Daddy! Come Home for Dinner!

Li Xiaoyun replied, "It’s six o’clock."

Unexpectedly, Zhao Dingli didn’t reveal his plans but asked, "Didn’t you tell me this morning that you wanted to thank me?"

"Yes." Li Xiaoyun sent back, "I remember it very clearly."

"So how are you going to thank me?" Zhao Dingli asked again.

Li Xiaoyun didn’t expect that not only did she remember it clearly, but Zhao Dingli also remembered it quite well.

He was even prompting her.

Li Xiaoyun scratched her hair in distress, "I haven’t decided yet. Why don’t you think about it? How do you want to be thanked?"

"Who asks the person being thanked to decide? That’s so insincere," Zhao Dingli replied.

Chatting back and forth with Zhao Dingli, Li Xiaoyun gradually forgot her initial nervousness.

She felt more and more natural when talking to Zhao Dingli.

Li Xiaoyun was in a dilemma and said, "Then what do you like? Do you have any interests or hobbies?"

She planned to consider giving Zhao Dingli something based on his hobbies.

Zhao Dingli said, "How about this, after you finish work, let’s go eat together. We can chat over dinner, and I’ll tell you about my interests and hobbies in detail."

Li Xiaoyun: "..."

This looked so much like a playboy’s routine of asking a girl out for dinner!

Li Xiaoyun hadn’t had time to respond when she saw Zhao Dingli send another message: "The last time I took you home, I noticed a hotpot restaurant near your place that happens to be under Changlin. I wanted to try it out, to see how the taste, service, and dishes are."

Is this intending a covert inspection?

Li Xiaoyun knew about that restaurant and had been there with Ye Fei and Xiao Mo.

Sichuan and Chongqing local hotpot restaurants are famous and delicious.

Moreover, Yan Beicheng, due to his own taste preferences, also opened a hotpot restaurant that became an internet sensation and expanded abroad.

However, it’s difficult to enter the Sichuan and Chongqing regions.

Because even though local hotpot restaurants in Sichuan and Chongqing might not be well-known nationwide or have many chains,

Sichuan and Chongqing people still prefer local hotpot restaurants, feeling they are the most authentic and suited to their tastes.

Opening a hotpot restaurant there from outside, don’t even think about it.

Most chain hotpots that didn’t originate from Sichuan and Chongqing gained fame elsewhere first, before attempting to enter Sichuan and Chongqing.

However, they find themselves squeezed out by the numerous local hotpot restaurants, unable to gain a foothold, and have to withdraw from Sichuan and Chongqing.

Even when chatting with locals in Sichuan and Chongqing,

they would say that outside hotpot restaurants can’t survive in Sichuan and Chongqing.

Therefore, Changping went against the grain and started in Sichuan and Chongqing.

They have strong capital support, so they’re not in a hurry.

When opening the restaurant, they didn’t reveal at all that the hotpot brand was under Changping.

At that time, many thought it was a local Sichuan and Chongqing hotpot restaurant.

Because there are many local hotpot restaurants in Sichuan and Chongqing.

Apart from some well-known local chain hotpot brands, there are many unidentified street-side hotpot restaurants of various sizes.

You could go into any one of them, and it’d be delicious.

So even if people thought it started locally, it would still be hard to succeed.

Fortunately, with the strong support of Changping,

they can sustain a long-term battle and afford to incur losses for some time.

First, they ensured the taste quality, and with appropriate and novel marketing,

they gained fame in Sichuan and Chongqing.

They also had a reputation built up.

They gained a foothold in such a competitive market.

Expanding the market outside afterward became much easier.

When the hotpot brand truly became nationally famous, it was then known that it belonged to Changping.

It wasn’t acquired by Changping but was a brand they established from the start.

Everyone couldn’t help but exclaim that Changping was too cunning.

They managed to infiltrate the enemy territory unnoticed,

and then develop from there.

Li Xiaoyun and Ye Fei had also been to Yan Beicheng’s hotpot restaurant.

Yan Hui’s main business wasn’t in the food market, and the hotpot restaurant was just Yan Beicheng’s personal interest.

So, Yan Beicheng opened the restaurant very willfully.

He absolutely refused to improve it to suit local tastes and insisted on the authentic Sichuan and Chongqing flavors.

Spicy and flavorful.

The level of spiciness was not something ordinary people could handle.

Moreover, there is no option to choose the level of spiciness.

There’s only the option of a full spicy pot and a Yuan Yang pot.

If one finds the spicy pot too spicy, they can use the non-spicy pot to balance it out.

According to Yan Beicheng, the Yuan Yang pot was his ultimate compromise.

Changlin’s "Shuyu Ni" hotpot is much more flexible.

Unlike Yan Beicheng, making money is their primary goal.

There are many options for the broth, and you can choose the spice level.

The spiciest level is the local Sichuan and Chongqing standard.

This way, even guests who wish to eat authentic hotpot can enjoy a genuine taste without having to go to Sichuan and Chongqing.

And guests who can’t handle such spiciness can opt for a milder flavor.

This way, it’s easier to adapt to markets across the country.

Originally, Changlin was responsible for mid-to-high-end dining, with brands like Xianzai and Fuel.

But since "Shuyu Ni" development was entirely Zhao Dingli’s contribution,

from planning to establish the brand, starting location, development strategy, to promotional marketing,

it was all overseen by Zhao Dingli with his team through meetings and his direct involvement throughout.

So Zhao Gushen decided to directly give the ownership of "Shuyu Ni" to Zhao Dingli.

"Shuyu Ni" is like Zhao Dingli’s personal asset.

And Changping retains a certain share in it.

After all, without Changping’s financial support, no matter how capable Zhao Dingli was or how many ideas he had,

he wouldn’t be able to make it work.

Hence, even when Zhao Dingli later transferred from Changyi to Changlin, "Shuyu Ni" didn’t belong to Changyi but followed Zhao Dingli.

This matter infuriated Zhao Dingye.

He even complained, feeling that Zhao Gushen was unfair.

He even sought justice from the old Mr. Zhao.

He questioned why "Shuyu Ni" was given to Zhao Dingli when he, Zhao Dingye, didn’t have any industry gifted by Changping.

The old Mr. Zhao’s response was concise and left Zhao Dingye speechless.

The old man said, "If you can single-handedly create a brand like ’Shuyu Ni,’ Changping will give it to you too."

Zhao Dingye: "..."

He wanted to, but he simply didn’t have the capability, so what could he do?

As a result, Zhao Dingye has been trying hard ever since, hoping to come up with one himself.

But all his proposals were rejected.

Zhao Dingye felt heartbroken.

However, "Shuyu Ni" being owned by Zhao Dingli is only known within the Zhao Family; outsiders are unaware.

Li Xiaoyun also didn’t know.

She only knew that "Shuyu Ni" seemed to be under Changlin.

At the time, she found it strange because Changlin was in charge of mid-to-high-end dining, and suddenly having "Shuyu Ni" was quite unexpected.