It had been two months since Feng Haidong arrived in the provincial capital, and the shop was almost finished being renovated. He finally met his cousin's son and daughter.
Although they had to call Feng Haidong their uncle, Feng Haidong was actually not much older than them.
The eldest cousin's daughter, Ma Ling, is only eight years younger than Feng Haidong.
Feng Haidong's son, Ma Ming, is ten years younger than him.
When they were little, Feng Haidong even played with his siblings.
However, after more than a decade, the siblings were completely unfamiliar with Feng Haidong when they met again.
Feng Haidong sat in the shop, which was basically renovated, and looked at the brother and sister in their early twenties with a smile.
Neither of them spoke, and they sized each other up for a while.
Feng Haidong spoke first, saying, "Ma Ling, Ma Ming, you don't need to be so reserved. Your elder sister and brother-in-law have told me about your situations, and I think you should know about mine as well, right?"
Ma Ling and her brother Ma Ming looked at each other, then nodded to their uncle Feng Haidong.
Feng Haidong continued, "I don't have too many rules here. If you come to work for me, I will definitely sign a contract with you and pay you a monthly salary. If you want to learn a skill from me, you can also work in the kitchen. Of course, working in the kitchen will be harder. You will have to deal with heavy oil fumes and handle ingredients."
Ma Ling and Ma Ming nodded again, and then the siblings looked at each other once more.
After a moment of hesitation, it was Ma Ling, the older sister, who spoke up.
"Uncle, we'd like to ask, if we work for you, how much money will you pay us each month?"
Feng Haidong said with a smile, "If I were to hire someone else, I would pay them 500 yuan per month for now, but if you two siblings want to come, I will pay you 700 yuan per month."
Upon hearing about the salary, both siblings' eyes lit up.
The siblings' previous salary was only around three or four hundred yuan per month.
Now Feng Haidong is giving them 700 yuan a month, double what the siblings used to receive, which naturally makes them very happy.
Seeing the siblings beaming with joy, Feng Haidong smiled and said, "The waiters at my family restaurant all started with a monthly salary of 500 yuan. Although we are relatives, I keep my business and personal life separate."
If you really work very hard, I will give you extra bonuses privately, but I can't make your salaries stand out too much.
Hearing Feng Haidong say that there would be bonuses and subsidies if they did a good job made the siblings even more excited.
Ma Ming finally spoke up, saying, "Uncle, don't worry. My parents, my sister, and I all said that if we come to work for you, we must work hard and listen to you."
I don't know if it's because the salary Feng Haidong gave them was indeed very satisfactory.
Ma Ming addressed him as "Little Uncle" very naturally.
Feng Haidong didn't seem to care too much about these things. He smiled and said to the siblings, "Okay, if you think it's okay, come back later. One more thing, once you're here, you'll be treated the same as the other waiters. You're not allowed to do anything special in my shop."
Ma Ling quickly said, "Don't worry, Uncle, we won't."
Feng Haidong smiled and said, "What I mean is, we're all family, so you should take the lead in the store and also help keep an eye on the others."
After saying this, Feng Haidong added, "This is something we family members are saying in private, so please don't tell anyone else."
After hearing Feng Haidong's two sentences, the siblings both laughed. At that moment, they realized that Feng Haidong was their maternal uncle and that they were indeed family.
After talking with the siblings, we basically finalized the matter of them coming to work.
Then Feng Haidong told the siblings to go back first. He said that after a few days, once he had recruited all the staff, he would explain the general work process and store rules to everyone.
After Ma Ling and Ma Ming left, Feng Haidong met with several more groups of job applicants at the shop.
Among them were former accountants from my previous company who came to apply for accounting and cashier positions.
Some of the former factory cooks came to Feng Haidong's place wanting to apply for kitchen jobs.
Of course, most of them came to apply for the job of waiter/waitress.
Locals typically want to work as cashiers or in the kitchen.
Most of those willing to work as waiters or waitresses are from out of town and come to the provincial capital.
Feng Haidong treats everyone equally and does not discriminate based on whether someone is from out of town.
After some conversation and selection, Feng Haidong ultimately kept three waiters, hired two more for the kitchen, and kept one cashier, an older woman introduced by his second cousin.
The recruitment was almost complete when the phone Feng Haidong had just installed in the store rang.
He picked up the phone and heard his third cousin's husband's voice on the other end.
"Haidong, are you done with your work? Wanling has been sent to your third sister's hospital. If you're done, go to the hospital to see her."
Upon hearing his third cousin-in-law's words, Feng Haidong quickly agreed, saying, "Okay, okay, I'll be right there."
On the other end of the phone, Yue Kang, my third cousin's husband, said, "Don't worry, be careful on the road. Lu Yue, don't worry, I'm with you."
Feng Haidong replied, "Okay, brother-in-law, thank you so much."
Yue Kang said, "What's the trouble? You should go to the hospital first."
Feng Haidong hung up the phone, not even bothering to tidy up the shop, and quickly went out to lock the door.
Then, naturally, instead of taking the bus, I hailed a taxi and headed straight to my third cousin's hospital.
When Feng Haidong arrived at the hospital, he rushed to the entrance of the obstetrics and gynecology department and saw his third cousin already waiting for him.
Seeing Feng Haidong running over, Liu Fenlin stopped him and said, "Haidong, don't worry, it's probably not time yet, but Wanling might have to stay in the hospital soon."
Feng Haidong said, "No problem, Third Sister. I haven't touched the money I gave Wanling for hospitalization and childbirth. I'll withdraw it and send it over later. There's no problem with Wanling being hospitalized."
Liu Fenlin said, "Don't worry, just stay in the hospital first. If you can't come up with the money right now, your brother-in-law and I can try to cover it for you."
Feng Haidong said, "Third sister, you really don't need to. I've always kept the money for Wanling's childbirth and haven't touched it."
Liu Fenlin was somewhat surprised: "You actually set aside the money a long time ago?"
Feng Haidong said, "Yes, it hasn't been touched. I know Wanling's situation; it's impossible for her to use her company's medical insurance. So, when I first started my business, I specifically set aside some money for her, and it's been sitting there ever since."
Liu Fenlin looked at her cousin intently; she was truly astonished by his actions.
But then I thought about it again. My cousin had always been hands-on in opening his shop in the provincial capital, and I also learned from my older sister that he handled every detail very well.
Therefore, Liu Fenlin felt that her cousin's preparation of money specifically for his wife's childbirth was in line with his thoughtfulness as a good husband.
Feng Haidong and his third cousin stood there for a while before his wife was finally pushed out.
Then, just like my third cousin said, the doctor required Lu Wanling to be hospitalized.
Feng Haidong asked his third cousin to take care of his wife while he quickly left the hospital to get the money.
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