As the laughter began, the dishes were served one after another, and the wine was poured to the brim, filling the air with its fragrance, and everyone’s spirits were very high.
The sight of the dishes, which were well matched between meat and vegetarian options and looked very appetizing, led someone who tried a bite of the Dongpo Pork to immediately praise its delicious taste.
Cheng Su naturally wouldn’t miss the opportunity to promote her own restaurant and called Old Song out to introduce him to everyone.
When it was heard that he had been the head chef at the Fa Ji Restaurant and that his ancestors had been Imperial Chefs, the people present were all astonished; after all, for such a small restaurant to have such a chef was no small feat.
Those who had previously been skeptical of Cheng Su’s restaurant no longer dared to doubt it now. With such a chef at the helm, how could the business not thrive?
Whether out of flattery or a desire to get closer, Cheng Su became the target of everyone’s compliments, and some even asked her if she was looking to hire as they wanted to come and work for her.
Hualing watched everything, feeling rather uncomfortable.
She had tried every dish and, even if she was reluctant to admit it, Cheng Su’s restaurant’s offerings were indeed quite good; the restaurant was small, but the flavors were indeed praise-worthy.
Yet, she didn’t wish to flatter Cheng Su, but rather to demean her.
"The taste is good, but Cheng Su, your restaurant really is too small. Look at us, we have to share tables just to fit. If there were a big order, you wouldn’t be able to handle it. For that, customers would still need to go to big restaurants like Fa Ji," Hualing said.
Sister-in-law Zhou frowned upon hearing this, thinking to herself why Platoon Leader Chen’s wife was always looking for trouble and couldn’t say anything nice?
As everyone fell slightly silent, Hualing continued, "After all, restaurants always have their standards, and let’s talk about customer relations and accompanying drinks as an example, they all have dedicated public relations staff for that!"
Was she implying that Cheng Su was a public relations girl?
Qi Taiguo listened from the side, his face turning somewhat unpleasant.
Chen Shouwang finally snapped back to reality upon hearing his wife’s words and tugged at her clothing.
"Why are you pulling at me? I haven’t said anything wrong. The first-rate big restaurants all have consultants, food runners, waiters, floor managers, and the like, don’t they? The owner doesn’t need to be hands-on," Hualing continued innocently as if she hadn’t said anything denigrating: "Am I wrong?"
She intended to belittle Cheng Su, but what kind of person was Cheng Su? In her previous life, she had been the general manager of a five-star hotel, seen all sorts of tempests, and was familiar with every kind of hotel service workflow.
Thereupon, Cheng Su set down her wine glass and smiled, "You’re not wrong, but you’re also not entirely correct. A standard large hotel needs to divide into countless departments to operate normally: kitchen department, pastry department, logistics, housekeeping, floor service department. Just speaking of floor service, there are greeters, waiters, consultants, supervisors, department heads, directors, managers, vice general managers, general managers. Oh, and I should mention the cleaning department, linen department, security department, engineering department..."
The crowd stopped their conversations to listen to Cheng Su’s reply.
"Regarding what you said about public relations, honestly, everyone is a public relation because you’re serving the hotel, and everyone is your guest. But to talk about accompanying drinks, it does sound a bit distasteful. You accompany someone in a drink out of respect for the guest. That’s respect," Cheng Su looked at Hualing, "As for an owner being hands-on, how can one run a business well without being hands-on? Today, as the owner here, I sit with you all, enjoying lighthearted conversation and sharing a drink with you and everyone else because of respect, because of kinship, because of joy. I, Cheng Su, toast to everyone. May you all be healthy and reach greater heights."
Such an elegant rebuttal!
Thunderous applause erupted, and Hualing’s face turned ashen.