Chapter 40: On the Eve of the Branch Opening
You can eat whatever you want and still get paid.
What an amazing job this is!
Xue Xiujun pointed to the table full of delicious food, "So, can I eat all of this?"
"Of course," Yu Wan said with a smile. "I just wanted to see how much you could eat if you were allowed to eat freely, which is why I didn't let you have dinner. I didn't expect you to make such a fuss. Would I really harm you?"
Xue Xiujun rubbed his hands together, feeling a sense of happiness falling from the sky for the first time in his life.
"I have a big appetite, boss lady, I'll eat right now and show you!"
He Jing understood the whole story and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
With his burden lifted, Xue Xiujun ate with relish and began to devour his food, exclaiming, "It's so delicious! Boss lady, your cooking skills are even better than those of the imperial chefs!"
What are the imperial chefs' culinary skills like? Yu Wan hasn't had a chance to taste them yet. There are always people more skilled than you, and she wouldn't dare to make a boast.
She smiled and suggested, "Just eating isn't enough; we also need to introduce the food."
"I get it!" Xue Xiujun suddenly had an epiphany, picked up a chicken leg with his chopsticks, and introduced it to Yu Wan in a generous manner, treating her like a spectator.
"Honored guest, please look at this chicken leg. It's no ordinary chicken leg. Our boss's wife marinated it overnight with a secret seasoning recipe until it was fully flavored before grilling it on the grill. During the grilling process, it was turned over repeatedly, and some special seasonings were added to bring out this aroma."
He had been working at the restaurant for a while and often went to the kitchen, so he knew the general process of making many foods, but he didn't know the specific details.
He took a bite, looking completely absorbed in the experience. "The meat is so fresh and tender, anyone who eats it will be completely mesmerized."
Yu Wan was very satisfied with his performance; the young man was really good at it.
"Great! We'll be setting up a tasting booth at the entrance for our opening, and I'll leave that to you. Just let me know if you need any help. That booth will be yours from now on, okay?"
While eating, Xue Xiujun patted his chest and assured her, "No problem! I guarantee I won't let the boss lady down!"
Having resolved this matter, Yu Wan turned her attention back to He Jing's face.
"Why are you staring at me? Are you having some unsolvable problems?"
She has to go to the county town first thing tomorrow morning, so she needs to hurry and get everything sorted out.
Upon being asked this question, He Jing realized he had lost his composure and hurriedly looked away.
No, no.
The girl looked spirited and her beautiful eyes sparkled, and he was unconsciously mesmerized by her.
Xue Xiujun had a good appetite; he finished all the food on the table and only burped once, seemingly without any other discomfort.
Yu Wan had complete confidence in him, "From now on, the Yu family restaurant will finally have a proper storefront!"
The following day, Yu Wan and the others returned to the county town.
Jin Yifei has already helped to find an auspicious day, which is three days from now.
During these three days, Yu Wan naturally didn't have any free time. She had Xue Xiujun sit at the door every day to practice, eating and introducing the food, which attracted passersby to gather at the door to watch. Some people even drooled and took the initiative to try it. After tasting it, they were filled with great interest and asked when the restaurant would open.
With more people around, the chances of running into acquaintances increased. They stood in twos and threes at the entrance of the restaurant, watching Xue Xiujun eat and chatting.
The county town is about to carry out collective farming. If there are no seeds, they can be obtained for free. If there is a shortage of manpower, manpower can be applied for. Yu Family Restaurant will also provide special subsidies and benefits.
Anyone willing to help farmers with planting and farm work can come to Yu's Restaurant every day to pick up a portion of ingredients. If they don't want to pick up ingredients, they can also have a free meal at the restaurant.
Many people have already made plans to go to the county town to sign up. They are not interested in the ingredients; the biggest attraction is being able to eat a free meal at a restaurant.
Yu Wan gave Lord Zhu advice when she last met him, and the next day she sent him seeds and a planting manual. Lord Zhu arranged all the follow-up work himself.
Lord Zhu is a pragmatist. After listening to her advice, he has already found his direction and doesn't need Yu Wan's help with every little detail. He only needs to offer some optimization suggestions occasionally.
He also had someone copy a list of permanent residents and migrant workers, which he personally handed to Yu Wan. He also named the list of people who signed up to help farmers with their farming "the Farmers' Assistance Register," which people needed to register and verify when they went to restaurants to collect their benefits.
The county government had a stockpile of seeds, and some farmers had also kept their own seeds. With the seeds that Yu Wan brought out, there were enough seeds and enough labor. All that was left was to get the work done.
Although the restaurants in town are small, Yu Wan started her business here, so she considers it her flagship store, and all the stores she opened afterward are called branches.
Once she confirmed the opening date of the branch, she sent a message to He Jing, asking him to put up a notice at the entrance.
We're announcing the opening of our new branch and welcoming customers to visit our branch in the county town to enjoy our food. The main store will be closed for the next couple of days.
All the staff went to the county town to help out and received unified training to further enhance the style of Yu Family Eatery.
On the eve of the opening, the employees of both stores gathered at the county branch. Everyone was in high spirits and the atmosphere was wonderful.
The work uniforms that we asked Aunt Li and others to make have been completed for several days and are being officially distributed to everyone today.
