“Prepare… the remedy?” Sun Dongheng was stunned at first, then he became overjoyed as his eyes widened. He grabbed Zhang Han by the arm and quivered as he asked, “Boss, is that true? My father’s illness, my father’s illness, can it really be cured?”
“Mr Zhang.” Sun’s mother was relatively calm. She managed to contain her excitement and ask, “Does preparing remedy mean… my husband’s illness can be cured completely or…”
After all, cancer posed a serious danger. The remedy Zhang Han told them he would prepare was probably for suppressing the cancer cell formation and increasing Su Ming’s survival time. The second possibility was that he needed these ingredients to miraculously eradicate his cancer. If he could cure cancer, he was bound to whip up huge waves in the medical field. He would cause a sensation, not only in the medical field, but throughout the entire world.
Of course, although it was incredible, Sun’s mother was anxious and didn’t believe that the second option was possible.
Sun Ming also fell silent at this point. His eyes glinted and he was actually very nervous as he waited for the final judgment.
Zhang Han glanced around at these people calmly and said with a chuckle,
“Go and buy the ingredients, then his disease can be cured completely.”
“A radical cure, a radical cure!” Sun Dongheng laughed crazily at this moment, “Ha, ha, ha. A radical cure. Great, you can be completely cured! Dad, you can get well and won’t have to die! Woo…”
Sun Dongheng laughed and then cried. Sun’s father and mother were beside him, choking up as well. The pressure that had been in their hearts for many days was gradually dissipating.
Even Sun Ming felt that his mental status was much better and that he had more strength.
This was a spiritual cure. A report once said that some people who did not know that they were seriously ill live relatively long, which was the so-called Psychic Relation.
The noises over here attracted the attention of Mengmeng. She looked over, put down her toys and said,
“Er? Why are you crying?”
“They’re happy” Zhang Han stood up and walked over, sitting on the sofa and smiling as he said, “Sometimes people cry when they are happy. That is to say, they cry tears of joy.”
“Happy? Happy… Erm… Don’t they laugh when they are happy? Why are they crying?” Mengmeng said doubtfully because she did not understand this emotion.
Zhao Feng was afraid that their emotions would make the little princess unhappy, so he coughed softly and said, “Please calm down and stop crying. Getting the ingredients which the boss requires should be your top priority. They all should be at the hundred-year grade, which is quite rare. It will be difficult for you to get them before midnight. Regardless of whether these ingredients can be found, you should prepare a staggering sum of money.”
“That’s right. We should find the ingredients first. Dad, let’s buy the ingredients first,” Sun Dongheng said.
“The ingredients…” After a pause he said, “I don’t have friends in this field. I will have to make some calls.”
“Then go make the calls,” Sun’s mother said in a hurry.
Ingredients usually needed to be prepared in advance. The earlier they got them, the greater the hope would be.
“Mmm.” Sun Ming nodded and took out his mobile phone to look in his address book.
“All right.” At this moment Zhao Feng began to say, “I have a friend who deals in medicine. I will ask him.”
“Thank you, Brother Feng!” His words moved Sun Dongheng, who nodded repeatedly.
“It’s a mere trifle.” Zhao Feng shook his head slightly and got on the phone to call the medicine dealer,
“Do you have ganoderma lucidum, wild ginseng, Ambergris, snow lotus, and polygonum multiflorum?”
“Okay. What’s the period of growth that you want, Boss Feng?”
“All of them should be more than a hundred years!”
“Poof…”
Even Sun Ming, Sun Dongheng, and Sun’s mother heard him choke on his saliva. Then a scream sounded from the other end of the line.
“What? You need all the ingredients to be more than a hundred years old? Did I hear that right?”
“…”
After communicating with him, Zhao Feng hung up the phone, then looked at Sun Ming and said,
“He can get centenary wild ginseng and Ambergris. The 100-gram wild ginseng is to be auctioned next month. If you want to buy it, he promises to sell it to you for 13 million yuan. A kilo of Ambergris is valued at 500,000 yuan. Moreover, the other kinds of ingredients are all expensive herbs as well, so they are almost priceless. Without strong connections, it will be difficult for you to get them.”
“They are so expensive.” Sun’s mother slightly wrinkled her face. After thinking for a moment, she stared at Sun Ming and said, “Ah Ming, the company…”
“Dad, you’d better sell the company,” Sun Dongheng said without any hesitation. “Money can be earned again. Your life is more important than anything else. It’s worth saving your life, even if we live a hard life from now on.”
“Okay.”
Sun Ming closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled. When he opened his eyes, his eyes were suffused with firmness. He dialed a number he had not wanted to dial previously,
“h.e.l.lo, president Leng. I think we can talk about the acquisition of my company…”
After hanging up the phone, Sun’s family left. They not only had to talk over the affairs of the company, but also needed to go about acquiring those ingredients. As everyone could imagine, they would be busy today. It was going to be difficult for them to gather all of it before midnight.
After they left, the restaurant quieted down.
In the meantime, in Asian Restaurant of New Moon Bay.
Aslin Restaurant had a history of more than 50 years in New Moon Bay and had not opened any other branches. It had a monopoly in this area and was a top restaurant with some special features. This restaurant had been rated as a two-star restaurant, almost a three-star one, by Michelin ten years ago. It was the drinks it offered that dropped the score.
Since then, Aslin Restaurant had started serving high-end red wine, foreign wine, Chinese liquor, etc. It was expected to be promoted to a three-star Michelin restaurant in two years.
