Starting a new chapter in life

Chapter 192 Dou Zhixiao Buys a House

Chef Lin hadn't expected Jingyan's side to be so short-staffed, and upon hearing this, he was even more anxious than her: "Our procedures will take another half a month, at the latest mid-March. Xiao Zhou and I will go there first."

His wife and child will come back after this semester's courses are finished and during the summer vacation. Could you help coordinate their fifth-grade enrollment? Do you think there's enough time?

"No problem, no problem. I'll prepare the accommodations and wait for you to arrive," Jingyan said happily.

With the head chef already in place, the staff at the restaurant need to be reassigned. Jingyan gave everyone a heads-up beforehand, explaining the current situation at the restaurant and future plans.

Dou Zhixiao and Chen Qing will continue to be responsible for serving food and cleaning tables, while Chen Tiezhu will be in charge of the barbecue, including skewers and condiments. Feng Cailian and Xiao Jinhua will handle the cutting and preparation of ingredients.

Aunt Li Zhaodi used to be in charge of washing and cleaning in the kitchen. If it were to be converted into a restaurant, she would definitely not be able to handle it all by herself. We'll see how many more people we need after Chef Lin and the others arrive, and then we'll hire more people to fill the gaps.

No one had any objections; work is work, so just follow the boss's instructions. However, business has indeed declined over the past year or so. Restaurants on Changxing Island have all purchased freezers and refrigerators, so the once unique iced beer and barbecue are no longer exclusive to this place.

The rectification that Jingyan mentioned was something everyone had already realized a year ago, but because her grandmother was getting older and her health was deteriorating in the past two years, Jingyan didn't want to focus on the business, so there had been no change. Now... change is inevitable.

"Sister Yan, even if we turn it into a restaurant, there are already quite a few restaurants around here. Can we even secure a place?" Dou Zhixiao asked with some concern.

Jing Yan smiled and said, "Xiao Dou, you have the quickest mind. I'm thinking of dividing our store into two parts. One part is the front desk, which includes drinks, beverages, and service. How about I put that in your hands?"

Dou Zhixiao's eyes widened, his face filled with surprise: "Sister Yan, you mean... I'll be in charge of dealing with customers?"

Jing Yan nodded: "That's right. I've seen hotels outside that have lobby managers, but our hotel isn't that big, so we won't give you any fancy titles. Your salary is 450 yuan a month, which is 100 yuan more than others. How about that?"

Dou Zhixiao nodded repeatedly: "Of course, no problem, thank you, Sister Yan."

Jingyan smiled and said, "That's because you did a good job. I haven't had the energy to manage the store these past two years, but you've managed your tasks very well. You've never made a mistake in purchasing and receiving goods. You earned this opportunity through your own abilities, so you'll have to put in more effort in the future."

She turned to look at Chen Qing. The young man's face was calm, without any envy or jealousy. "Chen Qing, you do your job very well, but you are more obedient than proactive. Although we didn't promote you, our store treats everyone equally in terms of salary and benefits."

Chen Qing looked at Jing Yan with some doubt: "Boss, I'm doing a pretty good job as a waiter. I can't handle managing things. My family says I lack ambition, but I know my own abilities."

My income isn't bad now, and you give us raises every year, so I'm very satisfied. A while ago, I went on a blind date, and the girl, upon hearing that I worked at a private restaurant and earned 300 yuan a month, said...

You have no idea that family agreed to our marriage on the spot. There aren't many workers these days who earn just over two hundred yuan a month. My job here isn't tiring and the pay is good; I'm already very satisfied.

Jingyan's greatest satisfaction with Chen Qing is his easygoing and contented nature. Many people might think this is a lack of ambition, but isn't it also a good quality and mindset?

Jing Yan pulled Dou Zhixiao aside again: "Once this place is converted into a restaurant, the room upstairs can no longer be used as your dormitory. I'm planning to buy a house in Changxin Community, and you can move there first. If other employees need accommodation in the future, we will arrange for them to live there as well. That place will serve as our restaurant's dormitory."

Dou Zhixiao waved his hands repeatedly: "Sister Yan, you don't need to find me a place to stay. I was originally going to mention it to you too. Jinhua and I are dating, you know. Although my dad doesn't care about me, I can't let my daughter suffer with me, right? I haven't spent much of my salary over the years, I've saved it all."

