As soon as Sun Aimin saw the other person's fat head, big ears, ruddy face, and the way he was dressed, he knew that this was the real chef who had returned.
Sun Aimin immediately made room for Chef Wang, glanced at the large wok he had just snatched back, and said, "The mixed dishes are ready to be served!"
Chef Wang followed his instructions and scooped the food out of the wok and placed it on a plate. He didn't know why, but the dish in front of him looked better than his own.
Only then did he realize that this guy was out to steal his job. No, he couldn't let this guy succeed.
Although the current salary was still a little short of his expectations, it was still very difficult to find a job with this salary in Mafang City, so he was careful not to try to get too much at once. He wanted to ask his boss for a 100 yuan increase, but if it could be 50 or 80 yuan, he would happily accept it.
Thinking of this, Chef Wang started to chase people out: "Get out, get out! Do you know what a kitchen is? If something goes wrong, can you take the responsibility?"
Seeing Chef Wang's reaction, Sun Aimin knew that he had misunderstood his purpose, so he explained with a smile: "You are the master chef here, right? Don't get me wrong, I'm not here for a trial. I was just passing by on business and stopped by for a meal. There were too many people eating in the front hall, so I came here to help out temporarily."
Then, Sun Aimin looked at his watch, pretending to be in a hurry, and said, "Oh, it's already one o'clock? No, I have to go, otherwise the important things will be delayed.
Oh, is there a toilet nearby? I need to go first. It’s really inconvenient to go out.”
When Chef Wang heard Sun Aimin wasn't out to steal his job, he quickly relaxed his guard, his face less tense, and pointed to the back door of the kitchen. "Go out that way, and there's another street behind it. There's a public restroom across the street. If you take a detour that way, come back and exit through our restaurant."
Unexpectedly, Chef Wang was quite kind-hearted. Sun Aimin thanked him and went out the back door.
Compared to the street directly opposite the train station exit, which is also the street of the hotel's main entrance, the street behind the hotel is really just an ordinary street. Not to mention shops, even street vendors are rare. There are a few pedestrians on the street, just passing by.
The public toilet that Chef Wang mentioned is very conspicuous. You can see it as soon as you look up from the door. When you get closer, the pungent smell hits you in the face, making you dare not breathe.
Sun Aimin tried his best to hold his breath as he entered the public restroom. He observed the men's restroom and found that apart from the urinals, there was a long row of squat toilets and there was no place to hide.
According to Yuan Jie's description of the methods used in later generations to traffic people, one of them was to use toilets to commit the crime.
Especially in those more remote toilets, some single women can never come out after entering. After the traffickers succeed, they will use the trash can as a cover to move the people away.
But could a public toilet with a view of the entire building really become a crime scene for human traffickers? Sun Aimin was a little skeptical.
After coming out of the public toilet, he walked around the street. There were two houses next to the restaurant that he had just visited, and they had back doors, so he had to pay close attention to them later.
At the end of the street is a residential area. There are no restaurants or other shops at the entrance, but there are a few stalls selling fruits and vegetables.
Sun Aimin pulled a note from Yuan Jie from his bag. On it were the names of several residential communities, the names of which they had discovered from later investigations that Zhan Jinhua and Qian Jindou owned over a dozen houses. Most of these were developed later, while two of the houses were located in older communities, likely built around the 1990s.
Sun Aimin walked over to a small vendor selling fruit on a donkey, "Excuse me, what neighborhood are we in? I'd like to rent a place. Is the rent expensive?"
The vendor replied, "Are you talking about this place? It's called Xinjian Village. I don't know much about the rent, but the houses here were all built in the past few years. They're quite expensive, so the rent should be pretty high too."
Sun Aimin continued, "Do you know where the Renminli and Jiansheli communities are? Are they far from here?"
The vendor thought for a moment and said, "I do know Renminli. It seems to be in the city center, not close to here. You can go to the nearby bus stop and see if there are any buses. I haven't heard of the other community, so you can ask someone else!"
Sun Aimin thanked the street vendor and finished walking around the street. He then went in through the back door of the hotel, walked through the lobby, and arrived at the snack street opposite the train station.
He searched carefully and located two other businesses with back entrances. One of them wasn't a restaurant, but a barber shop. Business seemed brisk, with several stylishly dressed young men and women busy washing, cutting, and perming customers' hair.
In this day and age, young people in cities are still willing to spend money on their appearance. Judging from the age and work status of the staff, there's nothing unusual about them. This store can be ruled out for now.
The other store is a noodle shop, and it looks like its layout is similar to the previous restaurant.
It was just past lunchtime, so the restaurant was quite deserted. Looking in from the outside, the glass door was closed, so it was hard to see what was going on inside.
He did not rush in, but sat at a table outside the skewers shop next door, ordered a few skewers, and kept an eye on the situation in the noodle shop.
Soon, the boss brought Sun Aimin's order to the table. Since the boss wasn't busy, Sun Aimin started chatting with him: "Boss, did you learn this skill from a master or did you develop it on your own? I can smell the aroma from far away. I've been on the train for hours, hoping to find a restaurant for a good meal, but when I got to your door, I couldn't even walk!"
Sun Aimin's compliment was particularly appreciated by the owner of the fried skewers shop. He laughed and said, "Brother, you've come to the right place. I don't have any special talents, but I just love to cook. I used to cook for myself, but my wife always scolded me for being greedy and argued with me, so I kept holding back. Hey, it turns out I've figured out a way to make money."
I've been selling fried skewers here for over ten years. Someone saw my business was going strong and came to try to steal my business, but what happened? Instead of knocking me out, they went bankrupt first! What's that called? If you don't have the skills, don't take on the job.
Sun Aimin echoed his boss's words, "What do you call that? Oh, right, turning a hobby into a career. That's something many people would never dream of."
After making the boss burst into laughter, Sun Aimin stopped beating around the bush and said casually, "I was thinking of getting a bowl of noodles after getting off the bus. I can't get enough of noodles. I wonder how the noodle shop next door tastes? I see there aren't many people there right now. If it's not good, I won't go and waste my money."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
