The call connected quickly. Lin Canrong probably hadn’t expected Boss Pei to call, and there was a hint of uneasiness in his voice: “Boss Pei! Do you have any instructions?”

Pei Qian casually said, “Nothing major, just wanted to ask about Mingyun Private Kitchen. Have you been getting many customers lately?”

Lin Canrong didn’t answer immediately, seeming a bit embarrassed.

This wasn’t a question of many or few—it was a question of whether there were any at all…

Since opening, Mingyun Private Kitchen hadn’t served any customers besides Tenda’s internal employee gatherings and hosting Zhang Zuting.

This was perfectly normal—without promotion or exposure, naturally, no one would come to eat.

Some Tenda employees had mentioned it to friends, but firstly, Mingyun Private Kitchen was remote and far away, difficult to find without someone leading the way, and most people weren’t willing to make the troublesome journey. Secondly, Tenda employees had just eaten there and didn’t want to pay out of pocket for a second meal so soon.

So recently, there had been no customers at all.

Although it would make him look incompetent, Lin Canrong thought it over and decided to tell the truth. He couldn’t lie to Boss Pei.

Boss Pei was prescient, and lying to his face would have serious consequences.

“Boss Pei, we haven’t served any other customers recently. I need to reflect on this—it’s probably because we haven’t promoted the private kitchen enough. I’ll immediately arrange to strengthen our promotional efforts…” Lin Canrong took the blame voluntarily.

Upon hearing this, Pei Qian hastily interrupted, “No, no, no, that’s not what I meant.”

“You’re doing very well right now. Your primary task is to provide the best food and service. Promotion isn’t something you should be concerned with.”

“I called to emphasize a few points.”

“Shortly, you’ll likely have a small number of customers coming to Mingyun Private Kitchen. You must make sure all our service staff clearly understand the following precautions.”

“First, customers are not allowed to take photos.”

“Second, don’t over-explain things.”

“Third, no exceptions for anyone.”

“Understand?”

Lin Canrong: “Uh…”

He clearly didn’t fully understand.

Pei Qian explained a bit more. By “don’t over-explain,” he meant if customers asked why so many ingredients weren’t available and required booking, the servers should simply answer, “Because these ingredients are precious and need to be transported from elsewhere,” without explaining in detail why these ingredients were precious or where they were transported from.

Or if customers asked why their dishes were so much more expensive than elsewhere, servers should simply reply, “Because we use better ingredients and provide a better dining environment and service,” without elaborating on exactly how the ingredients were better or what advantages the dining environment and service offered.

In short, don’t show off excessively.

As for “no exceptions for anyone,” this meant that even if some big boss came and was willing to pay a premium to cut in line, they still had to make reservations like everyone else. Similarly, servers shouldn’t explain these things in too much detail.

Of course, this didn’t mean providing poor service.

They should serve as they normally would, just without excessive explanation of these rather abstract concepts.

“Understand?” Pei Qian asked again.

Lin Canrong: “Uh… yes, Boss Pei. I’ll strictly enforce these requirements.”

Lin Canrong didn’t ask any additional questions, which pleased Pei Qian.

He added a few more reminders—to report any developments immediately—then hung up.

On the other end of the call, although Lin Canrong hadn’t voiced any questions, he fell into deep thought.

What did Boss Pei mean?

Was this the legendary “no explanation marketing”?

No matter what questions customers asked, just don’t explain anything?

With an attitude of “Just eat and be done with it—why so many questions?”

Of course, the attitude couldn’t be that harsh. Boss Pei meant that servers should still serve customers like gods, but not answer every question from those gods in detail.

This completely contradicted Lin Canrong’s conventional understanding.

It felt somehow inappropriate!

Misunderstandings between people are resolved through communication. If customers are dissatisfied, servers should explain things in as much detail as possible so that customers fully understand.

If they just smile and brush off questions, it might worsen misunderstandings.

But… Boss Pei’s requirements were clear, and he had even made a special phone call to emphasize them, showing how important this was.

“Forget it, Boss Pei must have some deeper meaning. Don’t overthink it.”

“Just do as Boss Pei requires.”

“Wait, how did Boss Pei know customers would be coming soon?”

“Oh, Boss Pei must have found another way to promote the place. No wonder he told me not to worry about promotion.”

Although he couldn’t guess Boss Pei’s thinking at all, Lin Canrong felt that Boss Pei seemed confident, as if he had already arranged everything for the future.

It’s great to have such a leader!

Lin Canrong put his mind at ease and prepared to motivate the servers.

…

…

That evening, Pei Qian returned to his residence.

After cleaning up the dismembered camera remains on the table and editing the video a bit, he prepared to publish it.

The Hardcore Review account’s follower count kept growing. Although the growth rate was average, the current situation had exceeded Pei Qian’s expectations.

In short, mission accomplished!

Now, even if Lin Chang remembered, he wouldn’t think Boss Pei had taken money without doing the job.

After watching the silly comments from netizens on his previous videos, Pei Qian began to plan his next steps.

The top priority was the two games.

“Hot-Blooded Battle Song: Power Enhanced Edition” was developing much faster, and the advertisements had already been filmed. At the beginning of the next month, about ten days away, they should be able to start advertising and launch the test version.

“Look Back to the Shore” would need at least another month.

Besides that, he needed to keep an eye on Mingyun Private Kitchen to avoid any disasters.

As for Endpoint Chinese Web, Headwind Logistics, Fei Huang Studio, and so on, he didn’t need to worry too much for now. The first two were steadily losing money, and the last one would be the same whether he managed it or not.

Fortunately, with his operations expanded sufficiently, money was being spent at a noticeably faster rate.

Now all the Headwind Stations were on track, especially in the areas where Pei Qian was active—parcels could be delivered to the doorstep.

Of course, if someone didn’t want couriers delivering to their door and insisted on picking up packages themselves, that was fine too. Headwind Stations served small areas, so for those who called and requested not to have doorstep delivery, they simply wouldn’t deliver and would wait for customers to come pick up their packages.

Pei Qian figured that whether he could lose money this time would depend crucially on Headwind Logistics.

Although other businesses also seemed stable, who knew which one might suddenly implode?

By stabilizing Headwind Logistics, when other businesses suddenly encountered problems, he could just open more Headwind Stations and hire more couriers to keep profits under control.