After transmigrating, I became a stepmother.

Indeed, the crowd below, while not quite a sea of ​​people, was certainly bustling with activity! This was all thanks to Lin Hao's suggestion. When discussing the restaurant's opening, Lin Hao thought that since the restaurant's business hadn't been good initially, simply renovating wouldn't necessarily attract customers, let alone retain them.

Therefore, she proposed a grand opening promotion to Gu Liunian, offering a 20% discount to all customers who visited during the first three days of the opening!

For most customers, the Yue Lai Restaurant across the street is already quite good. The main reason they choose the restaurant across the street is simply because it is cheaper. Now, with the grand opening promotion at Yue Lai Restaurant, the prices are actually cheaper than across the street. Of course, they can't miss such a good deal!

Once inside the restaurant, they discovered that Yuelai Restaurant had completely changed! It wasn't that the layout had changed, but rather that many new features they'd never seen before had been added. For example, on either side of the entrance hung a huge menu, with red backgrounds and black lettering, even sprinkled with gold powder—no small investment!

The menu on the right side lists some dishes and drinks from the Yuelai Restaurant. At first, there was nothing unusual about them; they were just some of the dishes and drinks that the restaurant already had.

The menu on the left, however, was full of dishes that no one had ever seen before. On the far right of the menu on the left was written the words "Our Specialties" in large characters. There were also four columns of slightly smaller text listing spicy hot pot, tomato hot pot, mushroom hot pot, and clear broth hot pot.

The menu listed the special hot pot ingredients: vegetable skewers were one coin each, and meat skewers were two coins each. Vegetable options included cabbage, bok choy, spinach, winter melon, sweet potato, potatoes, and more—it was dazzling to see them all! Meat options included common ones like chicken and duck, but what was unusual was the addition of fish balls, something that not many people knew how to make!

On the far left is a list of featured desserts, including puddings in original, apple, peach, grape and caramel flavors, and double-skin milk pudding in red bean, ginger juice, red bean, lotus seed and glutinous rice flavors.

The crowd looked at the food, which seemed both familiar and unfamiliar, and began to murmur amongst themselves. A man in a navy blue robe said, "Everyone has eaten hot pot before, but what's this Yuelai Restaurant up to? Why are they offering four different kinds?" The crowd echoed his sentiments.

Upon seeing this, Manager Li hurriedly stepped forward, cupping his hands in greeting and beaming, "Master Zhao, you've arrived! My men are so blind, they didn't even tell me!"

This Mr. Zhao is a regular customer at their Yuelai Restaurant. His ancestors were noble families, but they declined by his grandfather's generation and settled in this small county town. Therefore, he is notoriously picky about food, and ordinary dishes rarely catch his eye. Even dishes prepared by their head chef himself are not always to his liking!

Master Zhao chuckled and replied, "With so many people, it's understandable that there might be oversights. Manager Li, you'd better explain to me what kind of tricks your restaurant is up to!"

Manager Li said with a smile, "Master Zhao, you've come to the right person. This hot pot is made with a secret recipe that we specially sought out. We've improved the broth, and it's no longer the bland kind we usually eat! As for how it is, you'll have to try it for yourself. I'm not good with words, so I can't really explain its wonders!"

"You're so smooth-talking! If you weren't so good with words, there wouldn't be many in the world who could say such things!" Master Zhao teased Manager Li with a laugh. "Fine, I'll give it a try. If it's not good, I won't let you off the hook!"

Manager Li hurriedly greeted him and led him upstairs to the private room. "Yes, yes, yes, if you don't like the food, it's all on me. From now on, whenever you come, it'll all be on my tab!"

Master Zhao was satisfied with what he heard and went upstairs.

From the moment the two began talking, everyone downstairs had been listening intently. By now, quite a few wealthy people had been led upstairs by servants.

Some customers who came in for the discount hesitated to step forward. The second manager gave a signal, and a waiter immediately spoke up: "Esteemed guests, please listen to my words. The private rooms upstairs are for guests who want peace and quiet, but our first floor is reserved for guests who want a lively atmosphere. It's fate that we all came to Yuelai Restaurant at the same time. When people who are destined to meet share a table and eat together, it's not just about enjoying delicious food, but also about sharing a special connection!"

These words pleased the group of people who weren't exactly wealthy, and smiles appeared on their faces.

"Yes, we come here to eat because it's lively; otherwise, we'd just eat at home!"

"Exactly!" Many people echoed.

At this moment, the waiter spoke up again: "To make it easier for our guests who like a lively atmosphere, we've specially skewered all the ingredients for our hot pot. If you like any of them, you can join together at a table and share the pot. There's no limit to the number of people; the more people there are, the more variety you can choose!"

As the servant spoke, people began to sit down in twos and threes, exchanging pleasantries. In no time, every table in the lobby on the first floor was occupied.

Two quarters of an hour later, everyone had their own hot pot on their tables. While the diners on the first floor were still looking for someone to share a table with, the guests in the private rooms upstairs were even more shocked! The guests who chose to come to the private rooms upstairs immediately had almost all been here before, but now, if the corridor hadn't been in the same place, they would have almost thought they had gone to the wrong place.

Previously, all the private rooms were the same, but now, you can tell from the layout of the outside that the private rooms have definitely undergone a major renovation. For example, Mr. Zhao, who went upstairs first, was led by Manager Li to a private room on the fourth floor with the words "Mingqing Pavilion" written in cursive script. There were two asparagus ferns at the door of the private room.

Upon entering the private room, a large table was naturally placed directly opposite the entrance, which was to be expected, given that it was a food business! Ingeniously, a row of chimes was cleverly placed in one corner of the room! Master Zhao narrowed his eyes. As a descendant of a noble family, he naturally had some knowledge of chimes; he had attended some banquets in his youth and naturally recognized them!

It has to be said that this stirred up many memories in his heart!

Seeing that he hadn't stopped, Manager Li naturally understood why. He gently interrupted his thoughts: "Master Zhao, please sit down. Which flavor would you like to try? As you just saw, we have four soup bases to choose from. Of course, you can also choose a half-and-half pot to enjoy two flavors at once."

Mr. Zhao was not displeased that Manager Li's voice had interrupted his thoughts. He said loudly, "Then let's try the spicy and mushroom soup first!"

"Alright, please have a seat. I'll go and make the arrangements right away! Would you like someone to come up and play for you?" Manager Li's smile never faded.

After pondering for a moment, Master Zhao hesitated and said, "Then let's call them up!"

"Yes, please wait a moment." Manager Li bowed and withdrew.

Before long, a musician came in to play for him, and in the gentle music, Master Zhao's thoughts gradually drifted away.