Chapter 128: Seriously Understaffed
After receiving the call from the expo staff, Xu An was ecstatic. His mind raced with calculations of the profit from over two thousand boxed lunches and how to maximize the benefits of this partnership...
But reality soon delivered a harsh slap, forcing him to cool his head.
Today, Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant produced around 2,500 meals. After the ingredients were unloaded at six, a team of over ten people immediately got to work. By seven, Xu An and Zhou Qi were at the stoves, each manning two woks at once.
A single wok could handle a dish for about twenty-five people at once. The powerful commercial stoves drastically cut down on cooking time; a dish that might take fifteen to twenty minutes in a home kitchen could be finished in around ten minutes.
Even at this high efficiency, Xu An and Zhou Qi still had to cook nonstop from seven until ten-thirty in the morning just to prepare the day’s dishes.
Unless Xu An could immediately find two or three chefs with excellent stamina and years of experience, fulfilling the expo’s order would be nearly impossible, even if he accepted it.
But chefs with great stamina and years of experience weren’t easy to find. The recruitment requests he had placed with two agencies had so far yielded nothing.
He later contacted five more agencies simultaneously, but still heard nothing back.
Finding two or three chefs who met his requirements on such short notice would be next to impossible.
’Do I really have to give up this opportunity with the expo?’
Xu An asked himself this question, and the answer was firm: he couldn’t let it go.
According to information he found online, one-fifth of the companies exhibiting at the expo were local to Hai City.
In other words, the expo was a chance to spread the name of Xu’s Fast Food more quickly and broadly among companies and factories that needed to order boxed lunches.
’This is targeted advertising!’
But to fulfill the order, the first priority was ensuring Xu’s Fast Food had the production capacity to meet the demand.
Just as Xu An was pondering the unrealistic problem of how to meet the production demand while bypassing the need for more staff, a very ordinary-looking man walked into Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant. He was about fifty, with a medium build and a buzz cut.
Instead of getting in line to pay and get his food, the man began to inspect Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant with a serious expression.
After thoroughly looking over all the areas of Storefront 1 and Storefront 3 that were open to customers, the man grew puzzled.
There was only one chef working in the kitchen of Storefront 1, and no chefs at all in Storefront 3. He didn’t see a single helper washing or chopping vegetables either.
And yet, Xu’s Fast Food was packed with customers, and the steam tables were piled high with food. ’Where did all these dishes come from?’
Unable to figure it out, the middle-aged man with the buzz cut decided to get a meal and think it over while he ate.
Xu An didn’t pay much attention when the man first walked in.
But the man wandered around the shop a few times, looking this way and that. His behavior made it obvious to Xu An that he was here to scout the place, which forced Xu An to wonder what his intentions were.
’It couldn’t be someone from the expo here for an inspection, could it? I just got off the phone with them. It’s not likely they’d send someone over this fast.’
But after wandering around a bit more, the man simply paid for his food and sat down to eat. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Xu An looked away and went back to his grand daydreams.
The man with the buzz cut chose the spicy diced chicken as his main dish. Plump, tender, golden-brown pieces of chicken were hidden amongst bright red chili peppers, their surfaces coated in a dense layer of white sesame seeds that added a unique flavor.
The second dish was the classic stir-fried tomatoes and eggs. The fluffy, bright yellow eggs had fully absorbed the tomato juices, neutralizing their natural acidity. A garnish of green onion brought out the tomato’s latent fragrance, and the combination of red, yellow, and green was effortlessly appetizing.
The man scooped up a spoonful of the tomato and egg sauce and poured it over his white rice. The red liquid quickly trickled down through the grains, staining them a faint red. He could already imagine the sweet and sour flavor.
But it wasn’t time to eat just yet. The man’s gaze shifted to the last dish on his tray: Minced Pork with Pickled Long Beans.
The dish used pickled long beans, not fresh ones, which gave it a unique, sour flavor.
The minced pork, marinated beforehand, had been stir-fried to an enticing dark brown. The sour fragrance of the pickled beans, released by the high heat, tickled the taste buds and stoked one’s desire to eat.
For an eight-yuan meal, the selection, portion size, appearance, and flavor were all well above a passing grade.
He picked up his spoon and took a bite of the sauce-soaked rice. ’The rice alone would only be a 40 out of 100,’ he thought, ’but the sauce elevates it to a 70. Quite remarkable.’
