"Ha," Zhou Qi chuckled, but ultimately swallowed the "So what?" that was already on his throat, and took another cigarette and lit it.
“At my age, I’m not many years away from retirement. I hope that the person who will take over my position in the future will be someone like you, who is highly accepting and friendly towards members of the Disabled Persons’ Federation. It will be difficult for them to find similar work elsewhere.”
ah.!
Zhou Qi suddenly looked up at Liu Daxi, but there was too much smoke between them, and he could only vaguely see the corner of Liu Daxi's mouth curling up.
"Master Liu, the way you're saying it, it sounds like I'm trying to force you to step down," Zhou Qi said, patting Liu Daxi's arm lightly. "With your physique, Master Liu, you can easily work for another ten or eight years. Let's forget about stepping down and making way for someone more capable."
After saying that, Zhou Qi finally revealed his true feelings.
"I've always had a dream of opening a restaurant where I can sell all the dishes I've developed and cooked myself. I love seeing the happy expressions on my customers' faces when they eat my carefully prepared food."
"Once I open a restaurant, I'll also hire some members of the Disabled Persons' Federation, but I'll only hire those who are interested in cooking and have a talent for it. I won't just take any mediocre person."
"You brat, with your meager skills, you think you can teach others? Don't lead them to some backwater. Wait a minute, what did you just say? 'rotten vegetables and melons,' does that mean you're saying the boss only hires incompetent chess players? You're finished! Hurry up and bribe me, or I'll report this to the boss!"
"Aha, I didn't say anything, and you have no proof that I said anything wrong. Hahahaha."
There was a hint of guilt in his laughter. Even though Liu Daxi hadn't said anything, Zhou Qi felt inexplicably better.
Just as he was finishing his new cigarette, Liu Daxi suddenly asked, "Master Zhou, I think my skills are pretty good. After get off work, would you like to learn a few tricks from me?"
"Oh, Master Liu, are you planning to teach me your most treasured skills?" Zhou Qi asked, feigning surprise.
"What are you dreaming about in broad daylight?" Liu Daxi raised his hand and smacked Zhou Qi on the head, saying irritably, "I just wanted to correct your little mistakes in cooking. You've been with me for so long, and you haven't learned any good things, but you've picked up a whole bunch of bad habits."
"Master Liu, you didn't teach me back then. Of course I made a lot of mistakes since I learned by stealing your knowledge!"
"That's utter nonsense!"
The two chatted and laughed as they stubbed out their cigarettes and threw them on the ground, then walked one after the other toward Xu's Catering.
Leaving the fog created by the two, the view suddenly became clear and open. A trace of hesitation appeared in Zhou Qi's eyes. After a long time, this hesitation turned into a sigh. Finally, urged by Liu Daxi, Zhou Qi took a few quick steps and walked alongside him back to Xu's Catering.
When Zhou Qi returned, the gloom on his face had vanished, and he rejoined the group of people chatting.
——————
"I just want to ask if there's any room for negotiation on this price. After all, it's hard for us to explain to the students' parents that the price has been increased so arbitrarily while the menu remains unchanged."
"How can you say that? We've added another dish. A side dish is always good with rice, isn't it?"
"In that case, let's do it at the end of this month."
"Oh, are you planning to change the cooperation contract at the end of the month? I'll prepare it in advance, and I'll come to you tomorrow to re-sign the contract, how about that?"
"Ah, no." The principal of Hongxing Middle School hesitated for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said, "Let's end our cooperation at the end of this month. I've found a new supplier."
After leaving Hongxing Middle School, the faces of the other suppliers in Zhuzhou City flashed through his mind one by one. After playing them on repeat several times, he still couldn't pinpoint the suspect. In the end, he could only curse under his breath: "Shameful traitor!"
Ring ring—ring ring—
Almost the instant the curse left his mouth, his phone rang. The man took out his phone and saw that it was a call from a familiar supplier.
"Old Tian, come to the Zhuzhou Hotel. Everyone's here, so hurry up!"
"Okay! I'll be right there!"
After saying that, Lao Tian hung up the phone, hailed a taxi and went straight to the Zhuzhou Hotel. He hurriedly arrived at the private room his companion had reserved, opened the door, and scanned the faces of everyone in the room. Not a single one was missing; everyone was there.
Before Lao Tian could sit down, someone asked, "Lao Tian, didn't you say the principal of Hongxing Middle School wanted to see you? How did the meeting go?"
"So, the talks fell apart, huh!" Old Tian said irritably as he sat down, picked up his teacup, downed the tea in one gulp, and angrily declared, "There's a traitor in this private room!"
"Traitor? What traitor? What's going on?"
Under the barrage of questions from the crowd, Old Tian recounted the entire incident that had just occurred at Hongxing Middle School, and then exclaimed again, "If there wasn't a traitor, how can this situation be explained?"
"My negotiations also broke down, and they gave me the same explanation: the cooperation is being cancelled."
"Me too, they said it's a collaboration with other suppliers."
"Me too."
“.”
After everyone in the private room finished speaking, they looked at each other in bewilderment.
All the suppliers, big and small, in Zhuzhou are here. If everyone else was rejected, then who is the supplier who won the cooperation with these schools?
"Could it be that a new catering company has been established in Zhuzhou? Or has a catering company from another city set up shop in Zhuzhou? Either way, I've never heard of it!"
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