The Rich Man's Life Begins with a Comeback

Chapter 310 Yin cannot exist alone, Yang cannot grow alone (5k)

The Zhenyuan Shanfang Satellite Plaza store has four floors and a total building area of ​​over 2,000 square meters, which is the same as the other three Zhenyuan Shanfang brand flagship stores in Beichun.

The TCM consultation area, waiting area, Chinese herbal medicine display area, medicinal cuisine preparation area, and medicinal material storage area are all located on the first floor of [Zhenyuan Shanfang], while the area where customers enjoy medicinal cuisine is on the upper three floors.

The second and third floors are public dining areas.

To align with the core design concept of natural elegance, each seat in the public dining area is spaced far apart from the others, separated by vertical green walls.

As for the top floor, it consists entirely of the exclusive private rooms that store manager Han Tong just mentioned. In the future, these rooms will only be open to VIC customers of Zhencui Group. In addition, VIC customers of Zhencui Group can enjoy exclusive services such as customized medicinal diet therapy, private health consultants, and exclusive supply of rare year medicinal materials in the exclusive private rooms.

According to Gu Heng and Fan Hong's discussions and research, when more and more high-net-worth individuals recognize the medicinal cuisine of [Zhenyuan Shanfang], and when the exclusive services of [Zhenyuan Shanfang] reach saturation, it will be time for Zhencui Group to launch a brand-new ultra-premium medicinal cuisine brand.

At this moment, Gu Heng helped Bai Muqing walk towards the elevator.

The Chinese herbal medicine display area showcases seasonal medicinal ingredients. In each celadon crackle-patterned vase, the tender shoots of Gastrodia elata are topped with dewdrops, and the stems of Dendrobium officinale gleam with a jade-like luster. Each herb is attached to a wooden tag with tiny characters engraved on it, resembling ink from pine soot. You can even smell a faint fragrance of sandalwood when you get closer.

At the corner, inside the vertical green wall composed of hexagonal honeycomb modules, the tendrils of Codonopsis pilosula resemble the veined hands of an old man, while the leaves of Polygonatum sibiricum are like jade fans carved from jade. When the built-in automatic drip irrigation system is working, it is accompanied by a rustling sound like drizzle falling on banana leaves, just like the sound of clear rain.

"This place doesn't feel like a restaurant; it feels more like a museum of traditional Chinese medicine."

"Being there makes you relax without even realizing it; it's really beautiful."

Bai Muqing looked around at the surroundings and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

"It seems our first customer is very satisfied with our store's environment."

As the two were talking, the elevator doors slowly opened.

In the center of the elevator, the brand logo of 【臻元膳坊】is printed.

With the Yin-Yang symbol as its core element, it incorporates elements of Chinese medicinal herbs and vegetables, and its main colors are indigo and amber gold, giving it a high-end feel with a strong sense of Eastern aesthetics.

"You even have a brand logo! You've prepared so thoroughly even before the store opens. It seems you have very high expectations for this new brand."

Upon seeing the brand logo, Bai Muqing's expression of surprise deepened considerably.

"Indeed."

Gu Heng smiled and nodded.

Since the beginning of the year, from the establishment of Chinese herbal medicine planting bases to the selection of brand flagship stores, from the design plans of top domestic design institutes to the decoration of numerous brand flagship stores, and from the hiring of TCM consultants to the closed training of service personnel, [Zhenyuan Shanfang] has already invested nearly 80 million yuan even before its opening.

It's worth noting that before Gu Heng invested in Zhencui Group, when he had just acquired the entire group from Hu Jilin, the former chairman of Zhencui Group, the group was only worth 1.2 million yuan.

In other words, before [Zhenyuan Shanfang] even opened, Gu Heng had already burned through most of the Zhencui Group. For Jilin Province, which is relatively underdeveloped economically, such an investment scale should be considered one of the largest in the province's catering industry.

The elevator arrived in an instant, just four floors away.

Gu Heng helped Bai Muqing out of the elevator. The fourth floor was more quiet and elegant than the first floor.

The ground is entirely paved with crackled bluestone, with fine white quartz sand filling the gaps. On the left and right sides are well-arranged private rooms, which look very much like Chinese Zen.

"Chairman Gu, please..."

Han Tong walked ahead, leading Gu Heng and Bai Muqing, and finally brought them into the most spacious VIP room.

