Chapter 140: A Rival’s Fumble Is an Opportunity

Chapter 140: Chapter 140: A Rival’s Fumble Is an Opportunity

At 4:58 the next morning, two minutes before his alarm was set to go off, Xu An’s eyes snapped open and he sat up in bed.

’Time to get to work!’

He crept out of his room, quickly washed up, and slipped out of the courtyard.

First, he drove to the wholesale market in Qianhai Town to pick up the meat for the restaurant. Then, he accepted the delivery of vegetables and fruits from Uncle Lin. After that, he donned an apron, chef’s hat, and mask, and entered the kitchen to begin his work.

Before long, Liu Daxi, Zhou Qi, and the other six staff members also appeared in the kitchen and began to get busy as Xu An had instructed.

At seven o’clock, Wei appeared at the entrance of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant, right on time.

He was laden with bags of all sizes, carrying various pieces of photography equipment and instruments, as well as the new Xu’s Fast Food packaging supplies that Xu An had commissioned the previous afternoon.

Upon seeing Xu An, he quickly handed over the bags he was holding, carefully set his equipment down on a table, and then complained with a yawn.

"I usually don’t start work until nine, but since you rushed this order, I had to get up at six. I’m dead tired!"

"Thanks for your hard work, Brother Wei. Have some water and take a break." Xu An handed Wei a glass of plain water and then took the newly-made packaging supplies over to the second restaurant location.

When Xu An returned, he was followed by a line of people holding trays. On the trays were freshly made, steaming hot meal boxes packed in the new containers.

The plain, transparent plastic containers had been replaced with white plastic boxes that had a substantial feel and texture. The front of each box featured the eye-catching new logo for Xu’s Fast Food, and the new packaging made the meal boxes look much more expensive.

’Just based on the packaging, you could say these meal boxes cost 15 yuan each and people would believe you. It really is true that clothes make the man!’

Most importantly, at Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant’s current order volume, the factory Wei had found charged about the same for these upgraded containers as the old ones from the wholesale market.

’When you rounded it all out, it was basically a free upgrade.’

The Hai City Machinery Equipment Exhibition would run for six days, so Xu An prepared all the dishes for the entire six-day menu and packed them into the new meal boxes.

After working together for nearly two months, Wei understood Xu An’s vision perfectly. He grabbed his camera and—CLICK, CLICK, CLICK—shot a flurry of photos. Then he sat behind the register and—TAP, TAP, TAP—edited them on the computer. The whole process took only an hour and twenty minutes.

After confirming there were no issues with the photos, Xu An took over at the computer and inserted the images into the proposal he had prepared the previous afternoon.

He carefully proofread the entire document twice, making sure there were no typos or awkward sentences, before sending the file to the print shop.

By the time the print shop owner handed Xu An the collated and bound documents—still warm and smelling of fresh ink—it was exactly 8:45 a.m.

’It was a mad rush, but I made it just in time.’

After double-checking the requirements from the email one last time, Xu An breathed a sigh of relief but couldn’t help grumbling to himself.

’Why not just send the email at 6 p.m. after every company has already closed for the day? Now *that* would be a real thrill!’

He had barely caught his breath when the private car Uncle Dongliang had arranged pulled up to the entrance of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant. A man in a sharp suit and leather shoes stepped out. He looked to be about the same age as Uncle Dongliang, most likely an old classmate of his.

After they exchanged greetings, Xu An got into the car and was surprised to see the logo on the steering wheel: it was a BMW.

’Uncle Dongliang is amazing! Five hundred yuan for a car and driver for the whole day, and he managed to get me a BMW!’

The drive from Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant to the Hai City Convention and Exhibition Center took about half an hour at a normal speed. Along the way, the driver struck up a conversation with Xu An.

As they chatted, the conversation turned to Uncle Dongliang, and the driver recounted a story of how Dongliang used to prank him back in their school days.

The driver explained that he had never done any farm work or chores growing up, so his knowledge of fruits and vegetables was limited to their appearance and taste.

One time, Uncle Dongliang brought a box of cherry tomatoes to school for a snack. He picked out the largest one, which had a small split in it, and gave it to the driver. He claimed that this type of tomato was so naturally ripened on the vine that it split open, making it incredibly rare and delicious.

Young and naive, not yet wise to the wickedness of the world, he believed him. After profusely thanking him, he took the tomato and popped the whole thing in his mouth.

The first sensation was indeed the full, sweet flavor of a fresh tomato. But after two chews, the taste changed. A hint of spice touched the tip of his tongue, and in the next instant, a fiery heat exploded throughout his mouth, rushing straight to his brain and nearly blowing the top of his head off...

That’s right.

Uncle Dongliang had cut the tomato open and stuffed a small, fiery chili pepper inside!

’Who would have thought that the mature, serious, and reliable Uncle Dongliang was such a mischievous troublemaker in his youth?’

The half-hour flew by amidst their laughter and conversation, and soon they arrived at the Hai City Convention and Exhibition Center.

A security guard directed them to a parking spot. Xu An then took his documents, entered the convention center, and, with a staff member’s help, found the conference room mentioned in the email.

While signing in at the visitor registration, Xu An saw that four people had already signed in ahead of him. The names of their companies all ended with "Hotel"—they were all well-known, major hotels in Hai City!

Just looking at those names, Xu An felt like a poor, innocent, helpless little lamb that had stumbled into a pack of wolves.

