Chapter 117: Completely Fired
The snack shop hasn't even opened yet, but its newly launched barbecue has become a hit.
The restaurant was packed with customers for several days in a row, so busy that all 30 newly recruited waiters started work early, but they still couldn't handle the workload.
For a time, it even boosted the small businesses around Yunhe Lane.
Before, Xiao Ai joked that they could get some melon seeds and peanuts to sell at the night market. As a result, within a few days, there was actually someone carrying a basket with homemade salted peanuts and broad beans in it and selling them to the people in the queue.
In addition, there are also people taking advantage of the popularity to sell various fresh fruits, homemade snacks, and even insoles.
In short, a simple barbecue stall has boosted the surrounding night market economy.
At the beginning, Xiao Ai didn't care, mainly because they were too busy and couldn't spare any time.
It was not until she saw District Director Ou and the heads of various offices he brought with him in the queue at the barbecue stall in the evening that Shi Xiaoai realized how popular their business was and how shocked they had brought to everyone.
"Director Ou, why are you here in person?" After recognizing the person, Shi Xiaoai hurried over to greet him.
District Chief Ou laughed and said, "I want to try your famous barbecue. If I don't come in person, can someone else taste it for me?"
This sentence made everyone laugh.
District Mayor Ou and his entourage consisted of seven people. Apart from him and a staff member of the district committee, the other five were all directors of street offices in nearby districts.
Xiao Ai didn’t know the other people, but she was very familiar with Director Xu from the Qingyun Street Office.
The main reason was that one of the doors of her courtyard No. 1 opened onto Qingyun Street. Because of this, Director Xu came to her several times and insisted that the snack shop must use the name of the Qingyun Street Office when recruiting for the second time.
After all, half of the snack bar is within their jurisdiction.
For this reason, Director Yu and Director Xu often had competitions with each other.
Shi Xiaoai couldn't help but be familiar with it.
Seeing Director Xu at this time, she hurried over to say hello. Director Xu smiled and introduced her to several other directors one by one.
The first thing she said was, "This is Shi Xiaoai, the manager of our street food shop. Let me tell you, don't underestimate this girl because she's very courageous!"
There was a lot of boasting in the tone.
When Xiao Ai heard this, half of her head hurt. She looked around from time to time, fearing that Director Yu would follow and the two old ladies would start arguing again on the street.
District Chief Ou seemed to be very familiar with the situation between them. When he saw Xiao Ai's expression, he even gave her a look of understanding.
Then he said: "I came here today not only to satisfy my appetite, but also to let colleagues from other offices see your business methods and learn from you.
I didn't inform Director Yu in advance, but she probably knows by now."
But you already know that.
Director Yu’s home was not far from Yunhe Lane, and Aunt Liu and staff from two other offices also lived in the lane.
The district chief brought leaders from other offices to conduct a secret investigation, and soon someone ran to her house to report the news.
Before Shi Xiaoai led the leaders to Courtyard No. 1, the old lady hurried over.
At this time, the decoration of Courtyard No. 1 has been almost completed, and the final cleaning work is being done.
The countdown to the opening has begun.
Shi Xiaoai led the leaders into their main dining room.
The restaurant's door is on the main road facing the hospital, where the tent was previously located.
When you enter through this gate, there is a row of open kitchens on the left, and the reception area on the right.
The open counter is divided into two parts. The outermost part is a row of wooden counters. Behind the counters are several long tables placed horizontally, dividing it into several areas.
There is a small wooden sign above each table. Although there is no writing on it yet, it can be seen that the products are classified.
Behind the counter, against the wall at the far end, there was a row of large stoves, and outside the stoves were two large worktops. The worktops were not made of ordinary wood, but of a rare stainless steel plate.
It looks shiny and conspicuous under the light.
This kind of decoration layout is rare in this era, almost non-existent, so people who come to visit all exclaim in amazement.
"It looks very impressive! And these two operating tables are very unique!" District Director Ou couldn't help but admire.
"Making the operation room transparent makes it easier for customers to choose. They can order whatever they want directly, and if they can see the operation process clearly, they can supervise the hygiene. It also serves as a supervision and constraint for our chefs, which is beneficial to both parties.
