His expression turned cold after he exited the restaurant.
He ran back to his house, retrieved his car, and drove to the Han family mansion.
He had anticipated the possibility that the jars were stolen. That was why he added a qi signature in each of the jars when they were made.
However, the signatures were very simple, and he could only detect them when he was close to them.
When he passed by Spring Brook earlier, he did not sense anything.
If the jars were indeed stolen by Spring Brook, then the qi gathering jars were either at the Han family mansion or another Spring Brook branch.
He passed by many branches along the way to the Han family mansion but did not sense anything.
About twenty minutes later, he arrived near the Han family mansion in the countryside.
From there, he could sense that the five qi gathering jars for the restaurant were in the mansion.
He parked his car at a distance and cast the Heaven Eye and Earth Ear spell. He could hear many people talking in the mansion. He focused his attention and discerned Han Lei’s voice.
“Dammit, that guy lied to us. Magical Kitchen has more of these jars! They’re open for business as usual and aren’t affected at all.”
He sounded exasperated. “I shouldn’t have spent the two million on that guy!”
Tang Hao understood what happened when he heard that.
It seemed that Han Lei spared no expense in trying to bring down Magical Kitchen. Two million yuan was an astronomical sum for an apprentice chef. No wonder Chef Zheng’s apprentice would take the risk.
Not many people in this modern society were unmoved by the allure of money.
Then, he heard a burst of laughter.
“Eh! Young Master Han, you’re missing the main point here. The two million yuan is worth every cent! Haven’t you seen how amazing the jars are?
“Any mundane medicinal herb transforms into an incredibly potent medicine once soaked in the jar. You can imagine the effects if you use the herbs to create medicinal cuisine.
“This must be the secret of Magical Kitchen! Looking at the weathering of the bronze, I think they’re all antiques. They’re at least from the Han dynasty, if not from the Warring States period.
“Even if Magical Kitchen has more jars, I don’t think they’ll have as many as five. The tables should be turned to our favor now.”
That voice belonged to none other than Master Chef Du.
“You have a point. We’ll definitely win with these amazing artifacts. When can you devise a new menu, Master Chef Du?”
“That will be easy. We have the medicinal prescriptions, and we’ll just have to combine them with my cooking. That won’t take more than one or two days,” Master Chef Du said.
“Alright, we’ll let Magical Kitchen have their way for the next two days. After that, we’ll make our triumphant return,” Han Lei said viciously.
Then, he laughed brazenly. “We’ll also crack the secret behind these bronze jars and make many more. We’ll conquer the entire Huaxia market before Magical Kitchen does.”
Master Chef Du laughed too.
Tang Hao could only hear the two of them laughing for a long time.
Back in the car, he rolled his eyes.
‘These two idiots are too confident. They’re quite shameless, too. They’re treating the stolen items as their own.’
That Han Lei was just as despicable as his sister Han Lu.
Their father, Han Chenglin, was worse. He was a materialistic, greedy man who abandoned his wife and daughter.
The three people that made up the Han family were conniving, reprehensible people.
Why was Assistant Han so gentle and considerate though? She was so different from the rest of her family.
In any case, they were blood relatives of Assistant Han. He would not want to bring them bodily harm.
He thought about the matter for a moment. He could get the police to search the mansion and get the two idiots arrested for theft.
However, he did not decide on that option. He was more concerned about how to ruin Spring Brook rather than getting Han Lei arrested.
Even if Han Lei was arrested, Spring Brook might not go bankrupt.
However, there was a chance of ruining Spring Brook with Han Lei running free.
Eventually, Tang Hao thought of an idea.
After that, he left.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
In those two days, Magical Kitchen’s popularity did not decrease at all. More and more people flocked to the restaurant because they had heard of its amazing cuisine. They were eager to taste the impossible deliciousness of its dishes.
Meanwhile, Spring Brook’s doors were tightly shut. There was a sign at the door saying that they were temporarily closed.
Many people discussed what might happen to Spring Brook.
That afternoon, Spring Brook suddenly opened. The storefront was brand new, and many banners were hanging with various slogans, such as “A Brand New Spring Brook”, “We’re Better At Magical Cuisine” and others.
Everyone was immediately curious.
In the evening, a red carpet was rolled out from the entrance of Spring Brook while hampers of flowers were placed on both sides of the door, as though they had newly reopened.
Luxury cars frequently stopped at the restaurant and many wealthy people came out of those cars. They were invited by Spring Brook to boost their popularity.
“They’re absolutely shameless!” Ling Wei gritted her teeth when she saw that.
She turned to look at Tang Hao. “Are we just going to let them run rampant? They stole our precious secret!”
“Just let them be. They’ll learn their lesson very soon,” Tang Hao said.
Ling Wei was surprised. She furrowed her brows and wanted to ask more questions but at that time, several people walked out of Spring Brook. Leading the group were Han Lei and Master Chef Du.
Behind them was a team of chefs, each pushing a restaurant cart with pots emanating a thick fragrance.
“Oh! Isn’t this President Ling?”
Han Lei noticed Ling Wei and Tang Hao right after he stepped out of his restaurant.
He yelled loudly and confidently as he quickly walked over.
“Why, President Ling, are you here to congratulate us?” He said with a mocking smile.
Ling Wei glared angrily at him.
Han Lei chuckled. “Why the long face, President Ling? Do you think that your restaurant’s magical cuisine is anything special? We, Spring Brook, have Master Chef Du. After a few days of research, we’ve also cracked the secret of magical cuisine. There’s nothing unique about it!”
“Hmph! Scoundrels!” Ling Wei said coldly.
Han Lei’s expression turned stern. He was not happy when he heard that.
“It doesn’t matter what you think about us, President Ling. Don’t think that you have a monopoly on magical cuisine. Whatever you can do, we can do better.
“Spring Brook shall be the new forefront in magical cuisine!”
Han Lei waved at the chefs, who opened the lids of the pots.
The fragrance wafted in all directions.
Not far away were the people waiting in line to go into Magical Kitchen. They were stunned when they smelled the amazing fragrance.
Earlier, they had doubts when they saw the banners in front of Spring Brook, but their doubts were immediately erased.
“That restaurant looks not bad. Why don’t we go and try? Everything on the menu is half off too!”
Many people crowded around the carts. They tasted the free samples and went into the restaurant.
More and more people left the queue and entered Spring Brook.
After all, Magical Kitchen was too popular and the queue was too long. Now that Spring Brook can create equally amazing magical cuisine, they had another option.
In less than ten minutes, Spring Brook was filled with customers.
Han Lei and Master Chef Du were ecstatic when they saw that.
Meanwhile, Ling Wei was indignant.
Tang Hao remained calm. He looked at his wristwatch. “It’s about time!”
