Gourmet Food Supplier
chapter-18

Chapter 18: Yuan Zhou’s Principle

Translator: Xiong Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth

5 times the usual price meant it was almost 1000 RMB per serving, two servings would be 2000 RMB! Yuan Zhou excelled at mathematics, at least, when it concerns money.

But did you think 2000 RMB would satisfy him?

Frankly speaking, yes!

However, it was no use. Yuan Zhou said with a forced laugh, “Sorry, I can’t.”

“Hey, what do you mean? Is 5 times the price not enough?” Zou Heng didn’t expect to be refused, thus angrily questioned Yuan Zhou.

Although Yuan Zhou felt bitter in his heart, he just stared pointedly at Zou Heng instead of saying any words. Of course, what Yuan Zhou was actually looking at was Zou Heng’s cash. He felt terrible as he thought of the money in the wallet that could have belonged to him. Furthermore, he was the one that rejected those freely given dollar bills.

This was the rule made by the system. What could he do?

In Yin Ya’s opinion, Yuan Zhou’s actions were due to anger, caused by Zou Heng’s insulting behaviors. In her eyes, Yuan Zhou was an eccentric person but with great principle.

“Boss, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. He’s just a bit fatigued today.” Yin Ya disregarded everything else and pulled Zou Heng towards the entrance.

“Yin Ya, why are you pulling me outside? It’s my treat today. I will definitely let you eat till you are full.” Zou Heng felt confused. He really wanted to pay extra for another serving. He didn’t believe that there was something in this world that couldn’t be purchased with money.

As for rules? There was a saying, uttered by a rich second generation, that rules were made for the poor to obey.

Although Zou Heng was not a rich second generation, he was one of the top two salesmen in his department, with an annual salary of no less than 300 grand RMB. If not for his beloved Yin Ya, he would have never ordered an Egg Fried Rice costing hundreds of RMB. Nevertheless, since he had managed to get a date with the girl of his dreams, he couldn’t let her down. Yet, he couldn’t even buy a plate of Egg Fried Rice for her. This made him feel rather useless.

“Zou Heng, let’s leave. We can talk about the business case tomorrow, ok?” Yin Ya ignored his question while pulling Zou Heng towards the entrance.

“Yin Ya, wait a moment.”

Seeing Zou Heng requesting to be freed, Yin Ya lost her temper. She released his arm, stood aside and took her handbag. She didn’t want to care about the situation anymore.

“Don’t worry, Yin Ya. Everything will be fine in a while.” Zou Heng was simple minded. He knew Yin Ya had gotten a little angry, but he thought she would cheer up once he managed to take action and apologize.

Yuan Zhou was standing by the side, watching two of them arguing. It was then, Zou Heng approach and spoke to him.

“Boss, all restaurants want business, right? But this rule doesn’t seem to help your business grow, don’t you think so?”

When Zou Heng found Yuan Zhou looking at him silently, he continued to persuade him with his silver tongue.

“How about this? You offer us another plate now. I won’t take advantage of you and will still pay 5 times the normal price. Furthermore, I will even introduce some customers to your restaurant.”

While saying that, Zou Heng scanned Yuan Zhou’s restaurant and then continued, “After all, your restaurant is not big. No matter how superbly delicious your Egg Fried Rice is, if no one publicizes your restaurant, many guests will be scared away by the price before they even taste it.”

“In this age, even good wine is afraid of being in a deep alley. Do you think so, boss?”

To his credit, Zou Heng was a good salesman. In just a moment, he had pointed out all the problems in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant. But he just didn’t expect that Yuan Zhou’s restaurant to be an ordinary small restaurant with more than one “wine”, there was also a Master Chef support system behind the scenes.

Yuan Zhou wasn’t dumb. He had already considered all the issues that Zou Heng had pointed out. The only problem was that the system didn’t allow any sort of advertising, giving a simple and blunt reason to him.

The system read, “As a Master Chef, any advertising is an insult to your craft. Only by word of mouth can you make your restaurant well known.”

