Gourmet Food Supplier

Chapter 202: Rainbow Beef Brisket

Translator: Xiong Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth

"Boss Yuan, are you there?" A plump and smiling woman stood at the door of Yuan Zhou’s restaurant and asked.

"Director Wu, what’s the matter?" Yuan Zhou turned around and asked mildly.

"The staff of the street administration office has been talking all about you recently. Why do you have such good craftsmanship?" Director Wu said with courtesy. She was holding a file in one hand and a pen in the other.

"Thanks for your compliments," Yuan Zhou answered politely.

"You’re welcome, you are welcome. Boss Yuan is always so courteous," Director Wu waved the hand.

"So why are you looking for me today?" Yuan Zhou didn’t like small talk and hence asked straightforwardly.

"It’s the time to pay for the street sanitation fee. Boss Yuan, so...?" Director Wu presented the portfolio to Yuan Zhou and asked him with a smile.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Thanks for your reminder, Director Wu" Yuan Zhou patted on his forehead and suddenly recalled this matter.

Every month, the street administration office charged the stores a sum of sanitation fee. If not so, who would clean the trash outside in the street?

"Is it still 50 RMB this month?" Yuan Zhou took out 50 RMB from the pocket inside the sleeve of the Chinese Han clothing and prepared to hand it to him.

"It increased a little bit to 60 RMB at the beginning of the month," Director Wu said politely.

"Ok. Thank you, Director Wu. The area outside my restaurant has been very clean recently," Yuan Zhou took out an extra 10 RMB and said in quite an earnest manner.

"Well, yes, yes. The cleaner works well," Director Wu got surprised first and then echoed unnaturally.

"Thank you," Yuan Zhou nodded and thanked her.

"You are welcome. You are welcome. It’s our responsibility. Boss Yuan, I’m leaving to visit other stores for the sanitation fee," Director Wu took the money and prepared to leave with an embarrassed smile.

"Did I make her embarrassed?" Yuan Zhou was a little puzzled. Was it because he complimented her too much?

However, Yuan Zhou indeed felt the street was quite clean. Every morning when he opened the door, it was always very clean, without even a single leaf.

Just as he was prepared to go inside, Yuan Zhou was attracted by his neighbor Boss Tong’s words and then stayed there.

"Why is it increasing again? It has increased for quite a few times this year. What’s the situation?" Boss Tong’s voice contained great dissatisfaction.

"Boss Tong, you should know that inflation is severe now. Even the labor cost has likewise increased," Director Wu explained with a smiling expression.

"You have to show me something to prove the price increase. Otherwise, how would I know if it’s true?" Boss Tong still said aggressively.

"Here you are. This is the notification from the street administration office. Everything is mentioned on it," Director Wu took out an A4 paper and handed it to Boss Tong.

Boss Tong received the paper and carefully looked at it. As a matter of fact, she couldn’t read many characters but still knew the two characters of price increase. When she found that there wasn’t any problem, she handed the paper back to Director Wu. However, Boss Tong still had no intention to pay her the money immediately while standing at the door.

"Ok, I will pay. But could you guys please clean the street better? Every morning I have to sweep the ground again," Boss Tong said discontentedly.

"Don’t worry. I will report your complaints to those who are in charge of this work." Director Wu was rather earnest when she talked about the work.

"Just reporting? I have made quite a few complaints," it seemed that Boss Tong intended to demand a settlement today.

"Yes, it’s true. Director Wu, you must rectify and improve this matter. It’s also dirty outside around my store." A female proprietress of a small restaurant, located several stores away from Boss Tong’s store, also gathered there to complain.

"Hi, Boss Shen. Please read this notification," Director Wu first handed the notification of increasing the prices to her with a smile.

"Oh, my god. Did the fee increase again? With such a small business and low profit, the fees are nevertheless so high," with a fashionably curly and brown hair, Boss Shen started to scream while pinching the notification in her hand.

"The sanitation fee remains the same everywhere," Director Wu said, revealing a manner of "Business is business".

"I have the same idea with Boss Tong. We can accept the price increase but you must solve the problem of the bad sanitation," Boss Shen said firmly.

"I will for sure report the problems to them. Don’t worry," no wonder Director Wu worked in the street administration office. She had sufficient patience and tried to mediate the disputes unhurriedly even in front of the heated verbal exchange.

"Then let’s make a deal now. You solve the problem for us quickly, otherwise you won’t collect the money so easily next month," Boss Shen and Boss Tong almost said at the same time.

"Trust me. I will definitely report your complaints to them," Director Wu agreed enthusiastically.

Only after that did Boss Tong and Boss Shen take out the money and gave it to her.

Yuan Zhou frowned when he was watching the scene at the side. Why was the street outside his restaurant clean while Boss Tong of the neighboring store said it was dirty and moreover even made complaints several times? In order to verify the authenticity, he stood there longer and then found almost every store owner made the same complaints, saying it was dirty at the door.

"What’s the matter?" Yuan Zhou thought with puzzlement. Only then did he recall the embarrassed expression of Director Wu when he had complimented her just now.

It seemed that he needed to leave earlier than usual to jog on the next morning and observe for a while.

Since he couldn’t understand, he decided to observe it in person. After all, it was the truth that the street at the door of his restaurant was so clean.

Yuan Zhou decided to prepare the lunch first as lunch time was coming soon.

When there were only a few minutes left, Wu Hai entered the restaurant while holding a black earthenware pot with a lid that was covered tight.

"Brother Wu, are you also imitating me?" Wu Zhou said with sympathy at the side.

"No, this is the achievement after Boss Yuan has taught me." Wu Hai was quite confident in his skills under Yuan Zhou’s instructions.

"No, I have nothing to do with that," Yuan Zhou immediately denied.

What a joke. He had seen in person how it was like inside the pot. If he admitted the dish was made after his instructions, his reputation would all be gone with the wind.

"But in the morning..." Wu Hai set down the earthenware pot and was then interrupted by Yuan Zhou before he could finish his sentence.

"I just watched you cook a pan of this thing," Yuan Zhou truly didn’t have the heart to describe the stuff in the earthenware pot as a dish.

"Why don’t you taste it now?" Wu Hai asked persistently although Yuan Zhou had already refused him.

"No, thanks. You might as well ask them to have a taste," Yuan Zhou took a step back without a trace.

Even at the current position, he could smell the indescribable taste from the earthenware pot. It was definitely because he had a sensitive nose rather than the feeling of dread.

"So do you guys want to have a try?" Wu Hai pointed at the earthenware pot and asked.

After the restaurant became silent for a while, someone answered.

"Let me try," as Wu Zhou was fairly familiar with Wu Hai, he agreed to try first.

"Let’s have a try, too. We still have to wait for some time, therefore we can stuff the stomach temporarily," two lovers likewise said curiously.

"Humph. This aged man won’t eat such messy stuff," Lee Yanyi just stood there with his back perfectly straight.

"I didn’t invite you to eat. Such a person that always breaks his words," Wu Hai said snappily.

"The stuff would probably poison me to death. You can keep it to yourself," Lee Yanyi said viciously.

"No. This is art. Look at the extraordinarily beautiful color," Wu Hai unveiled the cover confidently.

Then, Wu Zhou became frightened and asked, "What’s this?"

"Stewed Beef Brisket with Tomato. Look at the magnificent color, the taste should also be nice," Wu Hai pointed at the inside of the pot that basically contained 7 colors and then said with satisfaction.

There were not only 7 colors in the pot but they were also layered. Only the widest strip in the middle was the ordinary tomato red. As for the other colors, Wu Zhou indicated that he no longer dared to watch.

What the f*ck was this?

...