Rebirth: Starting from the Cafeteria

Time flies.

The second floor on Hongshan Road is completely completed.

The architectural style of this building is completely different from that of the Dapanji restaurant. There is no dining area in the lobby, only a front desk and a rest area.

There are two large private rooms on the first floor, and an extra-large private room and a lounge on the second floor.

Du Shaojie also has a suite of his own, which is divided into an office and a bedroom. Liu Ying asked someone to install a telephone here, and the overall decoration effect is very good.

The kitchen is in the large courtyard, connected to the main building by a corridor.

The entire main building is within the courtyard wall, ensuring privacy and security.

This place is very suitable for opening a restaurant, and it is only suitable for opening a restaurant. Du Shaojie moved his private restaurant here, and it can be put into use after a little cleaning.

Du Shaojie calculated that two people would be needed on duty immediately, working in two shifts.

Although there is nothing valuable in the house, it must not be left alone at night, as thieves might break in.

We will need two kitchen staff and two waiters.
The kitchen staff and waiters are easy to deal with, they can be transferred from the snack bar. Only the duty staff need to be found on the spot, and they must be trustworthy talents.

He then asked around, and Su Dapeng recommended someone to him, and Liang Meiqin's father also recommended one to him.

The person Su Dapeng recommended was Yue Feng, a former employee of the hardware factory, a male, 42 years old.

The person recommended by Liang's father is a retired soldier, Zhang Qigong, a male, 33 years old.

The common point between these two people is that they are both of advanced age, down-to-earth and have good character.

Du Shaojie met with the two people and felt they were reliable after the interview, so he immediately let them start work.

There is a guard room next to the gate of the courtyard, and this is their post.

Their salary is 60 yuan per person per month. They receive night shift pay for working the night shift and enjoy the same bonus as ordinary employees.

The waiters also earn 60 yuan a month. The requirements for waiters here are higher, so the salary will be slightly higher. After the assessment, Chu Linlin and Zhang Yufei from the snack bar were transferred here.

In addition, two cooks were transferred from Dong Jun's team. Both of them have good knife skills. After another one or two years of training, they will be able to become level three chefs.

The monthly salary of the two cooks is 70 yuan each, not including bonuses.

Du Shaojie's private restaurant opened in a low-key manner. There was no publicity or advertising, but it just quietly accumulated popularity.

Feng Qingsong and Liu Ying were naturally the first customers. They were very satisfied with the environment here, not to mention the quality of the dishes. They also highly praised Du Shaojie's cooking skills.

The other two also introduced many customers to the private restaurant, especially Liu Ying, who loved to organize things and had a wide range of friends, and gradually spread the information about the private restaurant.

In the first week, business was very good and there were customers dining in almost every day.

But after the opening period, the number of people coming was much less, sometimes only two or three tables of customers came to eat in a week. The waiters and cooks were relatively calm, as they were employees of the snack bar, and at most they would go back to where they came from.

Yue Feng and Zhang Qigong were very nervous. They had no way out. If the private restaurant went bankrupt, they would not be able to find a job with such good pay.

Yue Feng was an honest man and had no choice but to worry secretly.

Zhang Qigong had wider social connections, and he used his spare time to attract customers to his private restaurant, but unfortunately the results were minimal.

For a business model like private dining, the owner either has to have extensive connections or have top-notch dishes that slowly build up popularity. Advertising like regular restaurants does is pointless.

When Du Shaojie learned about this, he called Zhang Qigong to his office to encourage him.

"However, Lao Zhang, our situation is somewhat special, so you don't have to put in that effort in the future. Don't worry, our private restaurant will never go bankrupt, so just go to work with peace of mind."

Du Shaojie rewarded the other party with 50 yuan and asked him to go back to work.

Sometimes in business, the competition is not about who can do the tricks best, but about who has the most endurance. He has no pressure of rent, he is the chef, and the salary of others is only 380 yuan a month. To put it bluntly, he can earn it back with a few tables of customers.

What's more, is he opening a private restaurant to make money?

No, Du Shaojie's main goal is to improve his cooking skills, expand his network, and preserve the current fruits of victory first.

Anyway, private restaurants require reservations in advance and do not accept individual customers, so he does not need to be on duty every day.

Life goes on as usual. I exercise, study cooking, read a book, and visit a few places every day, and the day is spent.

The snack bar has always maintained a scale of 48 employees. He calculated that so far he has a total of 67 employees, of which 60 are unemployed young people placed by the bureau.

The weather is getting cooler day by day.

That afternoon, Du Shaojie had just finished reconciling the accounts with the finance department in the snack bar when Dong Yunxian and Zhong Fuxiang suddenly walked in.

These two are rare guests and normally they don't come here. Instead, Du Shaojie will go to the Chinese restaurant from time to time to cook a few dishes.

"Master Dong, Master Zhong, how come you two have time to come and look around today? Please take a seat first. I'll go make a pot of tea."

Du Shaojie was very respectful to the two seniors. Not only was his attitude very enthusiastic, but he also stood up to make a pot of good tea. The three of them drank tea and were not in a hurry to get to the point.

