Chapter 141: A 1/2 Probability

Chapter 141: Chapter 141: A 1/2 Probability

After the Black Swan Hotel representative finished his presentation, it was time for today’s final bidder—Xu An—to take the stage.

The conference room wasn’t crowded. There were only about a dozen people, including the five hotel representatives and the expo’s preparatory committee.

Standing at the head of the conference table, looking at the well-dressed, successful people before him, Xu An felt an inexplicable wave of anxiety.

The five hotels... In his past life, he’d never even eaten at one, let alone met their mid- to high-level management. And the members of the expo’s preparatory committee were people he would have never crossed paths with; their lives were two parallel lines.

But in this life, they were all sitting at the same conference table, and he was standing at its head.

Lowering his head for a moment, pretending to adjust the microphone, Xu An took a deep breath. He silently chanted a few times in his mind, ’They’re all just pigs, they’re all just pigs.’ Then, he snapped his head up, fixed his gaze on the Black Swan Hotel representative directly in his line of sight, and began his presentation.

"Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant was established in June 2012. It started as just a roadside stall selling boxed lunches. Because it offered good quality at a low price, it became popular with the general public, which led to the opening of our first storefront."

Xu An clicked a button with his left hand, and the image on the projector screen changed. A photo of the Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant storefront appeared before everyone.

Compared to the photos of the other hotels’ luxurious, grand, and high-class entrances, the picture of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant—located on a roadside and looking a bit crude—was undoubtedly out of place and jarringly different.

"Although Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant got its start serving workers, that’s not all!" Xu An’s tone shifted. "Our customer base doesn’t just include blue-collar workers, but also office workers and residents from nearby neighborhoods!"

The image on the projector screen changed again, displaying a neat grid of nine photos.

The first was a photo of a delivery to the Aisha Clothing Company. The second showed retired seniors from Qingya District sitting under a large banyan tree, eating together and flashing V-signs at the camera. The third was a delivery to office workers at the Silver Star Office Building...

As Xu An spoke, his voice tinged with a slight nervousness, the people who had been quietly discussing the Black Swan Hotel’s eight-yuan, three-dishes-one-soup meal plan all stopped talking and focused their attention on him.

"Currently, Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant has twenty-four employees. Our main business is supplying employee meals to various large companies. Our daily output is around three thousand meals, so we have extensive experience with large-scale meal supply."

Hearing the daily sales figure of three thousand meals, the five hotel representatives slowly straightened their backs, their expressions turning serious.

This small fast-food joint, which they had seen as just a minor player here to round out the numbers, was now giving them a sense of unease. They could smell an upset in the making.

At that moment, the photo on the projector screen changed again. An image of a boxed lunch, packed in a new container, appeared on the screen.

Thin-skinned, tender, pale yellow chicken lay quietly in the center of the container. A spoonful of red chili oil rained down, drizzling over the succulent meat and seeping into every fiber, creating a uniquely flavored Sichuan-style mouth-watering chicken.

The second picture showed fried tofu puffs, their shriveled forms plumped up and filled with a rich, savory meat sauce...

The third picture was of Dongpo pork, with its perfect layers of fat and lean meat, glistening like translucent jelly...

The fourth, the fifth, the sixth...

There were six pictures in total, one for each of the six main dishes Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant had prepared for the six days of the expo.

"...Most of our ingredients are procured from the wholesale market in Qianhai Town. Our fruits and vegetables, however, are sourced from greenhouse growers who partner with Xu’s Fast Food. They are picked and cooked on the same day, guaranteeing absolute freshness and quality."

’Greenhouse sourcing?’

Hearing those words, the five representatives looked puzzled. ’A small fast-food joint like this actually has its own dedicated greenhouse for vegetables?’

But then they recalled what Xu An had just said about selling three thousand boxed lunches a day, and they understood.

With the sales volume of Xu’s Fast Food, it was indeed normal for them to have stable partnerships with greenhouse growers. It just felt a bit strange to associate "greenhouse sourcing" with a "small fast-food joint."

...

With Xu An’s narration, the overview of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant was complete. Now it was time for the main event of his presentation: revealing the meal plan price for their bid!

"Since Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant opened, our public selling price has always been eight yuan per meal. Therefore!" Xu An’s volume rose, his clear, youthful voice amplified by the microphone, echoing through the conference room. "Our bid price for Xu’s Fast Food this time is still eight yuan! Eight yuan for three dishes and one soup!"

Hearing Xu An’s final price, everyone turned to look at the representative from the Black Swan Hotel. His bid was also eight yuan for three dishes and one soup!

The Black Swan Hotel representative felt their gazes on him. He held out his hands, hunched his shoulders, and put on an expression that was helpless, innocent, and a little surprised.

Xu An’s presentation was over. Next came the Q&A session with the expo’s preparatory committee.

"Mr. Xu, a capacity of three thousand meals must be your restaurant’s limit, correct? If the expo’s order is two thousand meals, plus your existing orders, that’s nearly five thousand. Do you have the manpower and production capacity to fulfill the expo’s order on time?"

From the moment he received the call about the expo, this question had crossed Xu An’s mind countless times.

He simply clicked the button in his left hand a few times, and the screen returned to a previous slide—the one introducing his culinary team.

"This is the culinary team at Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant." The laser pointer in his hand drew a circle around Liu Daxi’s name. "This chef has previously worked at large hotels like the Xilaideng Hotel and private venues like the Floral Hall. The flavor and quality of his dishes are guaranteed."

The laser then circled the names of the seven people behind Liu Daxi.

"This is the culinary team led by Chef Liu Daxi, eight people in total." Xu An smiled at the questioner. "Five thousand boxed lunches may sound like a lot, but distributed among each chef, it’s only a load of four hundred meals. Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant is confident we can deliver on time, with the required quality and quantity."

