Because Zhou Chen didn't have much time to prepare.
Zhou Chen had to hurry, so he immediately grabbed a large bag of books and left the construction site.
He first delivered the book home, and then knocked on the door of a neighbor's house in the same community.
"Sister Juan, are you home?"
"Xiao Chen?"
Zhou Chen was invited to the living room. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, he went straight to the point about his purpose.
Upon hearing that she was to be hired as a chef, Li Juan looked surprised and then quickly shook her head, feeling that she was not up to the task.
"Sister Juan, among all the people I know, only you are both reliable and a great cook."
The reason Zhou Chen visited Li Juan's house was not only because Li Juan's cooking skills were really good, but also because he had received help from Li Juan's family in his previous life.
At the time, he was penniless and unemployed. It was Li Juan's family's small restaurant that gave him a job opportunity and helped him get through a difficult period.
In his previous life, he wanted to repay a debt of gratitude, but he was powerless to do so.
In this life, Li Juan was laid off and unemployed. He wanted to lend a hand, and indeed, he needed a reliable helper.
“Sister Juan, you don’t need to feel pressured. Whether this succeeds or not, your brother won’t blame you.”
"Just consider it helping your brother out, okay?"
"Well... okay."
Li Juan hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded in agreement.
She has been unemployed for a while, and only her husband is working, so she is under a lot of pressure. She has been looking for a job for several days, but none of them are satisfactory.
Since Zhou Chen had put it that way, she couldn't very well refuse.
Let's give it a try.
After Li Juan quickly tidied herself up, the two headed to the market.
To Li Juan's surprise, Zhou Chen's bargaining skills were something even she couldn't match; she managed to reduce the vegetable prices to almost the lowest possible level.
However, considering that Zhou Chen has always taken care of his three younger siblings and managed everything at home, and that he knew the prices of vegetables and was good at bargaining in order to save money, it's understandable.
If it were her, she wouldn't be willing to spend an extra penny either.
This made Li Juan feel a sense of admiration and respect for Zhou Chen, her young neighbor.
Zhou's parents passed away a few years ago, and Zhou Chen, as the eldest son, has been supporting the whole family and taking care of his three siblings. He even gave up his studies and started working on construction sites at a young age.
Everyone in the neighborhood knows about Zhou Chen's sacrifices for his siblings.
Zhou Chen's current desire to contract the cafeteria is simply to make more money.
Hopefully, her cooking skills can really help Zhou Chen secure the cafeteria business.
The two arrived at the construction site carrying large and small bags of groceries.
The relatives of the previous canteen manager, Mr. Li, have left. The makeshift canteen still has a lot of condiments like oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar left, which can be used directly, saving some money.
Zhou Chen plans to cook four dishes and one soup.
He told Li Juan what he was going to do, and Li Juan said that she had only ever cooked small portions before, and she wasn't sure if she could cook large batches well.
"Sister Juan, I'll help you control the heat. It's not as difficult as you think. Just do your best."
Zhou Chen smiled and said he believed in Li Juan's cooking skills.
The key to cooking big pot dishes is simply adding more salt and oil, and controlling the heat. As long as the basics are similar, the taste will be acceptable.
As darkness fell, it was almost time for the workers to finish their shift.
Li Juan packed all the prepared dishes into a large box, closed the lid, and her gaze fell on Zhou Chen, who was making soup.
She can cook, but not make soup; I never expected Zhou Chen to be able to.
"Sister Juan, the recipe for this tomato and egg drop soup is actually very simple. Before the water boils completely, put the eggs in first, and then stir slowly..."
As Zhou Chen explained, he demonstrated by hand, and soon a pot of tomato and egg drop soup began to take shape.
"Xiao Chen, who taught you to make this egg drop soup?"
Li Juan took a small sip and her eyes lit up; she found the taste to be quite good.
Zhou Chen was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said, "I learned it from Sister Juan."
"I?"
Li Juan was stunned for a moment, then rolled her eyes: "Stop joking, your sister Juan doesn't know how, I don't have that skill."
Zhou Chen smiled but didn't explain. He did learn from Li Juan, but not the current Li Juan, but the Li Juan who ran a small restaurant in his previous life.
As the two were talking, they saw a worker walk in.
When people came in, they greeted Zhou Chen with smiles. Zhou Chen responded with smiles, calling everyone "Brother Li" and "Brother Zhang," and seemed to know almost everyone.
Then they proactively handed over their trays and helped serve the food.
Li Juan quickly realized what was happening and immediately offered her help.
Before long, Xu Laoqi arrived, accompanied by several men in suits and ties, who were the leaders of the construction site.
"Hello, leader"
Without Xu Laoqi needing to give him a meaningful look, Zhou Chen immediately greeted them politely and then personally served the leaders their meals.
The leader didn't say anything, took the tray, and went to eat.
Before long, Xu Laoqi beckoned, and Zhou Chen handed over the task of adding dishes to Li Juan and went to the leaders' table.
"Mr. Sun, this is the apprentice I told you about, Zhou Chen."
Xu Laoqi introduced with a smile.
Mr. Sun looked you up and down and said, "Your dishes are quite good, but I want to ask you a question that is unrelated."
I heard you didn't even have the money to buy vegetables today, and you had to borrow it from your master. I want to know, what makes you so sure you can win this cafeteria business?
Even if I give you this business, do you have the money to take over and continue doing it?
Faced with this problem,
Although Zhou Chen was somewhat surprised, he did not panic, because he had already considered the issue raised by President Sun.
"Mr. Sun, to be honest, I'm not confident. I know that if my master tells people that he's contracting the canteen, many people will be willing to come. I don't have much of an advantage, but I still want to give it a try."
Opportunity favors the prepared mind, but I believe it is more important to actively seek opportunities. If you don't even have the courage to try, you will never succeed. Daring to try gives you at least a glimmer of hope.
Regarding the cost of contracting the canteen, I have a suggestion, or rather a request: I would like to pay the contract fee on a daily basis to avoid trouble. The contract fee and the food expenses can be combined, and the construction site only needs to pay for the previous day's food expenses.
If you ever feel that my cooking isn't good enough, you can terminate the cooperation at any time, and I'm willing to pay for that day's meals myself.
Zhou Chen stood there straight, without flattery or obsequiousness, only with sincerity on his face.
Mr. Sun tapped his fingers on the table for a moment, then said slowly:
"If I'm not satisfied with today's food, you've worked for nothing, and you'll lose at least several hundred yuan. Are you willing to accept that?"
"I'm not reconciled."
Zhou Chen shook his head, then smiled and said, "But I've heard a saying: 'Just do your best and leave the rest to fate. If things don't go as planned, fate will surely have another arrangement.'"
...
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