My 1978 Hotel

Chapter 117: The Deserted B&B Under the Influence of Internet Rumors
"Jingle Bell."

Who's calling so early in the morning? Li Feng muttered to himself, then he checked his phone. It wasn't even half past six yet. "Hey, Zhaoxia?" Li Feng quickly answered the call, thinking it must be something urgent.

Thinking of this, Li Feng couldn't lie still any longer. He jumped up, thinking that something might have happened to the two children. "Zhaoxia, is there something wrong at home?"

"Everything is fine at home."

"It's okay, that's good, you scared me."

Li Feng breathed a sigh of relief, but Han Zhaoxia's next words made Li Feng frown. "Rumors, what rumors?"

“About the B&B.”

Han Zhaoxia said, "You know, I just saw a few posts on Douyin in my city about the B&B Jiangnan First Fresh. The implication was that Jiangnan First Fresh relied heavily on technology and hard work to achieve its current delicious flavor."

Li Feng thought that the idea of technology and hard work was quite true. "Let me check it out. It's fine. Don't worry. Right now, you have to queue up to make an appointment at Jiangnan First Fresh. They're out of stock soon. This is perfect. I don't have to refuse them."

"You are so sincere."

Han Zhaoxia had calmed down. She'd just received a message from Jiang Xiaowen and watched a few videos, which had really flustered her. But now she was fine. Besides, Li Feng had quite a collection. As long as he didn't mess around, even if the B&B went bankrupt, it wouldn't be a big deal.

"Then you take a look first. I always feel there's something interesting here."

"Don't think too much."

Li Feng hung up the phone, washed his face and brushed his teeth, tidied himself up, and left the room. He then went to the office and started searching on Douyin. "Jiangnan's No. 1 Fresh Food! Wow, quite a few likes, over a hundred." Don't underestimate over a hundred likes. This is a small city like Chicheng, so with that number of likes, the number of views is quite high.

"so much?"

After refreshing, there were five or six of them, not only referring to Jiangnan's best fresh seafood, but also to the health banquet. "Although they didn't specifically mention anyone, it's basically public." Just looking at Li Feng's private message in the background, it was clear that this matter was serious.

Dozens of private messages. Usually, Li Feng only received about ten at most, but this had suddenly increased several times. "He's saying something very plausible, but has he produced any solid evidence? Accusing him of spreading rumors is probably just a waste of time."

The health banquet was even more outrageous, with Viagra and aphrodisiacs. Li Feng rolled his eyes speechlessly, thinking it was a disservice to him. "Did I offend anyone?" After a long pause, Li Feng had no idea. Most of the business at the B&B was with acquaintances, and the scale was small, so to say I had offended anyone was a bit of a stretch.

"If I were to say who I offended recently, it's because Mr. Qin from Huicaiyuan came to discuss cooperation, but I politely declined. Could it be him?" Li Feng muttered. Logically speaking, a catering group as large as Huicaiyuan should not make such a big fuss over such a small matter.

While Jiangnan's No. 1 Fresh is delicious, its supply is limited, and pre-orders are low, so it shouldn't affect Huicai Garden, a major player in the restaurant industry. "Besides Mr. Qin from Huicai Garden, there were several other people who booked for the health banquet. They were truly out of razorfish, and I declined. Could it be one of these people?"

"Or the owner of the nearby B&B?"

"No wonder. It's the weekend and there are few customers. Even the fishermen are gone."

Yesterday, Saturday, Li Feng was still confused. He had recently posted several videos on Douyin. Both the videos of the giant salamander and the wolf cub were quite interesting. They had tens of thousands of clicks and over a hundred likes. Logically, they should have attracted some tourists.

Unexpectedly, there were only five or six people coming to play yesterday, and the number of people fishing was more than half less than last week. Li Feng didn't think much about it at the time. After all, he was very busy at the B&B, and he still had to go to the hospital to pick up the brothers Gao Ju and Gao Cheng.

Now that I think about it, these videos slandering the B&B must have appeared yesterday, or even earlier. Li Feng checked and saw quite a few, seemingly becoming a hot topic in the city. "This must have cost a lot of money. I really wish the B&B would die."

What a deep grudge! Li Feng felt so angry that his teeth were itching, but there was nothing he could do. You said to call the police and collect evidence, but what the other person said was not quite true, and it would be difficult to collect. In the end, he might just apologize, and by then the impact would have been gone.

Given the nature of Chinese people, B&Bs would have been completely wiped out long ago. The power of short essays is incredibly powerful in China. "Once your reputation is ruined, no matter how hard you try, it won't work."

"That's good."

I'd been wondering if the renovations to the B&B would affect tourists, but now I don't have to worry. It's likely that there won't be many tourists in the short term. Li Feng called Gao Ju, and Gao Cheng told them about the rumors on Douyin.