When he was introducing the culinary team earlier, the five hotel representatives had been so stunned by the Black Swan Hotel’s price that they hadn’t paid close attention to this detail.

Now, hearing Xu An say the familiar name "Liu Daxi," the expressions on the five representatives’ faces turned a bit strange.

That’s right. All five hotel representatives present had tried to recruit Liu Daxi in the past. But after Liu Daxi insisted that his seven-person team be hired along with him, they had all given up.

They never expected that in the end, Liu Daxi would bring his six underlings and condescend to work at Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant.

The staff member who asked the question nodded, scribbling a few notes in his notebook.

After he stopped writing, the staff member threw out a second question. "Excuse me, what is your relationship with Mr. Liu Daxi?"

"I’m his employer." Xu An wasn’t sure why he was asking this, but he answered truthfully.

"Given Team Liu Daxi’s past work experience, we have to wonder if this is an opportunistic trick on your part to increase your chances of winning the bid. How can you guarantee that this team will remain at your restaurant for the duration of the expo’s catering period?"

"We have signed employment contracts." After saying that, Xu An felt it wasn’t very convincing proof, so he quickly added, "Before coming to work at Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant, Liu Daxi’s team interviewed at more than ten well-known hotels and restaurants in Hai City, but they didn’t receive an offer for a specific reason."

"A specific reason? Would you be willing to elaborate?"

Xu An hesitated for a moment before saying, "In Liu Daxi’s team, apart from Liu Daxi himself, the other chefs are all deaf and mute."

"Furthermore, Chef Liu and his team are very satisfied with their work at Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant. Barring any major unforeseen circumstances, they won’t be leaving." Xu An flashed a standard smile. "Xu’s Fast Food welcomes anyone to visit and inspect our operations at any time."

After that answer, the staff member in charge of questions asked a few more trivial things before the atmosphere in the room fell silent.

"Baolin, do you have any more questions?" the old man asked, calling her out very abruptly.

Startled by the old man calling her name, Gao Baolin’s hand, which was about to cap her pen, trembled. The tip of the pen drew a long line across her arm.

Against her fair, smooth skin, the black line looked exceptionally conspicuous.

"N-no." Gao Baolin crossed her hands, completely concealing the arm with the black line.

"Alright." The old man nodded, his expression unchanged, and looked at the other staff members. "Does anyone else have questions?"

Seeing everyone shake their heads, the old man announced the end of the bidding meeting. The results would be posted on the official website in two days.

’Phew, it’s over!’

Stepping down from the stage, Xu An felt a chill on his back. His shirt seemed to be soaked in cold sweat, sticking clammily to his skin, and his legs were trembling slightly.

In two lifetimes combined, this was the first time he had ever participated in such a formal meeting. The people sitting below were all big shots he could never have reached in his past life. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t nervous.

Thankfully, by clinging to the thought ’they’re all just pigs,’ he had managed to get through the presentation smoothly.

Considering the strengths and weaknesses of each hotel, Xu An felt that both his restaurant and the Black Swan Hotel had a strong advantage.

But the Black Swan Hotel, with its greater fame, stronger reputation, and more established brand, had a better chance of winning than Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant.

The meeting was over.

The six bidders quietly packed their things and were politely escorted out of the conference room by the preparatory committee. Only when they were outside the exhibition center did they bid each other farewell and depart.

Gazing at the blue sky and white clouds, the green hills and clear waters, Xu An took another deep breath of fresh air and was about to head toward the parking lot.

He had only taken two steps when a strange voice called out to him. "Mr. Xu, Secretary Feng is looking for you. Would it be convenient for you to come over for a moment?"

’Secretary Feng?’

’The old man sitting on the left side of the conference table was named Feng. Could it be him?’

Whether it was him or not, Xu An was in no position to refuse. He turned around with a smile. "Of course. Please lead the way."

This scene happened to be witnessed by the representative from the Black Swan Hotel, who was standing at the entrance waiting for his driver.

He took a couple of steps, wanting to follow and see what was happening, but was stopped by the representative from the Brocade Hotel.

"Old Xu, it’s been almost a month since the Zijing Garden construction site bid, hasn’t it? Long time no see!"

As the Brocade Hotel representative spoke, he reached out and patted Old Xu’s shoulder firmly, a broad smile on his face. "Why was your bid so low this time? Is there any profit in it? Don’t lose your shirt over one order."

Blocked by the Brocade Hotel representative, Old Xu could only watch as the staff member led Xu An away. It was too late to follow them now, so he had no choice but to turn and face the man from Brocade Hotel.

"Didn’t I learn it from you? You still made a profit after winning the Zijing Garden order at 7.8 yuan, so I can definitely make a profit winning the expo order at 8 yuan."

"Indeed. Well then, congratulations in advance on your victory." The Brocade Hotel representative said, then his smile brightened as if he had just thought of something. "The preparations for this expo are a bit of a mess, aren’t they? They only notified us yesterday at four in the afternoon."

"Yes, the timing was too tight. We didn’t have enough time to prepare a lot of things," Old Xu replied with a sigh, his expression perfectly normal.

The two exchanged a few more barbs, their words laden with hidden meanings, but the Brocade Hotel representative couldn’t find any holes in Old Xu’s story.

Just then, both of their cars arrived, so they could only bid farewell and leave.

Sitting in his car, the Brocade Hotel representative watched Old Xu get into his own car and drive away, a thoughtful look on his face.

He had no proof, but he had a feeling that Old Xu had pulled some strings.

Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that both the Black Swan Hotel and Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant bid eight yuan for three dishes and one soup?