The teak table and chairs in the center gleamed under the soft light, and sandalwood fragrance drifted gently from the corner, filling the air with an extremely pleasant sandalwood scent.

"How about it?"

"Does it still hurt a lot?"

Gu Heng helped Bai Muqing to her seat and asked her with concern.

"It hurts so much it's numb."

Bai Muqing moved her lips and finally uttered these three words.

Upon hearing this, Gu Heng turned around and was about to ask Han Tong to urge the TCM consultant to come up quickly when a series of slightly hurried footsteps came from outside the VIP room. Immediately afterwards, an elderly woman wearing a white coat and carrying a TCM consultation kit walked in quickly from outside.

"Mr. Gu, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

The old woman looked somewhat apologetic.

"It's fine."

"Consultant Huang, could you please take a look at her?"

"She said it's a long-standing problem that she used to endure with painkillers like ibuprofen, but she forgot to bring it today, and it's hurting right now."

Gu Heng treated the old woman with great respect.

Because [Zhenyuan Shanfang] is a medicinal cuisine restaurant, and because each customer is different, each [Zhenyuan Shanfang] flagship store will have two to three TCM consultants on-site to generate personalized medicinal cuisine plans for each customer through simple tongue diagnosis, face diagnosis, and pulse diagnosis.

The elderly woman in front of us is Huang Yunmei, the TCM consultant for the Zhenyuan Shanfang Satellite Plaza store. She was originally an expert at Beichun TCM Hospital, and was rehired by Zhencui Group with a high salary after retiring.

Huang Yunmei initially refused, but the money offered by Zhencui Group was simply too much, and the environment at [Zhenyuan Shanfang] was excellent, with relatively relaxed work conditions. In the end, Huang Yunmei compromised. And among the many flagship stores of [Zhenyuan Shanfang], there are many similar cases to Huang Yunmei.

"Young lady, how old are you this year?"

Huang Yunmei took out a mat from her traditional Chinese medicine consultation kit and, while preparing to take Bai Muqing's pulse, asked Bai Muqing some questions.

"I'm 25 years old this year."

Bai Muqing obediently cooperated and answered truthfully.

"I'm 25 years old, how can I still have such severe menstrual cramps?"

Huang Yunmei looked slightly surprised, then her gaze fell on Bai Muqing's pale and beautiful face, and she tentatively asked, "You've never had a boyfriend before?"

"No."

Bai Muqing shook his head, looking inexplicably a little naive.

When Gu Heng heard Bai Muqing's answer, the corners of his lips lifted almost imperceptibly, a reaction that came from his very body, which he himself was unaware of.

"No wonder."

Huang Yunmei sighed.

Bai Muqing couldn't help but ask, "Consultant Huang, I have severe menstrual cramps. What does that have to do with whether I have a boyfriend or not?"

"Young lady, do you know the principle that yin cannot produce life alone, nor yang can grow alone?"

Huang Yunmei said with a smile, "When you took the elevator upstairs, you should have seen the brand logo right in the center of the elevator, right? Do you know why it uses the yin-yang symbol as its basic element?"

"The reason is actually what I just said. For everything in the world to develop naturally and for a long time, it must follow the law of yin and yang harmony. That's why menstrual cramps, in severe cases, usually only occur in young girls and not in married women or women with long-term stable boyfriends."

Do you understand the relationship between these two things now?

Huang Yunmei didn't say it explicitly, but it was enough for Bai Muqing to understand.

Although Bai Muqing only had scientific research on her mind, she was not the kind of bookworm who had become stupid from studying. Even though she was not interested in matters between men and women, she still had the basic common sense.

Huang Yunmei looked at Bai Muqing, who seemed a little embarrassed, and smiled without saying anything more. She calmed down and quietly analyzed Bai Muqing's pulse.

After taking the pulse on the right hand, I immediately switched to the left hand.

The VIP room was very quiet until Huang Yunmei withdrew her hand from the pulse-taking procedure.

"Young lady, I'll devise a medicinal diet plan for you."

Huang Yunmei said to Bai Muqing, "If you persist in taking it for a long time, even if you experience menstrual cramps again in the future, they won't be as severe as they are now."

"Can't it be cured completely?"

Gu Heng raised an eyebrow slightly and asked softly.