I checked my savings account the other day. Over the past ten years, I've saved a total of 20,000 yuan. Jinhua saved 15,000 yuan, and my dad gave me 5,000 yuan as wedding money, so we have a total of 40,000 yuan.

I've inquired around, and it should be enough to buy a 60-square-meter apartment. We've been looking around the area for the past few days, but we haven't been to the Changxin community you mentioned yet. Jinhua and I will go check it out later, and if we find something suitable, we plan to buy it as our wedding home.

Jingyan thought it sounded pretty good. "That's a good idea. Then I can temporarily stop buying a house for you to use as a dormitory. However, a 60-square-meter house is only enough for you now. It will be too small when you have children. A two-bedroom, one-living-room house would be better."

"You and your husband can have one room, and the child can have another. But where will your in-laws stay if they come? They only have your wife as their daughter. It would be better to buy a place that's about 80 square meters, with three bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen, all in one go."

Seeing Dou Zhixiao frowning as if about to speak, Jing Yan waved her hand: "I know you two don't have much money left, so I was thinking, you two have been with me since I opened the shop, I can't just watch you struggle without lending a hand."

"You two should look at this three-bedroom apartment. I'll lend you whatever's shortfall first, and then deduct a large portion from your monthly salaries, leaving you both with 100 yuan for living expenses. I've roughly calculated that with your current salaries, you can pay it off in two years at most. What do you think?"

Dou Zhixiao was clearly tempted, but still somewhat hesitant. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Sister Yan, I still need to go back and discuss this with Jinhua and my parents-in-law. If everyone agrees, I'll borrow it from you."

But you know the older generation doesn't like being in debt. If they disagree, then I'll buy a 60-square-meter apartment first. No matter what my family decides in the end, I want to thank Sister Yan for her kindness.

Jing Yan just wanted to be in charge, after all, Dou Zhixiao was really too useful. As for whether he would accept her in the end, that was not her concern. She nodded and told him to go ahead and get busy.

Jingyan didn't take this to heart at all. She was quite wealthy now, with three savings accounts totaling over 500,000 yuan. In the 1990s, that was a fortune. She had never seen so much money in her previous life.

Although more than 200,000 yuan of it came from the decoration company's dividends over the past ten years, the barbecue restaurant's income was also quite considerable. Now, 20,000 or 30,000 yuan was really just small change in her eyes. If it could help her employees solve their major life events, she felt it was a good thing. Besides, it wasn't free; it would all be deducted from her income later.

Dou Zhixiao is very efficient. In just half a month, he had already found a house in Changxin Community. The house is nearly 90 square meters, fully furnished, and you can move in with just your bedding and clothes. The young couple was very satisfied.

I don't know how Dou Zhixiao negotiated with his wife's family, but they actually agreed to give him an advance of 20,000 yuan in salary. Well, an advance is fine; it's more reassuring for them than borrowing money.

Jing Yan readily took Dou Zhixiao to the bank to withdraw the money. Dou Zhixiao and Xiao Jinhua then signed an application with Jing Yan for an advance payment of their salaries. Once the money was raised, the property certificate was issued very quickly.

When Chef Lin and Xiao Zhou arrived at Changxing Island, Dou Zhixiao had already moved out of the shop. The two had just gotten their marriage certificate and were originally planning to hold their wedding banquet at the shop, and wanted to invite Sister Wang to be the head chef. However, Sister Wang had gotten older in the past two years and probably wouldn't be able to handle a banquet.

Chef Lin was shown around the shop by Jing Yan. Neither Chef Lin nor Xiao Zhou expected that the barbecue restaurant Jing Yan had mentioned on the phone would be so big. They had originally thought it would be a small restaurant, but they never expected it to be a proper mid-range restaurant.

Of course, chefs all hope that the restaurant is big enough and the kitchen is spacious enough. He was very satisfied with this restaurant. The key point was that he had a job as soon as he arrived, which was to be the head chef for his own employees' wedding banquet. This was a happy event, and everyone in the restaurant was very happy.

Chef Lin and Xiao Zhou were so busy they barely had time to process the loneliness of the unfamiliar environment that they didn't have time to think about anything else. However, when Chef Lin learned that the house in Changxin Community was a gift from Jing Yan, he resolutely refused to accept it.

Jingyan thanked Chef Lin very sincerely: "Chef Lin, if it weren't for the braised meat recipe you gave me back then, I wouldn't have been able to make a living so well in the Great Northern Wilderness. After coming here, I also built up my business by making braised meat and barbecue."

