your number. You can have your meal once your number is called.”

As the waiter spoke, he pointed to the other side. “There are snacks on the shelf over there. You can eat something to pass the time while you’re waiting. These are all free.”

After doing all these, the waiter stood at the door once again and waited for the next customer.

Li Xin sat down.

Now, Hedilao customers no longer had to wait at the entrance of the shop. Instead, there was a separate waiting area. Furthermore, there were no longer stools inside the waiting area, but individual tables.

Of course, during the busiest periods, even the waiting area was full. Thus, customers could only sit outside.

Li Xin sized up the table in front of him.

The table was very exquisite and looked very classy. There was even a box of napkins on it. At the same time, Li Xin noticed that there was a charging socket beside the chair, as well as two kinds of chargers, Android and Apple.

“They are quite considerate.” Li Xin nodded silently. This service was indeed much better than at Prosperous Flavor.

Then, he got up, scooped himself a plate of snacks, put it on the table where he was sitting, and started eating slowly.

“I can learn the service concept of Hedilao and bring it in to improve Prosperous Flavor.”

“However… The cost of doing so is too high. Perhaps I can open a few flagship stores and use this service method in these flagship stores.”

That was right. The price of Hedilao’s service method was the cost of operating it.

Putting everything else aside, this waiting area could easily fit four or five more tables with careful planning.

It was 6pm and it was time for the seats to be taken. Therefore, the waiting area was soon filled with people. Even the entrance of the restaurant was filled with a few people in line.

Meanwhile, Li Xin’s number was finally called.

“This way, sir.”

The waiter led Li Xin to a two-person table and handed him a menu.

After selecting a few set menus and sending the waiter away, Li Xin continued to observe the shop.

“This layout is not good. It’s too wasteful.”

The distance between the tables at Hedilao was enough for one person to walk through. In Prosperous Flavor, stools were practically placed right next to one another.

“The business is so good. If I were to be in charge of the layout, the daily flow of customers would increase by at least 10%.”

Li Xin shook his head. He felt that the boss of Hedilao was not good at doing business.

The hotpot was served very quickly. Li Xin picked up a plate of mutton and cooked it in the hotpot. Then, he nodded to himself.

“Everyone says that the hotpot at Hedilao is delicious. It’s true!”

After quickly eating until he was half-full, Li Xin did not forget his purpose for coming today.

Li Xin casually grabbed the waiter beside him and said, “Can I see your manager?”

…

In a cafe near Tianda Plaza…

The two people sat opposite each other.

The main character was not Zhao Zhen, but Ye Feng.

“Boss Li, why did you invite me here?”

Just a moment ago, Zhao Zhen had called to say that Li Xin wanted to meet him. Thus, Ye Feng, who had just returned to his dormitory, immediately rushed over.

Ye Feng pondered as he spoke.

As a competitor, it was also because of Hedilao that the Tianda branch of Prosperous Flavor was in such a miserable state.

Of course, that was entirely because of Prosperous Flavor as they had been targeting Hedilao since their opening. In the end, Prosperous Flavor was the one that was being targeted, leading to their demise.

Therefore, Li Xin’s arrival at this time was intriguing.

“Boss Ye is younger than I thought.”

Li Xin stared into Ye Feng’s eyes.

He’d been doing this since the beginning as he wanted to use his imposing aura to suppress Ye Feng. Unfortunately, Ye Feng wasn’t affected at all.

“You’re a 20 year old from He City. The high school that you graduated from was…”

“You’re a freshman at Quan City University’s Computer Science College. I founded the restaurant in June…”

Li Xin described the process of Ye Feng establishing Hedilao with great familiarity.

“Did you investigate me?”