"Keep taking the medicinal diet, and then I'll find a boyfriend."

"If both conditions are met simultaneously, a complete cure can basically be achieved."

Huang Yunmei put away the mat and said with a smile, "Young lady, your long-term use of ibuprofen, an anti-inflammatory drug, is very harmful to your immune system. So in addition to Siwu Ningzhi Geng, which relieves menstrual cramps, I also suggest you try our Dendrobium and Ginseng Soup."

"I want both of them."

"Consultant Huang, please inform the medicinal cuisine chef to prepare the dish."

Gu Heng made a decision directly: "Based on her actual situation, if there are aged medicinal herbs available, we will use aged medicinal herbs for her."

Huang Yunmei nodded to indicate that she understood, and then stood up from her seat: "Chairman Gu, I'll go out first then. Please call me anytime if you need anything."

"Please ask the medicinal cuisine chef to make me a Three-Collagen Strengthening Soup, I'm a little hungry."

Gu Heng saw Huang Yunmei off, showing great respect for the old traditional Chinese medicine doctor.

"no problem."

Huang Yunmei left the VIP room, and Han Tong tactfully followed suit.

"I'm sorry to trouble you today."

After Huang Yunmei and Han Tong left, Bai Muqing, with a hint of apology, whispered to Gu Heng, "I was supposed to tutor you, but it turned into you taking care of me." "We are both teacher and student, and friends."

"Isn't it?"

Gu Heng sat down directly in front of Bai Muqing. The warm yellow light shone between the two of them, and his gaze was somewhat direct and undisguised.

Faced with Gu Heng's gaze, Bai Muqing was slightly flustered, which made her look even more charming and naive.

"Ok?"

"Does Teacher Bai's lack of response mean he doesn't agree with my statement?"

Gu Heng looked at Bai Muqing's somewhat flustered expression, the corners of his lips slightly raised, and leaned forward slightly towards Bai Muqing, so that the beam of light shining between the two of them fell directly on Bai Muqing's head: "Could it be that in Teacher Bai's heart, I have never been considered a friend?"

"of course not."

Bai Muqing gave her answer without even thinking.

"If that's not the case, it means that Teacher Bai also considers me a friend."

Gu Heng smiled slightly: "How can it be considered troublesome for friends to help each other?"

Bai Muqing opened her mouth, but in the end, she was speechless.

Seeing this, Gu Heng's smile deepened.

"I heard you have a younger sister?"

He changed the subject and asked Bai Muqing.

"Yes."

Bai Muqing responded softly.

"How old is this year?"

Gu Heng felt the atmosphere was just right today, and to prevent it from getting awkward, he continued to explore the topic further: "Like you, are you also a top student?"

"She is 17 years old this year."

“I am different from her; she chose the path of competitive sports.”

"Currently, I am in the national youth team preparing for the World Junior Badminton Championships."

When Bai Muqing mentioned his younger sister, his eyes unconsciously filled with tenderness, and his words carried a hint of pride.

"Being selected for the national youth team shows that your sister has a very high level of athletic ability."

Gu Heng was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected that Bai Muqing, whose older sister was a genius and academic star, would have a younger sister who would choose the path of sports competition, and who seemed to be quite impressive as well.

The Bai sisters are both literate and martial!

"She is currently in her prime, and as long as she has dreams and aspirations, I will definitely support her."

Bai Muqing's voice was soft, but her tone was firm.

Gu Heng felt a little strange when he heard Bai Muqing say that.

She's clearly the older sister, but why does her tone sound a bit like a mother's?
However, Gu Heng didn't think much of it, because the staff had already pushed the medicinal cuisine that the chef had just prepared into the VIP private room.

"Chairman Gu, this is Miss Bai's Four-Ingredient Soup with Condensed Fat."

Han Tong personally served Bai Muqing the dishes, while gently explaining, "The other dish, Dendrobium and Ginseng Soup, and your Three-Collagen Strengthening Soup will take a little while longer."

"The Four-Ingredient Soup is ready, the other two medicinal dishes are not in a hurry."

Gu Heng responded to Han Tong, then turned his gaze to Bai Muqing: "Try it, it should be very effective."

"it is good."

Bai Muqing nodded, looking at the celadon soup bowl placed in front of her, a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

Pick up the white porcelain spoon and gently place it into the celadon soup bowl.

