Xu An took Xu Kang and Xu Le to a secondhand market and selected three gas stoves, two ovens, a microwave oven, and dozens of other secondhand appliances such as an electric egg beater and a juicer, spending a total of more than 600 yuan.
Carrying the spoils of this trip, I returned to the entrance of Xu's Fast Food Restaurant and found a somewhat familiar person sitting inside. Upon seeing me, the person immediately stood up, looking uneasy and very nervous.
Xu An helped Xu Kang and Xu Le out of the car before asking, "Hello, who are you?"
Old Zhou nervously rubbed his hands together and began to introduce himself.
"My name is Zhou Qi, and I'm here to apply for a chef position. I'm 26 years old this year, and I started learning to cook at 16. I have ten years of experience working in the kitchen, and I can cook all kinds of home-style dishes."
When talking about his ten years of experience working in the kitchen, Zhou Qi seemed a little guilty.
He did start working in the kitchen when he was sixteen, but he didn't do any cooking-related work; he was a handyman.
Later, an experienced chef saw that he was young and hardworking, and taught him some cooking skills.
It was with these cooking skills that he found a job as a kitchen helper, and that's how he gradually embarked on his path to becoming a chef.
To be honest, Jiajia Fast Food Restaurant was his first time working as a chef, and fortunately, he did well over the past three years, which gave him some confidence.
When Xu An heard Zhou Qi's name, he couldn't help but glance at him a few more times.
He wasn't tall but was very strong, especially his arms, which were clearly the result of years of working in a kitchen. He had a square face and looked very honest and simple.
The more Xu An looked at him, the more familiar he seemed. He began to wonder where he had seen this person before.
Eventually, Zhou Qi's appearance gradually matched that of someone in Xu An's memory. However, that was Zhou Qi after he had gained weight and become overweight. No wonder he looked somewhat familiar but couldn't help coming!
He is the owner of the Bauhinia Restaurant. In his previous life, he had held several classmate reunions at this restaurant. The dishes are delicious, the portions are generous, and the prices are reasonable, making it the first choice for many people to have dates and meals together.
But why is he here now, and even interviewing chefs for his own fast food restaurant?
Suddenly, Xu An felt somewhat flattered.
It's really a bit unbelievable that a future restaurant tycoon would become a chef in his own small shop.
Cough cough.
Xu An coughed twice, suppressing his shock and excitement, and asked with a calm expression, "Could you tell me which shops you worked in before, and what your main responsibilities were?"
When Zhou Qi heard Xu An ask this question, he became even more nervous, and his toes involuntarily curled up, gripping tightly onto his shoes.
"I've worked in three or four restaurants back home, starting as a kitchen helper. My most recent job was as a chef at... Jiajia... fast food restaurant." Hesitantly and haltingly, it took him more than a minute to finish this simple sentence.
Upon hearing the name Jiajia Fast Food Restaurant, Xu An immediately understood what was going on.
In his previous life, Zhou Qi must have worked at Jiajia Fast Food Restaurant until it was demolished and the restaurant was relocated. He then resigned and opened Zijing Restaurant, which he ran very successfully.
However, for some reason, Jiajia Fast Food Restaurant was involved in a food poisoning case, and all of its employees were sent to jail.
Zhou Qi may have sensed that he had escaped this calamity, but he doesn't have enough savings right now, or perhaps he hasn't yet come up with the idea of opening his own shop. After leaving Jiajia Fast Food Restaurant, he thought about finding a job as a chef.
They happened to see that I was hiring a chef, so they came to me.
It all really was a coincidence—his mother opened the door for him, and he arrived home by chance.
Just when I was thinking of hiring a chef, a master chef was delivered to my door.
Even if Zhou Qi's culinary skills are not as refined as they will be two years from now, they are still better than many chefs.
Xu An was very satisfied with him: "Let me tell you about the benefits here and see if you can accept them. The salary is three thousand a month, with four days off per month. We haven't received the business license yet; we have to wait ten days until we get it before we can officially start working."
Ten days later? Zhou Qi hesitated. That was too long, and he felt uneasy about not having a job or income during that time.
He suddenly remembered that they set up a stall to sell boxed lunches every day, right? He had seen it with his own eyes; they were still selling boxed lunches at noon today!
"I saw you selling boxed lunches at your stall around noon today," Zhou Qi said somewhat embarrassedly.
Xu An was stunned for a moment before he realized what Zhou Qi meant.
“We are currently making boxed meals in Xujia Village and then transporting them here for sale. It takes about 40 minutes to ride a bike from here. We start work at five o'clock in the morning, so it's too far and too early for you to come from here.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Qi's face showed a hint of disappointment.
At this moment, Xu Heping poked his head out of the kitchen and winked at Xu An, signaling him to come over.
Xu An was somewhat puzzled, but he still got up and went over to see what Xu Heping was up to.
Seeing Xu An approach, Xu Heping quickly leaned close to his ear and said, "Do you want him? If so, I can make room in my house for him to rest."
Just as Xu An hesitated, Zhou Qi suddenly gritted his teeth, clenched his fist, turned to look at Xu An and Zhou Qi, and asked loudly, "If we go to Xu Family Village, what will the working hours and benefits be?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Heping knew that there was nothing more for him to do, so he went back into the kitchen to continue his work.
"From five in the morning to ten at noon, it's sixty yuan a day," Xu An blurted out. He couldn't possibly ask Zhou Qi to join them in setting up a stall to sell boxed lunches; they already had enough manpower.
Zhou Qi quickly calculated in his mind that, apart from the early start time and slightly longer distance, sixty yuan for five hours was actually not bad.
How about we go and work there for a couple of days and see how it goes?
After some hesitation, Zhou Qi nodded in agreement. However, he was careful when it came to signing the contract, postponing it until Xu's Fast Food officially opened.
Xu An had no objection to this.
After seeing Zhou Qi off, Xu An called Xu Heping to help move the electrical appliances from the tricycle inside, but left a gas stove on the vehicle.
Xu An plans to take this gas stove home. With a table and a gas cylinder, it will become a simple stove, which will be quite good whether he keeps it for himself or gives it to Zhou Qi.
Otherwise, with only one pot at home, how could we possibly need two cooks?
Then, thinking about the salary he paid Zhou Qi, he felt a pang of pain in his heart.
With a daily wage of sixty dollars, you need to cook at least twenty-four more meals to break even.
Tomorrow we already have 87 orders. Since we have an extra chef, let's add another 50 boxed meals.
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