Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 489 Alumni are ridiculously numerous
In any star-rated hotel, the kitchen is of paramount importance.

Because the quality of kitchen operations directly affects the quality of catering services that every customer can enjoy.

Therefore, Cao Sheng wanted to take a look at the kitchen.

Led by Vice President Zhao, Cao Sheng headed towards the elevator.

As we walked, I asked, "What cuisine does our hotel kitchen primarily serve now?"

Vice President Zhao: "President Cao! Our kitchen mainly serves Anhui cuisine. After all, Huizhou is a tourist city, right? Many tourists come here to play and also want to try our local Anhui cuisine. So, since its establishment, Oriental Sunrise has always focused on Anhui cuisine."

But we also have chefs specializing in other cuisines, such as Huaiyang, Hunan, and Sichuan. Huaiyang cuisine is known for its knife skills and light flavors; Hunan cuisine is primarily spicy; Sichuan cuisine is known for its numbing spiciness; and our local Anhui cuisine is characterized by its heavy use of oil, vibrant colors, intense flavors, and skillful knife work. You can order a few dishes to try later.

Cao Sheng nodded slightly.

As a long-time avid reader of online novels, he has some knowledge of cooking.

Because before his rebirth, he had read several works featuring cooking as the main character's profession.

Therefore, he knew that there were eight major cuisines in China, as well as ten or twelve.

Anhui cuisine does not rank highly among the eight major cuisines of China.

But with so many provinces across the country, Anhui cuisine's inclusion among the eight major cuisines is actually quite high.

As a native of Anhui Province, he also has a natural affinity for Anhui cuisine.

He also really likes local Huizhou cuisine.

He felt that what Vice President Zhao had just said made a lot of sense.

As a tourist city, Huizhou's hotels mainly cater to tourists, and most tourists who come to Huizhou want to try the local Huizhou cuisine.

When people come to Huizhou, those who want to eat other cuisines are definitely a minority.

Therefore, he decided to continue to maintain the style of Oriental Rising Sun, which is mainly based on Anhui cuisine.

The elevator quickly arrived at the basement level.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, several men dressed in white chef uniforms and hats were waiting at the elevator entrance. The middle-aged chef standing at the front had a gold collar and a golden dragon pattern on his chest, clearly the head chef.

Sure enough, as soon as the elevator doors opened, the middle-aged chef's serious expression immediately transformed into a warm smile, and he bowed slightly, saying, "Welcome, General Manager Cao and all the leaders!"

The other chefs also quickly bowed their heads and greeted them.

Cao Sheng smiled and placed his hands on his lower abdomen.

Vice President Zhao stepped forward and introduced, "President Cao! This is our head chef, Chef Zhou."

Cao Sheng extended his right hand, "Master Zhou! Thank you for your hard work!"

Head Chef Zhou quickly stepped forward and grasped Cao Sheng's right hand with both hands, saying, "Hello, Mr. Cao! Hello!"

A moment later, Cao Sheng and the others, led by head chef Zhou, entered the bustling kitchen.

The deafening roar of the exhaust fan forced the head chef to loudly introduce the product.

"General Manager Cao! This is our hot dishes kitchen. The head chef of the first stove is our sous chef. The head chefs of the first, second, and third stoves are all Anhui cuisine chefs. The chef of the fourth stove is Hunan cuisine chef, the chef of the fifth stove is Huaiyang cuisine chef, and the chef of the last stove is Sichuan cuisine chef."

"So in our kitchen, there are six lines for hot dishes. Each chef has an apprentice and a prep chef. That's the roast meat room over there. Please come this way!"

……

Amidst the roar of the exhaust fans, the head chef walked along, shouting his introduction.

The chefs working in the kitchen were either focused on their work, keeping their eyes straight ahead, or glancing at Cao Sheng and the others from time to time while working, or smiling and nodding slightly in greeting.

Cao Sheng maintained a smile throughout, observing the sights with curiosity.

Accumulating writing material.

Yes!

For him, visiting the kitchen is also a way to gather writing material, which he might be able to use someday.

After all, the setup of a hotel kitchen and a home kitchen are completely different.

Almost everything you see, from the stove and countertop to the range hood and shelves, is made of stainless steel.

The stainless steel workbench used by the food preparation chef is actually integrated with the refrigerator.

The number of dishcloths on the worktable varies from chef to chef. Some chefs have only one dishcloth in their hand, while others have one in their hand and one or two more on the worktable.

The chefs were generally very clean.

The apprentices' chef's uniforms were all filthy.

Cao Sheng also noticed that the tiles on the ground were very dry, with no water or oil stains visible, indicating that the hygiene was clearly very good.

When they arrived at the roast meat shop, Cao Sheng noticed that there was only one chef there.

