Business at the shop was temporarily suspended, but to ensure no loss of customers upon reopening, Lu Chen put up a sign at the entrance reminding everyone that every customer who bought pastries on opening day, regardless of the amount, would have a guaranteed chance to win a prize. The consolation prize for everyone was a voucher worth twenty yuan, and there were also several first, second, and third prizes worth one thousand yuan, five hundred yuan, and three hundred yuan respectively.
This tactic really attracted the attention of many customers, who were all eagerly anticipating the reopening.
In addition, regarding the supply of pastries to hotels, an agreement had been reached with a hotel with which they had a good relationship to borrow their pastry-making facilities.
This didn't actually require much time from Lu Chen. Using the pastry-making data and teaching plans that appeared in his mind through his culinary superpowers, he had already trained two qualified apprentices and recruited two senior pastry chefs. They could basically handle the production.
Of course, their pastries were still slightly inferior to Lu Chen's, not in terms of taste or texture, but rather in a subtle, almost spiritual, quality.
Lu Chen understood why.
Whether making pastries or cooking, he naturally entered a state of cultivation under the influence of the Chef God's power. Both the pastries and dishes, in this cultivation process, possessed a wondrous spiritual energy that could bring a sense of peace and joy to those who ate them.
Just like how Dong Qingqing, upon smelling the aroma of Lu Chen's cooking, was reminded of the beauty and warmth of home.
Lu Chen initially struggled with this issue, but quickly grasped the concept. After his apprentices and pastry chefs finished making the pastries, he would silently observe them again using the Chef God's energy, much like the blessing in esoteric Buddhism or the consecration in exoteric Buddhism. This actually worked; the resulting pastries were almost indistinguishable from those made by Lu Chen himself.
This secret technique was Lu Chen's unique skill; no one else could learn it, it was a genuine product of Crescent Moon.
Right now, Lu Chen carefully observed the craftsmen's work for a while, then happily ran to the tea shop next door, spending nearly five hundred yuan to buy two jin (approximately 1 kg) of top-quality local high-mountain green tea for the craftsmen to brew.
This touched the craftsmen so much that they were even more motivated to work harder.
Then, Lu Chen went out, riding his electric scooter to the Fuli Auto City in the west of the city. Liu Li had given him two hundred thousand yuan, saying she wanted to buy an SUV. Indeed, these days, not having a car is unacceptable; with a car, going anywhere is convenient, especially for business people.
Unbeknownst to Lu Chen, after he had ridden his scooter for several hundred meters, a white Mercedes-Benz S600 slowly followed behind. The car had been waiting there for quite some time.
There was only one person in the car. This person wore sunglasses, and the murderous intent in their eyes seemed to pierce through the thick lenses, shooting directly at Lu Chen's back. Strangely, this time, Lu Chen's usual warning energy didn't manifest at all; everything seemed perfectly calm. Therefore, Lu Chen had no idea that a luxury car was following him.
If that car had crashed into him, Lu Chen and his scooter would have been sent flying a considerable distance with a loud bang.
The Mercedes S600 followed closely behind. A smug smile played on the man's lips, making his eyes shine even brighter, filled with a hidden desire.
"Hehe, Lu Chen, you didn't expect me to find you so quickly, did you? It's all fate! You're destined to be mine, you can't be hers, you can't be that brat who can't walk! You're my hero!"
This delicate, sweet voice, tinged with a hint of wildness, was actually quite pleasant to listen to.
The owner of that voice was Zhuang Keluo, the daughter of the Zhuang family, one of the four major families in Yunzhou City, and the person Lu Chen rescued in the women's restroom at the bus station yesterday.
Normally, a daughter of a wealthy family wouldn't be found in a bus station; she'd be flying first class as if it were her own home. However, Zhuang Keluo had been wild and unruly since childhood, enjoying traveling by bus. Yesterday, she had just returned from outings and encountered danger in the restroom, where she also met a savior who suited her perfectly.
Therefore, after seeing Shangguan Bei's Weibo post on Tian Xia's phone, she came to wait for her the next day.
Speaking of which, among the four major families in Yunzhou City, the Zhuang family and the Shangguan family were the closest, practically family friends. They were prominent families in the area a century ago, and had even intermarried.
Zhuang Keluo and Shangguan Bei had grown up together, but because they were both young ladies with their own tempers, they often clashed.
Especially after Shangguan Bei became paralyzed in both legs due to drug testing, she received even more pampering from both families, and everyone protected her. Therefore, Zhuang Keluo repeatedly clashed with Shangguan Bei, but she never won, and no one sided with her.
Zhuang Keluo particularly disliked Shangguan Bei, calling her a "brat" and even mocking her for being a "loose-legged girl."
This time, Zhuang Keluo finally met the kind of man she had always dreamed of, but he happened to be Shangguan Bei's boyfriend. She was furious; she was determined to snatch him away from Shangguan Bei—that would be truly satisfying.