"We chose stainless steel for the worktop because it's durable and easy to clean," Shi Xiaoai explained.
"But won't there be too much smoke? Won't the whole house be filled with smell when we cook?" asked a director who was accompanying the tour.
"We mainly make snacks and don't have many dishes that need to be fried, so the problem of oil smoke is relatively easy to solve."
Shi Xiaoai pointed to the two industrial floor fans placed in a corner next to the stove: "And we also prepared this."
Looking at the two fans, some raised their eyebrows in surprise, some made shocked clicks, but no one raised any more questions.
Nowadays, fans are still a luxury for households, and buying a small desktop one requires a lot of industrial product coupons.
For many families, being able to buy an electric fan is a valuable item, something that can be shown off in a residential compound or even a neighborhood.
Ordinary people have never seen such large floor-standing industrial fans except in large state-owned restaurants or factories.
Seeing that a small snack shop like Xiao Ai could get two machines at once and be so generous as to use them all in the kitchen was a guarantee of strength in itself. Everyone was speechless.
District Director Ou looked at the two electric fans and nodded slightly, with a look of satisfaction in his eyes.
Before Shi Xiaoai and his colleagues expanded their tea stall into a snack shop, the Yunhe Office submitted a very detailed plan to the district.
The plan stated their business scope, the number of workers they needed to recruit, and the approximate turnover.
In addition, we also applied for a business license and health permit in advance, and even took the initiative to organize all employees to undergo physical examinations and obtain health certificates.
Before they took the initiative to handle it, even the district’s own staff did not understand the specific procedures.
It was District Chief Ou who made a special trip to Beijing to inquire with an acquaintance and learned that a similar situation was occurring there. The acquaintance even praised District Chief Ou, saying that they were at the forefront of solving the employment problem for educated youth among other cities and towns nationwide.
It was because of this incident that District Chief Ou began to take a new look at Shi Xiaoai and their snack shop and started to pay more attention to it.
Therefore, when they asked the district office to help them obtain the industrial vouchers needed to purchase electric fans, the district readily provided assistance.
After visiting Courtyard No. 1, District Director Ou and his team gained a new understanding of Shi Xiaoai and her team. The directors of the offices, in particular, were all very excited to see the new employees busying around.
They seemed to see that the educated youth in their jurisdiction were also full of enthusiasm and vitality.
After eating the various skewers of meat and grilled fish specially prepared for them, everyone praised the meal highly. Even though each person spent almost half a month's pocket money on the meal, no one felt any regret.
Of course, what they are more looking forward to is the meeting after the barbecue.
District Director Ou personally presided over this meeting. Since it was already evening and well past closing time, he didn't say a single word of official jargon and directly asked the most concerning question for all the directors present:
Can this business model be applied to snack shops?
Xiao Ai was actually prepared for this.
She knew this day would come sooner or later, seeing that Director Yu and Director Xu, the two old directors, had been arguing every day over the ownership of her snack shop.
Life is really hard for the educated youth now.
Except for a very small number of lucky people who can get a job in the form of a successor, the rest of the people live in a life of alternating hope, disappointment and even despair every day.
Shi Xiaoai is very willing to provide them with more job opportunities.
Shi Xiaoai introduced to everyone the various experiences of their tea stall from scratch, and then talked in great detail about the various difficulties they encountered and how to solve them.
She did not hide anything and even provided everyone with some business ideas that she thought were useful.
For example, in addition to catering, there are other small businesses that can be run.
After all, not every office has a particularly good business location within its jurisdiction.
The symposium lasted for a long time. After the meeting, everyone found that the barbecue stalls outside had closed down and the whole city fell into peace.
But even though it was very late, everyone was still very excited, and even felt full of energy.
Everyone thanked Shi Xiaoai, and even thanked Director Yu who arrived last, before saying goodbye.
"Sister, did you talk too much today?"
After seeing those people all walk away, Wang Xiaofeng, who had been following them, asked worriedly.
"You've said so much, aren't you afraid that it will affect our business?"
Wang Xiaofeng couldn't help but feel distressed when she thought of what Xiao Ai said, that they could use schools, stations and other places near the street to set up temporary stalls.
Those were all methods they came up with, and the income they brought in was no less than that of the tea stall!
