Chapter 192 - 173: Afraid to Voice One’s Anger

Chapter 192: Chapter 173: Afraid to Voice One’s Anger

The old man suddenly sighed, swallowing the rest of his words. He raised his hand, picked up a piece of bitter melon and scrambled eggs with his chopsticks, and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly.

"Teacher, are you really planning to..."

"Yes. The report has been submitted and approved. An official announcement will be out in a few days."

"Can’t you..."

"Yuanzhong." The old man suddenly put down his chopsticks, placed his hands on his knees, and sat up ramrod straight. His expression turned serious. "I’m already this old. I only have a few years left before retirement. While I still have some seniority and connections, I want to stir things up a bit. If I don’t do it now, I’ll be too old to try!"

Meng Yuanzhong wanted to object, but when he met the old man’s stern gaze, he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. He knew his teacher’s personality well: once a decision was made, he would see it through to the bitter end, refusing to turn back even if he hit a wall. But thinking about his teacher’s age, perhaps leaving this place was for the best. That other department was a quiet post where everyone could slack off peacefully and enjoy their workdays. There was no backstabbing or office politics, making it a good place to coast into retirement.

At this thought, Meng Yuanzhong completely gave up on persuading the old man. He picked up his chopsticks and reached for the salted duck. Just as he was about to bring it to his mouth, there was a sudden knock on the office door.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—

"Come in!" Meng Yuanzhong reluctantly put down his chopsticks, sat up straight, and called out.

"Minister Meng." The person who entered was the young man who had just delivered their food. He spoke a little timidly, "We’ve just received a lot of feedback from attendees. They want the convention center to add a restaurant so they can eat..."

"What’s going on?" Meng Yuanzhong found this strange. Why would attendees make such a request? Normally, most interested attendees came to the exhibition after having lunch. Small deals could usually be closed on the same day. For larger deals, both parties would have dinner together in the evening to discuss the partnership at the table. It was for this reason that they had only prepared lunch for the exhibitors.

The young man took a shallow breath and explained the whole situation.

It turned out the problem stemmed from the lack of facilities around the convention center. Some attendees had arrived right when the doors opened in the morning. Knowing beforehand that the convention center wouldn’t provide food and there was nowhere to buy any nearby, they had brought their own. But at lunchtime, when they found out the convention center was providing standardized box lunches to the exhibitors, they became disgruntled. They demanded that the convention center treat everyone equally and allow them to purchase the box lunches as well.

’Hiss! This request... it’s a bit tricky!’

’Attendees are different from exhibitors. The number of exhibitors is fixed each day, but the crowd of attendees is transient. They might come in the morning, or in the afternoon after lunch. They might show up on the first day, skip the second and third, and then return on the fourth and fifth. Besides, just because they’re here doesn’t guarantee they’ll buy a box lunch. If we prepare too few, it’s not a big deal; we can just tell the latecomers we’ve sold out. But if we prepare too many, the costs will go up.’

Just as Meng Yuanzhong was feeling troubled, the old man waved for the young man to leave. After the young man had left, he spoke up, reminding him, "There were six hotels in total that participated in the bidding conference."

’The bidding conference? Six hotels?’

Meng Yuanzhong received the old man’s hint, but for a moment, he couldn’t connect it to the attendees’ request. ’The three things seem completely unrelated!’ Just as he was pondering this, his gaze swept over the box lunch on the table, and a youth’s voice echoed in his mind.

’Currently, in addition to our in-store business, Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant also offers delivery services and provides employee meals for various companies. We also set up stalls to sell box lunches at the entrances of three construction sites in Hai City and other high-traffic areas...’

’Set up stalls to sell box lunches! Stalls!’

"Teacher, do you mean we should open up an area in the convention center and let those six hotels set up stalls to sell box lunches during the expo?"

A smile touched the corners of the old man’s lips. He picked up some food with his chopsticks and ate without answering Meng Yuanzhong’s question. But the clear smile on his face told Meng Yuanzhong, ’My idea is correct!’ Following this line of thought, the more he considered it, the more feasible it seemed. ’We can pass the cost issue on to the hotels, and our side will only be responsible for oversight to ensure there are no problems. As for whether the hotels make a profit or a loss, that’s their own business. In any case, we’re giving them the opportunity.’

Meng Yuanzhong finished his box lunch in a few quick bites, muttered, "Not bad," and returned to his desk, immediately diving into drafting a plan.

「Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant.」

They left for the convention center at 10:40 AM and arrived at 11:20. The delivery was complete by 11:50, and they started their return trip. They got back to Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant at 12:30 PM, right at the peak of the lunch rush. The two of them got out of the car and went straight to work in the bustling restaurant. They stayed busy until 1:40 PM, when the customers finally began to trickle out, leaving tables covered in dirty dishes.

Between the box lunches and the in-store customers, they sold over seven thousand meals in a single lunch period, netting a daily profit of over twenty thousand yuan. The money was real, but so was the exhaustion. Xu An was already calculating in his head. ’I should ask Nanny He to look around for some of her retired friends who are home with nothing to do and want to earn some pocket money. I could have them come to the restaurant for some odd jobs. Things like clearing tables and packing box lunches are easy work. Plus, they could earn money while catching up with their friends. How great is that!’