Chapter Ten: A Fortunate Opening

After a few more days, Chu Bing’s restaurant was finally renovated. Eager to start making money from it, she chose to open as soon as possible.

“Miss Chu, your restaurant is quite something,” Li Haoran stood at the entrance, admiring the interior decor, his brows raised in appreciation.

He had spent the past days busy gathering evidence against his two half-brothers who had tried to harm him, so he hadn’t paid much attention to the movements of the troops. Who would have thought, by the time he finished and came over, Chu Bing’s place had already undergone a complete transformation.

Chu Bing wore a deep indigo robe, her hair tied back, her features delicate and refined—a perfect image of a graceful young gentleman.

Beaming, she stood beside Li Haoran. “Of course! This is my masterpiece, the result of sleepless nights and endless effort!”

She had modeled the interior after modern Western restaurants, adding a few tricks of her own to make the main hall especially bright and welcoming—anyone who stepped inside would immediately feel at ease.

“But that’s not the most important part!”

“Oh?”

To keep customers coming back, the most crucial thing for a restaurant was, naturally, to capture their appetites.

Chu Bing had spent considerable time perfecting several delicious dishes, just waiting to amaze everyone on opening day.

“When we open, you’ll see for yourself. You must come support us,” Chu Bing said, pointing to the bright red signboard above their heads, still draped with a red cloth so no one could see the characters beneath.

“When the time comes, I’ll need you to unveil the sign!” In her calculations, Li Haoran, after all, was the young master of the Marquis’s household—even if he wasn’t favored, a thin camel was still bigger than a horse. If he came to lend his presence on opening day, those who might cause trouble would think twice.

How convenient!

Li Haoran, thinking Chu Bing valued him, was touched and immediately agreed, “Miss Chu, when do you open? I’ll be sure to come.”

“Three days from now. I’ll be counting on you!” Chu Bing was delighted at his quick agreement.

Li Haoran was indeed reliable—not a waste of the three days she’d spent as his mentor.

Three days later, the quiet street was suddenly filled with tantalizing aromas, drifting from dawn until mid-morning, growing ever stronger and stopping passersby in their tracks as they tried to find the source.

“Isn’t that smell coming from the restaurant across the street?”

“Wan Family Restaurant? Did they release a new dish? Let’s go check it out!”

“What Wan Family? I heard it was taken over—there must be a new chef!”

More and more people gathered outside the restaurant, but inside it remained silent, not a sound to be heard. Some impatient passersby couldn’t resist stepping up to knock on the door.

The scent was so alluring it made their mouths water—if only they could go in and have a bite, they’d happily pay any amount!

Just as the crowd grew restless, the main doors swung open and a handsome, upright young man stepped out.

It was none other than Chu Bing, disguised as a man.

She clasped her hands to the onlookers in greeting and addressed them, “Welcome, everyone. I am the new proprietor of this restaurant. We are all neighbors here, so I hope to have your support in the future.”

Seeing everyone’s gaze shift to the hall behind her, she smiled and added, “To celebrate our grand opening, all diners today will enjoy a twenty percent discount!”

Li Haoran stepped out from the crowd, smiling, “No need to rush, everyone—let me unveil the sign, and you’ll all be able to come in and eat!”

The crowd burst into good-natured laughter. In front of everyone, Li Haoran joined Chu Bing and together they lifted the red cloth, revealing four gilded characters on the signboard:

“Chu Family Restaurant.”

It was a simple, down-to-earth name.

With so many families named Chu, she hadn’t specified any given name, simply using the family name instead. Li Haoran shook his head with a smile, thinking, having witnessed Chu Bing’s resourcefulness, that this was surely intentional and not due to a lack of imagination.

The crowd outside, their appetites thoroughly roused, could no longer restrain themselves. As soon as Chu Bing opened the doors, they surged inside.

“Boss, bring us a serving of every dish you made this morning! Hurry!”

Chu Bing responded cheerfully, recommending her signature dishes. Most people didn’t hesitate, ordering as soon as they heard—the aroma was simply irresistible!

Chu Bing hadn’t expected such overwhelming success. For days she’d had the cooks follow her methods to create enticing aromas, just for this moment, and the outcome was even better than she’d hoped! Clearly, the locals had a real weakness for tasty food—every kind of fried, aromatic, and spicy flavor was a deadly temptation here!

Dish after dish was carried out to the main hall, keeping the waiters she’d hired so busy they barely had time to catch their breath.

Chu Bing herself barely touched the ground, exhausted to the bone, but seeing the silver pouring in, she was utterly content.

At this rate, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she was making a fortune every day!

Li Haoran also volunteered to help out, and Chu Bing didn’t stand on ceremony, treating him no different from any other waiter.

Before the afternoon even arrived, every ingredient and dish they’d prepared was completely sold out. Only then did Chu Bing finally breathe a sigh of relief, hurrying to explain to those still waiting in line that they’d closed for the day, but promising they could come early tomorrow. The crowd reluctantly dispersed.

She quickly had the waiters close the doors and brought Li Haoran along to count the day’s earnings.

“I never imagined a restaurant could be so profitable!” Chu Bing’s eyes crinkled with delight at the sight of the silver.

On just the first day, she could already see her restaurant’s fame spreading across the country!

But it was clear she needed to make hiring more staff a top priority—if she kept running things alone, she’d work herself to death!

Lost in thought, stroking her chin, Chu Bing failed to notice that Li Haoran seemed to want to say something but held back.

As Chu Family Restaurant’s business continued to boom, quickly becoming the liveliest spot in town, an unexpected visitor arrived.

It was none other than the original owner’s younger brother, Chu Wenyan.

When Chu Bing saw the tall, slender young man standing before her, she couldn’t help but pause in surprise.

“Sister!” Chu Wenyan looked at her, his eyes red with emotion.

Since receiving her letter, he and their father had believed his sister was living a good life, and he’d come all this way hoping to join her.

Who could have guessed, when he arrived at the magistrate’s residence, it wasn’t his sister who greeted him, but the servants’ cudgels.