Hotpot Restaurant 16
Meng Xiaoni opened the document folder in front of everyone.
There was a thick stack of documents in the folder.
Most of them were of the design drafts, and there were also three copies of the draft contract. There was even a loan contract in the stack.
This was Meng Xiaoni’s first time seeing such a contract; she was rather at a loss.
After all, she was just a fresh graduate with barely a few years of internship experience.
Father Meng and Mother Meng were not much better; they couldn’t make heads or tails out of it even after looking it over twice. In the end, Father Meng went back to taking care of the customers. Mother Meng sat next to Meng Xiaoni to “help look” at the documents.
Mother Meng hadn’t even looked at the drafts Meng Xiaoni came up with; naturally, Lao Lu’s design drafts were out of her depth.
The eatery’s design depended entirely on Meng Xiaoni and Lao Lu.
Lao Lu had encountered all sorts in the building materials market.
He knew at a glance that Meng Xiaoni was completely ignorant of the process of renovation. First, he placed his design drafts in front of her. “Here are my preliminary designs. They are all based on your original ideas.”
Then, he took out the contract. “If you think they’re okay, then, take a look at this contract. The dividend ratio is stated on it. Of course, in such a loss-making contract, there are some confidentiality clauses. Our mutual rights and obligations, and even the issue of copyright, are all clearly written in here.”
Meng Xiaoni hesitated a little, paused for a while, and finally nodded.
Finally, Lao Lu took out the loan contract. “This loan contract is made on the assumption that if you don’t have enough money, I will find a way to help you to get a bank loan. The professional term is ‘consumer loan’. Of course, if you have enough money, you can ignore this.”
Mother Meng asked blankly, “What do you mean by consumer loan?”
Seeing Mother Meng’s confusion, Lao Lu gave an example, “For instance, mortgage the eatery to the bank for a bank loan. The specific repayment terms depend on the requirements of each bank. Many people also consider this method when buying a house.”
Mother Meng didn’t quite understand, but the moment she heard “mortgage the eatery”, she shook her head hurriedly. “No, no. We can spare some money for the renovation. We’ll just do what we can afford. We don’t understand these things, and if we get caught in a trap…”
Meng Xiaoni was also unfamiliar with such matters, but she knew that loans come with additional interest. She also shook her head. “Let’s forget about this.”
Lao Lu put the loan contract away, “Alright. Then, let’s look at these two first.”
Meng Xiaoni first looked at the design drafts.
There were many pages.
In addition to the main drawings, there were many strange numbers written below.
Meng Xiaoni pointed at the parts she didn’t understand, and asked confusedly, “What do these numbers mean?”
Lao Lu looked at the drawing, “Some rooms in the house need to be tilted. Such as the toilets and kitchen, areas where you need to wash with a large volume of water.”
Meng Xiaoni then pointed to another spot on the side. “What does this box with a cross mean?”
Lao Lu continued to explain, “You may be able to place the condenser unit of your air conditioner here. I will change the specific location later according to the specific circumstances of your eatery.”
Even the placement of the fire-fighting equipment was accounted for in the drawings.
Meng Xiaoni asked an endless stream of questions, and Lao Lu explained them one by one.
The final pages of his drafts included his vision for the mural and lighting.
Lao Lu put forth his views pertinently, “The Underworld should not be an inhumane and gloomy place. It should be symbolic of our history and culture, and carry the vibrance of folk reincarnation mythology. If a store makes people feel depressed, its target audience will be limited. So, I’m going for a more mysterious and sacred atmosphere in my designs.”
Meng Xiaoni nodded with understanding.
Mother Meng was at a loss, “What do you mean by a limited target audience?”
Meng Xiaoni explained to her mother in layman’s terms, “It’s like how the total number of people who want to watch horror movies will be less than the total number of people who want to watch inspirational movies.”
Mother Meng suddenly understood, “Oh, just like how we all like to watch family dramas and palace intrigue dramas. That’s why these are the main types of dramas on TV—there is a wide target audience!”
That was a reasonable conclusion.
Meng Xiaoni, “Mm.”
Lao Lu said frankly to Meng Xiaoni, “The Underworld theme should be a gimmick, but should not be the main focus. For a hot pot restaurant, the most important priorities are delicious food, good service, and great value for money. You have to keep this in mind.”
Meng Xiaoni was well aware of this and nodded. “Mm.”
Lao Lu spoke with reason and justification, supported by a multitude of drawings. Even though Meng Xiaoni and Mother Meng mother still had a belly full of questions, they understood that he was serious.
He was designing the hot pot eatery in earnest.
A customer nearby who had overheard some of their exchange also became keen, “Sir, are you still taking on design cases?”
Lao Lu fished out his business card from somewhere and tossed it, “Here; two weeks later. Interior design for residential and commercial spaces are all possible. You can call me later.”
The customer hurriedly took the business card.
Lao Lu continued to discuss the designs with Meng Xiaoni.
The ghost of Elder Lu listened for a while and felt like taking a nap, but couldn’t really doze off. The excitement from eating hot pot added faded. He floated, somewhat bored, on the side as he rambled on to Meng Xiaoni.
“Nini, my son has come up with a very cost-effective design. See how discerning your customers are!”
