Bai Xiao looked at the Wu Zi sea cucumber before her, a delicacy offered at the Xingde Restaurant, which boasted a history of 138 years and the craftsmanship passed down through five generations of masters and apprentices. Just by glancing at the color and luster of the dish, one could tell that it was of the finest quality.
"Come on, everyone, dig in," Bai Xiao said.
The four of them reached for the dish with their chopsticks. Ma Yao stuffed her mouth full in one go, and her eyes widened instantly as the food touched her palate.
"My goodness, no wonder the dishes here are so expensive, the taste is really good."
The group was extremely pleased, and it was not a wasted effort to dine here despite the twists and turns they had experienced.
Indeed, the century-old establishment had a remarkable difference.
As Bai Xiao and her companions were thoroughly enjoying their meal, unbeknownst to them, on the first floor of the lobby, Qiang Xinjie had already arrived at the Xingde Restaurant with several health inspectors, spurred by Qiang Xinran’s complaints. Qiang Xinjie was furious. Those who had snubbed Xinran had disrespected him as well.
After all, Xinran’s bluffing and swagger depended entirely on borrowing his name.
He never expected that on his own turf, there would be a day when he’d encounter defiance.
"Call Manager Zhang out. We’re here for a routine health inspection," Qiang Xinjie said.
Qiang Xinjie’s voice wasn’t loud, and his demeanor was seemingly calm.
However, there was a sinister undertone in his calmness that the restaurant manager was all too aware of. Haven’t you heard? The dogs that bite don’t bark.
Qiang Xinjie was accustomed to throwing his weight around at their establishment. Having offended his sister that day, the manager could guess with his rear end what this visit was about—it was clearly a vendetta.
And they had arrived swiftly at that.
The manager had worried that if Qiang Xinjie arrived late and missed Mr. Yu and his party, they might end up on the losing side.
But he really didn’t overestimate what he knew about Xinran. Accustomed to arrogance, she was suddenly shown disregard by others today.
She wanted immediate real-world retribution.
That was more like it. Wasn’t this exactly according to her tempo?
She wanted to show Mr. Yu, and this was the perfect opportunity.
"Director Qiang, our guests are currently dining. Could you perhaps wait until after the meal hour? We could do the inspection during our break. We are running a business after all, and an inspection now would mean halting the kitchen—our guests won’t be able to receive their dishes," the restaurant manager asserted, making these excuses for the first time with such righteous indignation.
Under normal circumstances, they would never dare to be so brazen.
It was Qiang Xinjie who used to dictate everything.
Qiang Xinjie sensed something abnormal.
On any other day, these people behaved like grandsons in front of him.
Today, however, their attitude took a 180-degree turn.
Unfortunately for him, before he could ponder any further, Xinran had already taken her place beside her brother, full of arrogance.
"Why waste words? Does the health department need to pick a time that suits you for an inspection? Stop all the kitchen operations right now; we are here to conduct a health inspection. Someone reported that your kitchen is filthy and disorganized and that you have used some non-regulatory materials. Your vegetables and meats are not fresh. We are going to check immediately, so step aside," she said.
She was already accustomed to throwing her weight around under someone else’s name.
Qiang Xinjie sighed, looking at his sister and feeling a headache coming on. With such an unreasonable sister, he was at a loss.
He was the head of the health department, but what did that have to do with Xinran? If her words went unheard, it would be one thing, but if the wrong people overheard them, they could possibly sue him for condoning a family member to misuse the name of the health department staff and slander others recklessly.
Luckily, there were no outsiders around.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to keep his official hat on his head.