"Business? Here?" Sun Hang glanced at the diners at several nearby tables. This little restaurant was hardly bustling, but there were still more than a dozen people in the courtyard. Discussing an important Tianshu Tower operation in a setting like this... Sun Hang couldn't tell whether Professor Cao was just that careless or knew he could create a shielding field that prevented eavesdropping.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Professor Cao's tone was casual.
"A huge problem." Sun Hang pointed at the surrounding tables with the end of his chopsticks. "This doesn't look like a place to discuss business."
"How doesn't it?" Professor Cao smiled and tossed over a greasy, sticky menu. "Take a look at the menu. Do you notice anything off?"
Sun Hang glanced at the menu—"Twice-cooked pork with garlic sprouts, 12 yuan. Farmhouse stir-fry, 8 yuan. Three treasures of the earth, 8 yuan..."
They were all common home-style dishes found in Xiazhou restaurants, but one thing was clearly wrong: the prices were absurdly cheap.
This was Chunming City. Even in a remote old district, the cost of living here was still among the highest in the entire Xiazhou Federation.
Yet the prices on this menu were even lower than those in third- or fourth-tier small cities. Compared to this place, those restaurants outside charging thirty or forty yuan for a serving of prepackaged food were practically robbing people.
"Strange, isn't it? The menu prices are so low, yet this restaurant has survived for decades in land-scarce, sky-high-priced Chunming City without going under." Professor Cao took a small sip of baijiu and sighed. "Actually... this place became a secret Tianshu Tower base decades ago. Every owner of the restaurant has received rigorous training from the Field Operations Department. Aside from a tiny number of Tianshu Tower insiders, everyone