If I introduce this method to others and they all come rushing over, it would be obvious that they are stealing my business!
Wang Xiaofeng has not forgotten the previous incident when Daxixi's family competed with the tea stall.
"Competition is the only way to motivate yourself. Besides, the market is so big, how much can a snack bar like ours capture? Don't worry." Shi Xiaoai advised.
Seeing her say this, Wang Xiaofeng pursed her lips and didn't mention it again, but it was obvious that she was still very worried.
Shi Xiaoai knew that it was useless for her to say anything at this moment, so she simply changed the subject.
"Director Xu just told me that he saw Shi Xiaomei selling pancakes near the train station and asked if I knew anything about it. I haven't been there recently, and I haven't heard Cheng Lin or the others mention it. Did you know?"
"I know." Wang Xiaofeng nodded.
She was afraid that Shi Xiaoai would overthink it, so she explained, "I heard it from our new employees. They didn't tell me specifically, but they were chatting during lunch, and I happened to hear a few words.
I was thinking of telling you about it, but I got busy and forgot about it."
Wang Xiaofeng said this and smiled embarrassedly.
"It's okay, I just asked casually." Shi Xiaoai comforted.
But after saying that, she couldn't help but ask again: "What's the situation? How much do you know?"
Wang Xiaofeng held her arm and said with a smile, "You're asking this casually? I can see you're really concerned."
After saying that, she didn't play tricks any more and directly told everyone she knew.
"I heard from them that Xiaomei was fired from the chemical plant. She was a temporary worker before, and then she was taken away directly from the factory by the police station. Although they said they understood the situation and released her quickly, she was taken away in front of so many people, which had a very bad impact.
Shi Xiaomei was previously dating their new deputy director. I heard that he was quite nice to her and at least had a lot of help with this matter. If he hadn't been there to vouch for her, she might not have gotten out of the police station so easily."
At this point, Wang Xiaofeng sighed: "But the problem is that the deputy director is too nice to her."
Shi Xiaoai was a little surprised: "What do you mean?"
"She came out of the police station unharmed, but her brother is still inside. How could her sister-in-law be happy about that?
I didn't hear them talk about the specifics of the situation, and I don't think they know either. But I heard that Shi Xiaomei was fired because her sister-in-law was causing trouble at the factory.
Her sister-in-law was a very aggressive person, and if she really started a fight, Shi Xiaomei would definitely not be able to win. It seemed that her sister-in-law not only scolded Shi Xiaomei, but also involved the deputy director.
They said that all their business was done by Shi Xiaomei, and that the grain was obtained through the relationship of the deputy factory director. They also said that Shi Xiaomei and the deputy factory director had an unclean relationship.
Wang Xiaofeng was a girl after all, so she couldn't continue. She shyly fanned her face with her hands and said, "Oh, it's just those things anyway."
"Then Shi Xiaomei had to resign from the chemical plant." Shi Xiaoai added for her.
"Not really." Wang Xiaofeng said, "Shi Xiaomei really hasn't resigned. How could she resign? She still hasn't paid back the money she owed the factory. What would happen to the money if she resigned?"
Shi Xiaoai suddenly remembered at this moment that Cheng Lin had rejected her suggestion of paying in installments and then transferred the pressure to the chemical plant.
It has been less than four months since then. Shi Xiaomei hasn't paid off her debt yet. She probably still has a long way to go!
She couldn't help but give her man a thumbs up in her heart, thinking that he did a great job in this matter!
Wang Xiaofeng continued, "She didn't resign voluntarily, and her sister-in-law Sun Yueying kept making a fuss. Shi Xiaomei could tolerate it, but the deputy director couldn't!
It was said that the deputy director paid the money on her behalf. But he also put in a condition: he would pay her back, but after that, the chemical factory would fire her. Since he was fired, the responsibility naturally fell on her. The deputy director was essentially exonerating himself by spending money to avoid disaster.
"She and Sun Yueying had a complete falling out, and she was even kicked out of their house. She had no job, so she had to go to the train station to sell pancakes."
At this point, Wang Xiaofeng paused and said, "But I heard that her cakes are selling very well. Some people say that now she not only sells them herself but also employs several people to work with her."
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