"You've never cooked before?" Jing Yuancheng asked in surprise. The young boy affirmed, "That's right."
Zheng Yiran looked at Meng Huai and said, "Would you like to try them as well? That way, we can select one person."
Meng Huai waved his hand. "No need, I've already made a choice."
At this moment, the chef who had made the stew felt he had a fifty percent chance of staying. The fat and thin chefs were essentially eliminated. Although the young boy showed talent, he was still an apprentice. He hadn't done anything yet, and the boss couldn't possibly hand over the entire establishment to such an inexperienced child, could he?
Thinking this, the chef felt his chances had increased even more.
Then, he truly heard the boss say, "The two of you may leave. I hope you can find more satisfactory work."
Although Meng Huai was polite, dismissing the two chefs in front of everyone made them feel deeply humiliated.
Normally, wouldn't they say, "Go back and wait for news!" Who would directly offend them like this?
The fat chef angrily uttered a parting shot and left: "A run-down restaurant opened by a brat. If I were the one running it, I'd still hesitate!"
After the fat chef left in anger, the thin chef shook his head, sighed, and also departed.
At this point, the chef who made the stew felt even more certain it was him, especially since the other two had left. Moreover, the young boy still had to attend the assistant interview!
However, Meng Huai's words soon surprised both him and the young boy: "Plans can't keep up with changes. Originally, I intended to hire one chef. But both of your dishes are excellent, so I'll keep both of you!"
Meng Huai's words caused the young boy to look left and right repeatedly, asking, "Huh? I can be a chef? Me! Be a chef?"
Seeing the young boy's disbelieving expression, the chef stood beside him and patted his shoulder. "Yes!"
Although he wasn't the only one chosen, the chef didn't feel angry. He was just glad to have secured a job. Whether he controlled the kitchen alone or was one of the chefs, it didn't matter. However, he suddenly remembered something and quickly asked, "You said you'd choose one person, but now you're choosing two. Won't the salary also be halved?"
Meng Huai chuckled at his words and replied, "No, as agreed. Ten thousand star coins a month plus commission. Originally, I planned for one day off per week. Now that there are two of you, you can take turns, so that's two days off per week. You can discuss among yourselves which days you want off, just make sure your schedules don't overlap."
Meng Huai had initially planned for one day off per week, thinking he would close the shop. He hadn't expected to find two promising individuals, which would make things even more convenient.
As for the subsequent interviews, they became even simpler. Zheng Yiran and Meng Huai sat together and asked them some questions. The staff's ability to adapt must be top-notch. Guided by Zheng Yiran's questions, a server was quickly selected. As for the assistants, it was just a matter of testing them a few times, similar to the chefs.
A few people were kept according to the original plan, and the rest were sent away.
With the staff in place, the first priority was training.
The two chefs were required to learn how to prepare the medicinal cuisine on the menu Meng Huai had created. So, Meng Huai called them over first, and the chef assistant also attended the lesson together. The two servers were sent home for now, as their training sessions wouldn't start for a few more days.
Over the next few days, Meng Huai taught them the methods for preparing the medicinal cuisine on the menu. There were about a hundred varieties in total. For the two chefs, three days were enough to become familiar with them. However, seeing Meng Huai teach them all this, the chef couldn't help but ask, "Boss, you're just giving us the recipes like this. Aren't you afraid we'll quit and open our own shop?"
Meng Huai laughed and replied, "Master Bao, if I may say so, try to get the ingredients first!"
Master Bao laughed heartily at Meng Huai's jibe, "Haha, that's true. Only you, boss, have these ingredients!"
As he spoke, he glanced at the pavilions and the flowers and plants growing by the fish pond in the courtyard. Anyone else seeing it would just think what beautiful scenery it was. But after learning for the past few days, they realized that everything in the courtyard were medicinal herbs.
As they were learning to prepare medicinal cuisine, they also picked up some basic knowledge about medicinal ingredients.
For example, the two medicinal herbs used in the medicinal porridge Xiao Nan made earlier could not be consumed together. The two of them also needed to know the effects of these medicinal dishes and the herbs used to make them.
Meng Huai had also spent the past few days researching pairings of medicinal snacks with health teas, finding them to be excellent. This was inspired by Xiao Nan. In the past few days, she had made a few more wooden boards to add the newly developed snacks.
The servers' tasks were even more demanding. Fortunately, the two servers chosen were quick-witted and intelligent. They didn't resist learning and were even pleased to have learned some health knowledge!
After all, who wants to work as a server when they're young? It's just a necessity of life. Finding a job where they can learn, and then use that knowledge for their own health, is truly wonderful!
Soon, the day of Meng Huai's shop opening arrived. Upon hearing that Meng Huai's shop was opening, many of his classmates specially returned from their homes to the Imperial Capital Star to celebrate Meng Huai.
The street, usually frequented only by mecha masters, was bustling with people today.
Seeing so many people heading in that direction, passersby in nearby streets would naturally be curious.
A group of young girls were out shopping and noticed a continuous stream of young men and women heading in a particular direction. They stopped someone and asked, "Hey, sis, I see you all going that way. Is something happening?"
In every era, there are always many people who like to join in the excitement. If they know there's something interesting, they'll definitely ask.
The person who was stopped, referred to as "sis," was Ju Yiqiu, who knew much more about the shop than the average person! Her curiosity drove her to ask Meng Huai questions every day.
So, she explained to these young sisters, "Over there, a new medicinal cuisine restaurant has opened! These people are all going to the medicinal cuisine restaurant!"
Hearing Ju Yiqiu's words, the younger sisters became even more curious: "Medicinal cuisine restaurant? What is that? What do they sell?"
Ju Yiqiu meticulously educated them, not caring if she would be late for the opening. After all, if Meng Huai knew she was late because she was promoting the medicinal cuisine restaurant, he surely wouldn't blame her!