"Dad, what made you call? Is something wrong?"
Su Chen wondered why his dad was calling. ’Could there be a problem with the hot pot restaurant?’
"Hahaha! Xiaochen, I’ve got good news for you!"
Su Zhuyun’s somewhat smug laughter came through the phone.
Hearing that it was good news, Su Chen’s worries instantly vanished.
He laughed and teased, "Oh? Dad, what’s the good news? Don’t tell me you and Mom are having another baby!"
"Get out of here! Such disrespect. I’m being serious with you!"
After Su Chen had left, Su Zhuyun had taken the three million yuan home and held a family meeting. Based on their collective experience and familiarity with Fuzhou, they found a suitable location for a hot pot restaurant.
Coincidentally, a shop that used to sell soup pots was up for transfer. Su Zhuyun took over the lease directly, gave it a simple renovation, and opened for business.
The key to hot pot is the flavor and the ingredients. As the head chef, Chen Shufen shouldered the responsibility, personally simmering the hot pot base every day. Its delicious flavor quickly attracted many nearby residents.
Word of mouth spread like wildfire. Thanks to the freshly prepared base, great taste, and fresh ingredients, it quickly secured a spot in Fuzhou’s hot pot scene. The place was packed every day, often staying open until the early morning hours.
Because of this, the family held another meeting to discuss expanding their staff... hiring more kitchen help and servers in preparation for opening branch locations!
Su Zhuyun was calling this time to say that they had already earned back their initial investment within the month. The family was preparing to take the next step and open several branches directly.
He was calling to ask for Su Chen’s opinion!
"If you want to open them, then go for it. As long as you maintain control over the flavor, the freshness of the ingredients, and the service, the business should be sustainable!"
Su Chen also brought up some points about service, urging them to take it seriously. Sometimes, a single small incident could be enough to shut a restaurant down.
"By the way, Dad, what’s the name of the family’s hot pot place?"
"Ahem..." Su Zhuyun gave two embarrassed coughs.
Hearing this, a thought suddenly popped into Su Chen’s head. "Dad, don’t tell me you named the hot pot restaurant Shufen!"
Su Zhuyun, feeling like his little scheme had been exposed, said with feigned anger, "What’s wrong with that? Is there a problem with calling it Shufen Hot Pot?"
"N-No problem! It’s great! That name alone is enough to make the restaurant a huge hit!" Su Chen wiped the non-existent sweat from his brow.
"Hmph, of course. Alright, I just called to let you know the family business is doing well. Nothing else. I’m hanging up now!" Without waiting for Su Chen to respond, he hung up the phone.
It felt very much like he was making a hasty retreat.
Su Chen looked at the disconnected call, shook his head, and laughed. "’Shufen... Hahahaha, the stories about henpecked husbands are true after all!’"
-----------------
Byte Company was located on Zhichun Road in the Haidian District, not too far from where Su Chen was staying in Wangfujing.
Worried about holiday traffic, Su Chen and his group headed straight for the Byte Company offices in their car right after lunch.
Since Su Chen had no assets whatsoever in the Imperial Capital, Zong Xinyao had specially arranged for a Rolls-Royce from the hotel for their transportation. Su Chen felt a little indignant about this.
’I have to buy a car in the Imperial Capital... no, I’ll just buy a whole house! The system upgrade needs money to be spent anyway, and I’ll definitely be coming to the Imperial Capital often in the future. Might as well get it all done in one go!’
Su Chen decided that after this round of financing was over, he would buy a house in the Imperial Capital, preferably a courtyard-style house!
Although Su Chen and his group had anticipated traffic, they didn’t expect a trip that usually took half an hour to be stretched to a full hour by the congestion.



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