The operation begins now!
After following for about half an hour, Zhuang Keluo saw Lu Chen enter the Fuli Auto City, and a cheerful smile spread across her face. She muttered to herself,
"Is he going to buy a car? Aha, that's it! My future man, a great hero, how can he drive a little motorcycle? And not an ordinary car! At least a Land Rover, Hummer, Maybach, Chrysler, or something like that, that would be so cool! Then he can take me for a spin, aha!"
Muttering to herself, she didn't follow him directly in. Instead, she turned her car around and drove through another gate in the auto city.
That gate was clearly not open to just anyone; the security was tight, with guards standing at the entrance and an electric gate. However, the security personnel saw Zhuang Keluo's BMW approaching from afar, saw the license plate, and quickly opened the electric gate. Thus, Zhuang Keluo rushed in without hindrance.
This auto city was vast, at least 300,000 square meters, truly deserving of its name. In Yunzhou City, it's certainly among the top three or four in its industry, if not the absolute leader.
It's divided into several car sales areas and showrooms, each with its own style, showcasing over 500 models of sedans, SUVs, off-road vehicles, RVs, sports cars, limousines, and more from over thirty brands.
In the center of the auto city stands a circular building resembling a castle.
This is the hub of the Fuli Auto City, housing the office building. It has seven floors; the seventh floor is the monitoring hall, with a central ring of surveillance cameras displaying over 700 monitoring points throughout the auto city.
No wonder, in this auto city, not even considering anything else, the cars themselves, all combined, are worth nearly a billion yuan.
Zhuang Keluo was standing next to the surveillance area, constantly monitoring each monitoring point.
Behind her followed a middle-aged man with a buzz cut and dressed in a suit.
The man possessed an imposing, unyielding air, his face etched with deep wrinkles, his sharp gaze, and the awe that lingered in the glances of the staff nearby—all of which clearly indicated he was a high-ranking manager.
And indeed he was.
In the Fuli Auto City, no one held a higher position than him; he was the General Manager: Hu Hanwu.
However, this top leader of Fuli Auto City forced a smile, following closely behind Zhuang Keluo, his tone feigning concern: "Miss, have you found the person you're looking for? Miss, have you found the person you're looking for?"
"Shut up!" Zhuang Keluo said impatiently, "Old Hu, can you please be quiet? I've been searching for over twenty years, I'm not in a hurry, why are you?"
Hu Hanwu was taken aback. Huh? Searched for over twenty years? Didn't that start when Miss was just born? This wasn't right, but he dared not say anything, only nodding repeatedly, "Okay, okay, no rush, Miss, take your time looking!"
The employees nearby were practically bursting with suppressed laughter.
They knew, of course. Before Miss Zhuang Keluo came to the auto city, Hu Hanwu was the boss. Now that she was here, General Manager Hu was second in command.
This auto city was one of the properties under the Huaihai Group, controlled by the Zhuang family.
However, although Fuli Auto City was large, with total capital reaching around 1.5 billion, it was still a small player among Huaihai Group's many businesses.
Earlier this year, Zhuang Ziliang, the head of the Zhuang family and Huaihai Group, to prevent his beloved granddaughter from running around recklessly and getting into danger, allowed him to choose any company under Huaihai Group to manage, hoping to help her settle down and become a successful businesswoman.
So, because his granddaughter was quite fond of cars, she chose Fuli Auto City.
Before long, everyone in the group knew that Zhuang Keluo was the owner of Fuli Auto City. Zhuang Ziliang even changed the legal representative of the auto city to her name, demonstrating his determination.
However, Zhuang Keluo didn't really manage her auto city much; she went about her business as usual. But it can't be said she was completely unproductive. This girl was quite resourceful; whenever she had an idea, she would discuss it with Hu Hanwu.
These ideas included holding a car and beauty photography contest, a car-themed essay and drawing contest for elementary school students, and collaborating with group-buying websites for super-value car deals, etc. After implementation, they achieved some success. Car sales increased by seven percentage points year-on-year. Although not a huge amount, it was still quite effective in the increasingly competitive car market.
Therefore, she won the favor of her grandfather, Zhuang Ziliang, and also gained a certain degree of respect from Hu Hanwu. This rich young lady wasn't completely incompetent.
"Oh my, I've found him! I've finally found my man!" Zhuang Keluo exclaimed excitedly.
Then, Hu Hanwu froze, and the surrounding staff couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Hu Hanwu was embarrassed. He thought Zhuang Keluo was looking for some important person, but it turned out she was looking for a man!
However, this should be quite important to a girl, right? And she'd been searching for him for over twenty years.
Zhuang Keluo pointed at the screen and shouted, "Enlarge! Enlarge!"
Hu Hanwu quickly enlarged the image, making the man's figure and face clearly visible to Zhuang Keluo.