Chapter 79: "Boss Shen, you’re truly a good person.
Bitten by a mutant beast?
Shen Lu told Wang Daguo to pull his sleeve up. She wanted to see the wound.
Wang Daguo did as he was told.
After a night, the wound looked even worse than it had the day before.
Shen Lu could tell at a glance that Wang Daguo’s wound hadn’t been treated at all. It hadn’t even been washed.
Wang Daguo said, "This little injury is nothing. It’ll get better in a few days."
Shen Lu shot him an exasperated glare, handed her tools to Cai Su to hold, then turned and went inside. She returned with medicinal powder, gauze, and clean water to bandage Wang Daguo’s arm.
"If you want to work for me, you can’t be so careless. How are you supposed to do your job if you don’t take care of your body?"
Because she frequently changed Fu Cheng’s bandages, Shen Lu was very skilled at cleaning and dressing wounds. She had Wang Daguo patched up in less than ten minutes.
The powder had pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory properties, and once it was applied, Wang Daguo’s arm felt much better.
His eyes, when he looked at Shen Lu, were filled with gratitude. "Boss Shen, you’re a truly good person."
’Medicine and clean water were so expensive, yet Shen Lu had used them on him without a second thought. Working for a boss like this definitely won’t be bad,’ he thought.
At that moment, Wang Daguo hoped more than anything that he could become one of Shen Lu’s employees.
"Have you made up your mind? The work at my stall isn’t as easy as you might think. Also, I won’t let you take on part-time jobs during work hours. It won’t be as flexible as your previous job."
She had to set some expectations in advance to avoid any unpleasantness later.
"I’ve made up my mind, Boss Shen. The only reason I took on side jobs before was because my work was temporary. If I’m working for you, I promise I won’t take on any part-time work during business hours. You have my word."
"Alright then." Shen Lu nodded. "Welcome to Little Deer Cuisine. You’re our second official employee. When can you start work?"
"I can start today."
"Deal. Just stick with us for now. I’ll tell you what needs to be done."
"Okay." Wang Daguo proactively took the tools from Cai Su’s hands. "I can carry this stuff."
Cai Su didn’t object. It was perfectly normal for a new colleague to want to make a good impression.
On the way, Shen Lu asked the system to confirm whether the junk Wang Daguo collected would count as her own.
[It counts. As long as the Host personally extends an invitation and the other party accepts, they become a member of the shop. As the Host’s subordinate, they can share a portion of the Host’s privileges.]
Shen Lu asked, "Like the permanent 80% cleanliness? What about the one-hundred-percent damage reflection?"
[Because the permanent 80% cleanliness is a store-related privilege, it can be shared by employees. However, the one-hundred-percent damage reflection is the Host’s personal privilege and cannot be shared.]
’So that’s how it works,’ she thought.
With Wang Daguo on board, their junk-collecting efficiency doubled.
Whenever the detector’s red light flashed, no matter how deep a component was buried, Wang Daguo could dig it out.
Shen Lu hit the jackpot. She found a kilogram of gold alone, and the other bits and pieces of precious metals she collected weighed dozens of pounds combined.
Wang Daguo asked curiously, "Boss Shen, what are you collecting all this stuff for?"
Shen Lu placed all the metal into the System Warehouse and said casually, "To trade for ingredients."
"This stuff can be traded for ingredients? Do you trade it at the black market? Since when did the black market start taking metal for ingredients?"
"Ahem!" Cai Su quickly cut off Wang Daguo’s questions with a fake cough.
She couldn’t believe how dense Wang Daguo was being. ’How can he ask a question like that?’ she thought.
That was Shen Lu’s private business.
Shen Lu hadn’t expected Wang Daguo to be such a curious cat either. She glanced at Cai Su out of the corner of her eye.
Cai Su had been with her for several days now, and she had never asked such questions.
’She’s a bit older, after all. She has a much better grasp of social etiquette.’
"It’s a secret." Shen Lu smiled playfully. "I can’t tell you that."
Wang Daguo belatedly realized he had been too forward and mumbled an apology.
"It’s okay. But in the future, if anyone asks you about the stall’s business, you have to be as tight-lipped as I am, understand?"
"Yes, yes! I absolutely won’t tell anyone a single word!"
The three of them returned to the rental house to prepare ingredients.
Wang Daguo took over Cai Su’s former task of loading ingredients into the one-touch washing machine, leaving Shen Lu and Cai Su to just handle the chopping.
All the other simple manual labor tasks were also handed over to Wang Daguo.
Wang Daguo worked with great enthusiasm, but at the same time, a small worry began to gnaw at him.
’There’s so little I can actually do. An employee who doesn’t create value for their boss is easily replaced.’
’What if in a couple of days, Shen Lu decides I’m not useful and fires me?’
SIGH.
He was so worried.
[DING-DONG~ New mission issued: Please sell 80 cups of mint water, 70 egg waffles, 70 orders of malatang, 70 orders of fried rice, 70 orders of fried noodles, and 40 orders of braised snacks.]
’Okay, mission accepted,’ she thought. ’Time for another day of selling out at the stall!’
Before starting to cook for the day, Shen Lu filmed a video as usual.
This time, she had Wang Daguo play a customer, ordering one of everything available for the malatang, plus a cup of mint water.
Wang Daguo sat at the table, looking nervously at Shen Lu. "Boss Shen, all this... is it really for me to eat?"
Shen Lu’s food wasn’t expensive, but it wasn’t cheap, either. In this place, all food was a luxury.
Growing up, the taste Wang Daguo was most familiar with was that of Insect Cakes, followed by the occasional expired nutrient liquid. It was only after meeting Shen Lu this year that he had eaten proper food a few times.
Who could have imagined that today, Shen Lu would let him eat so much? This was all food she sold to make a living.
Shen Lu adjusted the camera and said to him, "Go ahead and eat. I’m recording a video, so don’t try to put on a performance. Just eat like you normally would."
Wang Daguo grunted in agreement and rubbed his face, trying to relax his expression.
He started with a sip of the clear broth. The fragrant, rich liquid instantly captivated his taste buds. An expression of utter disbelief spread across the man’s face. He smacked his lips, and as if the aftertaste wasn’t enough, he took another sip.
After that, there was no stopping him.
Wang Daguo began to wolf down the food, devouring it like a whirlwind. Within ten minutes, he had polished off three bowls of malatang, each with a different flavor.
Although Shen Lu had seen similar scenes hundreds of times, she was still impressed by Wang Daguo’s voraciousness and speed.
’This guy’s jaw muscles must be ridiculously strong, and his throat must be a mile wide,’ she mused. ’He’s just pouring it down, SLURP SLURP. Isn’t he afraid of burning himself?’
"HIC!" Wang Daguo patted his stomach and let out a hearty burp, his face flushed with satisfaction. "That was so good! If I could eat food this delicious every day, I’d be living like a king."
This was what Wang Daguo truly felt; Shen Lu hadn’t coached him to say it.
But Shen Lu felt that his genuine reaction was the best kind of endorsement, so she stopped recording right after he finished speaking.
’Alright, that’s enough footage for today’s video,’ she thought.
Shen Lu then gave Wang Daguo his tasks for the day: "Clear the bowls and wipe down the table. Today, you’ll be in charge of ladling the mint water and clearing the tables, chairs, and dishes. Wash them when you get a chance."