Upon arriving at the pastry shop, I saw five kitchens, two of which were staffed by female chefs.

Upon arriving at the cold dish preparation area, I noticed that three out of the four cold dish chefs were women.

When Cao Sheng arrived at the Western restaurant kitchen, he was met by a young chef in his early twenties. Cao Sheng didn't pay much attention to him at first, but when the young chef saw Cao Sheng, he looked surprised and blurted out, "Senior?"

"Senior?"

Head Chef Zhou was very surprised. Cao Sheng, Vice President Zhao, Wang Jing, and others all looked at the young chef with surprise on their faces.

Cao Sheng frowned and looked the chef up and down a few times, then asked in confusion, "You...were you calling me just now?"

The young chef looked a little nervous, subconsciously glancing at the head chef and the others, then flashed a bright smile and said to Cao Sheng, "That's right! Senior! I'm from the Culinary Arts program in the Tourism Department of Huizhou Teachers College. You don't know me, but I've seen you a few times when I was at school."

Head Chef Zhou exclaimed in surprise, "President Cao! You graduated from Huizhou Teachers College?"

Cao Sheng smiled and nodded.

He nodded to the young chef who had just called him "senior" and said, "Hello! Are you studying Western cuisine?"

The young chef nodded quickly, "Yes! Yes! When we were in school, we actually learned about hot dishes, cold dishes, pastries, Western food, and so on. However, after graduation, I chose to work in Western cuisine, so I'm here."

Chef Zhou was delighted and interjected, "President Cao! Actually, at least five or six of our kitchen staff graduated from your Huizhou Teachers College, really! It's just that when we were touring the hot dishes and pastry kitchens earlier, those guys all greeted you, otherwise you would have known that we had your alumni here already, haha."

Cao Sheng was surprised again; there were so many alumni in the kitchen of Oriental Rising Sun.
Suddenly, Vice President Zhao, who was standing to the side, laughed and said, "President Cao! Actually, not only the kitchen, but if I remember correctly, our hotel's housekeeping manager, Mr. Xu, and several other waiters are alumni of your Huizhou Teachers College, right?"

The last question he asked was to one of the executives who was with him.

That was the HR manager. Hearing this, he smiled and nodded. "That's right! Our hotel recruits interns from Huizhou Teachers College every year. Huizhou Teachers College has a culinary program and a tourism management program, both of which are suitable for working at our hotel. Manager Xu should be upstairs. General Manager Cao! Shall I call Manager Xu and ask him to come down?"

Cao Sheng looked at him, smiled and nodded.

He already knew that Huizhou Teachers College had a culinary arts program. He just hadn't expected that so many alumni would be working at the hotel he had bought.

However, upon closer reflection, it seems quite normal.

Huizhou has only one higher education institution, Huizhou Teachers College, and the Tourism Department is the largest department in Huizhou Teachers College. The Culinary Arts Class and the Tourism Management major are both under the Tourism Department.

Every year, a group of students graduate.

These students have been studying at Huizhou Teachers College for three years and have become quite familiar with the city of Huizhou. As a tourist city, Huizhou has beautiful mountains and rivers, ancient buildings full of historical charm, and countless delicacies. There are also plenty of writing brushes, inkstones, tea, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, etc.

Although the average salary in this city is not as high as that in first-tier cities, it deeply attracts most of the students of Huizhou Teachers College. Many of them want to stay in this city to work, live, and even settle down after graduation.

Students majoring in culinary arts and tourism management will find it easier to stay and work in Huizhou.

Because hotels, travel agencies, and guesthouses are everywhere here, graduates of these two majors can easily find jobs.

As a result, year after year, countless graduates have stayed in Huizhou to work and live.

This triggered some memories for Cao Sheng.

For example: On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, when I was still a student, I walked into a clothing store. As we chatted, the salesperson learned that I was a student of Huizhou Teachers College. The salesperson was very surprised and said, "Really? I also graduated from Huizhou Teachers College!"

For example: On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, when he was still a student, he was eating at a restaurant and saw the restaurant owner calling out "Teacher Ding" when she was settling the bill for a customer. Cao Sheng had met that Teacher Ding on campus.

For example, when he went to a tea shop to buy tea, the shop owner and his wife both claimed to be graduates of Huizhou Teachers College. He encountered three similar tea shops where the shop owner or his wife claimed to be graduates of Huizhou Teachers College.

……

After touring the kitchen.

As Cao Sheng stepped into the elevator and returned to the first floor, he couldn't help but wonder: How many people in Huizhou are actually my schoolmates?

He had never thought about this question before, but today he suddenly realized that there might be more of his alumni in this city than he had imagined.

After all, this city only has one higher education institution, Huizhou Teachers College.