Having read the contents, Yuan Zhou had only one thought. What fantastic logic, thus he gave up refuting.

Now, Yuan Zhou was expressionless. He just quietly gazed at Zou Heng who was showing off his knowledge... Afterward, he refused the proposal, directly and decisively, without a hint of emotion, “No, thanks.”

“hum...” The formerly voluble Zou Heng fell silent instantly.

“It’s quite late already beautiful lady. I’m going to close. So...?”

Looking at the time, Yuan Zhou said directly to Yin Ya, ignoring Zou Heng.

“I’m so sorry for taking up your time. Your Egg Fried Rice was very tasty. The only problem is the lack of soup. I enjoy the soup as well you know.”

Yin Ya revealed a smile on her face and praised Yuan Zhou. She took him for an eccentric, and an eccentric would never break his rules for a little money.

Yin Ya was happy seeing Zou Heng being refused. She didn’t like this guy at all. He had always tried to approach her on the basis of some work issues causing her to be unable to refuse his invitation. Furthermore, his shameful behavior had disgraced her indirectly today. Therefore, she had a more favorable impression towards Yuan Zhou, who she believed was on her side.

“Ok, got it. I will serve a complete Egg Fried Rice set several days later. In the set, there will be soup. Remember to come and try when it’s ready.” Yuan Zhou had plenty of patience for pretty women after being single for more than twenty years. Who knows when God will let a pretty lady fall in love with him?

“Perfect. See you then, boss.” After saying that, Yin Ya turned around the and left, abandoning her colleague Zou Heng who hadn’t recovered from Yuan Zhou’s decisive refusal.

“See you.”

“Sir, it’s the closing time. Goodbye.”

Yuan Zhou didn’t feel bad at all as he started to drive this man away.

“...”

Hearing Yuan Zhou’s word, he finally regained consciousness. Without a single word, he turned and chased after Yin Ya.

.....................

Public recognition had a strange effect since it comes from the word of mouth. However, word of mouth had already lost its appeal and was no longer like before. Nowadays, people got more cautious. They were suspicious of everything. Even if it had high public recognition, it might turned out to be worse than expected.

Nevertheless, this situation had never occurred in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant before. All his customers were pleasantly surprised, no matter if that came after Sun Ming’s recommendation in the Wechat group or those brought here by Yin Ya.

As for the small mustache man living on the other side of the street facing his restaurant, he had already become a loyal customer of Yuan Zhou, appearing like clockwork 3 times a day for his meals and frequently inquiring about the set meal.

Perhaps the guests were unhappy with the crude and weird rule at the beginning, but after they tasted the Egg Fried Rice, they understood.

People were always tolerant towards talented beings. Those that could cook such superbly delicious Egg Fried Rice, such as Yuan Zhou, was no doubt, a genius. Some weird rules set by geniuses were always accepted.

The following day, Yuan Zhou asked the system to add a few sentences using Mandarin characters beside the price list on the wall.

“Presently, anything else except Egg Fried Rice is not served.”

“Each guest may only have one serving per meal. Request for more is not acceptable.”

These two notifications were also written in calligraphy. Whenever the guests asked for another serving, Yuan Zhou could just show them the notice beside the price list. That would save Yuan Zhou much time from explaining over and over again.

In fact, he had to thank the system, which provided him purified water in a fixed glass cup. Whenever he finished drinking the water inside, it would be refilled automatically until it was 70% full. Furthermore, the water was always at a perfect temperature and seemed to be bottomless. Of course, the cup couldn’t be taken out of the restaurant.

Moreover, the quality of the water was extraordinary. It was far better than the mineral water by overseas brands. Compared with his water, Evian was as plain as tap water. Therefore, he even asked the system if he could provide the water to his guests.

Of course, the answer provided by the system was as cold and emotionless as usual, reading, “Your level is too low to do that.”

With strong support from the public, business in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant started to grow. Guests had to wait for a seat, more and more guests also requested for take-out.

Therefore, on the wall inside the restaurant, Yuan Zhou added another notice.

“Take-out service is not available.”