Era: You're asked to cook a home-style dish, but you cook Wellington.

Gao Yang understood that this was the calm before the storm.

"Gao Yang, when will our business pick up again?"

Lin Ran sat at the front desk every day, resting her chin on her hand, seemingly lost in thought.

Gao Yang did not speak.

From the day the old man left the Grand Court, things didn't actually improve as he had imagined. Instead, the Grand Court's business got worse and worse, and none of the old customers came back, nor did the reservation phone ring again.

In contrast, the Golden Dragon Hotel across the street was still bustling with diners, as if nothing had changed.

However, Gao Yang understood that this was the calm before the storm.

"Oh my, isn't this the most famous chef at the Grand Court Hotel? How did he manage to run such a big hotel like this?"

A familiar voice rang out, and it was Brother Long.

Brother Long was as arrogant as ever, and he was even more excited when he saw that no one was in the mansion.

"What's going on? What's going on? There's no one here! Third brother, do you think their Grand Court is going to go bankrupt?"

The third brother stepped forward, smiling slightly.

"Brother Long, from a business perspective, if a hotel is operating like this, it must be losing a lot of money and will go bankrupt soon."

"From a character perspective, even their regular customers aren't coming to the Grand Court anymore, which shows their character isn't very good. I guess the previous comments weren't entirely false."

Beside them, a group of thugs clutched their stomachs and laughed loudly, their mocking laughter echoing in the empty lobby, particularly jarring.

Wang Biao and his men were ashen-faced, their fists clenched so tightly they cracked, their anger rising to their heads. Unable to contain themselves, one of them grabbed a chair and tried to smash it over Brother Long's head.

"You motherfucker, you son of a bitch! I'll fuck you to death!"

Zhou Guodong's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly called on others to stop Wang Biao. His voice was so anxious that it changed tone.

"Wang Biao, are you stupid? They're deliberately trying to get you to do it. If he gets beaten up here, it'll be a huge problem."

Chaos erupted in the lobby instantly, with sounds of pulling and shouting mingling together. Zhou Guodong felt his head buzzing and that he was about to explode.

Su Wanqing has been away from the shop for half a month, and the business has become such a mess. Her apprentices are also a powder keg, ready to explode at any moment.

Brother Long pulled over a chair, took out a handful of sunflower seeds, and started cracking them open on the spot as he watched the spectacle unfold.

It took Gao Yang a lot of effort to calm everyone down. He turned around and looked at Brother Long with a cold gaze, the resentment in his eyes almost impossible to hide.

"Tell me, what brings you here today?"

"My second son was beaten up at Haoting before, and as the eldest son, I have to get revenge for him no matter what."

Brother Long took a sip of his tea, pointed at Gao Yang, and his eyes were full of undisguised provocation.

To be honest, he had been racking his brains these past few days, trying to find a pretext to cause trouble for Haoting. When he learned that the second brother, Chen Hu, had been slapped by Gao Yang, he was so happy that he couldn't sleep last night.

"Chen Hu insulted our CEO Su; he deserves to be beaten."

"Your Grand Court Hotel has its own rules; physical violence is strictly prohibited inside the hotel."

Brother Long held the sandpaper and casually touched his fingernails.

Fine white powder slowly fell from the sandpaper, just like sand in an hourglass.

Time passed by, bit by bit.

Brother Long was getting a little impatient.

He stood up, his gaze sharp as a knife, staring intently at Gao Yang, his tone utterly domineering and leaving no room for argument.

"Putting everything else aside, you slapped the second brother in public, making us lose face. Now, slap yourself ten times first, and I'll think about it. Otherwise, I'll just smash up your shop."

Brother Long spoke casually, as if he were talking about a trivial matter, giving Gao Yang no room to consider it.

The atmosphere at the scene froze for a moment.

"Aren't you afraid of retaliation from our CEO, Mr. Su?"

Lin Ran stood with her hands on her hips, practically squeezing out the words through clenched teeth, her eyes filled with resentment and anger.

But Brother Long just smiled faintly.

He had already investigated and found that Su Wanqing hadn't been in the store for more than half a month, and Qian Miao and the bodyguards had all been taken away. It could be said that only the old, weak, sick and disabled were left in the entire Haoting.

He slowly patted the dust off his hands.

"Su Wanqing, how long has it been since she appeared at Haoting? Could she have run away on her own?"

He stepped forward and patted Gao Yang's shoulder with such force that it almost bent Gao Yang over.

"I'm giving you one last chance. Are you in or not? If not, I'll have your mansion smashed to smithereens today! Then you'll all be rolling in the streets!"

Gao Yang's whole body tensed up, his fingertips clenched so tightly they turned white.

Brother Long is determined to cause trouble. If he doesn't slap me today, this matter will be difficult to resolve. But if he does slap me, I will lose face, and even Su Wanqing's face will be completely disgraced.

His chest heaved violently.

If this had happened in his previous life, Gao Yang would definitely have had the troublemakers thrown out.

But in this life, I am far from being fully grown, and my fists are not yet hardened.

His face was grim as he slowly raised his right hand.

"Gao Yang."

"Master Gao."

Lin Ran and Wang Biao rushed forward, one on each side, and grabbed Gao Yang.

"It's not worth it. If we hold out until President Su comes back, they won't even have a chance to hide!"

Gao Yang shook his head.

The thugs opposite were eyeing him menacingly, their sticks already fully prepared, just waiting for Brother Long's order.

A cruel smile appeared on Brother Long's face.

Today, he's here to cause trouble. Whether Gao Yang hits him or not, it won't change his mind about smashing up Haoting.

Now, however, the show seems even more interesting, and he doesn't mind adding fuel to the fire and making it burn even more fiercely.

"Hurry up and shake it, or I'll start smashing it!"

Gao Yang looked at the two people pulling his arm and shook his head.

As the head chef and the instigator of all this, he must bear the most important responsibility.

His right hand was raised high, facing his own face.

"Snapped!"

"Brother Long, you're really showing off, coming to my territory and harassing my men!"

A cold, clear voice rang out, and everyone turned to look.

A very beautiful woman was standing at the door; the sound just now was from her patting the solid wood door.

Beside Su Wanqing, the old man smiled and raised his hand to greet Gao Yang.

"Young man, we meet again."

Gao Yang was overjoyed.

With these two arriving, the crisis was averted.

Qian Liu quickly arranged for bodyguards to surround the Green Dragon Gang members.

"Who are you?"

Brother Long squinted and looked at the old man.

"I come from the capital."

The old man said calmly.

Brother Long was shocked, but pretended to suddenly realize something.

"It's you, Mr. Lin. You came here without telling us, and we've been waiting for so long."

Brother Long's face instantly broke into a smile, as if it were all just a joke.

"Mr. Lin, when would you like to visit my Golden Dragon Hotel? I'll make arrangements for you."

Old Lin's eyes slowly turned cold as he recalled the unpleasant experience of that day.

"No way, I can't afford it. Last time I went to your Golden Dragon Hotel, I was ripped off for 30 yuan!"

Just then, a cry of surprise rang out from the Green Dragon Gang's crowd.

"Damn it, old man, it's you?"