Gourmet: Midnight Vending-Chapter 313 - 290: Fang Zhizhong’s True Request

Leaving Divine Dragon Bay, Chen Mo waved goodbye to everyone as he passed through the woods and continued driving back to the city.

The road from Divine Dragon Bay to Jingzhou City was a newly constructed tourist road in recent years, with very few vehicles on it, allowing his food truck to zoom ahead from time to time.

By the time he returned to the unfinished building, dusk was just setting in.

Of course, the purpose of returning to the unfinished building wasn’t to sleep on the 28th floor but to have a secure place to park.

The three workers who used to be around had disappeared, it seemed the developer completely gave up on explaining things to the property owners.

Walking around with Xiao Jiao all day was quite tiring, and besides, he had bought a lot of ingredients from the supermarket today that he hadn’t used much, so Chen Mo took out tomatoes and eggs from the cabinet, as well as a piece of soft tofu.

In the shortest time, he made himself a serving of tomato scrambled eggs and a beef-less version of Mapo tofu, along with a bowl of rice, and finally got a cup of wheat juice, carrying them back to the RV.

"Strive for excellence when serving others, but when it comes to feeding myself, I can just make do."

But to be fair, even without beef bits, the Mapo tofu was incredibly aromatic, and the tomato scrambled eggs needed no further mention; as a dish at the novice level of cooking, it was hard to mess up.

Happily eating his meal, sipping a small beer, and watching short videos on his phone.

At this moment, Chen Mo felt an unsurpassed sense of comfort.

He was watching a restaurant review video featuring a Huaiyang cuisine chef he liked, surnamed Sui.

Chen Mo thought this guy’s review videos were decent, fairly impartial, which was why he was considering heading to the Jiangsu area next.

That area is the birthplace of Huaiyang cuisine, and to taste the most authentic dishes, one must go back to their origin.

And Huaiyang cuisine is now gradually moving towards a high-end, boutique series, with a reputation comparable to that of Cantonese cuisine. Particularly with the release of many national banquet dishes, where Huaiyang cuisine accounted for a large proportion, this has made the cuisine famous in recent years.

Without mentioning other cuisines, Huaiyang dishes must be tried seriously!

Halfway through the video, his phone kept pinging relentlessly.

Jingyi’s Mother: "Xiao Chen~ I’ve safely arrived home, don’t worry."

Chen Mo swiped to the left, choosing to ignore it.

Jingyi’s Mother: "Xiao Chen, do you have time tonight? There’s no one at my home, and Jingyi has gone to summer camp. Would you like to have a meal together?"

Chen Mo paused for a moment and continued to swipe left.

Trying to trick me into cooking? No way!

Ding dong~

Chen Mo was getting a bit impatient, wondering if he should block Jingyi’s Mother when he noticed it was someone else this time.

Fang Zhizhong: "This is the information of a job candidate arriving in Jingzhou tomorrow. Honestly, I’ve never been in the restaurant business before, so I’m not sure how to conduct an interview. I’d like Boss Xiao Chen to help me figure out how to assess this candidate."

"Oh right, Boss Xiao Chen, aside from you, I’ve also invited two distinguished guests. It’s Boss Mu from Yueyun Pavilion and their head chef Hou Yao. Will this be inconvenient for you?"

Chen Mo replied, "No inconvenience at all. Since Boss Mu and Mr. Hou are there to oversee, I’ll just accompany with a learning attitude. Anyway, I’ll arrive at Wanglong Mountain Resort on time tomorrow."

Fang Zhizhong: "Great. I’ll take you to see your future storefront tomorrow."

Tsk...

Every time he chatted with Fang Zhizhong, Chen Mo’s admiration for this person grew deeper.

He always felt that President Fang’s words were flawless, every sentence perfectly timed. Impossible to refuse, yet filled with gratitude.

Closing the chat window, Chen Mo began reviewing the candidate’s information.

Name: Zhou Yu, Age: 37.

Afterwards, there were some career experiences. As Chen Mo read, he felt that this guy might indeed have some skills up his sleeve.

He dropped out of school at 16 to become an apprentice in a restaurant, formally took charge at 22, and at 25 apprenticed to a famous chef in Yangzhou, although the resume didn’t specify who.

By 30, he made his first job change, assuming the position of head chef at an established restaurant in Yangzhou, and at 35, he and his master were responsible for the Huaiyang cuisine at the National Guest House.

With such a shiny resume, logically, a chef of this caliber should be thriving in Yangzhou, right?

Chen Mo continued reading.

Left the restaurant at 35 to start his own business, failed by 37, and ended up in heavy debt.

The key point was that this guy mentioned in his resume that due to commercial competition during his entrepreneurship, he didn’t get along well with the well-known restaurants in the local area. So, after his business failed, it became difficult for him to find work locally.

When Chen Mo saw the last part, he took a sharp breath.

Expected salary: 28,000.

"Damn, do chefs earn this much?" Chen Mo had always thought a chef’s salary was about five or six thousand.

In fact, in Jingzhou, most chefs in kitchens indeed made about that much...

Some might earn up to ten thousand at large hotels, but those jobs were exhausting.

"Alright then, let’s see tomorrow what level a chef with a 28k monthly salary is at."

Scooping up the last of his food and rice, Chen Mo happily went back to bed.

...

"Boss Fang is speaking strategically, ha ha..."

"Boss Mu, is a salary of 28k really that much?" Hou Yao couldn’t quite grasp it. If this resume is true, then a salary of around 30k isn’t much at all.

Mu Xin put the resume away, "That’s what you don’t understand, what’s Jingzhou like? How can this salary level compare to Guangdong or Jiangsu? So, if you’re offering this Zhou..."

"Zhou Yu."

"Ah yes, if you offer Zhou Yu such a high salary, what about the rest of the kitchen staff? If you pay them less, how are they supposed to work? Pay them more, and how do you manage the costs?"

Hou Yao thought for a while but still couldn’t quite grasp it.

After all, he was just a chef, always working alongside Mu Xin since he completed his training, never having thought of starting his own business.

Now he earned through shares...

"So how do we lower the wage offering? I mean, if Mr. Zhou is really skilled, it might not be easy to lower the salary demand." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Mu Xin gripped his teacup a little tighter, his face turning slightly stern, "Isn’t that kid still around? Tomorrow morning, go find Chen Mo and have him apply for that job, too."

"Huh?"

Mu Xin snorted, "Don’t let Mu Mu know about Chen Mo’s return."

"Huh?"

Hou Yao was completely stunned, unable to comprehend. He thought to himself, why are you getting involved in young people’s affairs? Why not let them manage things themselves?

But of course, tasks assigned by the boss must be carried out.

Early the next morning, after contacting Chen Mo by phone, Hou Yao drove to the location sent via WeChat.

Standing outside the iron gate of the unfinished building, Hou Yao felt a bit dazed.

Even with these conditions, Boss Xiao Chen would rather run his own stand than work for Boss Mu.

This young man!

Incredible.