When he heard the question, the middle-aged man relaxed subconsciously and didn’t appear so nervous anymore.
That made sense. In the beginning, Scenarist Li wasn’t likely to tell him directly what the interview was about. Otherwise, it was very easy for such people like him, who hadn’t received professional training, to slip up. And that would be awkward.
“Oh, so you are talking about that issue. That Boss Yuan is an able person and has wonderful craftsmanship.” Speaking of Yuan Zhou’s craftsmanship, the middle-aged man revealed a sincere look of admiration.
“Apart from his craftsmanship, what else do you think of him?” Presenter Lu smiled and continued asking.
“What else are there? Everything is good, fairly good.” The middle-aged man scratched his head and then said with a smile.
“Then do you have any comment about him selling a bowl of Egg Fried Rice at 188RMB in his restaurant?” Presenter Lu said smilingly.
“No. I heard from those who have eaten it before that it’s quite delicious. I also want to go there to have a try, but I’m just reluctant to pay that much money.” The middle-aged man smiled with slight embarrassment.
“Look! When we came over here just now, I saw some people still going towards that restaurant. But meanwhile, there’s not a customer in your restaurant. Do you have any comments about that?” Presenter Lu’s questions were filled with pitfalls.
“What comments should I have to have? None.” The middle-aged man shook the head.
“Alright. One last question, how do you like that Master Chef Restaurant?” Presenter Lu asked seriously.
“How do I like it? Fairly good.” The middle-aged man said without thinking.
“Can you be more specific? On what aspects?” Presenter Lu asked again.
“I don’t really know on what aspects. I am just grateful to that young man.” The middle-aged man stroked his own head and appeared a little embarrassed.
“Grateful? Don’t you think his business is so good that he has grabbed most of the customers?” Presenter Lu couldn’t help asking.
“He deserves that. It’s his good craftsmanship that won those customers’ heart. Besides, what you guys don’t know is that the business nowadays is far better than before.” The middle-aged man was quite proud when he spoke of that.
“Really? What do you mean?” Presenter Lu asked step by step.
“Let me explain to you with a metaphor and an analogy. Formerly, there were only about 100 people that came to this street for meals every day and I could only get 10 of them on average. And now, there are no less than 3000 people every day and 2500 of them come here for that restaurant. But…” The middle-aged man suddenly stopped, leaving others guessing.
“But what?” Presenter Lu asked quite cooperatively.
“But that restaurant is too small. It can only receive about 1500 people every day. For the remaining 1500 people, I can get about 300 on average. So I should thank that young man. What do you think?” The middle-aged man said shrewdly.
“Yeah, you are right. You are really a smart boss.” Presenter Lu thumbed up and complimented.
“Haw-haw. Leaving others aside, at least I know something about business.” The middle-aged man stroked his own head shyly.
“Okay. That’s all for the interview today. Sorry for bothering you.” Having got his intended answers, Presenter Lu expressed his gratitude politely and then took his team away.
“Take care, take care.” The middle-aged man waved his hand.
It was actually a very easy reason. For an 8-inch cake, it was only enough for four people. Once Yuan Zhou joined, however, he directly made the cake into 18-inch, which was sufficient to feed 24 people.
Even if everyone could still share only a piece of cake at that time, the size of the cake was quite different.
Therefore, those who opened restaurants in this side street basically had no unfavorable comments about Yuan Zhou. Even though some complained about why they didn’t have such good craftsmanship, they just thought of that and no more.
After Presenter Lu interviewed three restaurants along the street continuously, he discovered that everybody was basically grateful to Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.
When a boss was asked about his opinion about the price of the dishes served in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant, he even answered frankly, “If I had such good skills as him, I would make the dishes even more expensive. We all know how expensive the dishes served in five-star hotels are. Since the dishes are more delicious, of course it should be more expensive.”
“It seems that Boss Yuan is quite popular.” Presenter Lu shrugged and said.
“It’s good. We saved some money.” Scenarist Li said pragmatically.
Yuan Zhou had no idea of the night interview of the program division. As for the comments on the internet, he had no idea, either. After all, the frequency of him surfing the internet was surprisingly low if nothing special happened and moreover, he didn’t care about that.
As for those who knew this matter, for example, those regular customers, they had already started to fight back. And they chose not to tell Yuan Zhou about that based on their tacit understanding.
The regular customers were quite clear if Yuan Zhou knew this matter and became unhappy, he would probably take a day off straightforwardly. If that happened, who could they complain to?
Nevertheless, the counterattack of the regular customers was carried out under the leadership of the queuing committee.
They replied identically, [Please comment after a taste. Those who have never eaten it stop speaking carelessly.]
Of course, Ling Hong replied more arrogantly, [Come and eat. Comment after eating. Otherwise, don’t bullshit.]
Yuan Zhou had no idea of these things and was still doing business diligently.
It was another suppertime in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.
Suddenly, Wu Hai stroked his small mustaches and uttered, “I’m quite curious about why you guys like eating here.”
“Why did you suddenly ask such an artistic question?” Jiang Changxi looked at Wu Hai in surprise.
After all, Wu Hai was only interested in grabbing the dishes of others in Jiang Changxi’s opinion.
“Say it. Why do you like eating here?” Instead of answering her, Wu Hai asked back.
“Of course it’s because I like the 100 Styles of Rice Cuisines.” Jiang Changxi smoothed her hair with her fingers and said lightly.
“I thought you would say it’s because of the liquor.” Wu Hai looked at Jiang Changxi in surprise.
“Of course not.” Jiang Changxi shook the head.
“I was cheated here.” Yin Ya glared at Yuan Zhou and then said.
“Well, I never cheated anybody.” Yuan Zhou muttered to himself in the heart hurriedly.
“I do come here because of the liquor.” Chen Wei licked his lips and said discontentedly.
“I come because of Boss Yuan.” Yuan Zhou’s big fan, Tang Xi, said with a blush.
“Yeah. You really have sharp eyes.” Yuan Zhou nodded the head secretly and approved Tang Xi’s words in the heart.
Once Tang Xi said that, many girls started to say they came here because Yuan Zhou cooked delicious dishes. Apart from that, there were also many that joked and quipped. Of course, many likewise answered seriously they came because of a particular dish.
However, a very different answer astonished everyone.
“Because Boss Yuan is like my father.” A man that wore a black woolen sweater and appeared clean and cultured said suddenly.
“Er…” Then, the restaurant fell silent instantly.
“Hahahahaha.” Soon, the customers burst into earthshaking laughter almost at the same time.
“Haha. Boss Yuan is unable to give birth to such an old son like you.” Jiang Changxi pointed at Yuan Zhou and mocked at him immodestly.
With his face tight taut, Yuan Zhou said nothing.
“On what aspect? The appearance?” Wu Hai asked primly.
“Or his actions or expressions?” Another customer continued.
“I think it should be the feeling.” The young girl, Tang Xi, nodded her head, pretending to be serious.
“Or the taste of Yuan Zhou’s dishes?”
Various speculations followed afterwards. However, the man in a black woolen sweater just shook the head and denied the speculations one by one.
“None. I don’t know, either. I just feel he’s like my father.” The man said with a bland tone.
He couldn’t tell on what aspect Yuan Zhou was like his father. He even felt it wasn’t because of the appearance, expressions, or temperament that was similar to his father. But he just had that feeling. How interesting it was!
“I’m 24 years old this year and I will be 25 after the Chinese lunar year.” At that time, Yuan Zhou said dumbly.
…