After seven o’clock the next morning, brilliant sunlight filtered through the gaps between the branches, pierced the morning mist, and poured in strands all over West City Old Street. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The business at Huang Tao’s shop this morning was still booming.

Inside the shop there wasn’t a single empty seat.

Outside, the line was like a long dragon.

Jiang Mingtao and his assistant Ding Cheng came as well.

The two of them strictly followed what Huang Tao had said, didn’t line up, and walked straight toward the entrance.

To avoid stirring up the collective anger of the customers in line, Ding Cheng smiled and politely greeted them: "Folks, Boss Huang said as long as his shop is open, our General Manager Jiang can come in and eat anytime, anywhere, so we’re just going in first. You all take your time in line!"

The neighbors: "..."

Since that’s how it is!

They couldn’t really say much more.

Who told them they hadn’t managed to help Boss Huang out...

Sigh!

They could only watch them go in with itchy, envious teeth, and at the same time, in their hearts, they came to admire Huang Tao a bit more.

To always repay kindness—truly rare and precious!

"This General Manager Jiang has such good luck, every time he just happens to get a chance to help Boss Huang."

"Boss Huang’s character is really beyond words, he knows how to repay a favor."

"I really hope next time Boss Huang needs something, I can help out a bit! That way I can also eat Boss Huang’s cooking anytime, anywhere!"

"I’m so jealous!"

"Yeah, yeah, I’m sour too!"

Hearing this, Jiang Mingtao and Ding Cheng were grinning ear to ear.

At this moment...

The two of them suddenly understood why Gu Zhihao liked to show off a bit in front of these customers every time he came to eat.

This feeling of being envied...

Really was insanely satisfying!

As soon as he walked in, Jiang Mingtao enthusiastically waved at Huang Tao, who was helping out in the kitchen, and greeted him with a smile: "Boss Huang, we’re here."

"General Manager Jiang, Assistant Ding, you both came."

Huang Tao nodded at them and said with a smile, "Sit down, I saved some pan-fried buns, soup dumplings, and century egg lean meat congee for you. I was just wondering when you’d show up, and here you are."

Hearing this, Jiang Mingtao and Ding Cheng felt a warm rush in their hearts.

Huang Tao clearly had their help firmly in mind!

They really liked this human warmth about Huang Tao.

Jiang Mingtao swallowed: "How much is it?"

Huang Tao shook his head: "No charge, it’s just breakfast, not worth much."

A breakfast was only a few dozen yuan; Huang Tao couldn’t be bothered to take their money.

Besides, they had helped him a lot yesterday.

Jiang Mingtao said with a smile: "Alright then, I’ll shamelessly mooch another meal. From now on we’ll settle things as usual."

Huang Tao smiled: "This doesn’t count as shameless. It’s just breakfast. And you’re always helping me out and never charging a courier fee for your trouble!"

"It’s just breakfast. Relax and eat."

The more Jiang Mingtao looked at Huang Tao, the more he liked him, and a smile spread across his face.

Huang Tao had Li Chengzhan bring over twenty pan-fried buns, one basket of soup dumplings, and two bowls of century egg lean meat congee: "Jiang, these are your favorite pan-fried buns—beef filling and pork with shrimp filling, ten of each..."

"Thanks... Boss Huang, you’re really thoughtful, you even remember what I like."

After eating a few pan-fried buns to cushion his stomach, Jiang Mingtao thought for a moment and asked, "Boss Huang, when are you starting the renovations on your new shop? Have you found a renovation company? Do you have any renderings yet?"

Huang Tao smiled: "I’m not well-versed in renovations. I just compared a few online and found a design company called Cheng Hao. We agreed to meet at the new shop at eight-thirty this morning so they can design something. If the design renderings are to my liking, I’m planning to contract the job to them and let them handle it."

"Cheng Hao has a pretty good reputation. We used them for our renovations last year as well. Ding Cheng is quite familiar with their manager. He’ll talk to them and have them send their best designer over and make sure your shop is renovated to look really luxurious and classy."