“Say, how do you guys make this hot pot? I haven’t heard of your store at all before.”
“Ghosts are not well informed either. I don’t know if there are mobile phones or anything like that in the underworld, but I’ve never heard other ghosts aboveground talk about your store either…”
Meng Xiaoni continued listening to Lao Lu in an extremely calm manner.
“Nini~”
“Sawasdee krab?”
“Moshi moshi?”
“Annyeonghaseyo?”
Elder Lu fell into the crisis of being alone.
Meng Xiaoni, the only one who could see and hear him, was completely ignoring him at the moment.
In the hot pot eatery, those who were eating, ate; those who were talking about business, carried on. Having no one to talk to, the bored Elder Lu floated out and wandered around in front of the eatery.
A ghost’s form was extremely light and had complete freedom of movement.
He floated up a bit, wanting to go upstairs to have a look.
Elder Lu raised his head and looked upstairs; his eyes met with a pair of red eyes.
Guifeng stood at the window, slowly spreading his wings. His peach-coloured feathers shone in the summer sun, and his moist red eyes gazed at the ghost in front of him.
But in Elder Lu’s eyes, it was not a parrot that was on the windowsill.
Floating in mid-air, his expression changed drastically, and his eyes widened in horror. He even lost his voice due to fear.
On the windowsill, was a gigantic form.
He didn’t know how it managed to stand on the windowsill; when it spread its wings, its wingspan went beyond the boundaries of the entire house. Behind it, flames dyed a large part of the sky crimson. No, it dyed the entire world red.
Its feathers were not real feathers—every feather was a fiery red phantom. Its claws were even more frightening, seemingly able to tear apart any existence in an instant.
When Elder Lu met its eyes, something even more terrifying happened.
All the surrounding objects gradually disappeared and faded into nothingness.
In the presence of such an existence, all the light in the surrounding was swallowed. The world was plunged into darkness—only this behemoth remained.
It raised its head with a long roar, piercing his soul.
Every existence in the world likes the sun, but no creature could bear having the sun right in front of them.
“Hmm?”
A female voice made Elder Lu retreat hastily and return to his senses.
In front of him, was still the hot pot eatery, and it was still only a peach-coloured parrot that was perched on the second-floor windowsill.
Meng Xiaoni pushed the door open. She looked suspiciously at Elder Lu, who had an unusual expression just a moment ago, and was now rushing towards her.
Lao Lu inquired at the door, “What’s wrong?”
Meng Xiaoni held the door wide and let him through. “It’s nothing.”
Her eyes were still focused on the flustered Elder Lu.
Presently, Elder Lu had lost his usual mischievous energy of a childish old man. He ran meekly over to Lao Lu’s side, pursing his lips tightly and fanning himself uncontrollably. He had lived for a good while, and now, as a ghost, had encountered such an absurd thing for the first time.
Of course, becoming a ghost was already absurd enough.
Meng Xiaoni sensed that something was not right with Elder Lu, and frowned slightly.
With his helmet under his arm, the clueless Lao Lu walked to his e-bike. “No need to see me off. Please discuss it well with your family. Once confirmed, call me. I’ve said all I could think of.”
Meng Xiaoni agreed, “Mm.”
Lao Lu put on his helmet and mounted his e-bike. “I’m off. Decide soon and you can relax soon too. Start early to succeed early.”
Meng Xiaoni smiled, “Got it.”
Lao Lu drove away on his e-bike.
Elder Lu seemed to still be immersed in his own world; he clung to the back of Lao Lu’s e-bike and left with him.
Having sent them off, Meng Xiaoni took two steps back. Still suspicious, she walked to the spot where Elder Lu was just now, and looked up.
Guifeng looked down from upstairs.
Their eyes met.
Meng Xiaoni tilted her head.
Guifeng followed suit, and tilted his head.
Meng Xiaoni realised that Elder Lu had seen Guifeng just now. But why did he have such an unusual expression? And why did he suddenly run away with his son?
She blinked. “Hello.”
Guifeng repeated her words like a regular parrot, “Hello.”
The voice was clear and innocent.
The sun was still strong, and it was still very hot outside.
Under the scorching sun, Meng Xiaoni tilted her head up at Guifeng and asked, “What happened just now?”
She was very smart, and Guifeng was as well.
He hopped down from the second floor and flew to Meng Xiaoni’s head and perched on it.
In just that short period of time, Meng Xiaoni’s hair was burning hot.
Guifeng found the heat very comfortable; he answered from atop her head, “You should know that habits are a little hard to change. In the past, I disliked being disturbed by ghosts. For example, I couldn’t help but yell when I saw one.”
Meng Xiaoni didn’t really understand, “What happens when you yell?”
“Generally speaking, a hundred birds pay homage to the phoenix,” Guifeng said.
Meng Xiaoni was even more confused.
“When a person sees a very powerful bird, they will feel a little scared,” elaborated Guifeng.
The dazed Meng Xiaoni simply believed Guifeng’s words.
If a ghost who had experienced Guifeng’s yells appeared in front of her, she would certainly be angry and berate Guifeng for deceiving her.
Were the birds of the Underworld and the birds of the human realm the same?
Was that just now a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix? It was more like a hundred birds exorcising ghosts!
What’s more, when he yelled just now, no birds had appeared!
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