Actually, I should share some of my profits with you. Giving you only one house is a huge bargain for me. We lost contact before, and I stopped sending you holiday gifts every year. Whether you consider this a gift for the past ten years or a share of the profits, it's my sentiment, and I hope you won't reject it.

Chef Lin… “I really didn’t expect you to achieve so much with just that one recipe. But in the end, it’s all thanks to your own skills. Otherwise, Xiao Zhou is someone I’ve taught him. But look at him, all his savings don’t even amount to 10,000 yuan. It’s less than what I, a retiree, have in savings.”

Although Xiao Zhou is skilled, he's not cut out for business. As long as your restaurant is open, and you don't mind, you can let him work for you. He doesn't like dealing with interpersonal relationships, so he's perfect for you.

As for this house, well, consider it my presumption to accept it. It's worth about 80,000 or 90,000 yuan a month; even if Xiao Zhou didn't eat or drink, it would take him three or four years to afford it. Since you've given it to me, I'll accept it. Thank you, Jingyan.”

Jingyan was genuinely happy: "Chef Lin, now let's discuss your salaries. You see, I've handed over the front-end management to Dou Zhixiao, and you, you'll oversee the back-end operations, taking charge of the kitchen."

Currently, there are only two people in the kitchen who can do food preparation, plus Aunt Li who washes pots and pans. You can decide which staff we need to hire, so I don't plan to pay you a salary. We'll split it according to profits, 30% of the store's net profit. What do you think?

"What is your restaurant's net profit per month?" Chef Lin, being a seasoned chef, asked directly about the profit.

"My net profit has been around five to six thousand yuan per month for the past two years, but it's not very stable," Jing Yan said honestly.

Chef Lin shook his head: "This distribution won't work. Everyone else is paid according to their salary. I can accept a share of the profits, but not 30%. I only want 15%. Once the restaurant is up and running, the income should be twice what it is now, which is enough for me."

As for Xiao Zhou, just pay him the market rate. Once his wife arrives, I plan to have her do the food preparation. The girl who used to braise the meat will continue to be in charge; don't touch her.

If you have any spare time, you can help Chen Tiezhu cut meat and skewer it. There's no shortage of vegetables here all year round, so barbecuing can add other items, which will increase your income.

Jingyan had no objection to the personnel allocation: "Then I'll give you 20%. Don't make me feel bad. You took good care of me when we were in the army. I'll need your help here in the future."

Seeing that she was being sincere, Chef Lin nodded in agreement.

"Then do you think we need to hire a few more people in the kitchen? Aunt Li might not be able to handle it all by herself," Jing Yan asked again about staffing.

"There's no rush right now. Our shop is going to be converted into a restaurant, so it shouldn't be too busy in the early stages. There's no need to rush to bring in more staff. If Sister Li can't handle it, Xiao Zhou and I can lend a hand after we finish cooking. We can decide once the business has stabilized," Chef Lin advised.

"Should we change our shop name?" Jingyan valued this. In the past, to save trouble, they chose a straightforward name like "Good Taste," but for a restaurant, that name seemed a bit casual.

"How about we name it Fragrant Garden?" Xiao Zhou suddenly suggested from the side.

Jingyan was startled, mainly because Xiao Zhou was too quiet and hadn't said much, so Jingyan had... forgotten about him. Hearing the name he mentioned, Jingyan asked curiously, "Why did you think of this name?"

Xiao Zhou smiled shyly: "I once thought about opening a small restaurant with my master, and this was the name I came up with back then. But my master said my personality wasn't suited to running it on my own. I don't like to talk, and I easily offend people when I do. I'm only suited to the kitchen."

My wife isn't cut out for business, so I gave up the idea. But since you want to change the restaurant's name, I think this name might work.

Jing Yan nodded repeatedly: "I think it's a good idea. Chef Lin has traveled all over the country with the army over the years, and he knows a lot of dishes from different regions. You are good at Sichuan cuisine, Hunan cuisine, and Northeastern cuisine. We can't name it after a region or a type of cuisine, so Xiang Manyuan is really suitable."

After the shop name was confirmed, Jingyan asked He Zhijun to help write the signboard that evening so that it could be sent out for production as soon as possible. He Zhijun asked her with a smile, "Why don't you write it yourself? Your calligraphy is already quite good."

"This shop should also bear your mark, so it's perfect that you're here to inscribe it." Jing Yan can be very sweet-talking; she managed to make him happy, and he readily wrote the inscription.