Teacher Chen glanced at her with some surprise. Judging from her tone before, she seemed to want to sign for several more years. Why did she decide not to sign now?
Zhang Xuemei didn't explain much, she just smiled.
She then went to the school with Teacher Chen, and the two signed a contract, which set a five-year contract period.
Teacher Chen clapped his hands, feeling relieved that a major concern had been resolved. "Here's the key to the cafeteria. Do you want to continue using the previous supplier or find one yourself? Just make sure all the preparations are done before the start of the semester so that the students can eat on time."
Zhang Xuemei took the keys, thanked Teacher Chen, and then led Xu Yanhong home. After all, there were several people at home waiting for her to go back and report the situation!
As expected, Xu Mingjiang couldn't wait to ask as soon as they entered, "How did it go? Did you sign it?"
Xu Yanhong nodded, "It's a five-year contract. Let Third Sister-in-law handle the rest."
Zhang Xuemei poured herself a glass of water and then leaned back on the sofa. "We've secured the contract. It's 45,000 yuan a year. All three floors belong to us. The first floor is the student cafeteria, the second floor used to be the teachers' cafeteria, but it should be converted into a student cafeteria now, and the third floor will be the teachers' cafeteria."
We also have all the kitchen equipment, and the previous staff are still here. The only issue is that we need to check out the suppliers ourselves; we don't know if the previous ones will be up to par. After all, in the food service industry, fresh ingredients are extremely important.
She paused, took a sip of water, and continued, "Also, if you want to sign another five-year contract, the annual contract fee will increase by five percent starting from the sixth year, and so on. I calculated that it would average out to more than 48,000 yuan per year. Do you think it's necessary to sign another five-year contract?"
Xu Minghe stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Third Sister-in-law, is the cafeteria at No. 13 Primary School big? Should we go take a look first? If there aren't many students eating there, we might not be able to break even."
"You don't need to worry about that. Teacher Chen said that starting this semester, all teachers and students will eat lunch at school, which will be a semi-closed system. Yan Hong said that there are more than 2,500 teachers and students at No. 13 Elementary School, so there will be a lot of people eating there. We are very busy now and need to get everything ready before the start of the semester."
Zhang Xuemei knew that the food in the canteen, cooked in large batches, couldn't compare to the stir-fries outside, but it couldn't be too bad either, so the chef was still very important.
So he clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Let's put everything else aside for now and discuss who will come with me to the school tomorrow to see if there's anything that needs to be fixed."
"Why don't you and I go?" Xu Yanhong was the first to raise her hand; she was familiar with the school and was the most suitable.
"The two of you girls alone won't do, add me too." Xu Minghe thought that although the school was very safe, it was winter break now, there weren't many people inside, and it was spacious, so it was better to be careful.
Zhang Xuemei nodded, then looked at Xu Mingjiang and his wife, who had been silent, and said, "Mingjiang, why don't you and Xiaoxiao go to the cafeteria's previous supplier and see how their food is? If it's not good, we should change it as soon as possible."
“Okay, we’ll go tomorrow. It’s getting late…” Xu Mingjiang was startled by the sudden ringing of the phone before he could finish speaking. He touched his pounding chest and lay back on the sofa, truly frightened.
Zhang Xuemei answered the phone, said a few words, and then hung up and looked at them. "We don't need to wait until tomorrow. Teacher Chen just called and said that the previous chef and the auntie who served the food in the cafeteria can't wait any longer and want to meet us. They also want to know if we want to hire them or not. Why don't we go over now?"
"Sure, I'm free anyway, and there's someone watching the shop."
After finishing their conversation, the group arrived at the school in a grand procession. Teacher Chen was already waiting at the school gate. Seeing so many people coming, she didn't ask any questions and simply led them towards the school cafeteria.
“Three chefs from the kitchen came, along with a few aunties serving the food. They wanted to know if the cafeteria was still operating. I figured you'd have to see them sooner or later anyway, so I just called you here,” Teacher Chen said as they walked.
Zhang Xuemei nodded and said with a smile, "That's what I was thinking too. That's why I brought people over as soon as you called."
As the two were talking, they arrived at the cafeteria. The group of people who were sitting on the steps at the entrance immediately stood up and greeted Teacher Chen.
Happy New Year, Teacher Chen!
"Happy New Year to you too. Look, this lady next to me is the new contractor for the cafeteria. If you have any questions, just ask her!" After saying that, she stepped aside, not wanting to interfere with their conversation.
Li Baocheng, who had a rather short temper, couldn't help but speak up, "Boss Zhang, right? Now that you've taken over this canteen, give us a straight answer as to whether you're going to use us or not. If not, we can find other jobs sooner."
"Yes, Mr. Zhang, just give me a straight answer!"
Zhang Xuemei raised her hand to stop them from talking and said, "Let's not stand outside anymore, let's go inside and sit down to talk!" After saying that, she took out the key that Teacher Chen had given her earlier from her pocket, opened the locked door, let everyone outside in, and then closed the door slightly.
"Boss Zhang, the three of us are in charge of cooking. How about we make a few dishes for everyone to try today? We've brought all the ingredients." It was Li Baocheng who spoke again. Zhang Xuemei could tell that he was the leader among the three.
"Master Li, were you cooking in the cafeteria on the first floor or the second floor before?" Zhang Xuemei hadn't really asked these questions before. Logically speaking, the cafeteria on the first floor is quite large, and three chefs shouldn't be able to handle it all, so...
"Hey, Mr. Zhang, I forgot to tell you before, the head chef of the teachers' cafeteria on the second floor has left, so you'll have to find someone yourself." Teacher Chen slapped his forehead and suddenly remembered this.
"Yes, the three of us work on the first floor. There weren't that many students eating before, but we managed to feed them if we rushed."
Zhang Xuemei didn't say anything else, but let them cook a few dishes to try, while she wandered around the cafeteria on the first floor to take a look at the environment.
As soon as you enter through the main gate, you see long tables set up inside, each with four chairs, but all of them are fixed in place. Further in are the food serving windows; she counted ten in total, with several tables inside, presumably for displaying the cooked dishes.
Entering through the side door, you go directly to the kitchen, where Li Baocheng and the others are cooking. Seeing Zhang Xuemei come in, they quickly ask, "Ms. Zhang, is there anything I can help you with?"
"No, I'm just looking around, you guys go ahead with your work." As she spoke, she looked to the side and saw a small refrigerator in the corner. It looked very old and worn, and she didn't know if it was still usable.
Li Baocheng had just finished cooking a dish when he saw Zhang Xuemei staring at the refrigerator in the corner. He laughed and said, "Ms. Zhang, don't look at it. It's just for decoration. We usually use it to store things."
Zhang Xuemei was surprised, "Then where do you put the meat you buy in the summer?" When it's especially hot, meat that's just been bought will taste bad if left at room temperature for less than two hours, let alone around dinner time.
Li Baocheng chuckled awkwardly, scratched his head, and smiled sheepishly.
Zhang Xuemei, how could she not understand? If it's spoiled, just keep using it. Add some strong seasoning to cover it up, and who would be able to tell the difference!
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