After seeing Mao Xiangling off, Xia Enruo returned to the shop around dinnertime.

Gu Shaoxuan was already waiting in the shop, a little anxious. She was pregnant, and he couldn't stop worrying about her if he didn't see her for a day.

Seeing his wife return, his anxious heart finally calmed down.

"Why is it so late? If it were any later, I would have gone out to look for you."

Gu Shaoxuan pulled his wife's hand and sat down.

"I stayed at Mao Xiangling's house for a while longer, and then went to the company."

"Next time it's been so long, I must call the store to let them know I'm safe. That way I can feel at ease."

Xia Enruo installed telephones in both the store and the company, making communication much more convenient than before.

"Okay, I'll definitely pay attention next time!"

When Zhao Minghui saw the boss return, he brought over a glass of water.

"Boss Xia, today's revenue has hit a new high. All our vegetables are sold out by now, and we can't keep up with demand!"

"Some of the customers who arrived late got upset because they didn't get to eat, saying that we deliberately made less food to create a tense atmosphere. I felt helpless!"

"Also, I've been looking around the store all day, but I haven't seen your awful relatives. I'm quite disappointed."

Feeling lost? Why can't I understand what Minghui is saying?

"Minghui, what's wrong? You haven't seen them for a day and you're already thinking about sleeping with them?"

Zhao Minghui hurriedly shook his head and explained:

"Boss Xia, that's not what I meant. What I meant was to teach them a good lesson when they come over, so they'll know that we have plenty of people in our shop and that we're not so easy to bully."

"So that's what you meant. You really startled me."

Zhao Minghui's words did indeed wake her up.

Now that the shop is getting bigger and bigger, the amount of food consumed every day can't keep up with the production. Besides, I'm pregnant now, and my body is getting weaker and weaker as time goes on.

This will inevitably affect the quantity and speed of cooking. If a woman has a baby and needs to rest during her postpartum period, she can't just close down for a month or only sell staple foods.

It seems we really need to hire two chefs, but if the taste of the dishes changes, it will affect the restaurant's reputation.

After much deliberation, Xia Enruo decided to immediately recruit several apprentices and teach them how to make dishes in their own style and flavor.

We'll move the kitchen to the company compound, dedicate an office building to food preparation and research, and even make some complex pastries and desserts.

In this way, the dishes produced can be directly transported from the company to various stores for sale, resulting in a larger output and significantly improved efficiency.

To save myself the trouble of traveling back and forth, I can just stay at the company and it won't interfere with anything.

"Minghui, put up a job posting tomorrow. It should say you're looking for restaurant apprentices, and make sure to specify that you'll get paid once you become an apprentice!"

Zhao Minghui took notes carefully.

"Boss Xia, how many people do we need to hire?"

Number of people? Xia Enru thought for a moment. Although it was still in the initial stage, cooking skills could not be cultivated in a day or two.

If we expand the store in the future, we may need more and more chefs. If there are not enough people, we will have to train them all over again!

"We need eight people!"

Eight!

Gu Shaoxuan and Zhao Minghui both sighed at the same time.

Can so many people handle it? How big would a restaurant have to be to have eight chefs?

"What's wrong? Why have you two suddenly joined forces?"

Xia Enruo was confused by the two people's unanimous exclamation. Had she said something wrong?

"Enruo, you just said you were recruiting eight apprentices. Do we have that many people working in our shop?"

"That's right, Boss Xia. Eight chefs? Our kitchen can't even hold them all. It's hard for people to even walk inside!"

Xia Enruo covered her mouth and laughed out loud.

“You two…you two are surprisingly business-minded today. I’m hiring apprentices, not ready-made chefs.”

"Furthermore, I plan to move the kitchen to the company compound in the future. Will the two-story independent building require eight chefs?"

"Moreover, training chefs takes time and effort to achieve results. If we recruit more people now, we won't face a labor shortage in the future."

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing!"

After Xia Enruo explained, the two stopped talking. In any case, no one could beat Xia Enruo in business acumen, and what she said was probably the truth!

"By the way, Minghui! Take some time these next few days to start learning to drive. I'll cover all the expenses. Learn as quickly as possible, and don't forget to get your big vehicle license too."

Zhao Minghui couldn't figure out why Boss Xia wanted him to learn to drive, since the company didn't even have a car!

Could it be!

"Mr. Xia, you want to buy a car?"

“That’s right, I’m planning to buy a truck in a couple of days, and you can work part-time as a driver then.”

Zhao Minghui's eyes lit up immediately. He had already noticed the increasing number of cars on the street and was filled with envy.

However, with my current financial situation, I can't afford a car, so I can only look on with envy. I never expected that Boss Xia would help me realize my dream of driving a car ahead of time.

"Good! Good! Boss Xia, I will definitely learn and return as quickly as possible, and live up to your expectations."

Xia Enruo found Zhao Minghui's excitement endearing.

It seems he really enjoys driving.

"Minghui, don't forget! While improving efficiency, we must also ensure quality. Our trucks will be used very frequently in the future, so your driving skills must be up to standard."

"Mr. Xia, don't worry. I know in my heart that I can make sure you sit here with peace of mind."

On their way home after paying the bill and depositing the money, Xia Enruo strolled slowly, arm in arm with Gu Shaoxuan.

Banks are now used to it; they wait for their biggest customer to deposit money every evening.

Sometimes, when he saw that Xia Enruo and the other person hadn't come over, he would deliberately stay late to leave work.

"Shaoxuan, can you drive?"

Gu Shaoxuan raised his head. This wife was underestimating him too much. Did she think he was like Minghui?

"Enruo, of course I can. We learned auto repair and driving when we were in military school."

"That's good."

Xia Enru muttered something.

Gu Shaoxuan frowned...........

"Enruo, are you worried about not having enough manpower? Don't worry, from now on, whenever I'm on vacation in the city, Minghui and I will work in shifts to deliver goods together!"

Xia Enruo raised her head, stood on tiptoe, and pressed her hand against Gu Shaoxuan's nose.

"That's not what I meant. I meant that when we have more money, I'll buy you a car to drive."

In the 1980s, owning a car meant you were either rich or powerful, or more accurately, extremely wealthy. Back then, a Volkswagen car cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of yuan.

Want to buy it with your salary? Dream on!

"Ah!!! Enruo, I know our family has some money now, but cars are too expensive! It's more important to invest that money in the company."

Gu Shaoxuan was unaware of the exorbitant prices of cars. Nowadays, both his workplace and the military used domestically produced Jiefang brand trucks, and even his father rode in a domestically produced Jiefang brand truck.

Foreign brand cars are something that working-class families, even government officials, can only dream of owning.