The spicy diced chicken, stir-fried tomatoes and eggs, minced pork with pickled long beans, and white rice vanished into his cavernous mouth at a speed visible to the naked eye.
𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
After downing the winter melon and tofu soup in one go, the man finally let out a long burp. He slumped back in his chair, a look of deep satisfaction on his face.
After resting for a moment, the man stood up, walked straight over to Xu An, and stopped. He looked at Xu An with a determined expression. "Boss Xu, I’m Liu Daxi. Four Seas Human Resources Company sent me to apply for the chef position."
Xu An instinctively glanced at his phone. The chat history with Four Seas Human Resources Company showed the last message was from five days ago.
"They called me, but I didn’t agree right away," Liu Daxi explained. "I wanted to see what your restaurant was really like before making a decision. Now that I’ve had a look, I’m quite satisfied."
’So cocky, so arrogant, so overbearing,’ Xu An thought. ’I wonder if he has the skills to back it up.’
Xu An rose from his seat, met Liu Daxi’s gaze, and smiled warmly. "Master Liu, this way, please."
With that, Xu An strode ahead, leading the man to Storefront 2 of Xu’s Fast Food.
Ever since Nanny He’s friend had come to help, Zhou Qi was completely freed from serving duty. After eleven, his time was mostly his own. He was currently sitting idly on a stool by the dishwashing sink, laughing and joking with Nanny He and a few others.
In the middle of a laugh, Zhou Qi happened to glance over and saw Xu An walking toward them with Liu Daxi in tow. His expression instantly froze, like a misbehaving child caught by a parent. He quickly straightened up, feigning an obedient posture.
Only after he was standing stiffly did he remember. ’I’m a proper chef now, not just some kitchen hand to be ordered around at will.’
Despite his inner thoughts, he still spoke respectfully. "Master Liu, what brings you here?"
Liu Daxi paused for a moment at being addressed so familiarly. He searched his memory but couldn’t place Zhou Qi at all. A puzzled look crossed his face. "And you are?"
"I worked at the Imperial Banquet Hotel back in ’04. You were the head chef there," Zhou Qi said, scratching his head in embarrassment. "I was just a kitchen hand, but you gave me some pointers a few times."
"Oh, right!" Liu Daxi exclaimed, his face a picture of sudden realization, though in truth he still didn’t remember Zhou Qi at all. "So, you’re working at Xu’s Fast Food now?"
"That’s right. I’m a chef at Xu’s Fast Food now." Zhou Qi’s tone was humble, but his expression was full of pride.
Going from a lowly kitchen hand to a chef at a fast-food restaurant might not seem like much to an old master like Liu Daxi, but for Zhou Qi, it was a huge accomplishment.
"Oh! You cooked the three dishes and the soup they’re serving today?" There was a hint of surprise in Liu Daxi’s voice.
"Yes," Zhou Qi nodded, then quickly added, "The boss and I cooked them together."
’The boss?’
Liu Daxi discreetly glanced at the young man beside him. ’I didn’t expect the owner of a fast-food joint to know how to cook,’ he thought. ’And he’s pretty good, too.’
"Master Liu, since you’re here to apply for the chef position, how about a small test to show me what you can do?" Xu An cut in, interrupting their endless pleasantries. ’They’ll have plenty of time to chat if they become colleagues.’
"Of course." Liu Daxi agreed without a second’s hesitation, brimming with self-confidence. "Boss Xu, you name the dishes."
Xu An glanced at the available ingredients and rattled off three dishes: "Oyster sauce lettuce, hot and sour shredded potatoes, and scrambled eggs with bitter melon."
"Done!"
Liu Daxi nodded, then walked straight to the vegetable baskets and began sorting through them, occasionally lifting one to his nose for a sniff.
He wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t looked, but once he did, he was shocked. ’The quality of the vegetables at this place is incredibly high!’
’It might not be quite on par with the grand hotels I’ve worked at, but it’s leagues ahead of ninety-nine percent of the other restaurants and fast-food joints out there.’
’No wonder the food tastes so good. The quality of the vegetables alone has to add ten points to the final score.’
After picking out his vegetables, Liu Daxi went into the kitchen. He took a moment to familiarize himself with the equipment, then began to work his magic.
While Liu Daxi was busy in the kitchen, Xu An quietly sidled up to Zhou Qi and asked in a low voice, "So what’s this guy’s story?"
From their earlier conversation, it was clear that Zhou Qi knew Liu Daxi quite well.