Reborn in 1981, starting by smashing my iron rice bowl.

Manager Ma frowned and said to Liu Weidong, "I am Ma Qiang, the manager here. Let him go immediately, or I will really call the police to handle this matter!"

In reality, Liu Weidong just wanted to attract attention and sell what he brought.

Having achieved his goal, he readily released the waiter and said, "Manager Ma, I'm not here to cause trouble, I just want to sell some ingredients that your restaurant urgently needs..."

Before Liu Weidong could finish speaking, Ma Qiang impatiently interrupted him: "Young man, do you know where you are? Our restaurant caters specifically to foreign guests. We have every kind of ingredient you could want. You have no right to meddle! Get out of here, or I'll really call the police to arrest you!"

Liu Weidong had assumed that Ma Qiang, as the manager, would have a broader perspective than the waiters, but it turned out he was the same. Now he understood why the waiter had acted so disdainfully—he'd learned it from their manager!

Since that's the case, there's nothing more to say. Liu Weidong left the Western restaurant without hesitation.

Liu Weidong thought that as long as he had these two ingredients, he could easily make money from foreigners. Unexpectedly, he was kicked out by a few Chinese people who looked down on their compatriots before he even saw the foreigners, which made him both angry and helpless.

However, Liu Weidong wouldn't give up his money-making plan so easily, and he quickly came up with a solution. He went to a nearby shopping mall and bought a suit, sunglasses, and a baseball cap. After putting them on, he looked like a completely different person.

When Liu Weidong went to the Western restaurant before, he was dressed like a farmer, but after changing into this outfit, he looked somewhat like an overseas Chinese returning to China.

Although these items cost Liu Weidong several hundred yuan, as long as he could sell the truffles, the investment was well worth it.

As lunchtime approached, Liu Weidong put the truffles and matsutake mushrooms into his newly bought handbag and swaggered into the restaurant.

Coincidentally, the waiter who greeted the guests at the door was the same one who had previously clashed with Liu Weidong.

However, this guy didn't recognize Liu Weidong at all, and politely asked him, "Sir, how many are in your party?"

“One person!” Liu Weidong held up one finger and spoke fluent English.

The waiter immediately became even more respectful, bowing deeply and saying, "Please come in!"

Liu Weidong nodded arrogantly, walked past the guy, and sat down at a small table by the window.

Soon a waitress came over and handed Liu Weidong a menu, asking him to order.

Liu Weidong pretended to look through the menu, then frowned in dissatisfaction and said, "Many dishes are not available!"

Seeing that the "foreign guest" was dissatisfied, the waitress immediately greeted him nervously: "I'm sorry, you can tell me what dishes you would like to eat. Our head chef was specially invited from France and can cook all kinds of Western food!"

The waitress's words made Liu Weidong secretly shake his head. It seemed she thought that any chef from abroad could cook any Western dish.

However, Liu Weidong certainly wouldn't make things difficult for a waitress. He simply asked her for paper and a pen and wrote a line in French with beautiful cursive script: "Please give this paper to your head chef, thank you!"

Although Liu Weidong's actions were somewhat strange, his arrogant demeanor easily intimidated the waitress, causing her to obediently hand the note to Chef Pierre.

Pierre paused for a moment after seeing the note. Although the kitchen was busy, he quickly said to the waitress, "Take me to see this guest!"

A short while later, Liu Weidong finally met the head chef, Pierre, a French chef.

"Hello, Mr. Liu!" After exchanging pleasantries, Pierre went straight to Liu Weidong and asked, "Do you really have a way to solve my problem?"

Seeing Pierre's eagerness, Liu Weidong couldn't help but smile, knowing that his efforts had not been in vain!

What Liu Weidong wrote on the note was, "French cuisine without truffles is soulless, but I have truffles."

In French cuisine, truffles are synonymous with luxury, and many high-end dishes utilize this ingredient. However, importing truffles from France is now completely impossible.

Throughout the 1980s and 90s, the country's foreign exchange reserves were extremely precious, and it was simply impossible to waste them on importing ingredients for a Western restaurant.

So the lack of truffles had become a major worry for Pierre, and he had been troubled by it constantly. Now that Liu Weidong said he could provide truffles, the Frenchman immediately couldn't sit still and rushed out to ask him for clarification.

Facing the expectant Frenchman, Liu Weidong took off his sunglasses and hat, and said with a smile, "Mr. Pierre, please take a look at these things first."

As Liu Weidong spoke, he took out truffles and matsutake mushrooms from his bag and gently placed them on the table.

Pierre's eyes lit up immediately. He picked up a truffle and examined it closely, even bringing it to his nose to smell it again and again. Finally, he nodded in satisfaction and said, "Ha, it is indeed a top-quality black truffle. Mr. Liu, where did you get these?"

Liu Weidong said calmly, "That's a trade secret!"

"Sorry, I got too excited!" Pierre wasn't really interested in finding out, and quickly asked expectantly, "Are you planning to sell me all these truffles?"

This time, Liu Weidong smiled and nodded slightly, saying, "Of course, otherwise I wouldn't have shown it to you."

Pierre exclaimed happily, "Haha, this is wonderful! With these truffles, my menu will be much more varied. Thank you, Mr. Liu!"

“In business, it’s all about mutual benefit, Mr. Pierre, you don’t need to be so polite!” Liu Weidong said seriously, “Since you really want to buy these truffles, let’s talk about the price.”

Pierre, of course, wouldn't object, so Liu Weidong continued, "Truffles cost 300 RMB per pound, while matsutake mushrooms are much cheaper, only 30 RMB."

Pierre nodded without hesitation and said, "No problem, this price is very fair, I can accept it!"

Liu Weidong was secretly annoyed that the Frenchman had agreed so readily – the price was too low!

However, since he had already said it, Liu Weidong could not go back on his word. So he added, "But I have another condition. Since this is a Western restaurant catering to foreigners, I would like to pay the bill in foreign exchange certificates!"

In the 1980s and 90s, foreign exchange certificates were definitely a valuable commodity. Those coveted imported goods could only be purchased at the Friendship Store using foreign exchange certificates.

Although the official exchange rate between foreign exchange certificates and RMB is 1:1, on the black market, one hundred foreign exchange certificates can easily be exchanged for one hundred and forty or fifty RMB.

Therefore, Liu Weidong proposed settling the bill with foreign exchange certificates, which effectively increased the price of truffles by another 50%. Whether they could earn more now depended entirely on Pierre's agreement.

However, at that moment, the waiter who had clashed with Liu Weidong earlier suddenly ran over, grabbed him, and shouted, "How did you manage to sneak in again? Go get the police!"