As the Spring Festival approached, employees who went home for the New Year left one after another, and the number of staff at Xiyuan Restaurant was reduced by one third.

The restaurant has a new part-time employee who doesn't work: Chen Chi. He clocks in at the branch almost every day now, and everyone is familiar with him. Even the waiters look at him with a "why are you here again?" expression.

"Sister, Sister Ye, I call you sister. Can you make pork belly and chicken again?" He followed Ye Tian like a little tail, wherever Ye Tian went, he followed.

"That's too troublesome, and I don't have time now!" Ye Tian refused directly.

Seeing his eager look, Ye Tian couldn't bear it and said, "Aren't you a little irritated after eating? How about this, if you can buy some coconuts today, let's have coconut chicken hotpot tonight! And invite the restaurant staff to eat with us!" Ye Tian created an opportunity for Chen Chi to get along with the employees.

"Okay, it's just coconuts. I'll ask someone to send them over now! Are 10 enough?" Chen Chi patted his chest and agreed.

"Six will be enough, three tables are enough for us." Ye Tian raised the corners of her mouth.

"It's okay, just buy more. We can eat them later anyway. Are there enough fresh chickens in the kitchen? Aren't three-yellow chickens more tender? I'll go find Uncle Yu and ask him to order a few more. We should eat enough and have a lively meal!" Chen Chi was the most enthusiastic when it came to eating.

As the Spring Festival is approaching, there are not too many guests dining in the evening. Almost no one comes after 9 o'clock, so Ye Tian and Daxiong start preparing the work meal in advance.

Coconut chicken is actually not difficult to make. As long as the coconut and chicken are fresh, anyone can make it delicious.

Because the table was large, they chose to use a larger pot. They poured the coconut milk from two coconuts into each pot and added some purified water, just enough to make the base of the pot. Ye Tian then scooped out the coconut meat from the coconuts, cut it into small strips, and put it into the pot to cook.

Seeing that Ye Tian was very good at chopping coconuts, Daxiong took the initiative to take over the job, thinking that he was a man. However, he found that he couldn't move his hands around the round coconuts, and it was very difficult for him to chop them. In the end, he had to rely on brute force.

Ye Tian changed to chopping the three-yellow chicken. "Crack... crack... crack" her movements were so quick, accurate and fierce. Unlike some girls who would complain that they couldn't chop the bones, chopping bones was easy for her and she was very familiar with it.

Chen Chi, who came in to watch the excitement, was trembling with fear. The sound of the knife made him feel inexplicably nervous and scared.

Today's hot pot uses coconut milk as the soup base, and you can also drink the soup. It tastes very sweet and does not require too many seasonings. The three-yellow chicken pieces do not need to be blanched. After cleaning, put them in the pot and boil them directly and eat with the dip.

Ye Tian only prepared the basic dipping sauce. You can add it according to your taste. If you like spicy food, you can add chili peppers. If you like minced garlic, add more garlic. You can also squeeze a little lime juice to make the taste richer.

They also prepared several cold dishes, as well as a lot of vegetables, various mushrooms, bamboo fungus and other side dishes. If you eat too much chicken, you can change the taste and balance the nutrition.

Deputy Chef Yu even bought beer out of his own pocket. Everyone was having a great time as if they were celebrating the New Year in advance, and the atmosphere was very lively and enthusiastic.

When the wine was half drunk, everyone at Ye Tian's table started chatting.

A waitress in her early 20s asked Chen Chi, "Boss, do you have a girlfriend? What kind of girl do you like?"

"I haven't thought about finding a girlfriend yet, but what I want most is the kind of feeling of 'standing with you in the evening in my spare time, and asking with a smile if the porridge is warm in front of the stove'." Chen Chi was not good at drinking and was a little drunk.

Xiaojuan sighed, "It's a pity that I'm still a virgin. What about you, Xiaoye? Do you envy this kind of love?"

"I'm not envious. I can cook porridge by myself. I don't need others to cook for me!" Ye Tian answered very straightforwardly.

"I think the young boss means that someone else should cook porridge for him." The waiter who asked the question just now said weakly.

"What's the porridge or not? They're not talking about the porridge, they're talking about the feeling." Xiaojuan felt she understood it very well, but she leaned on Ye Tian with a dizzy head.

Ye Tian seemed to be looking into the distance: "Spring has hundreds of flowers, autumn has the moon, summer has cool breezes, and winter has snow. If you have no worries in your mind, then this is the best time of your life. Why think so much? Just live each day simply!"

"Hmph, I just want to fall in love. You college students are educated, so I won't talk to you." Xiaojuan seemed to be falling asleep.

Chen Chi felt a little uncomfortable, and the waiter didn't say anything else.

