"Master Zhou, you seem to be carsick. You haven't looked too good since you got on the bus," Liu Daxi said, as if by magic, pulling an orange from his pocket and shoving it into Zhou Qi's hand. "Peel this orange and smell the peel. It's a folk remedy, and it works wonders."
"Thank you, Master Liu."
Zhou Qi knew that the suffocation he felt wasn't due to motion sickness, but he didn't intend to reveal his thoughts to others. After thanking them, he simply reached out and took the orange, peeling it open. The sweet and sour fragrance of the orange filled the carriage.
Whether it was because Liu Daxi's action interrupted her thoughts, or because the fragrance of the oranges really worked, the suffocating feeling that was gripping her throat slowly subsided, and her mind returned to clarity.
Seeing that Zhou Qi's expression had returned to normal, Liu Daxi looked away, gazing at the flowers, plants, and trees rushing past the window. As a gentle breeze caressed his face, a barely audible sigh rose and then disappeared.
Some people, in the end, cannot be kept.
Unloading, moving, installing, and debugging equipment; familiarizing oneself with the factory layout; learning to operate new machinery.
Seeing the jubilant crowd, Zhou Qi slowed his pace and quickly moved from the front of the line to the back, becoming the last person trailing far behind.
"Master Zhou, why do you look so listless?"
"Ah!" Zhou Qi was startled by the sudden voice and subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound, only to see Xu An standing behind him.
"What's wrong? Something on your mind?" Xu An stepped forward and put his arm around Zhou Qi's shoulder, saying casually, "Want to talk to me about your troubles? Maybe I can help you solve them?"
Although Zhou Qi had considered resigning, he hadn't made up his mind yet. Hearing Xu An's words, he initially wanted to brush it off, but the excuse he was about to make inexplicably changed, and he revealed his true thoughts:
"Some time ago, Master Liu probably sensed that I was thinking of leaving, so he passed on his skills to me as a way to persuade me to stay."
Master Liu's skills are excellent, truly excellent. But having mastered such a skill, all I get to face every day is those cold, lifeless machines, with absolutely no opportunity to use it. This is increasingly unacceptable to me.
"Boss, I plan to leave Xu's Catering at the end of this month. After that, I plan to open a small restaurant in another city."
As Zhou Qi contemplated the future, his eyes, though slightly unfocused, sparkled, radiating a hopeful glow.
Looking at Zhou Qi's expression, Xu An couldn't help but feel a little emotional. After all these years, he never expected that Zhou Qi would still want to open a restaurant and use his skills to serve customers.
Perhaps, this is fate!
In fact, Xu An had anticipated this. Although he was not often in the store, all the employees were his eyes and ears. Everyone had already seen Zhou Qi’s often absent-minded and sullen appearance while working. Before Liu Daxi talked to Zhou Qi, no less than three people had already told Xu An about this.
“Your skills are indeed being wasted at Xu’s Fast Food.” Xu An nodded in agreement with Zhou Qi’s words, smiled and patted him on the shoulder, and said, “However, before you make a formal decision, come with me to a place to take a look. If you still decide to leave after seeing it, I won’t force you to stay.”
Zhou Qi was completely confused by Xu An's seemingly random words. Although he didn't know where Xu An wanted to take him, he knew that Xu An wasn't the type to make things difficult for people after working with him for so long. So he nodded in agreement and followed Xu An into the factory.
After walking through the open factory area filled with huge equipment, turning east and west and passing through dozens of rooms, it took Xu An more than five minutes to finally stop in front of a room. He looked up and gestured with his chin to Zhou Qi to look at the door of the room.
Following Xu An's gesture, Zhou Qi looked at the rose gold stainless steel-rimmed nameplate on the door, which bore the name of the room: "Seaside Hot Spring Hotel Cuisine Research and Development Center".
"Boss, this is..." After swallowing hard, Zhou Qi turned to look at Xu An, a look of longing suddenly rising in his eyes.
"You've probably all heard about it, right? I've contracted the hot spring that appeared in the mudflats of Xujia Village. Construction has already started, and the first phase is expected to be completed before the end of the year."
In addition to the planned seaside hot spring and swimming pool, the first phase of construction also includes a 360-square-meter sea-view restaurant. Chef Zhou, would you be interested in the head chef position at this sea-view restaurant?
"Hmm," Zhou Qi lowered his head and thought for a while before asking in a hoarse voice, full of confusion, "Chef Liu has worked in a star-rated hotel. He is more skilled and experienced than me. Why did you choose me to be the head chef?"
"Why?" Xu An didn't keep them in suspense and said directly, "It's because Chef Liu recommended you, but it's not just because of Chef Liu's recommendation. More importantly, your cooking skills are enough to make you the head chef of a restaurant. That's the real reason."
"Go on," Xu An asked again, "If you're interested in this position, you can come here next week to start developing dishes, mainly featuring local specialties from Haishi. I'd prefer to use seafood farmed in the mudflats of Xujia Village as the main ingredient."
"A hot spring hotel by the sea?" Zhou Qi murmured the room name under his breath, staring at the doorplate. The moment he finished speaking, all hesitation vanished from his face, replaced by determination and resolve. Without even asking about the salary and benefits after the job adjustment, he nodded emphatically to Xu An and said, "I'm very interested in this position!"
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