"Boss, I think we should release a video immediately to explain the situation. We can't be so passive."

Gao Jue said, "Otherwise, the impact will only grow. More people getting involved won't benefit us."

"Yes, this matter needs to be resolved quickly, otherwise it will have a huge impact on the reputation of the B&B."

"I've just called the police."

Li Feng said, "Please help me shoot a video statement and post it on my account later. I hope it can reduce the impact." This time, Li Feng was hit by a club. If he had spoken out immediately when the video was first released, the impact would not have been so great.

Now I'm afraid it's a bit difficult to deal with. The impact has already been felt, and it will be difficult to eliminate it in a short period of time. "Although the impact on our Jiangnan First Fresh and Health Banquet is not that big, after all, the customers who ordered the Health Banquet and Jiangnan First Fresh are basically acquaintances."

“But the impact on B&Bs is quite large.”

Ordinary tourists, in particular, couldn't be counted on in the short term. Li Feng hadn't originally planned to launch large-scale tour groups, but now it seemed impossible. Sister Wu and the others also learned about the incident at the B&B that morning, and they were all a little worried.

"Sister Wu, don't worry, the reservations for the health banquet are not affected."

Uncle Wu Zhenhua has at least one table a day, so Wu Tong won't be affected by the rumors on Douyin. After all, she has been to Hanjiaba and knows where these loaches come from. Besides, there is no need to worry about Li Muchen.

As for Li Muxiao, Li Feng didn't need to worry. He didn't trust the health banquet from the beginning, but he sent it for testing and only placed the order after finding no problems.

"Mr. Wu, Mr. Zheng, they can't even make reservations right now, so even if it's affected, it won't be a big problem."

Li Muchen also mentioned this during dinner, and Li Feng responded with a smile. "That's good. The razorfin loaches were already hard to come by. The drought over there is so severe that the rivers have dried up. It's easier to catch fish and shrimp now, but a lot of them are dead. If we keep catching them for a few weeks, I'm afraid there won't be any water left."

"How could it be so serious?"

"Oh, it's more serious than I thought."

Li Feng opened his phone and handed Li Muchen the information he'd been looking up over the past few days. "This drought will last until next spring, a very long time. It will almost wipe out the autumn harvest, making autumn planting almost impossible."

"I'm afraid it will be difficult over there this winter and next spring."

Li Feng still remembered that not far away, there was a heroic feat of eighteen brave men dividing the land and working on their own. But there was nothing they could do. The drought had caused a complete crop failure. They could not even get back the seeds from an acre of land that yielded more than ten kilograms of harvest. How could they survive by begging?

To get food, one had to risk their lives. Everyone cherished their lives, but there was no other way. Without a single bite to eat, one couldn't just stand by and watch their family and children starve to death. It was a last resort, and of course, natural disasters were the main reason. As for helping, Li Feng had considered it, but food was not easy to come by. The current situation, which had persisted for over a decade until the early 1980s, was still the same. Li Feng didn't dare act rashly. The lessons of Gao Jue and Gao Cheng were still fresh in his mind.

"We can't control what's going on over there for now."

Li Feng waved his hand. "I plan to bring more people with me this time. If you have any recommendations, please let me know."

"Security Question?"

"Do not worry."

Li Feng now has a letter of introduction from the system, so he doesn't have to worry about being caught as an illegal resident. "I'll publish some articles there, and I can pretend to be a reader when the time comes. I can help with the letter of introduction. I think there won't be any problems unless they investigate."

"That's great."

Li Muchen heard that there was a letter of introduction, so there would be no big problem. He planned to clean up and change his appearance, cut his hair, change his hairstyle, and wear a pair of glasses so that his biological mother would not be able to recognize him for a while.

At noon, Wu Tong came over. She was planning to go this time, which surprised Li Feng. You know, Wu Tong had run away overnight last time, so why would she think of going there again? This was really strange.

"I want to take my grandpa and grandma over there."

Grandma Wu Tong's health is getting worse and worse. Wu Tong plans to fulfill her grandmother's long-cherished wish. Although she can't go back to the place where she once worked as an educated youth, returning to that era should be considered a wish fulfillment for her grandmother.

"That's it, okay."

This time, Li Feng planned to bring more people to expand his influence. After all, if he brought too many people, even rumors like those on Douyin would have no effect on him. Everyone knew where the loaches, fish, and shrimp came from, so spreading rumors was pointless.

The B&B dealt with the rumor quickly, but the effect wasn't obvious. Even Han Zhaoxia was getting anxious, and the B&B was deserted. Although they knew Li Feng had a lot of money, if the B&B dragged on like this, it would eventually be depleted.

"Don't worry, I actually want to thank the person who spread the rumor. The reservations for the Health Banquet and Jiangnan First Fresh Restaurant have finally decreased a bit. It's really hard to refuse some old customers. Now it's good that I don't have to bother to refuse them."