The others turned to talk about other things. Chef Xu's apprentices didn't cause any trouble today, and Manager Yuan in the lobby was also drunk. The atmosphere was unusually harmonious, and everyone ate and drank until after 11 o'clock in the evening.

Chen Chi called a designated driver to drop off Sous Chef Yu. The others also took taxis home or to the dormitories provided by the restaurant.

Ye Tian took a ride-hailing app herself, and brought Xiaojuan along. She was now more willing to take taxis and didn't have to be as frugal as before. She had been paid over 2,000 yuan for the promotion of the electric hot pot.

While the comments on her previous promotional video were hilarious, the electric hot pot itself was indeed quite good, with a nice appearance, practical functions, and an affordable price of just 159 yuan per unit. The seller provided directions to the store under the video, and over 100 units were sold immediately. The original promotion fee was 1,000 yuan, but the owner gave Ye Tian a commission of 10 yuan per unit, bringing her total to over 2,000 yuan.

What’s funny is that the young lady who was responsible for contacting her also said that she wanted to eat pork tripe and chicken, and said that she was drooling after watching the video.

Ye Tian was also helpless. Her original intention was to promote electric hot pots, but now she has ended up promoting pork belly and chicken stew. It's a pity that she really can't promote this product.

…

When the traffic on the street is no longer congested, the flavor of the past drifts through the streets and alleys, and when the sound of firecrackers rings one after another, Xiyuan Restaurant officially welcomes New Year's Eve.

In recent years, with the continuous improvement of people's material living standards, many people have long been unwilling to work hard to prepare a large table of meals at home, which is not only tiring but also requires eating leftovers for many days. Eating a reunion dinner at a nice restaurant is both upscale and saves a lot of trouble, and it is a way to comfort the family for their hard work throughout the year.

As one of the city's top restaurants, Xiyuan Restaurant's private dining rooms were naturally fully booked for lunch and dinner. The event started getting busy at noon, with even the main hall packed.

All the staff were so busy that even the lobby manager Yuan and the cleaning lady who hadn't gone home came along to help.

"Is the pig's trotter ordered by Gusufang ready? The customer is asking for it!"

"Why hasn't the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall at Jinling House been prepared yet? Hurry up!"

"I want to add crab meat fried rice to the set meal at Table 68. Can I add it?"

"The wrong dish was served just now. Why did the dish from table 58 get served instead of table 56?"

…

The situation at Xiyuan Restaurant is probably very busy and everyone is overwhelmed.

Although many main dishes such as Buddha Jumps Over the Wall and Crab Roe Lion Head are prepared in advance, and most guests order fixed New Year's Eve dinner sets, there are still extra dishes and other requests made at the last minute, and the restaurant's existing staff are simply unable to cope with them.

It is impossible to recruit people on a temporary basis now, so we can only find ways to get people to do the work. This is what we do every year.

What no one expected was that even Chen Chi, who had finished lunch at home and came to the restaurant with his father and second uncle to express his condolences, was kept by Uncle Chen to serve as a waiter.

"The customer wants to return the dish because the fish is not cooked through!" A waiter hurriedly brought a plate of steamed fish into the kitchen.

"We're running out of time. I'll steam it for two more minutes." Xiao Zhang, the chef in charge, took the plate indifferently.

"The customer was not very happy and asked for a new one," the waiter continued.

Old Yu, who had been busy cooking, said, "Ask Manager Yuan to explain to the customer and tell them that this fish is free today. Xiao Zhang, steam another one!"

Xiao Zhang used to work for Chef Xu, and was considered his most successful student. He had come to the branch with the intention of keeping an eye on Old Yu, so he had never really listened to him. Now, upon hearing this arrangement, he was unhappy. "You're such a nice guy. You give me a gift and I do it. You ask me to redo it and I have to do it. Why? You're the chef, Yu, but you're not. I'm not steaming it today!"

He threw the spatula onto the counter and was about to leave. The other two kitchen helpers, who were arguing with him, glanced at each other, still hesitating.

Chen Chi, wearing the uniform of a waiter in white, strode in with long legs to serve dishes. Seeing this scene, he reached out and stopped Old Yu who was about to speak: "Uncle Yu, don't say anything. You handled it right."

He took a few steps forward and stood in front of Master Zhang, standing half a head taller than him. "You're quitting, aren't you? Go away! Our Xiyuan Restaurant can't afford someone like you!"

The other two kitchen helpers who usually worked with Xiao Zhang were so scared that they quickly returned to their seats. The young boss looked so imposing today, so they should work hard, as they had to rely on this job to support their family.

Chen Chi glanced at Xiao Zhang, who was at a loss and stammering as he tried to explain, then looked at the row of menus waiting to be made and solemnly walked up to Ye Tian who was cutting vegetables.

"Ye Tian, this may be hard for you!"

"good!"