The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 235 Cao's Father's Request

"thanks for treatment."

Qin Lang gently put down his chopsticks and looked at Danbao and Lala beside him, who were still devouring the sumptuous food. A smile appeared in Qin Lang's eyes.

It must be said that Cao Dongdong's parents treated them to an extremely lavish feast, with only the highest quality ingredients served, including several rare and precious ingredients. The head chef was also a highly experienced spirit chef.

This one table alone would cost at least several million.

It's estimated that after today, Egg Baby and Spicy's experience points will be greatly increased again.

but…

The more this was the case, the more Qin Lang felt that Cao Dongdong's parents' hospitality towards them was not simply out of gratitude.

"Uncle Cao, is there anything we can help you with?"

Upon hearing this question, Cao Wang paused for a moment, then burst into laughter, "Little Qin, you figured it out?"

"Well, Lao Deng, you invited my friend to dinner but you had other motives?" Cao Dongdong slammed his hand on the table and stood up.

Cao Wang glanced speechlessly at his unlucky son, "It's because you're such a troublemaker that I have to ask Xiao Qin and the others for help."

"Uncle Cao, can you tell me what happened?" Zhao Qian, who was standing to the side, also put down her chopsticks and became serious.

"Actually... it's not a big deal." Cao Wang sighed. "You should know that I'm one of the shareholders of Tianzhou Group, right?"

Qin Lang and Zhao Qian nodded at the same time.

The hotels they stayed at along the way were owned by Tianzhou Group.

Tianzhou Group's businesses extend far beyond the hotel industry; they have a presence in virtually every sector of life, from clothing and food to housing and transportation.

“It’s like this.” Cao Wang hesitated for a moment before slowly speaking, “Recently, Tianzhou Group has been trying to enter the restaurant chain industry.”

"And this part of the business was assigned to me."

"After some research, I decided to start with seafood ingredients and established a catering brand called 'Hai Ba Wang' to specialize in high-end seafood dishes."

"This name sounds pretty ordinary," Cao Dongdong complained.

"Dongdong, you'd better say less," Qin Lang said, tugging at Cao Dongdong with a wry smile.

He was afraid that Cao Dongdong would interrupt again, and a scene of filial piety between father and son would unfold on the spot.

Cao Wang glared at Cao Dongdong, then continued, "For seafood cuisine, it's naturally best to develop in places close to the ocean."

"Ultimately, I chose Mingjingzhou, a coastal state, as the headquarters of this catering brand, and plan to gradually expand to other states after developing in Mingjingzhou."

Qin Lang nodded slightly upon hearing this.

From this perspective, Cao Wang's arrangement doesn't seem to have any major problems.

But since he sought Qin Lang's help, he must have encountered some problems in the process.

“At first, everything was going according to my plan, but after Haibaowang Catering expanded to its third branch, it suddenly started to suffer continuous losses.” At this point, Cao Wang’s expression became more serious.

"The person in charge explained to me that someone had disrupted Haibaowang's food supply chain, causing Haibaowang's raw material costs to rise, making it unable to cover revenue and resulting in continuous losses."

"Tianzhou Group has its own food supply chain, so theoretically such a problem should not be possible."

"So you suspect that someone is embezzling funds?" Qin Lang interjected.

“That’s exactly what I meant.” Cao Wang smiled. “If I go to Mingjing Prefecture in person, they will definitely not be able to expose the problem in front of me.” “And I also know my subordinates and the person in charge of the catering department.”

"So I want to ask a few trustworthy strangers to secretly investigate 'Hai Ba Wang' Catering and find out the real reason."

“It just so happens that you returned to Dongxia City at this time.” As he spoke, Cao Wang glanced at Cao Dongdong. “I have seen Dongdong’s progress, and I really hope to take this opportunity to train him.”

"But I also know that he cherishes you two as friends and enjoys this trip with you..."

"So as a father, I have to take the liberty of making this request, hoping that you can continue your journey and travels to Mingjingzhou."

Cao Wang smiled and said, "I know this might conflict with your original plan, so it doesn't matter if you disagree."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Qian immediately turned her gaze to Qin Lang.

Of the three, Qin Lang always made the decision about the destination, so as long as Qin Lang agreed, she wouldn't have much of an objection.

Anyway, she's going somewhere, and she's never been to Mingjingzhou!

A thoughtful look flashed in Qin Lang's eyes, and after a moment he smiled and nodded, "No problem, next we'll go to Mingjing Prefecture."

Based on his previous guess, the landscape paintings in the later parts of the Traveler's Book were also in Mingjing Province, so agreeing to Cao Wang's request was a matter of going with the flow.

"You agreed just like that?" Cao Dongdong couldn't help but widen his eyes.

"Hey Qin Lang, don't change your plans for my sake!" he couldn't help but say. "We're not even going to have this training opportunity. Even if we don't go, Lao Deng can definitely find someone else to investigate."

"I didn't do this for you." Qin Lang looked at Cao Dongdong with a wry smile. "Do you remember the exquisite lobster we ate after the competition?"

“Mingjingzhou is close to Qili Bay, which has abundant seafood resources. If we go there, we might be able to taste other delicious seafood.”

"Don't you have any interest in seafood?"

“I…” Cao Dongdong opened his mouth, then silently closed it again.

When it comes to food, which official can resist the temptation?
"That's wonderful!" Cao Wang said with a delighted smile.

Qin Lang's quick agreement was also beyond his expectations.

He had originally planned to offer more benefits if Qin Lang was unwilling, but now…

These benefits should naturally still be given.

"These are three luxury tickets for the 'Leaping Fish' cruise ship." Cao Wang produced three tickets as if by magic and handed them to Qin Lang and the other two with a smile.

"With this ticket, you can spend a wonderful week on the 'Leapfish' cruise ship and finally disembark at Leapfish Lake in Soundwhale State."

"Besides that... here's a food ingredient collection card." Cao Wang chuckled as he handed the card to Qin Lang. "With this card, you can collect food ingredients for free from Tianzhou Group's food ingredient channels, with a daily limit of five million."

"hiss…"

Qin Lang blankly accepted the card from Cao Wang, and couldn't help but gasp.

Daily limit of five million!

When he left Dongxia City, he earned his first ten million in this world by guiding those students.

However, the ingredients used in every cooking competition are top-quality, and the practice and competition have already spent most of the ten million.

If it weren't for the two rare spirits constantly producing ingredients, Qin Lang would have already returned to being penniless.

He was worried about how to earn money to buy ingredients, and the card Cao Wang sent was a godsend!
(End of this chapter)