After organizing his notes, Pei Qian walked out of his office.

“Everyone, put down your work for now.”

“We’re going to have a team dinner at Ming Fu Family Banquet in the city at four o’clock. The location has been shared in the group chat. Company vehicles can take some of you, and the rest can form their groups to take taxis. Keep your receipts.”

After Pei Qian finished speaking, the response from everyone was underwhelming.

Hao Yun held his head in his hands, feeling a headache coming on.

Mr. Pei was disrupting their work again!

Looking at his watch, it was just after three o’clock. The afternoon work had barely begun!

They couldn’t work on weekends, and they already had too much to do. Now Mr. Pei kept finding ways to shorten their working hours—one hour today, two hours tomorrow…

If this continued, how would they ever get anything done?

Although everyone started working urgently as soon as they arrived at the office, not daring to waste a single minute, they still couldn’t handle Mr. Pei’s sudden whims to organize activities.

Just like now, with absolutely no prior notice.

So many people didn’t have time to respond and just typed on their keyboards more rapidly and forcefully, as if venting their frustration.

Pei Qian frowned slightly.

These people had problematic thinking!

Even though they had team dinners every few days, that was no excuse for them to work so diligently!

Not being enthusiastic about meals indicated problematic thinking.

Pei Qian coughed lightly twice: “You have five minutes to save your files. Everyone, assemble downstairs in five minutes.”

“Xiao Tang, cut the power precisely five minutes from now!”

Tang Yishu hurriedly stood up: “Ah, understood.”

Everyone: “…”

There was a flurry of rushed file-saving.

…

At four o’clock, everyone gradually arrived at the Ming Fu Family Banquet.

This high-end restaurant wasn’t exactly in Jingzhou’s core business district, but it wasn’t far off.

It was near Universal Street, though not inside the mall itself, probably because there wasn’t enough space there.

It was a three-story standalone building, decorated with an ancient Chinese aesthetic—red bricks and gray tiles, looking quite authentic.

When Pei Qian entered the Ming Fu Family Banquet, he found that Manager Li had already arrived.

“Mr. Pei! Welcome, welcome.”

“Manager Li, good to see you.”

The two exchanged greetings and made small talk.

Manager Li looked at the large group following behind Pei Qian: “Everyone, please come in. Mr. Pei has reserved the entire place, sit wherever you like!”

Seeing that Mr. Pei had brought so many people, Li Shi was quite touched.

Even though he had given a 30% discount, meaning they would barely break even on this meal, the fact that Mr. Pei came to support him as a good friend was already very face-giving!

Li Shi had originally thought that Mr. Pei’s promise to support was just empty talk.

After all, business was business. Once the Ming Fu Family Banquet opened, it would be a competitor to Nameless Restaurant. Mr. Pei might say he would support it, but who knew what he thought?

But now, seeing that he had arranged his company dinner here, this wasn’t just simple support—this was truly being considerate!

For a company dinner, wouldn’t Mingyun Private Kitchen be better?

Li Shi knew well that even if the Ming Fu Family Banquet could crush other restaurants in Jingzhou, it was still inferior compared to Mingyun Private Kitchen.

For Mr. Pei to come eat here was like lowering himself, showing how much face he was giving!

So Li Shi quickly instructed the manager and servers to be attentive and not to neglect any detail.

After everyone was seated, Pei Qian looked around.

He had to admit, the decoration was quite thoughtful. It was obvious they had put in a lot of effort and spent quite a bit of money.

The tables, chairs, tableware, decorations, and so on all conveyed an elegant, classical feel with a sense of quality.

But as Pei Qian flipped through the menu, he noticed they only offered Chinese cuisine, not as diverse as Mingyun Private Kitchen.

Thinking about it carefully, this made sense. Although both restaurants were positioned as high-end dining establishments, they had chosen different paths.

Li Shi and Wang Peng understood clearly that to open a high-end restaurant, the best approach would be to collaborate with Nameless Restaurant.

Because Nameless Restaurant had already established its reputation and gained public acceptance, even if Mr. Pei didn’t invest money or personnel but only lent his name, it would be a significant help.

But Mr. Pei had refused, so they naturally had to proceed on their own.

Could they completely copy Nameless Restaurant’s model?

Probably not feasible.

Because copying Nameless Restaurant’s model would easily earn them the reputation of being a “knockoff,” and such a label would be fatal for a restaurant positioned as high-end.

Once the reputation collapsed and criticism spread, if wealthy people no longer recognized the brand, the high-end positioning would be completely ruined.

Li Shi and Wang Peng weren’t fools; they wouldn’t do such a thing.

Therefore, they could only follow the conventional high-end restaurant path.

They were located in a busy area with convenient transportation, had a large venue, and didn’t require reservations like Nameless Restaurant often did.

Of course, this meant they couldn’t change the decor of private rooms before each meal, making the dining environment less exquisite.

The advantage was that the place was spacious, and most dishes could be kept in stock.