As he finished speaking, he gave Ding Cheng a look, signaling him to get it done quickly.

Ding Cheng nodded.

Without another word, he got up and went outside to make the call.

He was even more proactive than when handling company matters!

"Thank you, and sorry to trouble you both again."

Huang Tao thanked them with a smile and said, "But my budget isn’t big, just under two hundred thousand."

"Don’t worry, we’ll make sure they get you the most luxurious and classy renovation for the least amount of money."

With great confidence, Jiang Mingtao looked at Huang Tao, then added, "Boss Huang, if you don’t have time to deal with the renovation, how about this: just hand everything over to Assistant Ding. You just need to wait for the place to be finished and then do the final inspection."

"That’d be too much trouble for Assistant Ding!"

Even though this suggestion really hit the spot for Huang Tao, he couldn’t just happily agree.

After all, Ding Cheng wasn’t his employee; he couldn’t have him taking General Manager Jiang’s salary while working for him.

But General Manager Jiang didn’t think anything of it: "It’s no trouble at all. That’s settled."

"As long as it’s something for you, Boss Huang, Ding Cheng will be more than happy to help."

Sure enough.

When Ding Cheng came back to the table and learned that his boss had assigned him to be in charge of renovating Huang Tao’s new shop, he gladly agreed and promised he’d help Huang Tao manage everything well, then told Huang Tao about the arrangements he’d already made.

Since both parties directly involved had said so, Huang Tao didn’t refuse any further and nodded his agreement.

Although he’d gone through a few shop "renovations," they had all just been simple repainting, and couldn’t really be called proper renovations, so in terms of shop fit-out he was still an outsider.

Besides, he didn’t have that much energy to manage it.

If a versatile assistant like Ding Cheng was willing to handle it and help with all the arrangements, it would indeed save him a lot of worry and effort.

Close to eight o’clock, Huang Tao took Xuanxuan and Ding Cheng and drove over to the new shop.

They had just arrived when, shortly after, two renovation designers came over as well.

After some brief pleasantries, Ding Cheng took up his responsibilities and led the two designers to take measurements.

This designer had worked on many restaurants in the city and had rich experience in restaurant design and remodeling.

They were even responsible for renovation work at five-star hotels.

So when faced with a small restaurant like Huang Tao’s, he quickly sketched out a rough plan.

After looking at it, Ding Cheng offered some very professional suggestions to the designer.

Once they finished discussing, the designer looked at Huang Tao and asked, "Boss Huang, what style are you going for? Chinese? Western? Or modern minimalist?"

Huang Tao didn’t even consider a Western style.

As for Chinese style...

Huang Tao felt it was a bit old-fashioned.

He was still partial to a modern minimalist style.

After all, this was a commercial area, and the customers coming to eat would definitely be mostly young people.

And modern minimalist style suited their vibrant, youthful energy better.

Plus, that style was more photogenic and better at attracting young people who liked to "check in" at places.

Once the style was decided, the next step was to talk budget.

This budget was only for the renovation itself, not for all the equipment.

All the kitchen equipment and tables and chairs would have to be bought separately; the renovation company didn’t handle those.

Since Huang Tao wasn’t an expert, he had Ding Cheng handle the negotiations directly.

Ding Cheng conscientiously helped with the talks, determined to get Huang Tao the best renovation for the least money, and also told them they had to produce the renderings within a day.

They readily agreed to this.

Once everything was negotiated, the rest was just waiting for the renderings.

If there was no problem, the renovation company could arrange for a construction team to start work.

If there was, they’d have to revise the plans according to Huang Tao’s requests until he was satisfied.

In any case, the general concept was already set; the rest was all minor details.

After sending off the designers, Huang Tao locked up the shop, then drove back to Old Street with Xuanxuan and Ding Cheng, while also looking forward to hearing the prompt that the task had been completed...