Leisurely Traveler with Check-in System Chapter 158 - 99: Watch Carefully, This Pot Will Smell Amazi

Chen Kunjie was stunned for a long ti.

He sighed complicatedly and then said, "Let taste your hot pot base later and then we’ll talk!"

...

Even though Chen Kunjie had already eaten two bowls of seafood fried rice with egg, he was now starting to dip shrimp paste again. The hot pot was boiling, and the aroma filled the air.

As Li Younan said, a good hot pot doesn’t have to be spicy, but it must be fragrant.

The level of spiciness can be adjusted based on the fragrance.

Chen Kunjie poured himself a glass of beer, clinked glasses with Li Younan, and said, "You’re right, I should find a job."

This ti, Chen Kunjie didn’t have his usual quirky change of mind; he seed to genuinely believe it.

Li Younan blinked and saw a rarely-seen dejected expression on Chen Kunjie’s face, which made him pause in silence for a mont before saying, with feigned annoyance, "Really got you down, huh? That’s not like you."

Chen Kunjie raised his head, thought for a mont, then suddenly slamd his beer glass down on the table, causing the foam to spill over.

Chen Kunjie stared at Li Younan and said, "How about you teach how to stir-fry this hot pot base? We can partner up to open a hot pot restaurant."

Li Younan was taken aback, his expression sowhat strange: "Partner up to open this hot pot restaurant?"

Chen Kunjie nodded: "Let be honest with you, I ca out this ti with a grudge. My parents have been running the family hot pot restaurant for years, and I have an older brother who always listens to them, and they prefer him."

"I don’t have to start a business to achieve great success; I just want to do sothing independently. You get , bro? If your career isn’t independent, you’re always living in your parents’ shadow, unable to say ’no’ to them."

"I just want to break out of this predicant. But no matter how much I think about it, I don’t know what I can do. Although we both graduated from the sa university, I studied arts and sports, while you studied sothing prestigious and beca an engineer. I have no idea what I can do."

"Many of my classmates ended up becoming teachers, but I’m a bit unwilling. After thinking about it, since I grew up in a hot pot restaurant and understand hot pot, I just want to open a hot pot place."

"But then it goes back to the sa issue—if I open my own hot pot restaurant, my parents would say, ’Isn’t the big family hot pot restaurant enough for you to ss around with?’"

Li Younan silently drank the last bit of beer in his cup before saying, "So, to sum up everything, you’re opening a hot pot restaurant to gain economic independence, right?"

Chen Kunjie displayed that mischievous, grinning expression again: "That’s exactly it. You sumd it up so well, my high-achieving friend."

Li Younan leaned back in his chair, glancing around the shop.

The place was indeed a bit run-down, and the shop was small, but the kitchen had almost everything needed. Although so things were old, it wasn’t a big deal; a little cleaning would make it acceptable.

Li Younan asked again, "Do you have a chef and waitstaff?"

Chen Kunjie opened another beer, poured himself a glass, and tried to pour one for Li Younan.

Li Younan gently covered his glass: "I’m about done."

Chen Kunjie, unfazed, said, "You’re not driving, and you ca just to hang out. You’ve barely had anything; what’s there to be afraid of? Just a little more."

Beside them, Lu Xiaolan blinked her big eyes at Chen Kunjie. After he filled Li Younan’s beer, she sneakily took the bottle herself and poured a small glass, taking a curious sip.

Her family was quite strict, and to be honest, she hadn’t had beer before.

Of course, Li Younan noticed, but he couldn’t be bothered to ntion it to Lu Xiaolan.

At this point, Chen Kunjie lazily circled back to their earlier conversation: "Since the shop is small, I’m not planning to hire a chef; I’ll do it myself. I’ve hired two waitresses, young girls around eighteen or nineteen, who haven’t finished high school. They’re quite honest and should be enough. Also, there’s an auntie who does the dishes and lives nearby."

Li Younan nodded. Subsequently, Chen Kunjie looked at Li Younan with anticipation: "So, what do you think?"

Li Younan pondered for a mont, not agreeing imdiately, and instead asked, "How much is the annual rent for this shop?"

Chen Kunjie laughed: "This shop doesn’t cost us anything."

Li Younan was slightly surprised: "Nothing?"

Chen Kunjie nodded: "This shop belongs to my family."

"After years of doing business, my parents have acquired so assets. This shop is mine, but, of course, my brother has one too."

"It was leased out before, also as a hot pot restaurant. The owner was from Longchang and ran it for seven or eight years before returning to his hotown, leaving all the stuff behind for to inherit."

Li Younan nodded, silently calculating in his mind. After a while, he slowly spoke: "How do you plan to split the shares?"

Chen Kunjie hesitated for a mont, unsure of how best to manage it.

Growing up in a business environnt, Chen Kunjie had seen many acquaintances fall out due to unfair profit distribution when partnering in business.

Seeing Chen Kunjie unable to make a decision for the mont, Li Younan suddenly smiled: "Let propose a plan, and you can listen to it first."

Chen Kunjie nodded.

Li Younan said, "I will teach you how to make this hot pot base."

"Even though you watched do it once, I’m sure you didn’t catch everything. Especially so key aspects like how to control the heat and the proportions of the spices. You must understand that for different amounts of hot pot base, the proportion actually changes because with different spices, the heat may vary with the amount. It’s quite complex."