The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 466 Song Yu's Last Chance

Completely unaware that their old acquaintances had also arrived in Xianyu City and were once again targeting them, Qin Lang led Cao Dongdong and the other two into the Haibawang Restaurant. Looking at the empty lobby, he couldn't help but sigh.

Just a day ago, this place was packed with people, with every seat filled.

"Are you the distinguished guests who would like to eat...?"

A voice, tinged with surprise, appeared beside them.

Qin Lang turned his head and immediately saw the female greeter from yesterday.

The other party clearly recognized them, after all, Qin Lang's identity as a spirit chef had left a deep impression on her yesterday.

"Yes." Qin Lang nodded calmly. "Are you open for business as usual today?"

"We are open as usual." The female greeter nodded quickly, but then looked troubled. "However, some dishes are temporarily unavailable."

"It's okay, we'll just grab a quick bite."

Qin Lang waved his hand and, without waiting for the other party to greet him, directly chose a seat by the window in the lobby and sat down.

After the other three people sat down, he picked up the menu and started looking through it.

As expected, the dishes that are temporarily unavailable are the more expensive signature dishes, which are essentially inferior substitutes.

This is probably the only thing Hai Ba Wang can do right now after yesterday's farce.

After all, suspending operations would only lead to worse consequences.

After ordering a few dishes at random, Qin Lang handed the menu to the waiter.

Soon, the dishes were served.

Qin Lang picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, his eyebrows instantly twitching.

After tasting several dishes, his expression grew increasingly serious.

The waiter who served the food was the same one from yesterday. He wasn't too nervous at first, knowing that his own people knew what was going on and that the food was definitely fine today.

But seeing the change in Qin Lang's expression, his heart skipped a beat.

Is there going to be another problem?

That's impossible! The ingredients in these dishes are clearly all fine!
He couldn't help but ask somewhat nervously, "Sir, is there anything about the food that you're not satisfied with?"

The others also noticed the change in Qin Lang's expression. Cao Dongdong couldn't help but ask, "Could it be that he's trying to pass off inferior goods again?"

"No." Qin Lang shook his head.

"The ingredients are fine, but..." He turned to look at the waiter, "Could we see that Deputy Manager Song from yesterday again?"

The waiter's face turned pale instantly.

Another meeting with the manager?!

Haibawang is now in a precarious situation. The aftermath of yesterday's farce has already caused everyone a lot of headaches. If something else goes wrong at this critical juncture, Haibawang will really be close to bankruptcy!
With a deep sigh, the waiter turned around with heavy steps and soon returned with the deputy manager, Song Yu.

After just one day apart, Song Yu looked noticeably haggard, with dark circles under his eyes and a few more gray hairs at his temples.

Looking at Qin Lang, whom he had met yesterday, his expression was somewhat complicated. "Distinguished guest, is there anything you are dissatisfied with regarding the dishes?"

Qin Lang didn't answer directly, but glanced at Song Yu and said, "Deputy Manager Song, you seem to have lost a lot of your youthful appearance."

"Yes," Song Yu said with a wry smile, "It's my fault that Hai Ba Wang has become like this."

"In order to solve the restaurant's food supply problem, the manager was away on a business trip, and I confidently assured him that I could stall until the other party returned."

"But the situation has changed like this." "The manager has already received the news, and by the time he returns, my tenure as deputy manager will probably be over."

Perhaps knowing he would inevitably be punished, Song Yu, upon hearing Qin Lang's question, simply spilled everything out.

For a moment, even Cao Dongdong, who was very dissatisfied with Song Yu's actions yesterday, subtly changed the way he looked at Song Yu.

Although this guy made some problematic decisions, it was ultimately for the sake of Haibawang Restaurant. It's just that his cleverness backfired and turned the restaurant into this mess.

It's conceivable that even if the manager who was away solved the problem of food supply channels, Haibaowang might not be able to return to its former glory.

"I'm sorry, I've talked too much." Song Yu realized his lapse in composure, shook his head, and looked at Qin Lang. "Sir, please feel free to speak up if you have any complaints."

"I have no complaints about today's dishes," Qin Lang shook his head. "I called you here just to ask..."

"Did you change your chef?"

Song Yu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, "As expected of someone who can detect problems with ingredients with just one bite, sir, you are truly amazing."

“Indeed, Chef Wang resigned last night.” At this point, Song Yu sighed. “Chef Wang is a man of high moral character. Hai Ba Wang’s reputation is ruined, and he is unwilling to go along with it.”

"Although I was reluctant, I had no choice but to agree to their departure."

"But please rest assured, sir, the new head chef's culinary skills are not much worse than the previous head chef, Mr. Wang. I believe you can taste the difference."

"Hmph!" Before Qin Lang could speak, Cao Dongdong snorted angrily, "What do you mean you're unwilling to go along with the corrupt practices?"

"I think that guy had something to hide, that's why he ran away!"

“This…” Song Yu was stunned.

"Deputy Manager Song," Qin Lang suddenly spoke up, "would you like to make amends and resolve the Hai Ba Wang issue before the manager arrives?"

A sharp glint suddenly flashed in Song Yu's eyes.

“If I could, I would certainly like to,” he said in a deep voice.

"That's good." Qin Lang nodded slightly and pointed to Cao Dongdong. "His father is named Cao Wang."

“Cao…” Upon hearing this somewhat familiar name, Song Yu’s pupils contracted, and he quickly thought of someone, “That Director Cao from the group?”

A look of realization dawned on his face. "I see."

"The manager previously reported the food supply issue to Director Cao, so you were sent by Director Cao..."

"Shh~" Qin Lang made a shushing gesture. "Don't let anyone else know about this for now."

He chose to tell Song Yu in advance because he considered Song Yu's current situation and believed that Song Yu was a trustworthy and cooperative person.

"I understand!" Song Yu nodded emphatically, a look of sudden realization on his face, and his expression toward Qin Lang and the others became even more respectful.

"So, what do we do next?"

“Let’s start with the head chef who resigned yesterday,” Qin Lang said in a deep voice. “We found that the head chef at Hai Sheng Yan Restaurant has a very high degree of similarity in cooking methods to him.”

"They may not be the same person, but they must be related."

“Hai Sheng Yan…” Song Yu clenched his fist upon hearing this. “The manager mentioned that the problem with Hai Ba Wang is very likely that the other party is behind it.”

"You mean, there's something wrong with Chef Wang?"

Before Qin Lang and the others could answer, Song Yu's expression grew increasingly grim, and he muttered to himself, "Indeed, he seems very suspicious."

"I really shouldn't have let him go so easily last night!"

(End of this chapter)