Chapter 55: Chapter 55 Rejecting Investment
"Wow, haven't seen your dad in years, he's aged a lot!" Tang Xiaowei spoke in a hushed voice.
Tong Ya didn't answer, her eyes filled with complex emotions as she looked at the old man downstairs.
After a while, when they realized that the old man wasn't making any moves, just sitting there waiting, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Seems like he's not here for us! Looks like he came for the braised dishes." Tang Xiaowei curled her lip, "Wow, the stuff your future husband makes must be really amazing, even attracting your own father here."
Tong Ya gave Tang Xiaowei's arm a gentle twist.
She didn't know what to do at that moment.
If Chen Yu can't find her later and calls out her name, then everything would be exposed.
By now, the old man had a bowl of noodles and a pound of braised meat in front of him.
He didn't care about anything else and started wolfing down his food with chopsticks in hand.
"Hmm, delicious! Haven't tasted such firm noodles and such aromatic braised meat in a long time!"
After gobbling down a bowl of noodles and a pound of braised meat, the man seemed to still be craving more as he got up and walked over to the display window.
"Boss, the flavor here rivals that of Imperial Capital's Duan Fu Ji. If you don't mind, I can invest in you and help you turn it into a chain."
Chen Yu was indifferent, "I just want to work my way up on my own. If others invest, maybe the taste will change."
"Yo, young man, I'm liking you more and more!"
Having said that, the old man took out a business card and placed it on the counter.
"I'm in Suzhou City for a conference these few days, and I hope to have my meals here for the next three days. Can you arrange for someone to deliver?"
Chen Yu glanced at the business card, Tong Ming! It shared the same surname as Tong Ya.
When he saw the address written on the back, though, he frowned.
"This address is too far, it's not within our delivery range. Have someone come pick it up!"
After being rebuffed again, Tong Ming became even more interested in Chen Yu.
"Fine, I'll send someone to pick it up!"
With a hearty laugh, Tong Ming turned and left.
But after just a couple of steps, he turned back around.
"Young man, are you sure you don't want to consider my investment? I can give you a hundred million upfront."
Chen Yu smiled and shook his head, "No thanks, I believe that one day I will also be able to make a hundred million on my own."
Tong Ming nodded in admiration, "Young man, I have my eye on you."
After offering his praise, Tong Ming left the restaurant with his bodyguards in a grand manner.
Not until that moment did Tang Xiaowei and Tong Ya, hiding on the third floor, finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Wow! Your dad admires your future man!" Tang Xiaowei exclaimed, "If you ask me, you should rush downstairs right now, have a father-daughter reunion, and then ride your dad's coattails to force a marriage. You'd have him in the bag."
Tong Ya rolled her eyes, "You think this is one of your comics? Just a stroke of the pen and they're together."
Tang Xiaowei didn't agree, "At least it's a good opportunity! Your dad seems to have quite a rapport with your future man."
Tong Ya kept quiet, only going downstairs with Tang Xiaowei after Tong Ming's motorcade had driven off into the distance.
"Teacher Tong Ya!" Tuan Tuan suddenly called out from a corner, and then rushed over.
"You didn't just see my dad be awesome, did you? He was neither servile nor overbearing, just managed to snub a shameless tycoon and send him packing."
Tong Ya was exasperated, wondering what Tuan Tuan's reaction would be if she knew the 'shameless tycoon' was actually her own father.
Tang Xiaowei was even more embarrassed, but under the circumstances, all she could do was agree with Tuan Tuan.
"That's right, there are indeed some shameless tycoons these days, acting all high and mighty, thinking they don't have to queue up for a meal. That's dismissing the rules of our establishment."
Having said that, Tang Xiaowei still looked at Tong Ya with a teasing expression.
"Right, Xiaoya?"
Tong Ya bit her lip, almost ready to swallow Tang Xiaowei whole.
"Yes, we can't let that kind of unscrupulous tycoon in."
Chen Yu helplessly glanced at everyone. "Alright, he's gone. Let's not talk behind his back."
Tong Ya might have felt a bit guilty and quickly ran into the kitchen.
"Um, what do you think about the wealthy guy who came by just now?" Tong Ya timidly asked.
Chen Yu thought for a moment. "Although he was a bit overbearing at first, he did line up later on, which shows he's not a bad person."
Tong Ya inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.
"Speaking of which, why didn't you accept his investment just now? A hundred million, you know. That could've saved you from struggling for many decades."
Chen Yu smiled. "If I accepted his hundred million just to struggle less for a few decades, what value would my life have left?"
His words rang with conviction, stirring something in Tong Ya's heart.
Perhaps this was one of the reasons she liked Chen Yu, that resilience and masculinity that came from deep within him.
"I believe even without someone else's investment, you will definitely succeed!"
Tong Ya waved her little fists and made a very cute cheering gesture.
Chen Yu didn't say anything more and continued working on the pig's head and knuckle.
Today's volume of marinated meat was double that of yesterday's, and he had to ensure an efficiency of one batch every forty minutes.
By six in the afternoon, the crowd hadn't lessened but had actually grown.
Moreover, the new arrivals all had one thing in common—they were holding a comic book in their hands.
Upon entering, they ordered one of every item in the shop.
They posed for pictures before finally sitting down to eat.
Without looking, Chen Yu knew these people must have come after seeing Tang Xiaowei's comics.
At this moment, Tang Xiaowei, dressed in a panda outfit, was hiding in a corner not far away, watching her fans take pictures.
It wasn't until eight in the evening that the flow of customers began to wane, but by then, the marinated meats were almost sold out, leaving no choice but to put up a "sold out" sign.
Chen Yu hadn't expected that, even after doubling the volume of marinated meats, they would sell out at this time.
It seemed not only that there were more people, but the proportion of customers eating the marinated meats had also increased.
By now, the second floor had been tidied up, and Li Yu and Su Qing, looking somewhat exhausted, came down, each holding a list in their hand.
All the raw materials for the fried cakes and vegetable pastries had been made into semi-finished products and stored in the freezer.
And the sales of fried cakes and vegetable pastries had dropped sharply today, only slightly higher than what they used to sell from the food cart.
Chen Yu stretched and called everyone over to eat.
Today, after some consideration, Chen Yu set a rule for the staff meal.
Pancakes and noodles would be served unlimited, eat as much as you desire.
In fact, his main concern was that after so much work each day, the girls might not be able to keep up.
Before dinner, as usual, Chen Yu called to order two thousand pounds of pork.
However, he was already considering buying a few more pressure cookers to try out marinated meats with different flavors.
After all, no matter how tasty this single five-spice blend was, customers would get tired of it if they ate it for too long.