The Four-Ingredient Soup looks just like the precious bird's nest, crystal clear like ivory white, with a dark red broth and a rich aroma.

Bai Muqing scooped up a little with a white porcelain spoon and put it in her mouth. It didn't taste like the bitter and astringent Chinese herbal medicine she had imagined. On the contrary, it tasted quite good, and it really felt like eating bird's nest.

As soon as the medicinal food went down, Bai Muqing felt a warm sensation throughout her body.

"Eat it while it's hot."

Gu Heng looked at Bai Muqing and urged her gently.

"Uh-huh."

Bai Muqing noticed the changes in her body and immediately used a white porcelain spoon to continue feeding the Four-Ingredient Congee from the celadon bowl into her mouth.

One sip after another, Bai Muqing felt as if she were soaking in a hot spring, her whole body warm and comfortable. The sharp pain in her lower abdomen was greatly relieved without her even realizing it.

If the original pain was likened to a level 10, then after she finished drinking this bowl of Siwu Ningzhi Soup, her pain was reduced to a level 3.

Although she still felt a dull ache, the pain was completely within her tolerance range.

Such amazing results truly shocked Bai Muqing.

"It really works!!"

“It’s amazing!”

Bai Muqing's beautiful eyes widened, and she couldn't stop praising it.

Gu Heng sat opposite Bai Muqing. He looked at the somewhat excited Bai Muqing, and then at the silver-rimmed glasses on her nose that were fogged up from the Four-Ingredient Soup. Suddenly, as if possessed, he reached out and gently took off Bai Muqing's silver-rimmed glasses.

Without her glasses, Bai Muqing, like most nearsighted people, experienced temporary loss of focus and confusion in her vision. Combined with her stunningly beautiful face, which exuded an oriental charm, this made Bai Muqing's beauty instantly stand out.

"Why did you take my glasses off...?"

Bai Muqing was surprised by Gu Heng's sudden action. She briefly adjusted to the blurry world before murmuring something.

"There is fog."

"It's uncomfortable to wear."

"Then take it off."

Gu Heng could not possibly say that he was simply driven by curiosity and wanted to see what Bai Muqing looked like without his glasses.

"Oh……"

Bai Muqing pursed her pink lips, feeling inexplicably shy. She subconsciously pinched the white porcelain spoon in her hand and gently stirred the remaining Four-Ingredient Congee.

"Does it still hurt?"

Gu Heng then brought up the topic again.

"It doesn't hurt as much anymore."

"That's really amazing."

Bai Muqing's interest was rekindled: "What exactly is this Four-Ingredient Cream made of? How can it have such powerful effects!"

However, she realized something was wrong as soon as she said it.

“Sorry… … ”

"I didn't mean to pry into your business secrets, I was just curious."

If it's inconvenient for you to answer, then don't say anything.

Bai Muqing said belatedly.

"Nothing inconvenient."

Gu Heng smiled and said, "The main ingredients of all the medicinal dishes at our [Zhenyuan Shanfang] will be made public to all customers. In the future, we will even launch a medicinal herb traceability service, allowing customers to see the entire process from planting and harvesting to processing, to ensure that the ingredients used in every medicinal dish are genuine, so that customers can eat with peace of mind."

At this point, Gu Heng pointed to the Four-Ingredient Soup in front of Bai Muqing.

"The medicinal dish in front of you is a special medicinal dish from our [Zhenyuan Diet House]'s Beauty Nourishing Series, designed specifically for women suffering from chronic dysmenorrhea. Its main ingredients are angelica, chuanxiong, white peony root, and prepared rehmannia root..."

As the founder of [Zhenyuan Shanfang] and the sole inheritor of "Meng Shen Shandian", Gu Heng is extremely familiar with the establishment of the entire brand.

As for the risk of the secret recipe being leaked by disclosing the main ingredients of medicinal cuisine to all customers, Gu Heng was not worried at all.

A slight difference is a thousand miles away.

Take the Four-Ingredient Cream that Bai Muqing just ate as an example. If the proportions of the ingredients are slightly different, the final result will be drastically different.

Moreover, after Fan Hong's recent trip to learn from major pharmaceutical companies across the country, the confidentiality measures he and Gu Heng developed have virtually eliminated the risk of the medicinal recipe being leaked or stolen...

(End of this chapter)