Oh no! Seven kids at the start, all yellow and skinny.

Chapter 409 The Gluttonous Tower

It's lunchtime now, and Taotielou is still quite busy; among restaurants, it's considered to be doing pretty well.

When people say that Taotielou is no longer popular, they probably mean that its traffic has decreased compared to before.

"Please come in, gentlemen. Would you prefer the main hall or a private room?" a waiter greeted them.

"Let's have a private room." Yunyi glanced around the hall, where there were about twenty tables, and about half of them were already occupied.

The private rooms are upstairs, and there are twelve private rooms all around the main hall below. It is said that when business was booming a couple of years ago, people had to come early to queue up.

But now, at a glance, only two of the dozen or so private rooms are occupied, plus the one Yunyi wanted, making three in total, while the rest are idle.

Once inside the private room, Yunyi ordered several of Taotielou's signature dishes, which are said to be a must-order for everyone who comes here.

The young man wrote it down and then left.

But before the door was even closed, they heard people shouting in a nearby private room.

"This dish is so salty, did they beat the salt seller to death?"

"Yeah, the meat's burnt. Are you trying to fool us?"

"There are large pieces of sand in these vegetables. Does this Taotie Restaurant want to go out of business?"

……

Yunlu was the first to rush out to see what was going on. She found that the people in the two private rooms upstairs had all come out, carrying dishes, and were shouting that they wouldn't pay the bill and would demand compensation.

The young waiter and the shopkeeper came up and started apologizing, but they couldn't decide on compensation; they needed to contact the owner.

The diners were even more unhappy when they heard this. The food was bad, a waste of their time, and made them feel nauseous. How could they not be compensated?

Then another uproar ensued.

"Miss, if this place keeps going like this, it'll have to close down sooner or later." Yunlu pouted after returning. "I just looked at the food there, and it's really terrible. I reckon I could cook something better."

Yunlu can't cook and is practically a kitchen disaster, so using herself as a metaphor is perfectly apt.

Yunyi poured her a cup of tea: "Have some tea, the tea is quite good." Although the food quality was poor, the tea she offered was still very good, with the flavor of Biluochun.

"Should we stay and eat?" Yunlu frowned.

"Even if you don't want to eat, you should still watch the fun," Yunyi said, letting Yang Chunni out for a stroll, especially in the backyard.

Yang Chunni floated away excitedly. Before, she couldn't even leave No. 1 Dongfeng Lane, but now that she was with the young lady, she could float freely. It felt so good.

"Ah Lü, are there any people in your area who are still free?" Yun Yi asked Yun Lü after Yang Chunni left.

"Huh?" Yunlu didn't react for a moment.

"Aren't you from the Dark Guard Battalion? There are even members of the Hidden Dragon Guard among you. Do you know if there are any of you who are not currently active?"

Yunlu lowered her head: "They're all dead."

Yunyi frowned.

“Back then…” Yunlu looked up, her eyes reddening slightly. “Our women’s camp had ten people each in the ‘Red’ and ‘Green’ generations, but because of what happened back then, they all died. Only Hongyi and I survived by chance, but we were also seriously injured and it took us a long time to recover.”

Yunyi raised her hand and patted her shoulder, her mood also somewhat heavy. These guards were all trained from a young age by finding qualified orphans. It would take them more than ten or twenty years to become skilled, and then the best and worst were selected to be qualified to work by their master's side.

Therefore, ordinary families could not afford to keep secret guards.

"Is Miss looking for someone?" Yunlu quickly calmed down and her expression returned to normal.

“Hmm.” Yunyi nodded. “Hua Niang…hehe, Hua Man Lou is about to open, and we can’t leave the Wild Wolf people to guard the gate, so I need to find a few people with good kung fu to be our security guards.”

"Is a江湖人 (jianghu person) acceptable?"

"Okay."

"Shall I make a contact?"

"Sure, as long as you're skilled, the salary is negotiable."

"I'll write a letter and send it out when I get back. I estimate it will take seven or eight days to get there and back."

"It's okay, just come before the opening. There are still more than twenty days left, plenty of time."

Just as they finished agreeing, the waiter knocked and came in: "Esteemed guests, I'm sorry, there's been a problem in our kitchen, and we can't serve any dishes for the time being, so..."

"Alright, let's go somewhere else then." Yunyi stood up.

"Thank you for your understanding, Miss." The waiter smiled and saw her to the door.

At this point, everyone in the hall had left, leaving only a mess.

Yunyi took Yunlu to Taibai Tower, which was not far away. However, there were no private rooms available, but there were empty tables in the main hall. So they sat down there, ordered a few dishes, and they were served quickly.

"The chef here is really good at cooking." Yun Lu took a bite of the boiled pork and squinted her eyes contentedly. "This meat is really well made."

Yunyi picked up a piece of clear soup with sour bamboo shoots and chicken, which was very refreshing. The only regret was that it still didn't use chili peppers, but instead used dogwood instead, without the aroma of millet peppers.

"Actually, the best boiled pork used to be made by Chef Pan at Taotielou, what a pity..." The people at the next table also ordered boiled pork and were even discussing it.

"Yes, Old Pan's meat was cooked perfectly... boiling but not bubbling, just right. And his knife skills were amazing, every slice was cut to the same thickness. It's just a pity he injured his hand and left. I guess we'll never be able to eat it again."

"Alas, Taotie Tower is completely finished."

"That Duke Liu favored his concubine over his wife, squandering all of his daughter-in-law's dowry. Let's see if the Taotie Tower can survive if it collapses."

"Oh dear, why bring this up? We ordinary folks can't afford to offend them."

"That's right, come and have some drinks and food."

……

"Go and find out where Master Pan is now and what happened to him in the next few days," Yunyi said, glancing at Yunlu.

"Okay." Yunlu nodded.

“Miss, there’s no need to ask anymore, I know everything.” Just then, Yang Chunni floated over.

"Tell me about it." Yunyi glanced at her.

"The Taotie Restaurant was originally part of Li's dowry, just like the previous Li's Teahouse. Because Liu Shan interfered and arranged for a relative of his concubine to come in, it became unsustainable. Originally, Taotie Restaurant's business was all thanks to Chef Pan, the Li family's master chef. Unfortunately, later, Duke Liu sent a head chef to the kitchen, who, out of jealousy, burned Chef Pan's hand. Chef Pan had to leave, and the restaurant's business was ruined..."

Where is Master Pan now?

"He was an old employee of the Li family. He hadn't sold himself into servitude, but he had worked for the Li family for many years. After the incident, the Li family probably felt bad for him, so they gave him some money. Master Pan has now returned to his hometown, which is Panjiazhuang in the suburbs of Beijing..."