But didn’t he get blindsided in the end?

His friend, Mo Xizi, stuffed five or six mouthfuls of a bun into his mouth, choking until his eyes bulged.

"I heard Jun Xinghe is planning to open a factory here. Have you heard about it?"

Zhao Jinchuan was taken aback for a moment. "That old fox is pretty greedy, huh?"

He glanced at Jiang Liu, a thoughtful expression on his face.

’This restaurant owner really is something else.’

Mo Xizi said with a smile, "My daughter got here yesterday. She’s already rented a three-bedroom apartment nearby. Let’s stay at her place tonight."

"You move fast. I just asked my secretary, and housing around here is already getting tight. A lot of people from out of town want to rent a place here."

"I bet that old bastard Jun Xinghe has already picked out a location for the factory."

Zhao Jinchuan wasn’t surprised in the least.

’With the kind of food Boss Jiang serves, I’ve also been thinking about opening a hotel here myself.’

’Whenever I have free time, I could stay for a few days under the guise of a ’work inspection’ and eat to my heart’s content!’

Mo Xizi leaned in to gossip. "Old Zhao, did you hear about Jun Xinghe’s plan to marry his daughter off to Boss Jiang? Haha, it cracks me up every time I think about it. His daughter is the famous ’cold and proud Little Princess’ of the Jing City Circle, but who would’ve thought Boss Jiang wasn’t interested in her at all."

"It almost made that bastard Jun Xinghe cry from frustration."

"PFFT!" Zhao Jinchuan couldn’t hold back his laughter and spat out the shrimp in his mouth.

Mo Xizi handed him a napkin.

He was even more surprised when he took the napkin. The quality was so soft and gentle on the skin, almost on par with what you’d find in a luxury hotel.

’What a magical restaurant,’ he thought with a sigh.

Zhao Jinchuan wiped his mouth and said with unconcealed glee, "Serves him right! Who told him to treat his daughter like some priceless treasure? He had this coming!"

"It’s a good thing they didn’t end up together," Mo Xizi said, clearly in a good mood.

’He had some bad blood with Jun Xinghe. If Boss Jiang had become that bastard’s son-in-law, things would have gotten difficult for him.’

"I heard a few of your sons pursued Jun Xinghe’s daughter too, didn’t they?" Zhao Jinchuan said, mercilessly poking at Mo Xizi’s old wound.

"Hah, don’t even mention it. Those good-for-nothing kids... it would be a miracle if a girl like Jun Qingmeng ever looked their way."

Mo Xizi had an elder’s fondness for Jun Qingmeng.

’The girl isn’t just beautiful; she’s kind-hearted, diligent, and hardworking. The company she manages is in perfect order.’

’Unlike his sons, who just eat and sleep, sleep and eat, and spend their days driving sports cars around Sanli Village trying to pick up girls.’

The two of them chatted as they ate.

It was a little after 7:50.

The warm, yellow sunlight shone on the sign of the "Second Best Restaurant Under Heaven."

Everything in the shop was completely sold out. Jiang Liu had even sold the leftover broth from the yak meat.

The customers had wanted to buy it at the original price, but Jiang Liu insisted on selling it for 100 yuan per serving. The broth still had some sweet, soft potatoes in it.

Selling it for one hundred yuan wasn’t expensive, either. After all, the soup was made from numerous precious spices, all-natural seasonings, bone marrow, and yak meat.

Jiang Liu poured himself some of the beef broth, sat down by the counter, and looked at his phone while he drank.

He was checking on the new branch.

Yue Longfan had sent him a message: "Master, sales are blowing up! They’re blowing up! I think we’ve officially gone viral, haha."

"[5 Photos]"

"I had three steamer stacks going today, and they sold out as soon as they were ready. A ton of students are coming to buy our buns."

"Master, the roads are almost cleared now. I think Kun City will be back to normal operations in a few days."

"I expect we can pack up by noon. We’re selling out too fast."

Jiang Liu opened the pictures to take a look.

In the photos, the line of customers snaked around like a long dragon.

