Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 386: Problems Keep Popping Up
After tidying up his notes, Pei Qian walked out of the office.
"Everyone, put down what you're working on."
"We're heading to Mingfu Family Banquet downtown at four for a company dinner. I've already posted the location in the group chat. The company cars can take some of you, and the rest can split into teams and take taxis. Keep your receipts."
After Pei Qian finished speaking, the response from the crowd was lukewarm.
Hao Yun held his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
President Pei was interrupting everyone's work again!
He checked the time—it was only a little past three. The afternoon had barely begun!
Since they weren't allowed to work overtime on weekends, there was already more work than they could handle. Yet President Pei always seemed to find ways to shorten everyone's working hours—cutting an hour today, two hours tomorrow…
If this kept up, how were they supposed to get anything done?
Although everyone rushed to start working the moment they clocked in and didn't dare waste even a minute, it still couldn't withstand President Pei's sudden whims to organize activities.
Like now, it's completely out of the blue.
So many people didn't even respond. Instead, they typed faster and harder on their keyboards, as if venting their frustration.
Pei Qian frowned slightly.
These people had serious ideological problems!
Sure, they had company dinners every so often, but that wasn't an excuse to work so hard!
If you're not enthusiastic about eating, there's something wrong with your attitude.
Pei Qian cleared his throat. "You have five minutes to save your files. Five minutes later, gather downstairs."
"Tang Yishu, pull the plug right on time in five minutes!"
Tang Yishu hurriedly stood up. "Ah, okay."
Everyone: "…"
A chaotic scramble to save files followed.
…
At four o'clock, everyone gradually arrived at Mingfu Family Banquet.
This upscale restaurant wasn't located in the absolute core business district of Jingzhou, but it was close enough.
It was near Huanyu Sky Street, though not actually inside the complex, probably because the mall didn't have a space large enough for it.
The restaurant occupied a standalone three-story building. The exterior had been decorated in an elegant traditional Chinese style—red bricks and gray tiles—looking quite impressive.
When Pei Qian entered the Mingfu Family Banquet, he discovered that President Li had already arrived.
"President Pei! Welcome, welcome!"
"President Li, long time no see."
The two exchanged greetings and chatted briefly.
Li Shi looked at the large group following behind Pei Qian. "Everyone, please come in! President Pei has reserved the entire place, sit wherever you like!"
Seeing that President Pei had brought so many people, Li Shi was deeply moved.
Although he had given them a 30% discount, meaning this meal would barely make a profit, President Pei coming to show support as a friend was already a great honor!
Li Shi had originally thought that President Pei's words about showing support were just polite talk.
After all, in business, Mingfu Family Banquet's opening made it a competitor to the Nameless Restaurant. Even if President Pei said he'd show support, who knew what he really thought?
But now, seeing that he had even arranged the company dinner here—this wasn't just symbolic support. This was genuine goodwill!
If they were going to have a company dinner, wouldn't Mingyun Private Kitchen have been a better choice?
Li Shi knew very well that even if Mingfu Family Banquet could dominate other restaurants in Jingzhou, compared to Mingyun Private Kitchen, it was still the little brother.
For President Pei to come eat here could almost be considered lowering himself—what tremendous face he was giving!
So Li Shi quickly instructed the store manager and servers to be extra attentive and make sure nothing was neglected.
After taking their seats, Pei Qian looked around.
Not bad, this place had clearly put a lot of thought into the décor. It was obvious they had invested a great deal of effort and money.
The tables and chairs, the tableware, the decorations—everything carried an antique, classical charm with a strong sense of quality.
However, when Pei Qian flipped through the menu, he saw that only Chinese cuisine was offered here. It wasn't as diverse as Mingyun Private Kitchen.
After thinking about it carefully, it made sense. Although both restaurants positioned themselves as high-end dining establishments, they had actually chosen different paths.
Li Shi and Wang Peng knew very well that if you wanted to open a high-end restaurant, the best approach would be to collaborate with Nameless Restaurant.
After all, Nameless Restaurant had already established its reputation, and the public widely accepted it. Even if President Pei didn't contribute money or staff and only lent his name, it would still be tremendously helpful.
But President Pei had refused, so they could only do it on their own.
Completely copying Nameless Restaurant's model?
That probably wouldn't work.
Because copying Nameless Restaurant's model too closely would easily earn the label of a "knockoff." For a restaurant positioned as high-end, that kind of reputation would be fatal.
Once public opinion collapsed and criticism spread everywhere—once wealthy customers stopped recognizing the brand—the high-end positioning would be completely ruined.
Li Shi and Wang Peng weren't fools. They would never do something like that.
So they could only take the conventional high-end dining route.
They opened in a busy district with heavy foot traffic and convenient transportation. The venue was large, so unlike Nameless Restaurant, customers didn't have to make reservations far in advance.
Of course, that also meant they couldn't redecorate private dining rooms before every meal, and the dining environment couldn't be crafted with the same meticulous attention to detail.
The advantage was the spaciousness, and most dishes could be kept regularly available.
