Ye Tian sat on the bed in the dormitory, thinking about what Yan Xi had just said.
Indeed, in the collision of antiquity and modernity, many time-honored items seem to have become antiques, losing their former glory. Take, for example, Jingweilou, once a popular establishment, but now gradually declining.
The restaurant's diners are generally elderly or tourists from other places, and its reputation is neither here nor there, a far cry from when the old man presided over it. This is partly due to the rapidly changing world, but also to the restaurant's own inflexibility and lack of a single person to manage the business.
How could an old restaurant in the capital regain its glory? Ye Tian felt that it was not something that could be solved by just a promotional advertisement.
As for what solutions are available, first, there needs to be a chef who serves as the soul of the restaurant. Currently, neither Mr. Yan nor Chef Yun seem capable enough. Second, the food must be above standard. Most importantly, there must be iconic, representative dishes.
Ye Tian didn’t know how the other dishes at Jingweilou were, but among the three signature dishes today, only the roast duck was very good. The Kung Pao Chicken and the Beijing-style Shredded Pork with Sauce were probably not made by Chef Yun, and the chef’s skills were very average.
However, there are many restaurants with unique characteristics in the capital, so how to stand out from the crowd and carve out a niche for yourself still requires careful consideration.
When asking Ye Tian this question, Yan Xi lost his usual carefree, second-generation rich kid demeanor. His slightly long, peach-shaped eyes were serious yet bewildered. But Ye Tian couldn't answer this question for him.
…
The staff dormitory was in a 1970s-era building with no elevator, a shabby stairwell, and walls covered in advertisements. Jingweilou had rented several apartments in the same building and provided them as staff quarters.
Ye Tian lived in a three-bedroom dormitory for female employees. They had cleared out the smallest room in the suite for her in advance.
There were bunk beds against the wall, probably two people in this room before. The other two larger rooms each had four bunk beds, meaning this house could have housed at least nine people.
House prices and rents in the capital are high. Although this house is old, it has a good location and the rent is 8,000 or 9,000 yuan a month.
Master Yun has a house in the capital, but he thinks it is not a good idea for a girl to live in the home of an older single man, as it may easily cause unnecessary misunderstandings. So he can only let Ye Tian live in the dormitory.
It was almost 10 o'clock in the evening when Ye Tian heard the sound of a door opening and chaotic footsteps, mixed with the laughter of girls. She knew that the restaurant staff had come back to rest.
She thought about it and decided to open the door, greet everyone, and briefly introduce herself. Some of the others responded, while others didn't, and soon everyone went back to their rooms.
The next morning at 9:30, a car came to pick them up for work. Master Yun had told Ye Tian this time in advance, but she had already gotten up at 7:00. She was worried that the dormitory only had one bathroom, and if they got up too late, everyone would have to squeeze together to wash and brush their teeth, which would be inconvenient.
Ye Tian was worried when she thought about the bathroom because it was really dirty. She had just arrived and was embarrassed to clean it up directly and mess with other people's things.
Unexpectedly, the oldest woman who had greeted her yesterday was washing up inside. Hearing the bathroom door open, she turned around and saw Ye Tian, smiling through the toothpaste foam on her mouth. This woman had also been nice to Ye Tian last night and responded to her enthusiastically.
Ye Tian smiled back and said, "Good morning."
After brushing her teeth, the elder sister casually washed her face. As she wiped her face with a towel, she said, "Your last name is Ye, right? I'll call you Xiao Ye. Did you sleep well last night? I changed your sheets, but I didn't have time to wash them beforehand. You can wash them when you have time. The washing machine is shared."
"Thank you, sister. I slept well. I'm really sorry to bother you." Ye Tian thanked her sincerely.
After her elder sister left, Ye Tian began to wash up quickly, then went back to her room to slowly apply skin care products, comb her hair, and change clothes.
Ye Tian used to live in a dormitory together and everyone got along very well. But for some reason, she felt very awkward here.
She thought it was probably because she was staying in a single room and had taken up someone else's room. She counted six people who had returned yesterday, so it looked like they had originally been sharing a room with two people, but after she arrived, she had her own room, so it became a room with three people.
She regretted not having agreed with Master Yun in advance to live with everyone. It was this single room that made her independent. No wonder the other female employees were unhappy.
But this is all we can do now.
Ye Tian thought, she wouldn't be living here for more than two months anyway, so she might as well stick with it! She wanted to move out because the rent was expensive and she didn't know how to explain it to Master Yun.
When taking the bus, Ye Tian took the initiative to sit in the last row of the minibus, trying not to take up the seats that others usually sit in. No one spoke to her along the way, but there were many inquiring glances.
Finally arriving at the store, Ye Tian breathed a sigh of relief. Sure enough, she still wasn't good at quickly connecting with people. A social butterfly wouldn't be as awkward as she was.
As soon as Ye Tian and the others arrived, Master Yun opened the door and came in. Other employees who did not live in the dormitory also came to work one after another.
"Xiao Ye, are you used to it?" Master Yun called out when he saw Ye Tian, and then said to the others: "Come, let me introduce you, this is our new chef, Master Ye Tian..."
"Ah! Master Ye? You're a chef at such a young age?" A low male voice came out.
"That's right. Don't take Master Ye lightly just because she is young. She has been learning cooking for nearly 10 years. Many older chefs are not as good as her. I can't cook some dishes as well as her." Master Yun continued.
Ye Tian felt a little embarrassed by Chef Yun's praise. She knew that Chef Yun wanted to establish her image first, but this was really putting a lot of pressure on her. She tried to interrupt, "It's not as exaggerated as Chef Yun said. I'm just an apprentice, and I'm mainly here to learn from everyone!"
"Master Xiao Ye, don't be so modest!" another chef deliberately shouted.
Ye Tian was speechless. Although she also felt that she was very capable, she really didn't want to be too high-profile!
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