It wasn’t as high-end as Mingyun Private Kitchen, but the prices were correspondingly lower. When unable to reserve a table at Mingyun Private Kitchen, coming here would still be more upscale than Swan Lake Restaurant.

Soon, dishes were brought to the table one after another.

On the way here, Pei Qian had already asked Manager Li for the menu in advance and arranged for Assistant Xin to order.

This saved time, allowing everyone to start eating immediately upon arrival, without wasting time after work.

As for the dishes, Pei Qian had no specific requirements except to order more expensive items.

Expensive dishes often meant higher costs.

Pei Qian didn’t care what they ate specifically, after all, he had already tried the best at Mingyun Private Kitchen. His main purpose this time was to spend more money.

“Come on, everyone, eat quickly. After we finish, we’ll go home and rest.”

Pei Qian was the first to pick up his chopsticks and began eating silently, avoiding any unnecessary procedures.

Li Shi approached Pei Qian’s table with a smile: “How is it, Mr. Pei? Is the taste to your liking?”

Pei Qian nodded and mumbled: “Mmm, it’s acceptable!”

He wasn’t very good at lying. The food here was indeed somewhat inferior compared to Mingyun Private Kitchen, though it was better than Swan Lake Restaurant.

However, Swan Lake Restaurant had one advantage: it was mostly buffet-style with plenty of seafood, making it overall more cost-effective than here.

But for Pei Qian, that was a negative point.

Li Shi was well aware of the quality of their dishes. For Mr. Pei, who dined at Nameless Restaurant daily, to give an “acceptable” rating to their food was already quite face-giving.

Tang Yishu sat with the administrative team, somewhat nervously picking up food bit by bit and eating in small bites.

…

Li Shi went to the kitchen, wanting to give everyone a pep talk.

But before entering, he heard a series of “clangs” and “crashes” from inside.

“Ouch!”

“I fell! The floor is too slippery!”

“Quickly sweep up the fragments!”

Li Shi frowned, and upon entering the kitchen, saw shards of plates scattered everywhere. Two employees were frantically sweeping up the mess.

Li Shi felt dizzy: “What’s going on here?”

A server bowed apologetically: “I’m sorry, Manager Li! The floor was too slippery, and I accidentally fell and broke several dirty plates that had just been collected…”

Li Shi was speechless. Looking down, he saw a puddle of water on the kitchen floor, though he wasn’t sure when it had appeared. It was indeed very slippery.

“It’s okay, clean it up quickly.”

“Look on the bright side, we’ve identified a safety hazard.”

“Tomorrow morning, go buy some anti-slip agent and mats.”

Just as Li Shi finished speaking, he saw a nearby Wok suddenly burst into flames with a “whoosh.”

This was not some advanced cooking technique but a chef’s mistake.

“Quick, quick, fire extinguisher!!”

Someone hurriedly passed over a fire extinguisher. The fire was quickly put out, but the entire Wok of food was ruined and had to be discarded. They would have to start over with a new Wok.

Li Shi’s face darkened: “The fire extinguisher is too far away. That’s another hazard.”

While they had indeed identified several safety hazards, it was truly frustrating!

Li Shi felt helpless and muttered quietly: “Could it be because we didn’t check for an auspicious date before opening?”

“Why don’t other restaurants seem to have these problems…”

“Stay calm, stay calm, this must just be a coincidence.”

…

That night, after 10 PM.

After seeing off the last customers, Ming Fu Family Banquet’s manager was still directing the servers to clean up.

Li Shi found a seat and sat down, feeling genuinely exhausted.

Today was their second day of business, a crucial time.

However, problems kept arising!

Although none were major safety incidents—just a few dropped plates or burnt dishes—they significantly slowed down the food service.

Several tables of customers waited too long for their food and were very dissatisfied. The manager personally apologized profusely and offered discounts, which somewhat salvaged the situation.

But how these people would review the restaurant afterward was anyone’s guess.

When Mr. Pei had reserved the place, things were still manageable since they ate early and had pre-ordered the menu. By the time Mr. Pei and his group arrived, a batch of dishes was already prepared. They didn’t notice the delay with the few dishes that came later.

However, by evening, when other customers came to dine, these problems were fully exposed.

Li Shi felt a bit depressed. Was opening a restaurant really this difficult?

The safety standards in his restaurant were already much higher than ordinary restaurants, so why were there still so many incidents?

But he couldn’t blame anyone else. Safety hazards, by definition, have a probability of causing problems.

For instance, if water accidentally spilled on the floor, sometimes people would walk over it without incident, and sometimes they would slip and spill the food they were about to serve.

It could only be said that their safety awareness wasn’t strong enough!

Li Shi felt melancholic and increasingly realized how extraordinary Mr. Pei’s Mingyun Private Kitchen truly was.

Exquisite environment, precisely timed food service, meticulous attention to detail…

High-end dining wasn’t as simple as he had imagined!

He wondered how much effort Mr. Pei had put into Mingyun Private Kitchen to achieve its current level!