Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 911 - 449: [The Brightest Kid] (Part 2)

Huang Ji's representative is Huang An Yao.

Qin Huai searched briefly online for information; there wasn't much about Ling Guangzhao himself. He's the boss, and people's attention on Babaozhai tends to focus more on the chefs. The boss kind of automatically hides in the background.

After eating Babaozhai's melon, Qin Huai was very certain about Boss Su's view of Ling Guangzhao.

Capable but rather opportunistic.

Rather than saying Ling Guangzhao returned to take over the family business, it's more like he's resolving a mess. Unlike Boss Su, a chef-turned-restaurateur, Babaozhai is a renowned old brand in Beiping. Starting from his father's generation, Ling Guangzhao has completely abandoned learning culinary skills to focus on restaurant management, which in some sense means the family's craftsmanship has eroded.

The cost of erosion means it's easy for others to poach talents. When Ling Guangzhao returned to take over Babaozhai, the old masters retired or jumped ship. The restaurant seems to have retained its reputation as an old brand, but it is in fact just an empty shell.

Babaozhai used to be one of the few restaurants catering both pastries and meat dishes. The first floor specialized in pastry snacks, while the second floor was for seated dining. As the masters retired or jumped ship, the first-floor snack specialization was directly canceled.

The first thing Ling Guangzhao did after taking over was poaching talents, bringing in Tong Dayan, who had excellent skills but a bad reputation, as the head chef on a high salary. Then he went crazy with marketing, advertising on every platform, making Babaozhai a trendy spot, launching new dishes to encourage guests to check-in and take photos, and gradually increased prices, reaping huge revenue in a short time.

The cost was the flow backlash being quite serious. Reputation issues that should have taken a while to surface exploded in very little time. Luckily, Tong Dayan had strong culinary skills, so the reputation wasn't a big issue for now.

After reviewing Babaozhai's development in the past two years, and considering Ling Guangzhao's lavish spending on this exchange meeting, even reimbursing the attending chefs' first-class airfare, Qin Huai had an absurd thought.

Ling Guangzhao is a person who likes to take advantage of opportunities, and in some sense, Tong Dayan is someone he high-salary poached.

Could it be that he experienced the benefits of poaching talents and thus organized the exchange meeting to showcase his financial strength while selecting future employees likely to be poached from the participating chefs?

If that's the case, then this Boss Ling is truly bold and not afraid of being criticized.

While Qin Huai was shocked by his own speculation, Huang An Yao called him.

"Hello." Qin Huai answered the call.

"Qin Huai, I saw your name on the list for the exchange meeting. Are you in Beiping now?" Huang An Yao's weak voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Yes, I'm in Beiping now. What's wrong?"

"I'm airsick." Huang An Yao wailed, "I don't usually fly. The last time I flew was three years ago. Though I got a bit airsick, it wasn't too bad. I don't know why it's so severe this time."

"Huang Ji only sent me this time. My dad doesn't like to travel far. It should've been Huang Jia coming. Recently, Huang Ji's business has been quite good, there's a wedding banquet the day after tomorrow, and all the chefs can't leave, so they sent me instead."

"I don't know if I'll be able to attend the meeting tomorrow given my status. If I still feel dizzy tomorrow, I might have to visit the hospital. You guys from Zhiwei Restaurant have two chefs this time. If I go to the hospital tomorrow, could you step in for me temporarily, representing Huang Ji?"

"I think you have more persuasive power representing Huang Ji, your guo'er has even represented Huang Ji on 'Taste.'

As Huang An Yao spoke, his voice grew weaker, and Qin Huai worried he might faint from talking too much.

"Alright." Qin Huai agreed readily, figuring whether he represents Zhiwei Restaurant or Huang Ji, it made no difference, "Take good rest. If you can't hold up, don't delay. Go to the hospital tonight."

"Last time, Tan Wei'an went on several roller coasters and got motion sick, thought he could handle it, and ended up with gastroenteritis, hospitalized for several days."

After hanging up the phone, Qin Huai wasn't at ease, so he went straight to Huang An Yao's room to check on him, finding him seriously airsick. He was pale-faced, had been on the ground for over two hours but was still dry heaving with an empty stomach.