In addition, Huizhou boasts excellent scenery, culture, and cuisine. As a tourist city, it also has a strong commercial atmosphere, making it suitable for starting a small business. Graduates who want to start their own businesses will have many opportunities if they stay in this city, and those who don't want to start a business will also find it easy to find a job.

A moment later, Manager Xu from the guest room department jogged over to Cao Sheng and the others.

She was a young woman who still retained her charm.

She must be a young married woman.

Her age, clothing, and hairstyle all give off the vibe of a young married woman.

When Manager Xu greeted Cao Sheng, he couldn't hide the joy on his face.

At noon, Cao Sheng had lunch in a large private room on the second floor, accompanied by all the hotel's senior executives. Cao Sheng said a few words of encouragement to everyone to work hard and drank a few glasses of wine.

What he didn't know was that a young female waitress standing outside the private room was also his classmate. Every time she went in and out of the private room to serve, she couldn't help but glance at Cao Sheng. She really wanted to say a few words to Cao Sheng, but she didn't have the courage to do so.

One floor below ground.

Two waiters were washing wine glasses, chatting quietly as they worked.

"Xiaojing! You've got it all figured out! Your new boss is actually your senior from university! Your chance for a promotion and a raise has arrived! If you get promoted, please take good care of me!"

Xiaojing: "Go away! What? Although Cao Sheng is my schoolmate, I never even spoke to him when we were in school. Who does he think he is? He'd give me a promotion and a raise?"

"But you're his classmate! He's a boss now, so your chances of promotion and a raise are definitely greater than ours, right?"

Xiao Jing: "Tch! He has a lot of classmates, Qingqing, Xiaoyun, and Gouping are all his classmates! Does that mean we all have a chance to get promoted and get a raise?"

……

The trash cans in the hot food kitchen were full, so the head chef ordered two apprentices to empty them.

Two apprentices, one pulling a cart and the other holding a trash can, were taking the garbage to the garbage pile outside the kitchen. After coming out of the kitchen, the apprentice pulling the cart turned around and asked with a smile, "Xiao Wang! You've got a backer now! The new boss is actually your senior. Why didn't you say hello to him when he came to the kitchen today? You're so stupid! You didn't seize such a good opportunity!"

Xiao Wang chuckled and rolled his eyes. "So what if I'm just an apprentice kitchen helper and the boss's junior? In our kitchen, skill matters. Even if he promotes me to do food preparation or cooking, can I handle those two jobs?"

The apprentice tow truck worker said, "No matter what, the boss is your senior, so no one should dare to bully you anymore. If anyone does, you can go to your senior to stand up for you, right? Haha..."

Xiao Wang chuckled twice.

This time, there was no further rebuttal.

He was naturally very happy to see that his new boss was his senior from school, the well-known "Zhongyuan Yidianhui" (a nickname for a famous student).

Although he didn't dare to greet Cao Sheng, he already felt a sense of belonging to Dongfang Xuri when he learned that the new boss was Cao Sheng. He thought: as long as I can improve my cooking skills and keep working here, my chances of getting ahead should be greater than others.

……

On the way back to the car.

Cao Sheng sat in the car, gazing at the scenery outside the window, a faint smile playing on his lips; he was in a good mood.

With the Oriental Sunrise three-star hotel, he can come here anytime to change things up when he gets tired of home-cooked meals.

In the future, if anyone comes to Huizhou to visit me, or if relatives or friends come to visit, I will have a place to properly entertain them.

Of course, he himself didn't have the energy to manage the hotel personally.

Wang Jing stayed at Oriental Rising Sun and was in charge of managing the hotel.

……

evening.

Wang Jing returned to Cao Sheng's villa and had dinner with Cao Sheng.

Wang Jing: "Boss! This afternoon I specifically asked the HR department to do a count of how many of your classmates are from Dongfang Xuri. Why don't you take a guess? How many are there?"

Cao Sheng glanced at her and casually asked, "Ten?"

Wang Jing chuckled and waved her hand, "Not only that! Guess again!"

Cao Sheng: "15?"

Wang Jing: "13! There are 5 kitchen staff, 5 waiters, 2 front desk staff, plus Manager Xu from the housekeeping department, that's a total of 13! It's practically your school's headquarters!"

Cao Sheng smiled, not particularly surprised.

As early as when the head chef mentioned that five or six people in the kitchen were graduates of Huizhou Teachers College, and when Vice President Zhao said that several waiters were also graduates of Huizhou Teachers College, he guessed that there must be more than 10 alumni of Dongfang Xuri.

Wang Jing: "Boss! Although 13 people only account for a fraction of all employees, I think it will be much easier for us to manage this hotel with so many of your alumni here. These alumni can all be considered your loyal followers. What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)