Meanwhile, the other stalls had barely any customers.

They were all lined up for Jiang’s Buns!

Jiang Liu: "Okay, I see. You’ve worked hard these past few days. When you get back, you and Hu Yongfa will work in two separate shifts. He told you, right? It won’t be so tiring then."

He glanced at his system interface.

[Number of Positive Reviews: 46,754.]

[Praise Points: 496,583.]

Jiang Liu’s mood suddenly became exceptionally good.

’Almost there, almost there! I’ll be able to unlock the sixth page soon!’

’I wonder what kind of delicious food it will be.’

He switched to his chat screen.

His girlfriend had just sent him a message.

Jun Qingmeng: "Safely at the kindergarten! Your two babies are about to start class!"

Jun Qingmeng: "Boo hoo, we have to do a big clean-up later."

Jun Qingmeng: "Baby Jiang, Tongtong and I are both thinking of you. Tongtong was a little upset, but I’m here with her, so it’s okay."

Jun Qingmeng: "I love you, love you so much. Today is another day of loving you even more than yesterday. Are you happy?"

Jun Qingmeng: "Okay, time to get busy. I’ll talk to you at lunch."

A wide smile spread across Jiang Liu’s face after he read the messages. "I miss you guys too. I just finished up here. Business was smooth today."

"Now go do your cleaning!"

Just as he finished replying and was about to put his phone away...

"BUZZ BUZZ!"

His phone vibrated.

It was a text from an unknown number: "Why are you ignoring me?? I want to talk to you. Seriously. Sell me those three recipes. Name your price. As long as it doesn’t violate my principles, I can consider agreeing to it."

The tone had a familiar, desperate ring to it.

Jiang Liu could guess who it was with his eyes closed.

He blocked the number without a second thought, not bothering to reply.

Sitting in a coffee shop, Yang Yixue anxiously refreshed her text messages.

She couldn’t sit still.

Over the past few days, customer traffic at all four of her restaurants had completely collapsed.

Her employees were so idle that they were just sitting around on their phones watching shows!

She couldn’t handle the losses of tens of thousands of yuan a day.

Even her brand-new restaurant, which she had just opened a couple of days ago with a great advertising campaign, was struggling. The first day, every seat was taken. But on the second day, revenue began to slide, and it looked like it was about to suffer the same fate as her older locations.

How could she not be frantic?

Yang Yixue took a large gulp of coffee. The bitter liquid didn’t soothe her throat; it only made it feel drier.

She cursed inwardly.

’That damn Jiang Liu! I never thought he was this kind of person! Just you wait. If my restaurants are doing poorly, it means the economy is bad. You’ll be going out of business soon enough!’

Seeing Jiang Liu doing better than her was more painful than death itself.

Sitting across from her, Li Xiaoyan asked with her cross-eyed stare, "Did Jiang Liu reply?"

"No. He won’t even give me the time of day," Yang Yixue said, glancing at her mother in frustration.

She felt a surge of resentment.

’If she hadn’t persuaded me back then, I never would have divorced Jiang Liu.’

Li Xiaoyan erupted in anger. "His whole family is a pack of ungrateful wolves! To think I married you off to him back then—I must have been blind!"

"He has no conscience at all—a dog must have eaten it! No matter what, you two have a daughter together. Our business is struggling now, and he won’t even lift a finger to help. His heart is black!"

Yang Yixue grew even more annoyed. "Mom, what’s the use of cursing him now? You’d better not let Jiang Liu find out you’re badmouthing him. We need to get on his good side right now, you know?"

Li Xiaoyan was displeased. ’And you haven’t been cursing him?’ she thought.

"Then what should we do? Why don’t we go to his restaurant and see him in person?"

"What are you thinking? Have you forgotten the agreement we signed? Do you want to get sued?"

"That little bastard!"

Li Xiaoyan was fuming, the jealousy in her heart burning like a wildfire.

"What is going on? We’re obviously using the same kind of ingredients, so why is Jiang Liu’s business doing so well!"