After returning to the store, Zhou Yan went straight to the kitchen, put on an apron, and started preparing dinner.
However, it is Zhou Yan's usual style to take some time off while busy. Even when he was busy, Zhou Yan did not forget to ask for information.
"Uncle, I heard that the business of Ruiyang Restaurant next door has not been very good recently?"
"Hey," Li Yulin smiled teasingly, "Are you worried about your father-in-law now? But..."
"But what?"
"Ruiyang's business is not doing well, and our side is also affected," Qin Ruoshu sighed slightly, "If business hadn't been bad these days, I wouldn't have agreed to let you come over to help!"
"What's the specific reason?"
"I'm not sure, but the Oasis Hotel over there has a relatively high customer return rate."
Zhou Yan immediately understood: "Is there any difference between the dishes there and Ruiyang?"
"It's almost the same," Li Yulin thought carefully, "even the appearance of the dishes is quite different!"
"Oh," Zhou Yan nodded thoughtfully, "Uncle, I want to visit Ruiyang in the afternoon."
"You don't have to worry about me, just go. Business hasn't been so good lately anyway!"
While the two were chatting, the little cousin went into the kitchen with the menu, used magnets to stick the menu on the iron cabinet at the door of the kitchen, and shouted feebly: "Fried pork rice with green pepper!"
The apprentice who was helping the cook quickly stood up, ran to the door, took back the list, and handed it to Li Yulin: "Master, there is a list!"
Li Yulin and Zhou Yan looked at each other.
It wasn't because someone was planning to start eating before the time came, but just now the two of them noticed that Miss Li seemed a little unhappy.
"Uncle, why did you offend this little aunt?"
Li Yulin looked innocent: "No, even though I have Xiaoxin, I haven't ignored it..."
If it’s not my brother-in-law, then it’s me, a foreigner?
Zhou Yan suddenly remembered that he seemed to have just given his little cousin an agate bracelet.
Adolescent girls are extremely sensitive!
Zhou Yan shook his head helplessly, put down the knife, left the kitchen, walked behind the counter, took out a palm-sized box from his bag, and pushed it to the unhappy little girl at the counter.
"Little beauty, I'm sorry, I just forgot!"
"Cousin, you..." Although Li Jinling tried her best to pretend to be confused, the faint smile at the corner of her mouth still betrayed her.
Stop pretending!
"Open it and take a look?"
Li Jinling happily opened the small box and found a Maitreya Buddha pendant in the shape of a water drop lying inside.
The pendant was carved by Zhou Yan using the core of the bracelet he took out. All the imperfections on the edges were removed, and the originally round material became the shape of a water drop.
"Cousin, thank you!"
The little girl closed the lid, stuffed the small box into her own drawer, and then locked it.
During dinner time, the number of customers in the shop was still sparse and scattered.
But the more things go like this, the less Li Yulin dares to relax: reputation depends entirely on accumulation, and when there are few customers, cooking is half-hearted, which is a bit unjustifiable.
When the lanterns came on, there were still only a few customers in the store.
After a hasty dinner, Zhou Yan said hello to his uncle, took off his apron and went out.
The situation of Ruiyang Restaurant is not much better than Uncle Zhou Yan's shop. Not only is it empty, but it has nothing to do with a prosperous business.
The waiters in the store were very happy when they saw Zhou Yan: "Sir, who are you?"
"I have made an appointment with Mr. Qin!"
"Oh, please come this way!"
When Zhou Yan came to Qin Fangyuan's office, his father-in-law was standing at the window smoking.
"Xiao Zhou, here we come, please sit down!" Comrade Lao Qin quickly put out his cigarette, walked to the sofa and sat down, picked up the purple clay tea set on the coffee table, poured water and made tea.
"Xiao Zhou, drink tea!"
Zhou Yan took the small teacup, blew it, put it on the coffee table, and smiled slightly: "I came here today to inquire about the Oasis Hotel over there."
"Why does Ruoshu tell you everything?" Qin Fangyuan was a little annoyed, "My skills are inferior to others, there is nothing to say!"
"Does the other party have someone in the Food Inspection Bureau?"
Qin Fangyuan was stunned for a moment, then nodded helplessly.
"Where is the public security system?"
"I think should not be!"
"That's good!" Zhou Yan sighed, "I asked my brother-in-law, right now Oasis uses a lot of cigarette shells, right?"
"I'm not sure exactly!" Qin Fangyuan said with a bitter look on his face, "However, I have quietly investigated the return rate on the other side, and I estimate that the dosage should be quite large!"
"Uncle Qin, lend me some strangers in a few days, and I'll go over to the other side to treat a guest..."
"This..." Comrade Lao Qin felt a little embarrassed, but he didn't know how to refuse, so he could only nodded.
After chatting for a while, Zhou Yan said goodbye and left.
When I returned to my uncle's shop, all the customers were gone, and my uncle was cleaning there with two workers.
"Shitou, what did your father-in-law say?" Li Yulin looked at Zhou Yan with a smile full of gloating.
"What else can I do?" Zhou Yan curled his lips, "Old Qin, this old guy can really keep his composure. He probably has some countermeasures. Seeing me jumping out on my own initiative, he naturally followed suit."
"Then you really jumped in?"
"You can't do it without jumping!" Zhou Yan sighed slightly, "I spent some time in the SWAT team over in Yunzhong this year. There are some things that cannot be out of sight but out of mind!"
"That's right!" Li Yulin sighed deeply and nodded, "It's just because I have a family to take care of, so I have to let go..."
Zhou Yan's eyes suddenly lit up: "Brother-in-law, you used to be a border policeman?"
Li Yulin neither admitted nor denied it, but there was a bit of sadness between his eyebrows.
Zhou Yan was too embarrassed to ask more questions: Many border policemen on the southwest border become martyrs every year.
In the evening, after returning to his residence, Zhou Yan called Liu Anguo.
"You kid, why did you remember to call me?"
Judging from the voice, Liu Anguo must be in a good mood on the other end of the phone.
Zhou Yan chuckled: "Old Liu, I have a question, do you have any acquaintances in the anti-drug system here in Dongyang?"
"There is no anti-narcotics system, but there are several SWAT teams!" Liu Anguo felt a little confused, "What's wrong? What problem did you encounter?"
"Qin Ruoshu's father's restaurant has encountered a rival." Zhou Yan himself felt a little embarrassed. "I now suspect that the rival may have used cigarette casings, and the total amount was very large."
Liu Anguo was delighted: "Isn't it possible that the other party's skills are better?"
"It's impossible. I've tasted Ruoshu's dishes, and they've basically reached the best balance between price and quality."
"Then there should be a problem. I'll give you some phone numbers later and you can contact me yourself!"
"Thank you, Brother Liu!" Zhou Yan thought for a moment and asked curiously, "Brother Liu, I hear your voice and you seem to be in a good mood!"
"You're such a good boy!" Liu Anguo was a little proud, "I'll be transferred to the provincial capital in a while!"
Zhou Yan joked with a playful smile: "Congratulations on being promoted to Section Chief, Liu Ke, I will give you a solid gold plaque another day!"
"Get out of here!"
Less than three minutes after hanging up the phone, Liu Anguo sent six phone numbers with names attached to Zhou Yan.
Zhou Yan glanced at it, saved it in his phone, lay down on the bed, and clicked on the special tutorial "Training the Pacific" in the Great Power Navy series.