Chapter 16: Chapter 16: In the Blink of an Eye, I'll Be Out of Your League
After bidding farewell to Sister Fang, Zhang Jingdong returned to the storefront he had just rented.
Passing by the Sichuan Restaurant that opened last year and was still thriving, Zhang Jingdong took out his phone and called Lu Yuan.
It only rang twice before the other side answered: "Hello, Brother Dong!"
"Are you in the dormitory right now?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"Is everyone else in the dorm there too?"
"The boss isn't, he's probably gone to self-study, what's up, is there something?"
"Tell everyone, I'm treating tonight, seven o'clock at Sichuan Restaurant!"
"True to form, Brother Dong, so generous! Whenever you make a move it's to the most expensive restaurant! Don't worry, everyone will be there!"
After hanging up the phone, Zhang Jingdong arrived in front of the glass door, opened it, and went in.
As he looked around the store, he started to think.
In his previous life, although he hadn't run a restaurant, he had a friend who opened a hotpot place.
At that time, he was working as an engineering supervisor and helped find the interior designer and construction team, so he knew roughly the process of opening a hotpot restaurant.
And opening a Hunan cuisine restaurant was much the same process as a hotpot restaurant, the only difference was that for a Hunan cuisine restaurant, you must hire a team of chefs.
On this point, after pondering for about ten minutes, Zhang Jingdong also had a preliminary solution.
About half an hour later, his phone rang.
Glancing at it, it was a call from Lu Yuan; he answered, "Hello, have you guys arrived?"
"We've reached the school gates, where are you?"
"I'm already at their place, hurry over."
"Got it!"
After hanging up the phone, Zhang Jingdong left the store, locked the door, and then headed to the Sichuan Restaurant that was less than fifty meters away.
"Welcome!"
Zhang Jingdong looked around, and at this time, the hall was nearly full. He then asked, "Do you have any private rooms available?"
"Yes, how many people do you have?"
"Six, they'll be here soon."
"Alright, I'll arrange private room number seven for you."
"Great, thank you."
"This way please."
Zhang Jingdong followed the staff to private room number seven.
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The staff turned on the lights and air conditioning and was about to leave when Zhang Jingdong stopped them: "Wait a minute!"
"Do you need anything else?"
Zhang Jingdong now took out his wallet and drew out two hundred notes: "I want to ask you two questions, if you answer truthfully, this money's yours, how about that?"
The person glanced at the money in Zhang Jingdong's hand and almost without hesitation said: "Go ahead and ask!"
"How many staff do you have here, and what do they do?"
The person was clearly surprised by Zhang Jingdong's question and paused.
After thinking for a few seconds, they replied: "There's, in total... more than thirty people."
"There are seven chefs in total - one head chef, three main chefs, three assistant chefs."
"Then there are fourteen servers, three food runners."
"Additionally, there are two cashiers, two cleaning ladies, the rest... oh dear, I can't quite remember all at once!"
Zhang Jingdong nodded thoughtfully: "Alright, that's enough, here you go!"
Saying that, he handed over the money.
After the staff left the private room, Zhang Jingdong called Lu Yuan.
Two minutes later, the five of them entered the private room.
Sun Mian couldn't help but exclaim as he walked in: "Brother Dong, you're too kind, a barbecue would have been enough, but to arrange this place for brothers, tsk tsk, too extravagant!"
Zhang Jingdong pursed his lips: "Anyway, we haven't ordered yet. How about... we go to Brother Feng's Barbecue now?"
Sun Mian immediately waved his hands: "No no no, Brother Dong, my bad, it's just that this place truly showcases your strength!"
After speaking, he immediately turned to Zhao Liuquan who was closest to the door: "Brother Liu Quan, trouble you to call the server to order!"
Zhao Liuquan promptly opened the door and shouted outside: "Waiter, we want to order!"
Soon after, the server who had brought the menu earlier came with it.
Zhao Liuquan took the menu and then passed it to Sun Mian, who directly handed it to Zhang Jingdong: "Brother Dong, you're the host, you order first!"
Zhang Jingdong didn't refuse, took the menu, and ordered a Sichuan boiled beef and a Mapo tofu.
Then he handed the menu to Lu Yuan beside him: "Each of you pick two more!"
"Brother Dong is so generous!"
The others followed suit one by one.
After ordering the food, they also ordered three bottles of beer.
Before long, when the drinks and dishes were all served, the group drank and chatted.
At this moment, Zhao Liuquan said, "Brother Dong, why don't you share with us what kind of business you've been doing outside? You're actually making so much money!"
Before Zhang Jingdong could answer, Lu Yuan spoke up: "Quan'er, have you had too much to drink?"
"Although we're brothers, if Brother Dong hasn't told us about it, it means he's not ready to let us know."
