Chapter 346: Every Inch of Progress Brings Joy
"Furthermore, the bigger the scale and the more impressive the event, the more formidable your competitors will be. You'll also be exposed to the outside world through your peers, which is one of the few opportunities to break out of your current circle. You don't have to deliberately get to know anyone; even if it's just for the sake of seeing the world, such an opportunity is invaluable, and you'll always learn something."
"Take me for example. I have a lot of fun writing and rehearsing songs with the band. We and others think they are very good. But our circle is very small and we can't get in touch with more talented people, so we can only listen to songs by other bands. Every time I listen to them, I have new feelings and a deeper understanding of arrangement and singing. After meeting Uncle Wen, it was even more so. With just a little guidance, our songs were completely elevated to a new level." Su Yuchen sighed.
Zhao Xiaojing nodded. "Now that you mention it, I'm really looking forward to it. However, I still need to practice hard during this period, and I can't embarrass myself too much."
"No, that's not embarrassing. Even if you don't have any signature dishes, your stir-fries are still outstanding."
"That's right, at worst you can just take turns making our rice and stir-fry dishes! And how do you define a classic dish? Even though you've never made dry-pot chicken feet, I have a feeling that if you do, it'll definitely be better than this place. Isn't it just chicken feet braised until soft and then cooked in a dry-pot? Our braising liquid is even better than this place!"
"Uncle Wen, eat chicken feet! These chicken feet are boneless, soft, and tasty." Su Yuchen said as he scooped a spoonful of chicken feet for each of them.
"You just criticized someone else's chicken feet, and now you want us to eat them?" Wen Jin smiled and shook his head.
"No matter how much you put me down, you still have to eat. Mirror, when are you going to compete?"
"The auditions will be in April, probably in Jiangcheng. Oh, these chicken feet are so glutinous, they'd be great in a dry pot too, the bones are so flavorful."
When you put the chicken feet in your mouth, just suck it gently and the bones will fall off naturally, leaving a sticky feeling and your mouth full of the satisfaction of eating collagen.
"By the way, Uncle Wen, there's one item on the registration form that I don't know how to fill in." The chicken feet in the bowl were eaten clean in a flash. Zhao Xiaojing remembered the confusion she had when registering in the afternoon, so she just wanted to ask Wen Jin for some advice.
"What do you want to write?"
"How long does it take to learn to cook? I started cooking very early, probably in high school. Back then, I often researched how to make delicious meals, but the time I spent studying cooking was very short, less than a year. I don't know which to count? If I say I studied in high school, it would be too exaggerated, but if I say I studied for a year, it would be too short and I'm afraid people wouldn't believe it."
"Write it as more than five years." Wen Jin said firmly, "Who said that learning to cook must be a serious study? How can figuring out how to cook on your own not count as learning to cook? They didn't set any rules, so just write it as long as it takes!"
"At that time, I thought the porridge you made was particularly delicious and you were a great cook. How could it not be considered an introduction to cooking? Just write it as high school!" Su Yuchen agreed.
"Okay." Zhao Xiaojing chuckled, thinking that the problem that had been bothering her for a while was solved so easily, she couldn't help but feel guilty. Because she was holding the secret of rebirth and the system, she was always subconsciously afraid of exposing the problem.
But in the world of scientific reality, even if people see her cooking skills improve rapidly in a short period of time, they will only think that she is gifted and a culinary genius.
Zhao Xiaojing breathed a sigh of relief.
"Also, Xiao Su, you guys should rehearse as much as possible these days. There are only a few days left. Don't be nervous when the time comes. Just remember, the audience won't be able to hear if you play it wrong. As long as you act naturally, it will be a perfect performance." Wen Jin turned around and instructed Su Yuchen.
"What do you mean?" Zhao Xiaojing looked at Wen Jin and then at Su Yuchen.
"Uncle Wen helped us get a performance opportunity this Saturday." Su Yuchen smiled. "It's another band's livehouse performance. Our band will go on stage during the intermission and can perform two songs."
"I'm very optimistic about their band and originally wanted to sign them, but they all work part-time, and Lei Lei is an anesthesiologist." Wen Jin shook his head. "They all have good jobs now. I'm afraid that once they sign, they'll have to follow the company's arrangements, and I won't be able to make the decisions alone. If that happens, their jobs will be affected, and they'll lose money and everything. Before they can even start this journey, I'll end up hurting them."
"Uncle Wen has good intentions. He asked us to give it a try first and see what the audience response is. He's afraid that we'll invest too much before we've laid a solid foundation, and end up with nothing." Su Yuchen had a smile on his face, without showing too much worry.
"Uncle Wen, don't worry. What can you do now without investing money? It's not just money, it's time and energy. Jingzi and I opened our shop from scratch, and we were even in debt at the beginning! Every inch of progress brings joy. No matter what it is, only by investing can you gain more, even if it's the experience of failure!"
"Haha, well said! I just like Xiao Su's personality!" Wen Jin smiled and sighed, "If only I had your drive when I was young, I could have been tougher and gotten over it when I met your grandmother. Maybe I'd still be slaying on the stage now!"
"Uncle Wen, if you want to go on stage, I'll give you my guitar spot. I'll just sing, or maybe add a guitar!"
"Haha, forget it, I'm too old to do any more. I'd rather just watch your performance. Come on, let's have some water instead of wine. I wish you success!"
"I wish you success too!" Zhao Xiaojing clinked glasses with a smile.
…
In the evening, Zhao Xiaojing quickly filled out the registration form as soon as she returned to her room. When she sent it back, her assistant replied within seconds.
Zhao Xiaojing was marveling at what a great overtime worker this was when Xiaozhi appeared at the same time, with a red exclamation mark floating above his head again.
It turned out to be another reminder. With Zhao Xiaojing and Su Yuchen about to start their own business, the store was once again short-staffed and the supporting equipment needed to be upgraded again.
The expanded rice bowl shop has a total area of nearly 200 square meters, and the area minus the kitchen and cashier counter is about 150 square meters. Even with the original configuration of three chefs (Zhao Xiaojing, Wan Yuyue, Yun Yongyuan), two fryers (Geng Mingyan, Hou Guihua), two waiters (Ouyang Yidan, Wu Kaile), one irregular handyman (Su Yuchen), and one delivery man (Lv Hongwen), it is still quite compact.
What's more, as the store becomes more and more famous, Zhao Xiaojing's cooking skills are getting better and better, and more and more customers will come to the store after hearing about it.
Fortunately, the kitchen was planned to be large enough when it was first renovated. Now all we need to do is upgrade the equipment, add more staff, and select a store manager.
The next morning, Su Yuchen rode a food delivery tricycle to register for a phone number, while Zhao Xiaojing drove her car to buy a cart full of vegetables and then went to the second-hand market.
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