Rebirth 07: Starting with Saving a Bankrupt Restaurant

Zhou Wen subconsciously raised his eyebrows, then offered him a cigarette: "Yeah, no job is easy."

"Boss, do you know that restaurant across the street?" Lee Seung-jun asked, looking out the window.

The restaurant across the street? Zhou Wen was stunned for a moment, then realized that the restaurant Li Chengchengjun was talking about was "Ruyi Restaurant", which was just across the street from his own restaurant.

With Li Chengjun's reminder, Zhou Wen understood the reason for the matter and realized that it was definitely related to Ruyi Hotel.

Lee Seung-jun often runs a liquor business in the area, so he naturally has some knowledge of what's going on around here.

In truth, Li Chengjun could have said these things or not, since he was responsible for transporting all the alcohol in this area himself.

But there must be a reason for it. Every time he came to deliver water, Zhou Wen would offer him a cigarette or a bottle of mineral water.

Although it was just a simple exchange of favors, it was indeed only Zhou Wen who did these things.

Not to mention that sometimes the two of them would sit in the store and chat like friends.

"Stay for lunch this afternoon."

"I still have a lot of goods to deliver, let's do it another day," Lee Seung-jun politely declined.

"I'm moving these empty bottles from your shop; I need to rush to deliver some goods," Lee Seung-jun said with a smile, before loading the empty bottles from his shop into his car.

Zhou Wen nodded, and since the other person still had work to do, he didn't try to persuade them to stay any longer.

Shi Ying, who was in the shop, naturally overheard their conversation.

"Boss, is it the Ruyi Restaurant across the street that's behind this?"

Zhou Wen nodded: "Most likely."

Shi Ying was momentarily indignant and said, "How could you do this!"

"Boss, I'll go ask what's going on."

Seeing that Shi Ying didn't seem to be joking, Zhou Wen quickly grabbed her.

Having previously worked in factories, Shi Ying naturally didn't understand these business tactics. Throwing dirty water and digging up past misdeeds were commonplace for her.

"How can we just go to their door like this?" Zhou Wen shook his head and said, "Not to mention whether they'll accept it or not, wouldn't it be even worse if something went wrong?"

"Boss, what do we do now? Are we just going to sit here and wait to die?" Shi Ying was at a loss for what to do.

Shi Ying's feelings for Zhouji Restaurant have long surpassed those of a simple working relationship; she has come to regard herself as an integral part of the restaurant.

Shi Ying hesitated to think about what she would do if the restaurant closed down because of this. Would she ever be able to find another place like Zhou's Restaurant that she truly loved and cherished?

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Wen said, "It's alright. Let's just focus on doing our own thing first."

It's really frustrating for a restaurant to encounter something like this when it's on the rise. Zhou Wen couldn't possibly go to confront them in person, otherwise they might use it against him.

In the past, when competing for customers, the only solutions were to improve the taste, lower the price, or offer more benefits.

However, Zhouji Restaurant did indeed do these things; reputation is the most important thing in business.

However, Zhou Wen did do something, though.

The kitchen door curtain is tied up so that, due to the layout of the restaurant, diners on one side can see inside the kitchen, or even just by peeking out slightly, they can see most of the kitchen.

When it comes to countermeasures, Zhou Wen couldn't think of any effective solutions at the moment.

All she could do was continue to focus on the store's hygiene, taste, and service. Shi Ying's mood had been visibly low these past few days.

……

Ruyi Hotel is only a few hundred meters away from Zhouji Restaurant. You can see the "Ruyi Hotel" sign as soon as you stand at the entrance of the restaurant.

Ruyi Restaurant has been doing very well these past few days, much better than before.

This restaurant has been open for several years, much earlier than Zhouji Restaurant.

The restaurant is quite large; the lobby on the first floor is much larger than the front hall of Zhouji Restaurant, and there are also several private rooms on the second floor. The overall decoration of the restaurant is also much better than that of Zhouji Restaurant.

Besides the owner, there are a few kitchen helpers in the shop. The owner cooks all the food, while the owner's wife handles the cash register and other tasks.

Before Zhouji Restaurant appeared, Ruyi Restaurant was the dominant player.

However, after Zhouji Restaurant appeared later, some of the customer traffic was diverted.

The two restaurants have had somewhat different styles from the beginning. Zhouji Restaurant used to be more like a street food stall, with more and more customers as the night went on.

Ruyi Restaurant is popular during normal mealtimes, or when people are celebrating birthdays or children's first birthdays.

"Bosses, what would you like to eat?"

The speaker was Liu Fengru, the owner of Ruyi Restaurant.

She was somewhat overweight, wore makeup, and had a jade bracelet on her wrist.

While taking orders from the customers in the restaurant, Liu Fengru said:

"Bosses, let me tell you, don't go to Zhou's Restaurant. The ingredients there have been sitting for who knows how long, and they're not healthy at all."

While taking orders, the proprietress chatted with the customers in the restaurant, and the conversation always revolved around Zhouji Restaurant.

"Really? I've been eating at Zhou's Restaurant quite often these past few days, and I think the food is pretty good," one diner said.

Liu Fengru wore a disdainful expression, waved her hand, then put her hand to her mouth as if telling a secret, and said loudly:

"Don't you know how many additives have been exposed recently? Let me tell you, Zhouji Restaurant definitely uses a lot of these additives."

When the other guests heard Liu Fengru say this, they all stared wide-eyed, somewhat incredulous.

Another diner felt it was a bit exaggerated, so he retorted, "The proprietress isn't exaggerating as you say, is she? If it were really that exaggerated, why would so many people go to eat there?"

"Hey~ Boss, think about it. You say the food tastes good and the portions are generous, but is it really possible that the price is so cheap?"

"So, will he still be able to run his restaurant? Will he still be able to make money? Actually, I didn't really want to say these things, since we're all in the same industry, but seeing you all kept in the dark just makes my conscience bother me."

Liu Fengru spoke with such sincerity and deep sorrow.

"Let me tell you, the food at our Ruyi Restaurant is definitely no worse than Zhouji Restaurant, and the ingredients are all fresh!"

If you don't believe me, you'll see after you try it.

As adults, we all have our own judgment. We can't easily believe something just because of one side of the story. How could we not understand this kind of competition among peers?

However, once this rumor started, it spread like wildfire, and gradually everyone began to suspect that Zhouji Restaurant was using some kind of additive or that the ingredients were not very fresh.

Moreover, Zhouji Restaurant does have a history of offenses.