Everyone was holding the clothes, grinning from ear to ear.
Bao Mancang was Yu Wan's cellmate before. He learns things very quickly and is now the head chef of the main store. He is very fond of this uniform.
"Madam, the fabric of this dress is much better than my own clothes. I will definitely cherish it and wear it for Chinese New Year this year!"
Yu Wan laughed and said, "There are still more than half a year left until the end of the year. Don't you have enough money to buy yourself a new set of clothes? Can't you save up any of your wages?"
Hong, who was also a fellow inmate, had stopped being fat several years ago, but everyone was used to calling him that.
He said with a grin, "Boss lady, he needs to save up to get married."
Bao Mancang blushed with embarrassment and kicked him, yelling, "Go away!"
Yu Wan understood: "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Everyone's money is hard-earned. As long as it's not squandered, it's fine. Having a plan for the future is a good thing."
In addition, the ten new recruits at the main store were also carefully selected. After comprehensive consideration by Yu Wan and Xue Xiujun, they felt that their family conditions were relatively difficult, and the neighbors had a good impression of them, so their character was relatively guaranteed.
Yu Wan has only two criteria for hiring: good character and hard work.
She disliked anyone engaging in underhanded tactics under her nose, focusing their attention on scheming and undermining the harmony and reputation of her restaurant.
We must completely eliminate the old practices that Fumanju had before.
However, she also knew that some people were too good at pretending, and some people could change in an instant, so it was impossible to truly avoid it.
She can only do her best to be strict in her selection process; whatever happens in the future, she can only deal with it as it comes.
These five boys and five girls range in age from about nine years, with the youngest being fifteen and the oldest twenty-four.
They were surprised to be given new clothes so soon after being hired and trained for a few days, before they even officially started working. They excitedly tried them on.
"I'd heard that our restaurant has good benefits and the owner is a nice person, but I didn't expect it to be this good. They even gave us such nice clothes."
"That's why they say some people are just born to make money. Given the current situation, who knows when the fighting will break out again, but the proprietress focuses on the present and doesn't worry about the future. What do you call that? That's called boldness! That's what it truly means to seek fortune in danger."
It's impossible for Yu Wan not to worry. Most people have some sense of crisis. She never thought of herself as the luckiest person. The only thing she firmly believed in was that if you're not satisfied with the status quo, you have to change it.
If she were to die someday, she would have no regrets.
For example, in her previous life, she was running a barbecue restaurant happily. Didn't she just transmigrate like that? But she had done everything she could in those years, and now, looking back, she felt nothing but reluctance.
The people in front of her, some about her age, some several years older, all wore happy smiles.
Yu Wan saw this and felt satisfied.
Currently, the county branch is short of a manager and a head chef. As things get busier, she, as the owner, cannot tie herself to the kitchen or sit in front of the counter all the time.
As everyone was immersed in the joyous atmosphere, they heard arguing coming from the front door.
Things have been going too smoothly lately. Could it be that some trouble has arisen again?
The arguing continued at the gate. It turned out that Zhu Zhifeng had arrived. She noticed that Xue Xiujun was sitting at the gate eating and eating, looking quite pleased with himself. This made her both envious and angry.
At this moment, the two of them were fighting over a plate of pan-fried buns.
"Does Awan know how much you can eat? She's definitely not in the shop right now. You must have stolen food from the kitchen and come out to show off that you're a big eater! I'm Awan's friend, and I can't just stand by and watch you take advantage of her!"
"You're still trying to take it from me? You've eaten so much, aren't you afraid of stuffing yourself to death? I'm keeping this plate of pan-fried buns as evidence! When A-Wan comes back, she'll definitely fire you!"
There were already many people watching Xue Xiujun enjoy the food, but now it's even more lively.
Someone stepped forward to explain for Xue Xiujun, but they didn't make it clear. What Zhu Zhifeng heard was that Xue Xiujun had already stolen it two days ago.
"Oh! You look so decent-looking, but I never expected you to be so wicked. Ah Wan is such a good person, and you treat her like this! All this delicious food going into your stomach is such a waste!"
She hasn't been here for the past two days, so she has no idea what happened.
Food stalls have offered tastings before, but sitting at the entrance and eating freely in front of everyone is truly unheard of.
Xue Xiujun was suddenly berated and felt wronged. He couldn't stand it, so he fought with her for the pan-fried buns. But when he realized that the woman was being aggressive, he had no choice but to give up to avoid escalating the situation.
"I'm not going to waste my breath on you. The landlady is inside. You want to complain to her? Go ahead and do it!"
Just then, Yu Wan came out and called out with a smile, "Ah Feng."
Zhu Zhifeng jogged up to her, holding a plate of pan-fried buns in her hand.
"Awan, this guy is stealing food from your kitchen and doing it so brazenly in front of everyone! It's even worse than dine-and-dash! Fire him! I've been watching him for a while now, and he can eat way too much. If you keep him in the restaurant, he'll eat everything up sooner or later!"
Xue Xiujun snorted, "So what if I can eat? The landlady even said it's one of my strengths!"
"Impossible!" Zhu Zhifeng exclaimed fiercely, about to raise the plate to throw it, but then, reluctant to part with the pan-fried buns, she handed them to Yu Wan instead.
"Look, this is proof that he cheated on me!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
