From Wage Slave to Tycoon

Chapter 161: Chapter 128: Inside Story: Family Feud

After leaving the airport, the trio hailed a taxi by the roadside instead of arranging for a hotel pickup.

The taxi driver was a friendly sort, greeting Su Chen and the others enthusiastically the moment they got in.

"Driver, can you recommend a good barbecue place in Qiqihar?"

"Barbecue? Any place you pick will be authentic. If you trust me, I can take you to a spot I go to all the time. It’s just that..." The driver trailed off, sounding a bit hesitant.

Seeing the driver’s hesitation, Su Chen assumed he was asking for more money. "Driver, just say what’s on your mind. It’s no problem if you need to add a little to the fare."

The driver immediately sounded displeased. "Who said anything about more money? You can’t just accuse people like that, young man!"

The driver’s reaction left Su Chen a bit baffled. ’If he wasn’t after more money, why didn’t he just say what he meant? It’s like he’s speaking in riddles.’

"It’s just that the place doesn’t look like much. It’s in an old building, over twenty years old. Compared to the restaurants they build now, the atmosphere is a lot worse. If you don’t mind that, I’ll take you," the taxi driver explained.

Su Chen felt an urge to give the driver a piece of his mind. "That’s fine. As long as the meat is fresh and tastes good, that’s all that matters!"

"Alright then! Now that you’ve said that, I feel much better!" The words were barely out of his mouth when he stomped on the gas, and the taxi shot forward.

The taxi driver didn’t stop talking the entire way. When he found out Su Chen and his companions were from the south, his enthusiasm shot right up.

He got especially excited when he learned Su Chen was from Fuzhou in Wudu, muttering, "We’re practically hometown folks!"

After Su Chen asked a few questions, he learned the driver’s story. Decades ago, his paternal uncle had left Qiqihar to support the "Third Front Construction." The city he was sent to was a small town under Fuzhou’s jurisdiction. For various reasons, that group of workers fell out of contact for over a decade, and his family had assumed he’d met with an accident.

Eventually, for one reason or another, his uncle settled down in Fuzhou. Now, the driver goes to visit him in Fuzhou for a while during the holidays.

After hearing the driver’s story, Su Chen immediately realized the project his uncle had supported was the famous "816 Project."

Perhaps because of this connection, when they arrived at the barbecue joint, the driver absolutely refused to take their money. He declared righteously, "You came all this way to have fun in Qiqihar! As practically a hometown local, how could I not treat you right?"

They were at a stalemate for a moment. Finally, under the "coercion" of the three of them, the driver reluctantly accepted the fare. However, he also left his number with Su Chen, telling him to call anytime he needed a ride.

Watching the taxi drive away, Su Chen turned to Boss Yu and asked, "Are all you guys from the Northeast like this?"

"The vast majority are," Boss Yu offered a balanced reply. "Of course, you get some bad apples. It takes all kinds to make a world, so that’s unavoidable."

"Come on, let’s see just how good this barbecue from our ’hometown local’ is!" With that, Su Chen turned and walked into a restaurant by the road that had a distinct, vintage look.

Chen Fei and Boss Yu didn’t hesitate, quickly following him inside.

The restaurant didn’t look like much from the outside, but it was deceptively spacious.

There were about twenty tables inside. The decor was simple, with whitewashed walls. It didn’t look nearly as bad as the driver had made it out to be—just a typical hole-in-the-wall joint.

Since it was an off-hour for meals, the restaurant was practically empty. Even the server was sitting on a chair, playing on their phone.

The server looked up, stunned for a second when Su Chen’s group walked in, clearly not expecting anyone to come for barbecue at ten o’clock.

Snapping out of it, the server quickly greeted them. "Please, sit anywhere. Here’s the menu, have a look and see what you’d like!"

Su Chen took the menu, and a flash of surprise crossed his eyes as he looked at the various meat dishes and their prices.

"Why is everything priced at 58? How big is one portion?"

Snowflake beef, rib fingers, chuck eye roll, and the house-marinated meat—it was all the same price, which was definitely a bit surprising.

"Each serving is over 350 grams." Seeing the flicker of doubt in Su Chen’s eyes, the server added, "All our ingredients are fresh. We get them straight from the slaughterhouse, so you don’t have to worry!"

Su Chen saw Boss Yu, who was sitting across from him, give a slight nod, confirming that the server was telling the truth.

"We’ll take three orders each of the snowflake beef, rib fingers, chuck eye roll, and the house-marinated meat. And a few bottles of that ’Big Pear’ soda. That’s all for now."

The server took the menu and hurried to the back kitchen. On his way, he asked if Su Chen wanted to see the ingredients in the back, but after a moment’s thought, Su Chen declined.

After about seven or eight minutes, the server emerged from the back kitchen carrying a large iron tray piled high with food.

"Wow, the quality of this snowflake beef looks amazing," Su Chen couldn’t help but remark, admiring the vibrant color of the meat on the platter.

Admiration was one thing, but eating was the main event.

As a native of Ice City, Boss Yu naturally took on the responsibility of grilling.

It couldn’t be helped. Chen Fei didn’t know how to grill, and as for Su Chen... surely they couldn’t have *him* cook for them, right?

Boss Yu’s grilling technique was quite professional. First, he coated the entire grill pan with a piece of beef tallow...

He didn’t start with the snowflake beef, but instead tipped the house-marinated meat onto the grill.