The moment he pushed the door open, the three people already seated in the conference room turned to look at him in unison. Their sharp, scrutinizing gazes made him feel like he was truly surrounded by wolves.

Offering the three of them a standard eight-tooth smile to ease the tension, Xu An walked through their collective gaze and found the seat with the ’Xu’s Fast Food’ nameplate, then sat down.

"So you’re the owner of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant! I’ve heard so much about you. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you; you’re even younger and more impressive than I imagined!" The middle-aged man sitting next to Xu An offered a friendly smile and extended his right hand.

Xu An glanced at the triangular nameplate in front of the man out of the corner of his eye. He was the representative from the Black Swan Hotel.

"Hello," Xu An said, shaking the man’s hand and leaning forward slightly with practiced modesty. "I’m just lucky to be here to see how it’s done. Today is the main stage for renowned hotels like yours."

With the exception of the representative from the Brocade Hotel, the others present had all learned about Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant from the local Hai City television documentary, *Visiting Fast Food Restaurant*. Therefore, they didn’t find Xu An’s humility to be out of place.

’A fast-food joint, no matter how good, is still just a fast-food joint. Just being able to participate in this bid is the height of his achievement. In the future, this will be something for him to brag about.’

At Xu An’s display of weakness, the other representatives—apart from the man from the Black Swan Hotel—visibly relaxed. Their gazes softened with a hint of friendliness, no longer so aggressive.

As they made small talk, the conference room door opened again, and two more people walked in. One of them looked familiar to Xu An.

He thought for a moment and finally remembered where he’d seen the man: at the entrance to the Zijing Garden construction site.

’I just don’t know if he’s from the Brocade Hotel or the Xiuli Hotel.’

The man casually greeted everyone, including Xu An, then walked directly to the chair in front of the ’Brocade Hotel’ nameplate, pulled it out, and sat down.

’So he’s from the Brocade Hotel!’

With their arrival, all six bidders were now present. The atmosphere in the room immediately grew tense. Everyone fell silent, quietly staring at the titles of the documents in their hands.

This silence lasted until 9:55, when the conference room door was pushed open once more. A young man entered first and held the door open.

A slightly stooped elderly man walked slowly into the room. He smiled and nodded at the six attendees before taking a seat to the left of the head of the table.

The old man had clearly been weathered by time, giving him a reserved and profound air. The wrinkles on his face were numerous and deep, and his eyes were dark and piercing, like those of a sage who had weathered countless storms and could see through anything.

The old man’s arrival made everyone even more tense.

Following the old man was an imposing middle-aged man in his forties. He had a stern face with the corners of his mouth turned downward, and his black hair was neatly combed back.

Once the old man was seated, the middle-aged man stood at the head of the table. His gaze swept across the room, projecting an air of authority without a hint of anger.

"Today, we are all gathered here..."

The middle-aged man began the pre-bid opening speech, his voice firm and measured.

At first, Xu An was rather excited, as this was the first time in his two lifetimes that he had ever attended such a formal meeting.

But as the opening speech dragged on, Xu An started to feel his eyelids growing heavy.

He kept his upper body straight, appearing to listen intently, but under the table, his hands were forcefully pinching the tender flesh of his inner thigh, using the pain to keep himself awake.

"Alright. Next, we invite the first bidder to present—the Xiuli Hotel."

With those words, the long-winded opening finally came to an end. All six bidders jolted to attention, suddenly wide awake.

The representative from the Xiuli Hotel picked up a thick stack of documents, distributed copies to the members of the exhibition’s organizing committee, then walked to the front of the table, picked up the microphone, and began his presentation.

Xu An took out his notebook and jotted down the key points from the Xiuli Hotel’s presentation, such as the menu, delivery methods and times, pricing, and so on.

One by one, the hotel representatives finished their presentations, and soon it was the Brocade Hotel’s turn.

The Brocade Hotel’s presentation was just as polished as the others at the beginning. But as it went on, it became progressively sloppier. The final few slides—the ones displaying the specific content requested by the exhibition organizers—were just a mess of data thrown onto the screen. It had a strong start but a weak finish.

For the first time since the meeting began, the old man’s expression changed. He shifted slightly in his seat, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the Brocade Hotel’s representative for two or three seconds before looking away.

At that moment, Xu An’s attention was completely focused on the documents he had brought with him. He was mentally rehearsing the phrasing for his own presentation and didn’t notice the old man’s subtle reaction.

After the representative from the Brocade Hotel finished his presentation, the representative from the Black Swan Hotel was next.

He seemed to have experienced many such events, as he appeared perfectly calm and at ease standing at the front of the conference table.

He first politely greeted everyone in the room, then opened his presentation file. Gripping the microphone in his right hand, he raised it to his lips and began to speak.

The first part of his presentation was much like the others, introducing his hotel’s strengths and the services it could provide.

Some aspects he described were superior to the other hotels, while some were inferior. Everything seemed perfectly normal.

But when the representative from the Black Swan Hotel announced his final bid price, the entire room broke into an uproar.

The Black Swan Hotel’s proposed price for a meal box was—8 yuan for three dishes and a soup!

The lowest price before this was the Brocade Hotel’s proposal of 8 yuan for two dishes and a soup. The Black Swan Hotel was not only matching their price but also offering an extra dish!

’Are they planning to run this as a loss leader just to build their reputation?!’

The pen in the old man’s hand paused. He wrote ’Black Swan—8 yuan for three dishes and a soup’ in his notebook, drew a circle around it, and then wrote a large question mark next to the circle.

’This price... now this is interesting!’