After a while, Dong Yunxian put down the teacup in his hand and spoke first:

"Manager Du, the performance of Hongchunyuan Hotel is getting worse and worse. An old colleague who has a good relationship with me wants to transfer to our company. Chef Zhong's situation is similar to mine, but the Chinese restaurant can't accommodate two chefs, so we came to you."

In the past two years, state-owned restaurants have had a hard time, especially this year, as restaurants of all sizes have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, causing serious impact on them.

Some chefs with connections started to think of ways to transfer to a good unit, which became the best option.

Du Shaojie has been busy with his own things recently. A few days ago, a chef was transferred from another place to the Chinese restaurant, and now two more chefs are going to be transferred in.

Yao Liwen went to the bureau and made a fuss several times before the bureau agreed to stop there, but the two people who had already completed the transfer procedures had to be resettled.

The Chinese restaurant was crowded, so Yao Liwen asked Dong Yunxian and Zhong Fuxiang to discuss with Du Shaojie. It was difficult for him to come forward, after all, he was not that close to the other party, but the two of them were the same.

Du Shaojie will definitely give face to Dong Yunxian and Zhong Fuxiang.

"It's useless even if I agree. You two know the situation of the snack bar. How can we accommodate a chef? Are we going to ask the chef to come here and cook some stir-fry?"

Du Shaojie doesn't mind employing one or two more people. If they are unemployed young people, he can make the decision immediately.

But the other party is a chef, a special level 3 chef, and the snack bar really has no way to accommodate him.

"Master Du, don't you have a private restaurant? It's definitely higher-end than a Chinese restaurant. How about setting it up there?"

Zhong Fuxiang didn't beat around the bush and directly pointed out the private restaurant.

Du Shaojie blinked his eyes, not understanding for a moment. The private restaurant was his own, what did it have to do with the formal employees who were transferred here? They were not like these unemployed young people who could be transferred here and there as they pleased.

"There are only one or two tables of customers a week in a private restaurant. I am already so bored, how can I accommodate them?"

He was telling the truth. The private restaurant business was indeed not very good during this period and there were not many customers.

Dong Yunxian and Zhong Fuxiang looked at each other, appearing helpless.

They believed what Du Shaojie said. They had known each other for a long time, so they all knew what kind of person he was.

"Manager Du, why don't I come to the snack bar? I usually cook some small dishes. If your private restaurant needs help, I can go over there to help. What do you think?"

Zhong Fuxiang is a man with a cold exterior but a warm heart. One of the two chefs transferred here this time is his junior fellow apprentice.

Although there was no problem with the transfer procedures, wouldn't it be like leaving him hanging in the air without a receiving unit? Anyway, he was a formal employee with a fixed salary, and even if he went to the snack bar, his salary would not be reduced by a penny.

I will retire in ten or eight years, so I might as well make room for someone else.

Of course, the most crucial point is that Zhong Fuxiang is very optimistic about Du Shaojie. Even though he knows that the other party's private restaurant is not doing well at the moment, he believes that after a period of precipitation, it will still be able to improve greatly.

The other party is not only an excellent cook, but also has many ideas.

Putting aside other things, just look at Du Shaojie's performance after taking over the snack bar, it is really impressive.

"If Master Zhong is willing to put himself in a difficult position, how can I have any objection? I couldn't ask for more!"

Du Shaojie was overjoyed when he was sure that Zhong Fuxiang was not joking.

He didn't want to bring an unfamiliar chef around him, because it would be difficult to manage him and might even cause him trouble. But he had a special relationship with Zhong Fuxiang, and he respected his character very much.

He doesn't trust others, but he trusts Zhong Fuxiang.

It's not just about trusting the other person's character, but also trusting their skills.

Dong Yunxian looked at Du Shaojie with a half-smile. This guy really looked at people and treated them differently. But it was understandable. Everyone wanted to work with someone they knew well.

The matter was settled, and within a few days, Zhong Fuxiang was transferred to the snack bar.

Now, Dong Jun was under a lot of pressure. His master was watching him all day long, and he was nervous no matter what he did.

Fortunately, Zhong Fuxiang knew that the snack bar was usually managed by Dong Jun. In order to save his apprentice's face at the unit, he rarely scolded him and would discuss anything in private.

"Master Zhong, why don't you train these guys when you're not busy?"

That afternoon, Du Shaojie came to reconcile the accounts as usual. After finishing, he took Zhong Fuxiang to chat for a while.

When Zhong Fuxiang was at Xijiang Hotel, he was always willing to help young people, but his requirements were very strict, and many young chefs were afraid of him.

Du Shaojie was afraid that he was unhappy in the snack bar, so he wanted to find him something to do.

To be honest, he, a top chef, doesn't really need to cook the daily stir-fries, as he is just idle most of the time.

"I don't have the energy to train a group of apprentices now. I'll go to the private restaurant with you later. If the conditions there satisfy me, I'll stay there more when I have nothing to do."

Zhong Fuxiang shook his head, not wanting to waste any more time. (End of this chapter)