Chapter 270: Small Copper Hot Pot

Besides distributing the new employee uniforms, Shen Lu decided to treat everyone to dinner that night. She would have the new and old employees eat together, and she would cook herself.

Since she was treating them, Shen Lu, as before, told the employees to bring their families.

"Let me know how many people will be coming from your families so I can prepare enough food."

Wang Daguo looked a little embarrassed. "Boss, maybe you should count my family out."

He already ate a lot himself, and with four people in his family, that was quite a few mouths to feed.

"It’s fine. The more, the merrier." Although Shen Lu had never run a business before, she knew that occasional team-building activities were essential.

She couldn’t think of any novel ideas, but treating them to a meal was something she could both do and do well.

"Alright, then." Wang Daguo finally nodded and agreed.

"Oh, right. While you’re at it, invite Granny Jin to come along too."

"Got it."

Deng Ying said she would bring her sister. Xin Yu’s parents had died young, and last year, the grandparents who raised him also passed away one after another. He was now all alone in the world.

Shu Meng was married and had an 8-year-old son. Her husband worked as a security guard at a textile factory in the Lower City District. If he could get the time off, she would bring him and their child.

Cai Su leaned in and whispered in Shen Lu’s ear, "Will Uncle Liu and Aunt Yang be eating with us?"

Shen Lu paused. "It’s not convenient for Liu Yaozu and my dad. We’ll see if my mom wants to come."

She could only somewhat tolerate Yang Jing. As for Liu Yaozu and Liu Qiang, she didn’t want to see them at all.

Including the security guards, there would be nearly twenty people. It could be considered a small party.

There were a lot of ingredients to prepare. Shen Lu planned to start getting things ready for the evening meal after the lunch rush.

With so many people, stir-frying would be too much work. Shen Lu decided to make hot pot for dinner.

She would make three flavors: a classic spicy beef tallow broth, a tomato broth, and a congee-base broth. This way, she could cater to everyone’s tastes. Each person could choose their preferred broth for their own mini hot pot and pick their own ingredients. It was both hygienic and flexible.

The only problem was that she needed to buy the tableware from the System Mall. A single six-inch copper mini hot pot cost 200 popularity value, so twenty of them would be 4,000 popularity value.

’To buy or not to buy?’

’Of course I’ll buy them.’

Shen Lu approved the major expense and bought twenty copper mini hot pots.

These mini hot pots were expensive, but they had one great feature: they didn’t need to be plugged in. The base had its own energy unit that was good for 10,000 hours of use.

The energy units were replaceable, and they were available in the System Mall for 10 popularity value each, which was quite cheap.

Shen Lu comforted herself, ’I can use these mini hot pots today, and I can use them again in the future. Once I start offering stir-fry dishes, I can add hot pot to the menu. This is just buying them in advance.’

The atmosphere at Little Deer Cuisine was exceptionally good today. Everyone had a joyful expression and worked with extra enthusiasm.

Since they opened for the day, customers had been pouring in nonstop. Shen Lu casually asked around and learned that not only had all the Xiangmantian Chain Restaurant locations closed, but Boss Sun’s and Boss Chen’s other restaurants had also shut down.

And it wasn’t just restaurants. Some other shops and small factories had either closed their doors or halted production.

There were more police on the streets. The Lower City District was in chaos.

’Looks like the situation is even more dire than I thought.’

Shen Lu sighed to herself.

In a spare moment while handling a customer’s lottery draw, Shen Lu suddenly saw a news interview playing on the wall-mounted TV.

A reporter in a gray business suit was holding a microphone, asking a question to the research institute’s vice director.

"Excuse me, Vice Director Gong, we’ve heard there have been new developments regarding nutrient liquid recently. Could you elaborate on that for us?"

Vice Director Gong was none other than Gong Tianhua, the man Shen Lu had met once before—Fu Cheng’s uncle.

Ever since returning from the research institute, she hadn’t talked to Fu Cheng about Gong Tianhua. She had only heard someone else call him Director Gong that day and guessed his position at the institute wasn’t low, but she never expected him to be the vice director.

Gong Tianhua wore a proper, elegant smile. After taking the reporter’s question, he began to speak eloquently and at length.

His speech was filled with technical jargon that Shen Lu only half-understood. But she did grasp one key point: Gong Tianhua was the person specifically in charge of nutrient liquid research and development.

Shen Lu’s eyes lit up. ’Gong Tianhua is the breakthrough for the hidden mission!’

’Didn’t I draw a Possession Card?’

’If I possess Gong Tianhua directly, won’t I be able to access the most central and secret information about nutrient liquid at the institute?’

’A medium. Right, I need a medium to use the Possession Card.’

’I need one of Gong Tianhua’s personal belongings, preferably something with DNA like a strand of hair. The possession effect would be better.’

That wouldn’t be easy to get. She couldn’t just go around plucking people’s hair; she’d be arrested as a lunatic.

"Boss? Is there a problem with my card?"

The customer saw Shen Lu spacing out and thought something was wrong with their card.

"Huh?" Shen Lu snapped back to reality. "No, sorry about that. I’ll swipe your card right away."

Shen Lu collected her thoughts and focused on the task at hand.

After the lunch rush, Shen Lu successfully obtained today’s Lottery Ticket.

Grabbing a quick bite for lunch, Shen Lu started to get busy with the preparations for the evening party.

Just having hot pot wouldn’t be enough. Shen Lu decided to make a few extra dishes to go with it.

For example, crispy fried pork, a cold platter of braised meats, and a large mixed salad.

Shen Lu focused on making the hot pot broths, leaving the tasks of washing, cutting, and plating the vegetables to the others.

Besides the spicy broth, which was a bit more complex, the tomato and congee-base broths were quite simple.

After finishing the broths, Shen Lu marinated the meat for the crispy fried pork and handed the braised dishes over to Cai Su.

Cai Su could already perfectly replicate her flavors, but she still needed some guidance on the braising time for new ingredients.

Around 5:00 PM, almost everything was ready. Shen Lu told a few of her employees to go home and bring their families over.

Shen Lu also went to the tin-roofed shack in the backyard. Inside, Yang Jing was hammering and nailing, piecing together a single bed from scavenged materials.

This was the most she could accomplish in one afternoon.

But Liu Yaozu was very dissatisfied, cursing and grumbling, his words all implying that Yang Jing was useless.

Liu Qiang was half-lying on a flatbed cart, indifferent to his son cursing at Yang Jing. It was unclear whether he was just used to it or if he thought Liu Yaozu was right.

Shen Lu pushed the door open, entered, and slammed it shut, making the roof tremble.

Liu Yaozu’s curses stopped abruptly. He said in a slightly fawning tone, "Sister, are you here to see me?"

"You think you’re that important? That I’d come all this way just to see you?" Shen Lu retorted bluntly. Liu Yaozu was put in his place and didn’t dare to talk back, just pursing his lips resentfully.

Liu Qiang coughed twice. "Little Deer must be here to see me, right? Good, I have something to ask you. You canceled the lease on the place in the Seventeenth District. Since we didn’t stay for the full month, there should be some money refunded, you..."

"I used that money to compensate the landlord and apologize," Shen Lu cut him off. "You brought three shady characters to live there, bothered the neighbors so much they complained, and dirtied the entire place. Don’t you think you should pay for that?"

"It’s just a crappy old house..." Liu Qiang tried to argue, but Shen Lu didn’t give him the chance. "Whether the house is a wreck or not isn’t an excuse for you to ruin it. By that logic, since Yaozu is a good-for-nothing, does that mean you should all actually treat him like he’s trash?"