It wasn't as high-end as Mingyun Private Kitchen, but the prices were correspondingly lower. If you couldn't get a reservation at Mingyun Private Kitchen, coming here was still more upscale than going to the Swan Lake Restaurant.
Soon, dish after dish was served.
On the way over, Pei Qian had already asked President Li for the menu in advance and arranged for Assistant Xin to place the order.
That way, they could save time and start eating immediately upon arrival, so as not to delay getting off work.
As for the dishes, Pei Qian had no particular requirements, he just wanted to order more "hard dishes."
"Hard dishes" usually meant expensive ones.
Pei Qian didn't really care what they ate. After all, he had already tasted the best at Mingyun Private Kitchen. This time, he had mainly come to spend more money.
"Come on, everyone, hurry up and eat. Once we're done, we'll head back and rest."
Pei Qian picked up his chopsticks first and buried himself in eating, so there wouldn't be any unnecessary formalities.
Li Shi came over to Pei Qian's table with a smile. "How is it, President Pei? Is the taste to your liking?"
Pei Qian nodded, speaking vaguely through a mouthful of food. "Mm, it's alright!"
He wasn't very good at lying. Compared with Mingyun Private Kitchen, there was indeed a noticeable gap in quality here, but compared to Swan Lake Restaurant, it was better.
However, Swan Lake Restaurant had one advantage: it was mostly buffet-style with plenty of seafood. Overall, it was much more cost-effective than this place.
But to Pei Qian, that was actually a drawback.
Li Shi also had a clear understanding of the restaurant's standards. President Pei ate at Nameless Restaurant every day, yet he was still willing to give this place an "it's alright" rating—that was already very generous.
Tang Yishu sat together with the administrative department staff, looking somewhat reserved as she carefully picked up food bit by bit, taking small bites.
…
Li Shi headed toward the kitchen, intending to give everyone a little encouragement.
But before he even entered, he heard a series of sharp clattering sounds from inside.
Crash! Bang!
"Ow!"
"That fall nearly killed me—the floor's too slippery!"
"Hurry up and sweep up the shards!"
Li Shi frowned. The moment he stepped into the kitchen, he saw shards of broken plates scattered all over the floor. Two employees were frantically sweeping them up.
Li Shi felt a little dizzy. "What's going on here?"
A waiter quickly bowed in apology. "I'm sorry, President Li! The floor was too slippery. I accidentally slipped and fell, and dropped several dirty plates we had just cleared."
Li Shi was speechless. He looked down and saw a puddle of water on the kitchen floor—no idea when it had been left there. It was indeed easy to slip on.
"It's fine. Clean it up quickly."
"On the bright side, at least we've identified a safety hazard."
"Tomorrow morning, make sure to buy anti-slip coating and floor mats."
No sooner had Li Shi finished speaking than a wok nearby suddenly flared up with a whoosh of flames.
This clearly wasn't some kind of advanced cooking technique—the chef had made a mistake.
"Quick, quick—fire extinguisher!!"
Someone scrambled to hand over the extinguisher. The fire was put out quickly, but the entire wok of food was ruined. It had to be dumped and remade from scratch.
Li Shi's face darkened. "The fire extinguisher is placed too far away. That's another hazard."
Sure, they had discovered quite a few safety issues, but it was also incredibly frustrating!
Li Shi sighed helplessly and muttered under his breath, "Could it be that we didn't check the auspicious date when we opened?"
"Why don't other restaurants seem to have these kinds of problems…"
"Calm down, calm down. This should just be a coincidence."
…
That evening, a little past 10 p.m.
After seeing off the last group of guests, the manager of Mingfu Family Banquet was still directing the staff as they cleaned up the aftermath.
Li Shi found a random seat and sat down, feeling deeply exhausted.
It was only the second day since opening—precisely the most crucial time.
Yet problems kept popping up!
None of them were major safety incidents—just broken plates, a burnt pot of food, and the like—but they had significantly slowed down the serving speed.
Several tables had waited far too long for their dishes and were very dissatisfied. The manager had personally stepped in, offering repeated apologies and giving discounts, barely managing to salvage the situation.
But how those customers would evaluate the restaurant afterward was anyone's guess.
Things had been fine when President Pei reserved the entire venue. They had eaten early, and the menu had been ordered in advance, so by the time President Pei and his group arrived, a batch of dishes was already prepared. A few later dishes had been slightly delayed, but they hadn't noticed.
By the evening, however, when other customers came in, the problems were fully exposed.
Li Shi felt depressed. Was opening a restaurant really this difficult?
The safety standards in his establishment were already much higher than those of ordinary restaurants. How had so many issues still occurred?
But he couldn't really blame anyone. A so-called safety hazard meant there was always a certain probability of something going wrong.
For example, if a puddle of water was accidentally left on the floor—sometimes nothing would happen when someone walked over it; other times, someone would slip at just the wrong moment and spill a dish that was about to be served.
It could only be said that their safety awareness still wasn't strong enough.
Li Shi felt increasingly troubled and found himself admiring President Pei's Mingyun Private Kitchen even more.
The refined environment, the extremely precise control over serving times, the attentive service…
High-end dining truly wasn't as simple as it seemed.
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