12:30 P.M., one of the busiest times at the Yunzhong Restaurant.
Ouyang, as usual, sat by the window, enjoying a hearty meal with two meat dishes, one vegetable dish, a snack, a soup, and a fruit. While eating, he looked around to see if any clueless customer dared to drink cold tea, so he could decide whether to slack off later in the canteen.
Slacking off is getting harder by the day.
Because every time he’d try to slack off lately, he’d get caught and be sent to squeeze lemons, causing him to instinctively tremble at the sight of lemons.
Fortunately, there weren’t many fearless people today.
Everyone had already understood the rules of the Yunzhong Restaurant: dishes prepared by Qin Huai could be eaten with confidence, Qin Congwen’s dishes could be eaten, but with Qin Luo and Zhao Rong, there was an 80% risk.
As for why the risk was 80%, it’s because Qin Luo also handled the handmade lemon tea.
Ouyang relaxed and continued eating.
After his hard work, Master Qin sat across from Ouyang with a tray, looking a bit troubled.
"What’s up, haven’t you figured out your honey yeast buns yet?" Ouyang asked.
"No," Qin Huai replied, focused on his meal.
"I think you should just give up on the honey yeast buns and make more fermented rice buns. Didn’t I buy a bag yesterday morning to take home to my parents? My mom couldn’t stop praising them, and she immediately increased my monthly allowance from 0 to 3000!"
"I even snagged two supermarket cards, two amusement park annual passes, a foot massage card, and a beauty salon card from my mom. I got the beauty salon card by mistake; I originally wanted the card for the traditional Chinese bone setting shop." Ouyang, the No. 1 bandit, said as he pulled out the amusement park annual passes from his pocket. "I’ll give these two cards to you, so you can let Aunt Zhao take Luoluo to the amusement park someday."
Qin Huai accepted the amusement park cards without hesitation and said, "I’m not thinking about the honey yeast buns; I’m considering how to organize the next event."
Ouyang swallowed a big mouthful of braised pork. "Still planning a cold tea event? Isn’t it true that all the elders around here with the last name Luo and the name Jun have been victimized by your antics already?"
"Did you know that because we’ve been giving away cold tea for such a long period, even that terrible cold tea shop on the pedestrian street has seen its reputation improve? I checked a few days ago, and its review score on the website went up by 0.2 points."
"If things don’t improve, why not sell some iced red tea? It’s still tea, and it’s cold." Ouyang sincerely suggested.
Do you think I want to do this? Isn’t it just that mysterious Luo Jun has never shown up?
"You can’t say it like that," Qin Huai said calmly. "It’s not like I’ve victimized all the locals with the last name Luo and the name Jun. For sure, there are some I haven’t reached yet."
Anyway, Luo Jun himself certainly hasn’t had any.
Ouyang was stunned, observing Qin Huai with awe, hesitating a bit before asking, "Has someone nearby offended you?"
"Last name Luo? And the name Jun?"
"Don’t talk first; let me think, let me think..." Ouyang held his head, frowning. "Now that you mention it... there really seems to be someone with that name. Wait, who was it? I feel like there really is such a person."
Qin Huai perked up instantly but said nothing, simply putting down his chopsticks and quietly watching Ouyang, waiting for an answer.
"I feel like I just saw it recently... What was I working on recently? What’s my job again?"
"Sanitation?" Qin Huai prompted.
"No," Ouyang shook his head.
"Letting the dogs poop everywhere?"
"That’s the lady in Building D with the last name Huang, she’s been reported a few times already."
"No, no, I remember that one’s surname is Liu."
"It’s like a name on some kind of form..."
Finally, after ruling out countless wrong options, Ouyang slapped the table and shouted, "I remember! Luo Jun, Old Luo! Dr. Qu’s patient."
Seeing Qin Huai staring at him, Ouyang quickly explained, "Qin Huai, do you remember when you were delivering a salad last time? I was filling out that form for the care of solitary elderly, just from our community, the resident of Apartment 1704, Building A."
Seeing that Qin Huai still hadn’t reacted, Ouyang continued, "Widowed early, no children, living alone, hasn’t been in good health the past two years, not very mobile, rarely goes out. I hear he’s a bit senile. His attending physician is Sister Hong’s friend. We usually visit every few months, but Uncle Luo has a really bad temper—always grumpy when we visit."
"Only Sister Hong and Dr. Qu can get a somewhat decent reception from him. We’ve always called him Old Luo in private, nearly forgot his real name."
Qin Huai appeared speechless: "You said Uncle Luo is not very mobile and doesn’t go out, I probably haven’t even seen him. How could he offend me?"
"It’s not impossible," Ouyang said. "Uncle Luo might not go out, but he loves ordering takeout, and he’s notorious for giving bad reviews, always using his real name online. The surrounding businesses must hate him."
Qin Huai thought he most likely had found the right Luo Jun.
Why would a takeout-loving Uncle Luo be in the group ordering together?
The group required eight orders on the same level to combine; he doubted the residents could meet that requirement.
Moreover, for community residents, it’s just a short walk for a meal; freshly served hot dishes are certainly tastier than those kept in a takeaway box.
Qin Huai couldn’t recall An Youyou and Qin Luo delivering to anyone in the community.
Without thinking too much, Qin Huai directly asked, "When is your next visit?"
"Next week or the week after. Dr. Qu will join us, so it’s easier for us when we ride on the back of Dr. Qu’s visits."
"I’ll go with you," said Qin Huai.
"Just in time to let Sister Xi’s team send out some community restaurant soft publicity about caring for solitary elderly. Everyone contributes a little love, and the world will be warmer," Qin Huai started spouting easily, "We need this kind of promotion since the restaurant is hiring new pastry chefs soon; we need to expand sales with some publicity."
Ouyang was gobsmacked. So this is how business is done. No wonder why I lose 6.6 million a year.
After a long silence, Ouyang asked, "So, when you come with us, should we bring some special treats from the canteen?"
"Secret Five Fillings Bun or something?"
"Uncle Luo may not be very mobile, but I remember he has quite a good appetite; last time I visited him, he was snacking on sunflower seeds."
Qin Huai nodded: "Bring some special snacks."
"Is it hot now? For the elderly, drinking dried tangerine peel tea is beneficial. Bring a few cups with us."
Ouyang’s hand trembled slightly as he grasped the chopsticks.
He really wanted to ask Qin Huai if Uncle Luo had given the Yunzhong Restaurant a bad review.
How is this any different from deliberate revenge?
Oh right, there is a slight difference.
If it were deliberate revenge, it would have been the Seven Spice Dampness Removing Tea that got delivered.