"You are so sincere."

Han Zhaoxia didn't know what to say, but she breathed a sigh of relief when she learned that none of the previous reservations had been canceled and that additional reservations were being added. "As expected, rumors stop with the wise."

"Yes."

Li Feng thought to himself, "Rumors stop at the wise." It was because they were all guests at the Spacetime Hotel and knew where the ingredients came from. Unbeknownst to Li Feng, Qin Guocheng was currently in a meeting with the person in charge of Chicheng.

Although these rumor-mongering short videos were not instigated by Qin Guocheng, they were closely related to him. In order to curry favor with him, several managers from Chicheng teamed up with several owners of the nearby Li Feng B&B and paid some people to spread the rumors.

However, apart from issuing a statement at the beginning, Li Feng did not take any other action, as if he did not care. This made several managers of the surrounding B&Bs and Huicai Yuanchicheng a little confused.

After Qin Guocheng learned about the situation, he didn't hold the managers responsible. He also felt that Li Feng should be taught a lesson, and it would be best if he could force Li Feng to provide the source of goods. However, he didn't expect that Li Feng would not make any unnecessary moves.

This puzzled Qin Guocheng. Could it be that Li Feng really didn't want to make money? How could such a person exist in the world? Impossible. "This is really strange. Could it be that, as he said, the supply is scarce, and he has no intention of expanding his business?"

Qin Guocheng was a little confused about Li Feng's actions. He felt like he had the power but nowhere to use it.

"Boss Qin, I think Li Feng is just pretending to be calm."

"Yes, Mr. Qin, I've heard that his B&B has been almost deserted lately. Some of his regular customers have moved on to other B&Bs, leaving very few anglers left," said Guo Huai, manager of the Chizhou branch. "And several regulars have canceled their reservations at Jiangnan First Fresh."

“It’s a pity that the source of the goods has not been exposed.”

"Please ask around. I don't believe the owner of Jiangnan's freshest food wouldn't be anxious if we can't get it." Guo Huai said. "If we put in a little effort, I don't believe there's a source of food in southern Anhui that we can't find in our Huicai Garden."

"That's true."

The others agreed, and Qin Guocheng nodded as he listened. "Let me know the source of the goods as soon as you can. I plan to use them to create a few high-end banquets. Although our Huicai Garden has always been known for its mid-range and high-end products, we don't have many truly high-end dishes."

The prices of Anhui cuisine itself are not high. Although some new things have been introduced in recent years, such as chicken stewed with Polygonatum odoratum, or other wild delicacies, the prices have exceeded 200 yuan, but there are basically no dishes that cost hundreds or thousands of yuan. There is no way around it, the ingredients and dishes themselves are limited.

Now, the Jiangnan No. 1 Fresh has given Qin Guocheng a glimmer of hope, as has the health-preserving banquet. Unfortunately, the source of these goods remains unavailable. "Let's stop here for today." Qin Guocheng concluded the meeting, returned to his office, and pulled out his phone. He had sent Li Feng a message yesterday, asking if there was anything he could help with.

Li Feng just replied very briefly, no need.

Everyone thought Li Feng was just holding on, but who knew that the next day, the renovation of the B&B actually started. It was a major renovation, and it cost a lot of money. This really confused the onlookers. "What's going on? Didn't they say the B&B is going to close down?"

"Yeah, I heard they used fake ingredients and added a lot of seasonings. What's going on? I thought Li Feng was finished, so why did he continue to invest money?" Not to mention the farmhouses within a few kilometers, even the B&Bs are a bit confusing.

Many people in Hanjiazhuang were also confused. Zhang Tao and his wife murmured, "This is really strange." "They've been delivering food every day these days, and it's been a big deal outside, but I've seen B&Bs hosting two or even three health banquets a day. Just think about that, that's a good ten thousand yuan a day."

"After deducting the ingredients and labor, I'm afraid I can make three to five thousand a day, right?"

"I'm afraid it's more."

Zhang Tao muttered that the gross profit margin of the catering industry was not low, usually around 60 to 70 percent.

"That's strange."

It's said to be so outlandish, how come it's still edible? Zhang Tao suspected that this health feast must have been drugged, otherwise why would it be so addictive. Not to mention him, there are actually people who think so. Li Feng was stunned when he received the call.

"report?"

Wow, Li Feng was confused. So awesome. Who is this? I was speechless.

"It's okay. We use fresh ingredients. We are not afraid of being investigated or reported." In fact, Li Feng didn't know that he actually knew the reporter.

However, Li Feng was afraid that she would never be able to connect this person to someone else even if she racked her brains. This matter had nothing to do with her at all, but it ended up to the point where she had to report it.

(End of this chapter)