Chapter 217 - 189: Grand Opening (Part 1)

Chapter 217: Chapter 189: Grand Opening (Part 1)

Xu’s Braised Shop’s opening was scheduled for 2:00 PM on a Monday, a time that was rather inconvenient for both office workers and students. Xu An had expected the peak rush to start after 6:00 PM, which would leave plenty of time beforehand for the internet celebrities and studios attending the event to film and do their promotional work.

But to his surprise, at noon, when the sun was still incredibly harsh, people began to show up one after another at the entrance of Xu’s Braised Shop, peeking and peering inside. After a look, these people didn’t leave the old street. Instead, they found seats in the dessert shops, fast-food restaurants, and snack stalls along the street, chatting and laughing as they waited for 2:00 PM, when the opening event for Xu’s Braised Shop would begin.

Since twelve o’clock was lunchtime, the shopkeepers on the old street didn’t pay much mind, even though foot traffic was a bit heavier than usual. But as time went on, the crowd didn’t shrink; it grew. The entire old street became packed, not just inside the shops, but even in every shady spot outside.

This unusually strange behavior caught the attention of the shop owners, who started asking their customers if there was a major competition or event nearby. When they learned that everyone was there for the opening of the shop at the end of the street, the owners were all dumbfounded.

That storefront at the end of the street had seen six different businesses open and close in less than a year. Everyone had reached a consensus: the shop had bad feng shui, and maybe it was even cursed. After all, with its prime location, high foot traffic, and visibility, for six businesses to fail within a year was just too strange. Something had to be wrong with it!

But now that a new owner had taken over, the opening event alone had attracted so many customers. ’Has the curse on this storefront been broken? Is this new owner some kind of feng shui master? Or does he just have such incredible luck with money that he’s suppressing all the curses and evil spirits?’

This made the shop owners on the old street feel a sense of anticipation. They were eager to see if the curse of "lose money on opening day, go bankrupt in three months" would finally be broken by this new owner.

Xu An, busy inside his shop, was naturally unaware of what the other owners on the old street were thinking. He was currently sitting in front of a freezer, on top of which sat stacks of fresh one-hundred-yuan bills he had just withdrawn from the bank.

Initially, the event Xu An had planned had prizes for one first-place winner, five second-place winners, and ten third-place winners. Excluding the first prize, the total payout would have been only 2,500 yuan. But after Tang Wen took over the planning and tasted the Hellish Braised Flavor, she made a bold executive decision. The number of third-place winners became unlimited, and the number of second-place winners was increased to three hundred. Only the first-place prize remained unchanged, for a single winner. The event duration was also extended from one day to one week, with anyone who completed the challenge within that week eligible for a prize.

That wasn’t even the most outrageous part. What was even more outrageous was that Tang Wen had actually convinced Xu An. He had thought her reasoning was perfectly sound and then signed his name on the proposal!

’I didn’t think much of it when I was signing,’ Xu An thought, ’but now, looking at the thirty thousand yuan in cash stacked in front of me, I really want to go to the hospital for a check-up. Maybe I have early-onset dementia or some other disease. Or maybe I should get Tang Wen checked out and see if she knows hypnosis or something...’

’Thirty thousand yuan! Thirty thousand! This one opening event has cost nearly fifty thousand yuan in total! That’s almost enough to buy a heated food truck!’

However, when he turned to look at the endless stream of people outside and the stylishly dressed internet celebrities weaving through the crowd, he felt a little better. Thinking about the upcoming social media collaboration with the ’Hai City Food Studio’ account and the lifestyle news report on Hai City’s local TV station, Xu An felt a flicker of reassurance. ’At least for now, the results look pretty good.’

’Judging by this crowd, the over five hundred pounds of braised food I prepared for today might not be enough...’

Shaking his head to clear the stray thoughts, Xu An focused on neatly wrapping the thirty thousand yuan with strips of red paper. The thickest, most eye-catching stack—the event’s biggest gimmick—was the one worth ten thousand yuan.

It was also because the prize money was so generous that Second Grand-uncle, after seeing the advertisement, had specifically assigned Uncle Dongliang to bring some villagers over to provide security and prevent any troublemakers from causing a scene. Second Grand-uncle’s worries weren’t unfounded. Since the shop doors had opened, three separate groups of local thugs had already come by to collect "protection fees"...

As it grew closer to two o’clock, the crowd on the old street swelled. Amazingly, the people had sorted themselves into several distinct groups based on their reasons for being there. There were those aiming for the ten-thousand-yuan prize, those lured in by Lin Mengjuan’s food review, those curious about the Hellish Braised Flavor, and those who were simply lovers of braised food...

「1:38 PM. The auspicious hour had arrived!」

The loud sound of gongs and drums echoed down the old street. A space quickly cleared in front of Xu’s Braised Shop, where two lion dance troupes tumbled and leaped. They ran and jumped, playfully fighting and teasing, a perfect mix of bumbling charm and majestic power that drew an even larger crowd of onlookers.

At 1:58 PM, Xu An—as the owner of Xu’s Braised Shop, the event organizer, and the main sponsor—finally stepped out of the shop. After a two-minute ribbon-cutting and sign-unveiling ceremony, Uncle Dongliang, Uncle Guosheng, and Uncle Guoqiang appeared, acting as ushers and holding three trays. The stacks of cash on the trays made the crowd gasp, their eyes filled with anticipation.

AHEM—

After clearing his throat twice to draw everyone’s attention, Xu An began to speak slowly. "Thank you all for braving the scorching heat and coming from far and wide to attend the grand opening of Xu’s Braised Shop. I know exactly why you’re all here, so I’ll cut to the chase. Now, please form an orderly line to purchase your braised food, then proceed to the left to participate in our opening day ’Hellish Braised Flavor’ challenge!"

WOOHOO!

The moment his voice fell, the crowd erupted. Ignoring the request to line up, people scrambled to be the first to reach the freezer at Xu’s Braised Shop. But they had only taken a couple of steps before they saw the burly men surrounding the shop glaring at them menacingly. They slowly retracted their outstretched feet and began to move in an orderly fashion. In no time, a long line of over a hundred people had formed.

After more than a week of training and practice, Zhang Dezhen was now an expert with the cash register, completing a transaction from payment to making change in no more than five seconds. Zhang Dezhen was fast, but the line only grew longer. At first, it had just snaked back and forth three times, but now a fifth section was beginning to form...

A tall, thin middle-aged man saw the sign for Xu’s Braised Shop from a distance, along with the long line in front of it, and immediately grew anxious. He had thought that leaving at 1:30 PM to arrive at the door of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant by 2:00 PM would be perfect timing.

But he never expected so many people to be participating in the event! ’There’s only one first prize! What if someone else gets it first?!’

The tall, thin man slapped his thigh in frustration, then sprinted toward the end of the line, managing to cut in front of three people to secure his spot. His face was full of worry as he watched a young man who had just bought his braised food walk toward the challenge platform. He couldn’t help but mutter under his breath, "Fail, fail, fail!"