This situation was all too familiar to Qin Huai, who, without hesitation, brought Huang An Yao to the hospital. Sure enough, it was airsickness plus acclimatization issues plus gastroenteritis, Young Master joyfully checked into the hospital.

Without waiting for tomorrow, Huang An Yao directly messaged Ling Guangzhao about his poor condition, and temporary representative change for Huang Ji.

When Qin Huai returned to the hotel, Zhao Cheng'an had already finished gathering gossip and was waiting eagerly.

Seeing Qin Huai finally return, Zhao Cheng'an didn't even ask where Qin Huai had been, he eagerly began: "Qin Huai, I'm telling you, it's absolutely thrilling, you won't believe what I've just heard!"

"Do you know Jinling's Weixian Building? You don't? It's okay, not important. The boss and head chef of Weixian Building have fallen out, senior and junior turned against each other. They are on the verge of going to court, even pulling out the will. Last week they got into a fight directly in the kitchen, even turned over the pots!"

"I have a video here, do you want to see it? It's absolutely thrilling. Those people in Jinling have really tight lips, this kind of thing hasn't even reached Hangzhou."

Qin Huai: "…Weren't you digging into Boss Ling?"

"…Found nothing. Master Pei isn't familiar with Boss Ling either. I'm sending you the video now!"

Then, Qin Huai and Zhao Cheng'an sat on the sofa for 20 minutes watching the precious kitchen fight video, witnessing the literal sense of pots, pans, radish and cabbage flying everywhere—a martial arts film worth seeing for every chef.

"Chefs over there in Jinling really have tight lips." Qin Huai sighed, "By the way, are the seats for tomorrow morning's meeting pre-arranged based on the restaurant?"

"Yes, I didn't tell you, how do you know? Just sit with me then. The seat arrangements have their intricacies, and many chefs from different restaurants don't get along. If a real fight breaks out, just enjoy the fun, remember to record it."

"I might not be able to sit with you. Huang An Yao is acclimatized and hospitalized, so I have to represent Huang Ji at the meeting tomorrow."

Zhao Cheng'an: ?

This colleague of his, who even shared a room with him tonight, turned into a peer in the blink of an eye?

What's wrong with Huang Ji? Sending only Huang An Yao for such an unimportant meeting isn't too serious.

"Well, um, do you know the interpersonal situation at Huang Ji? They might have a lot of convoluted things in the meat cooking section, which we pastry folks aren't clear on."

"No idea, but I feel Huang An Yao might be clueless too. He just asked me to attend the meeting for him and didn't say anything else. I suspect if I claim to be Huang An Yao at the meeting tomorrow, nobody will doubt it."

Zhao Cheng'an didn't know what to say and could only state a '6'.

Zhao Cheng'an took two minutes to digest his colleague's sudden transformation into a peer and quickly rejuvenated his spirit, excitedly saying: "Actually, it's good for you to represent Huang Ji at the meeting."

"Huang Ji is an old brand red cooking restaurant, surely they are arranged to sit with other old brand restaurants. You can delve into the center of the gossip, and when things really start to heat up, your filming location will definitely be better than mine."

Qin Huai: …Why is Zhao Cheng'an so fixated on the potential for disputes and fights? Do meat-cooking meetings often involve real-time combat?

Zhao Cheng'an saw Qin Huai not responding and couldn't help but ask: "Do you have any other thoughts?"

"Not much else, really. I just thought of using this exchange meeting as an opportunity to make some snacks and get everyone to help me critique and discuss." Qin Huai responded casually.

Zhao Cheng'an: ???

No way, buddy, during such a great chance for free time and fun, are you actually thinking about real exchanges and making snacks?

Stop striving too hard, buddy, we're not with Zhiwei Restaurant anymore. Beiping isn't as competitive as that, adapt to the local customs.

Normal exchange meetings are really just meetings, eating, drinking, browsing around. Only Zhiwei Restaurant holds exchange meetings where snack masters are dragged into the kitchen to make snacks.