Butcher Foster's voice was neither loud nor soft, but it reached Brian Carter's ears.

He paused slightly, then turned back again.

Butcher Foster had no choice but to greet him with a smile once more: "Young Master Carter, is there something else?"

"Oh, it's like this." Brian Carter looked at him sincerely and said, "I just thought about it and suddenly felt that the ingredients in the restaurant aren't enough."

Brian Carter paused, then continued, "So let's add another pig and three chickens. By the way, do you have any geese here? Bring a few as well and deliver them to the restaurant tomorrow."

"……" Butcher Foster looked at this confident fellow in surprise, a bit stunned.

This guy really isn't shy about asking.

……

Even though he had ordered a lot of ingredients, Brian Carter was still quite troubled.

He returned to the restaurant with a heavy heart, still thinking about what Butcher Foster had said.

First, he tried to half-sell, half-give his own daughter to him. When that plan failed, he came up with another. If there wasn't some scheme behind all this, that would be truly strange.

Brian Carter never thought he was so charming that Mr. Sullivan would insist on giving him a daughter, silently sacrificing for him and just waiting for him to change his mind and become his son-in-law. Although he did think he was pretty good, it wasn't to such an earth-shattering extent. Even if he were Pan An, Mr. Sullivan was still a grown man, wasn't he?

So, there was probably only one possibility.

Could it be... he wants to seize this restaurant?

Hmm... that's possible, but why would he want to seize this restaurant? The The Sullivan Family also runs a restaurant. It's true that competitors are like enemies, but now that Ruchun Restaurant's business has plummeted, it shouldn't pose any threat to the The Sullivan Family. If the The Sullivan Family wanted to expand, Luoyang is such a big city—surely there are other shops they could take over.

"How dare he set his sights on me!" Brian Carter was angry.

Suppressing his anger, he returned to the restaurant. David Carter was carefully wiping the tables and chairs, looking quite earnest.

Brian Carter tried to get used to the Tang people's boiled tea, took a sip, endured the astringent taste, and called David Carter over, saying, "Stop cleaning for a moment. Come here, let me ask you: does our restaurant have any special features?"

"Special..." David Carter looked puzzled, and after a long while said, "There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of restaurants in Luoyang, but only ours has the least business. Does that count as special?"

Brian Carter immediately felt as if he'd been pricked by a needle and couldn't help but say, "I mean something good, not something bad."

David Carter scratched his head and, after some effort, grinned obsequiously: "The most special thing is that we have a young boss who's full of knowledge, handsome and dashing, treats his staff well, and pays wages on time. Does that count?"

Brian Carter's face flushed red. "If you mention wages again, I'll fall out with you."

David Carter put on a mournful face and said, "Cousin, I'm praising you. How can you not appreciate my good intentions? Oh, I remember now." David Carter suddenly perked up and continued, "When Second Uncle was around, he often told me something. Back when the late emperor was still alive, a prince happened to pass by this place and ate a dish of Ruyi Soup made by Second Uncle himself. He praised it repeatedly and even wrote an inscription for Second Uncle, calling it 'Unparalleled Culinary Skill.' Second Uncle was overjoyed, quickly had it mounted and framed, and hung it outside our restaurant. At that time, you were still young, just burying your head in your studies, so you didn't know about this..."

Brian Carter couldn't help but narrow his eyes, as if he was starting to see the picture. That Sullivan fellow tried to marry off his daughter and put all the restaurant's accounts in his name—he must be after the restaurant. And if he's after the restaurant, perhaps it's because of the prince's inscription.

Brian Carter became excited. He hadn't expected his family's restaurant to have such a glorious history, so he hurriedly asked, "So where's the plaque?"

David Carter said, "It's in the storage room in the backyard."

Without another word, Brian Carter rushed to the storage room. Sure enough, there it was. The calligraphy was carefully mounted on a plaque, which was also finely crafted. The four characters 'Unparalleled Culinary Skill' were inscribed on it, and below was a note in small characters: "In the first year of Xianqing, during a hunting trip to Mang Mountain, I visited Ruchun Restaurant and tasted this fine dish..."

This basically meant that in the first year of Xianqing, this prince went hunting at Mang Mountain, returned to Luoyang, passed by Ruchun Restaurant, tasted the fine dish made by Brian Carter's father, was very pleased, and thus wrote this inscription.

Brian Carter's eyes lit up instantly when he saw the signature at the end: 'Prince Dai, Li Hong.' He couldn't help but exclaim, "Prince Dai Li Hong, huh? He really had an eye for talent—truly a member of the imperial family. You can tell a lot from his calligraphy; he clearly knew quality and had a good heart. Haha... I've never met someone like that, but I really admire him. Hahaha... We're going to make a fortune, cousin! Cousin, why are you just standing there? Hurry up and hang it up! We'll be eating and drinking well, all thanks to Prince Dai."

As he spoke, Brian Carter suddenly felt a bit suspicious. In a way, a prince's inscription was indeed more valuable than the restaurant itself, no wonder the The Sullivan Family coveted it. But his father had hung it up so proudly before, so why did he suddenly take it down? That didn't make sense.