"Besides, this is also considered a business secret, how can it be so casually revealed!"
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately realized and raised their glasses, hoping to gloss over the subject.
After finishing his drink, Zhang Jingdong laughed and said, "This way, I won't talk about the previous business, but I'm currently involved in another venture. It will probably take about ten days or half a month to show some results, and then I'll definitely tell everyone!"
"Moreover, it's fate that we brothers have met, and I also cherish our friendship, so I can say this."
"In the future, if I, Zhang Jingdong, get to enjoy some benefits, my brothers will definitely have their share!"
Upon hearing these words, everyone was touched.
And Zhang Jingdong's hosting today had already proven his attitude.
Hence, Zhao Liuquan was the first to raise his glass: "Brother Dong, I was impertinent just now, I'll punish myself with a drink!"
Zhang Jingdong smiled and shook his head, then lifted his glass: "We're all brothers, no need to mind that, come on, let's all drink together!"
The others immediately raised their glasses.
They clinked them together and then each finished their drink in one gulp.
With this interlude, everyone really let loose, and the meal ended with everyone having a great time.
It was almost 10:30 PM when the group reluctantly left the restaurant and returned to the dormitory.
And after this meal, Zhang Jingdong stepped up from being a peripheral figure in the dormitory to becoming a central figure.
...
The next day was Monday.
A little past 7 AM, Zhang Jingdong got up with his dorm mates.
"Boss, what classes do we have this morning?"
"Calculus and Ideological & Theoretical Education!"
"Did they take attendance in the Ideological & Theoretical Education class last time?"
"They did."
After getting ready, everyone in the dorm went to the cafeteria for breakfast and then arrived at the teaching building.
Returning to the university classroom after so many years, Zhang Jingdong felt more novelty than boredom, even though he had long forgotten most of the knowledge in the textbooks.
They entered the classroom at 7:40 and were actually among the early arrivals.
At that time, only the first two rows of the classroom were occupied.
They immediately took seats in the third row on the right.
The group chatted idly for a while when Zhang Jingdong noticed that Lu Yuan's gaze suddenly turned cold as he looked towards the doorway, then turned back to look at himself.
Zhang Jingdong was momentarily puzzled, then turned his head to look forward.
That's when he noticed Liu Meng.
And there was a guy wearing glasses next to her!
He seemed to remember that he was the class monitor of class one.
And in his previous life, after his failed confession to Liu Meng, there seemed to be a period of ambiguity between them.
Liu Meng was like that; back then, Zhang Jingdong didn't realize, but now he understood that this girl had the potential of being a queen of the seas.
That is, to cast a wide net and slowly reel in fish.
Although she wasn't particularly pretty, she was nearly 170 cm tall, and since there were few attractive girls in the Physics Department, there were actually quite a few guys who fancied her.
Otherwise, in his previous life, Zhang Jingdong wouldn't have confessed to her after she gave him a hint of flirtation.
Now, Liu Meng's appearance with the class monitor made many in the classroom turn their eyes towards Zhang Jingdong.
Because until the day before yesterday, everyone knew that Zhang Jingdong was pursuing her.
The result was now apparent; things had turned sour, and it probably meant that Zhang Jingdong had confessed to Liu Meng and was rejected.
In his last life, Zhang Jingdong's slump after being rejected was partly because he felt unable to lift his head in front of his classmates.
But now... tsk tsk, sooner or later, I'll make them realize that she once played hard to get with me, and in two months' time, she'll be out of my league.
Lu Yuan didn't know what Zhang Jingdong was thinking when he suddenly stood up and intentionally bumped into that class monitor.
The latter realized that Lu Yuan did it on purpose and glared at him resentfully but didn't dare say anything.
Because Lu Yuan was known in the department as a rich second generation, who had previously fought with someone from the Physics major over a girl and hadn't suffered a bit, so no one in the department dared to provoke him.
Moreover, Brother Feng from Brother Feng's Barbecue had also stood up by now.
Zhang Jingdong knew that Lu Yuan was sticking up for him partly because of the dinner last night, but he still appreciated Lu Yuan's gesture.
So, when Lu Yuan came back, Zhang Jingdong said softly, "Thanks, brother, but don't worry, I can handle this small scene. I'll figure out a way to regain the upper hand in the future!"
Lu Yuan smiled casually: "I know, but as brothers, we can't let this guy get away with it; otherwise, it would seem like our dorm is easy to bully!"
Brother Feng also added: "If someone else dares to be so blind, we'll deal with him directly!"
Zhang Jingdong just smiled and didn't say anything.
Liu Meng, seeing that the class monitor was so wimpy, didn't sit with him.
And during the break, she even gave Zhang Jingdong a meaningful look.
But Zhang Jingdong did not give her a single glance from beginning to end.