Since there were very few guests at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, most of the staff in the kitchen was taking a break before dinner. Their dining room was both clean and upscale, with a 70-inch LCD TV on the wall that was showcasing the latest issue of Tasty Food of the World.
“Um? This issue of Tasty Food of the World refers to a restaurant in Hong Kong, right in New Moon Bay.”
“Mengmeng’s Leisure Restaurant? I’ve never heard of it!”
“It may be a newly opened restaurant. Since Tasty Food of the World has mentioned this new restaurant on the show, I think its owner is likely to have a lot of pull.”
“What’s the point of having a lot of pull? To be a blacksmith, you need to be tough yourself. The final key to the business of a restaurant is the food it offers. Only chefs, who are at the same level as Brother Chao can make a restaurant famous.” Suddenly a flattering remark was heard.
The instance he finished speaking, all the people nodded in admiration and looked at a 30-year-old man in a brand-new white chef uniform, who had a wretched appearance.
His name was Lv Chao, and he had been hired as the chef at a high price. He had excellent cooking skills, but was not at the top as a chef. There were plenty of chefs like him. This restaurant, however, was willing to pay five times the price of other chefs at the same level because he was the disciple of w.a.n.g Long’s disciple, who was one of the four master Chefs in Hong Kong!
In the circle of chefs in Hong Kong, as long as a chef had ties with w.a.n.g Long or the three other master chefs, he would have money and power!
Lv Chao’s master was w.a.n.g Long’s top disciple, which raised Lv Chao’s own worth.
At this time, although Lv Chao remained impa.s.sive, his eyes were filled with complacency. Connections were of great significance in Hong Kong’s cooking industry. He was in his element in the circle of chefs because he had indirectly latched on to w.a.n.g Long, so he was filled with pride on the inside. He had spared no efforts to study cooking many years ago, but he had not studied intensively for nearly two years now.
“Ouch? There’re many people lining up. But why is this restaurant like a vendor stall in the market?”
“Ha, ha, ha, it’s very similar.”
“Oh, my G.o.d. The price of the food in this restaurant is so expensive! A members.h.i.+p card costs one million yuan? Would anyone actually buy one?”
“What? The first ten have already been sold out? Each of the eleventh to twentieth will cost ten million yuan? Is the owner crazy about money? Who would buy those? People aren’t fools. I think the people who bought the members.h.i.+p cards are all peddlers. It’s foolish to open a restaurant while setting such unacceptable prices.”
As the program continued, all of them were remarking on this restaurant. Apart from ridicule, their words were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with disdain, ill.u.s.trating the saying “Two of a trade never agree”.
w.a.n.g Long, however, was calm from the beginning. He was having the meal he made while watching TV.
Only when he saw the evaluation of a Michelin food agent, did his eyes change.
“A food agent? Is he really a food agent?”
“What? Tastes better than the dishes in three-star Michelin restaurants? He’s indeed good at bragging! There’s just a two-star restaurant at New Moon Bay, so who are those remarks directed towards?”
“He is showing disdain for Brother Chao!”
Hearing what he said, Lv Chao’s brows wrinkled up and his eyes s.h.i.+ned with discontent. Then he said,
“Don’t say such things. It’s just some propaganda for this new restaurant. We’ll lose face if we compete with them.”
“That’s right, Brother Chao.”
“There’s no need to compete with a restaurant which doesn’t have any connections.”
“Exactly.” Lv Chao nodded his head and said, “Didn’t our restaurant also get on Tasty Food of the World? Our boss obtained this opportunity by using his personal connections, so we just have to be well prepared and let the people judge which restaurant is better.”
At this moment, a woman with a mobile phone cried all of a sudden, “Oh, my G.o.d, Brother Chao. I searched Mengmeng’s Leisure Restaurant just now, only to find that all the comments on the Internet were positive. 100% positive remarks, which don’t see to be left by click farmers. Even a guest left a message, saying that the food cooked by the chef tastes better than that cooked by master chef w.a.n.g Long. This message has been liked hundreds of times.”
“Hmm? Let me see.” Lv Chao arched his eyebrows and took the phone. After looking at the message for a moment, his face sank.
“Does he actually dare to compare with my grandmaster? This propaganda is shameless enough! Tell him that I, Lv Chao, will battle with the chef of Mengmeng’s Leisure Restaurant next Wednesday. I’ll invite several food groups to witness this compet.i.tion. I want to show people that this unknown small restaurant is just rubbis.h.!.+”
“Okay, Brother Chao!”
The crowd looked excited. The circle of chefs was also like a circle of swordsmen, paying attention to arrangement, seniority, and so on. Since a new restaurant dared to publicize with such great fanfare and dared to compare with w.a.n.g Long, he had to compete with its chef. His success would add points in w.a.n.g Long’s mind.
But no matter what he thought, he had already begun to bear Mengmeng’s Leisure Restaurant in mind.
In the afternoon, Sun Ming completed the transfer agreement of the company, and there was a staggering sum of money transferred to his bank account. However, seeking personal connections and buying medicine had cost nearly 100 million yuan.
The price of the ingredients was around 70 million yuan. They were anxious to find well-connected friends, so they spent money like water, and each of the gifts given costed not less than 5 million yuan.
Finally, at 10 o’clock in the evening, all the ingredients requested by Zhang Han had been delivered to Sun Ming.