The Crisis of Weilou

Chapter 19 The Crisis of Baiweilou

Soon, the exam ended.

However, the candidates in the room were still immersed in the atmosphere of the previous judging session.

The unsuccessful candidates watched Nan Xu leave leisurely, their eyes filled with admiration.

"That candidate named Nan Xu is amazing!"

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"To actually gain Lord Ding's approval, and such an unquestionable and super positive review, is simply a monster!"

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"That technique is too exaggerated! Is it really something a ninth-grade chef could do?"

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"Another genius has emerged from our Shexian County—"

Listening to the candidates' chatter, Ding Baozhen, unusually, did not get angry anymore, but maintained a good mood.

"This young man has the potential to become a pillar of society." He smacked his lips, as if still savoring the taste of the Kung Pao Chicken he had just eaten.

"Such talent, it would be a pity if its vision were limited to Shexian County alone."

7

1

"Lord Ding, what do you mean?" Gao Wenjie seemed to have thought of something.

"Didn't I already say that if there are any talented young people aspiring to a career in cooking, I wouldn't mind recommending them to a few of my old friends?" Ding Baozhen stroked his beard and smiled.

As he spoke, he shook his head slightly: "However, it depends on his own wishes—there's no rush, let's observe further."

Congratulations! You have successfully passed the Level 9 Chef qualification assessment, and your level cap has been raised to LV20!

The moment he left the Food Review Office, a pleasant system notification sounded in Nan Xiang's ears.

"Finally, I've become a rank-up chef. Now I can earn experience points by cooking."

""

Nanpeng was in a very good mood. Ding Baozhen's task not only gave him a large amount of experience points, but also unlocked an efficient way to earn experience points. This ninth-grade chef assessment was a very rewarding experience.

If all goes well, he will be able to learn all the culinary skills that Baiweilou has offered him in just a few days.

Nan Xu hummed a little tune as she walked towards Baiweilou, ready to share the good news that she had passed the test with everyone.

Just then, he heard a clamor of voices coming from the end of the street. A huge crowd surrounded the square, layer upon layer.

"What's going on?" Nan Xu frowned. A gathering of this size most likely meant that something unusual had happened.

For example, rare and exotic ingredients appear in the world; top chefs travel around setting up stalls; and there are also public culinary battles.

A sense of foreboding rose in Nan Xu's heart, and he quickly squeezed into the crowd.

"Excuse me, please make way!"

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It took him a lot of effort to squeeze to the front of the crowd.

The square was filled with the sounds of gongs and drums. Three judges sat in high seats, with two groups of chefs standing on either side. It was indeed a public culinary competition.

One of the participants in this culinary battle was none other than the Baiweilou faction, led by Luo Qinzhu!

On the other side—a magnificent banner bearing the character "Jiang" confirmed the identity of the opponent.

After carefully observing the situation on the field, Nanpeng frowned deeply.

"Tsk, the situation isn't looking good—"

"Impossible! — It should still be at least half a month before the Jiang family attacked Baiweilou in my memory!"

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"How could it be so much earlier? Is it the butterfly effect?"

Without time to think it through, Nan Xu knew he had to take action.

Without hesitation, he added all the experience points he had accumulated to his character level!

[Ding! Your character level has been increased to LV20!]

Seeing the ten extra free skill points on the panel, he felt a little relieved.

Time is still too tight. If this cooking competition were held half a month later, or even a week later, he would be confident of victory.

But now—we can only take it one step at a time.

With that thought in mind, he took a deep breath and walked out of the crowd.

Two hours ago.

"Chef Luo, do you think Nan Xu will pass?" Xiao Zou asked curiously, watching Nan Xu's departing figure.

"I believe him," Luo Qinzhu said firmly.

She had already witnessed Nan Xu's talent, and geniuses can never be measured by common sense.

Xiao Zou grinned and said, "I'm relieved to hear Chef Luo say that."

""

"Looks like I'll be able to enjoy Ah-Xu's delicious cooking tonight!"

Master Li couldn't help but chuckle: "You little rascal, all you ever think about is food."

"Come on, let's get the ingredients ready! If Xiao Nan really succeeds in passing the ninth-rank assessment, we should prepare a celebratory feast for him as usual."

"Then wouldn't I be able to benefit from it too?" Xiao Zou's eyes lit up.

Just thinking about Chef Luo and Chef Li's culinary skills made his mouth water.

With this thought in mind, he became incredibly energetic and began preparing the ingredients with great enthusiasm.

Seeing this, Luo Qinzhu smiled.

After silently cheering for Nanpeng in her heart, she began her afternoon work.

However, not long after, a sudden piece of bad news shattered the peaceful atmosphere in the kitchen.

"—You're saying the land lease for our Baiwei Restaurant is about to expire?"

Luo Qinzhu looked at Wang Yi in front of her with surprise in her eyes.

"Yes, that's what the Jiang family said!" Wang Yi looked completely lost. "They said that if we don't pay the remaining balance, they will forcibly take back Baiweilou in half a month!"

Luo Qinzhu exclaimed in disbelief, "That's impossible! My father paid off the remaining balance a long time ago!"

She knew that Baiweilou was indeed originally purchased by her father on credit from the Jiang family, a prominent salt merchant family, for a period of twenty years.

But after only a few years of operation, my father earned enough money with his excellent skills to pay off the outstanding balance ahead of schedule.

From that time on, Baiweilou should have completely belonged to my father!

"That's what I told them too—but the Jiang family said that when Lao Luo paid the final installment, they didn't calculate the interest, and now he has to pay it back!" Wang Yi said indignantly.

"How is that possible? The final payment was made at the interest rate at the time—wait, the interest rate at the time?"

Luo Qinzhu seemed to have thought of something, and immediately rushed out of the kitchen. After a while, she came in with an old land deed.

"That's right—the Jiang family played word games. Even if the debt is paid off early, the interest rate will still be calculated based on the longest term of twenty years." She frowned.

The interest rate on this land deed was not low to begin with, and after twenty years of compound interest, the extra interest had long since become a huge sum of money, which Baiweilou could not possibly raise in half a month on its own.

"Uncle Wang, please go find Manager Huang of Qingxi Tea Shop—no, I'll go myself. You stay in the restaurant and tell everyone about this so we can discuss a solution."

After quickly making the arrangements, Luo Qinzhu left in a hurry.

At this moment, she could only hope that her business partners could lend Baiweilou a sum of money temporarily to help them weather the current crisis.

However, reality was not as she had hoped.

"Borrow money?" Manager Huang seemed very embarrassed. "Chef Luo, I'm so sorry, we're having some cash flow problems lately—"

Are you worried that we can't keep up? You should know the reputation and management capabilities of Baiweilou!

"We really need this money. If all else fails, we can make some concessions on the interest rate," Luo Qinzhu argued.

"Chef Luo, it's not that we don't want to lend you the money, it's just that we're really in trouble—" Manager Huang apologized and complained, smiling obsequiously as he ushered Luo Qinzhu out.

Luo Qinzhu visited several other businesses she usually dealt with, but as soon as they heard the word "borrow money," they all made various excuses to refuse.

"Sorry, our lending quota for this month is full."

"We just lost a big deal—"

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"I'm short on cash lately, I don't have any cash on hand."

Luo Qinzhu bit her lip. At this point, it wasn't hard for her to guess that the Jiang family was behind it all.

"Jiang family—what exactly do you want?"

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