"Dad, what made you call? Is something wrong?"

Su Chen wondered why his dad was calling. ’Could there be a problem with the hot pot restaurant?’

"Hahaha! Xiaochen, I’ve got good news for you!"

Su Zhuyun’s somewhat smug laughter came through the phone.

Hearing that it was good news, Su Chen’s worries instantly vanished.

He laughed and teased, "Oh? Dad, what’s the good news? Don’t tell me you and Mom are having another baby!"

"Get out of here! Such disrespect. I’m being serious with you!"

After Su Chen had left, Su Zhuyun had taken the three million yuan home and held a family meeting. Based on their collective experience and familiarity with Fuzhou, they found a suitable location for a hot pot restaurant.

Coincidentally, a shop that used to sell soup pots was up for transfer. Su Zhuyun took over the lease directly, gave it a simple renovation, and opened for business.

The key to hot pot is the flavor and the ingredients. As the head chef, Chen Shufen shouldered the responsibility, personally simmering the hot pot base every day. Its delicious flavor quickly attracted many nearby residents.

Word of mouth spread like wildfire. Thanks to the freshly prepared base, great taste, and fresh ingredients, it quickly secured a spot in Fuzhou’s hot pot scene. The place was packed every day, often staying open until the early morning hours.

Because of this, the family held another meeting to discuss expanding their staff... hiring more kitchen help and servers in preparation for opening branch locations!

Su Zhuyun was calling this time to say that they had already earned back their initial investment within the month. The family was preparing to take the next step and open several branches directly.

He was calling to ask for Su Chen’s opinion!

"If you want to open them, then go for it. As long as you maintain control over the flavor, the freshness of the ingredients, and the service, the business should be sustainable!"

Su Chen also brought up some points about service, urging them to take it seriously. Sometimes, a single small incident could be enough to shut a restaurant down.

"By the way, Dad, what’s the name of the family’s hot pot place?"

"Ahem..." Su Zhuyun gave two embarrassed coughs.

Hearing this, a thought suddenly popped into Su Chen’s head. "Dad, don’t tell me you named the hot pot restaurant Shufen!"

Su Zhuyun, feeling like his little scheme had been exposed, said with feigned anger, "What’s wrong with that? Is there a problem with calling it Shufen Hot Pot?"

"N-No problem! It’s great! That name alone is enough to make the restaurant a huge hit!" Su Chen wiped the non-existent sweat from his brow.

"Hmph, of course. Alright, I just called to let you know the family business is doing well. Nothing else. I’m hanging up now!" Without waiting for Su Chen to respond, he hung up the phone.

It felt very much like he was making a hasty retreat.

Su Chen looked at the disconnected call, shook his head, and laughed. "’Shufen... Hahahaha, the stories about henpecked husbands are true after all!’"

-----------------

Byte Company was located on Zhichun Road in the Haidian District, not too far from where Su Chen was staying in Wangfujing.

Worried about holiday traffic, Su Chen and his group headed straight for the Byte Company offices in their car right after lunch.

Since Su Chen had no assets whatsoever in the Imperial Capital, Zong Xinyao had specially arranged for a Rolls-Royce from the hotel for their transportation. Su Chen felt a little indignant about this.

’I have to buy a car in the Imperial Capital... no, I’ll just buy a whole house! The system upgrade needs money to be spent anyway, and I’ll definitely be coming to the Imperial Capital often in the future. Might as well get it all done in one go!’

Su Chen decided that after this round of financing was over, he would buy a house in the Imperial Capital, preferably a courtyard-style house!

Although Su Chen and his group had anticipated traffic, they didn’t expect a trip that usually took half an hour to be stretched to a full hour by the congestion.

By the time they arrived, the people from the other three investment firms were already there.

A Byte receptionist was just about to push the door open when they heard the sounds of discussion from inside. Su Chen quickly stopped them.

"This Yunmengze, what’s their deal? Never heard of them. How did they suddenly get a piece of the action?"

"Who knows? They suddenly told us another investment firm was joining the Series B financing. No idea if they’re a real powerhouse or not."

"I don’t know if they’re a powerhouse, but I do know this Yunmengze doesn’t seem simple. They’re from Shanghai, and the company was only founded about a month ago. And guess where their office is?"

"Stop beating around the bush and just say it! There are no outsiders here, quit playing games!"

"Jinmao Mansion in Shanghai, a prime spot in Lujiazui. A company that can set up shop there can’t be simple!"

"Tch, for all we know it’s just a shell company, all flash and no substance. Besides, they’re from Shanghai trying to make it in our Imperial Capital. We can’t let them have their way!"

"Exactly! No matter what, we have to send them home with their tails between their legs today!"

Standing at the door listening to the heated discussion inside, a faint smile played on Su Chen’s lips.

"Xinyao, it seems the ’Imperial Capital circle’ looks down on us outsiders. Whether we can put down roots here is all up to you!"

"Don’t you worry, Boss. It doesn’t matter who comes knocking!" A sharp glint flashed in Zong Xinyao’s eyes. This project was, after all, a test of her own abilities.

"Let’s go. Time to see what these guys are made of." With that, Su Chen pushed the door open and walked in.

The representatives from the three investment firms, who had been chatting idly, all stopped talking in tacit agreement when they saw the conference room door pushed open. Their gazes fell in unison on the entrance.

Seeing that the person in the lead was a young man, everyone present had a different expression on their face.

There was surprise, contemplation, and also contempt!

Su Chen took in all of their expressions.

"Hello. Haina Capital, Yuan Zhen."

"Yuanma Capital, Lan Zhen."

"Rational Capital, Guo Chuang."

Looking at the fake smiles plastered on their faces, Su Chen stated calmly, "Yunmengze Capital, Su Chen."

’His surname is Su?’ As the leader of the group, Yuan Zhen from Haina Capital began to rack his brain. It seemed there weren’t any major bigwigs with the surname Su in Shanghai.

There were prominent Su families in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang area, but they rarely ventured into the Imperial Capital’s circles.

For a moment, Yuan Zhen couldn’t figure out if Su Chen had real power or was just an actor hired by Byte Company to put on a show.

Su Chen casually found an empty seat and sat down. Zong Xinyao sat next to him, while the others took seats behind them.

The once-lively room now fell silent.

At one point, Lan Zhen from Yuanma Capital wanted to probe Su Chen’s background, but he was stopped by a look from Yuan Zhen before he could even speak.

With the situation unclear, all they could do was wait quietly for the owner of Byte Company to arrive.

Soon, it was two o’clock. The conference room door was pushed open again, and a baby-faced man walked in briskly with a few people.

"Apologies, everyone. Sorry to keep you waiting!"

"Some of you here know me, while for others it’s our first time meeting. Allow me to briefly introduce myself. I am the owner of Byte Company—"

"Zhang Yiming!"