Food Intelligence King

Chapter 151 Hiring a New Employee: A Diligent Young Pastry Chef

On the last day of the holiday, the community canteen gradually returned to its original operating status.

Familiar guests returned one after another from their tourism or family visit activities.

We'll definitely have to come to the restaurant for a meal first.

"After a while, eating here makes me feel at home."

"Don't say that, me too."

The couple from the tobacco and liquor store next door said this while having breakfast together at the community canteen.

Chen Zhou felt very gratified upon hearing their conversation.

But something felt off—did I find a taste of home in my shop?

Thinking about it carefully, this couple rarely cooks. Yet, the feeling of home seems perfectly fine.

So Chen Zhou gave each of them a small bag of chestnuts.

"Please feel free to try the samples."
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"You've released a new product again, Brother Chen!"

Chen Zhou laughed and said, "I just went back to my hometown for the Mid-Autumn Festival. The chestnuts they grow there are quite good, so I'm helping out at the shop to sell them."

Old Meng nodded. He had eaten chestnuts from Chen Zhou's hometown before, and they had even been sent to his shop.

However, Chen Zhou guessed that the couple had no interest in raw food, as they didn't cook much.

Sister Meng was a bit unexpected today.

She wants to buy two more pounds to take home.

Chen Zhou instructed her, "Making the filling is a bit of a hassle, but actually steaming it will make it taste pretty good. After a couple of days, the sweetness of the chestnuts will gradually increase."

“I know.” Liu Jinyan waved her phone. “I saw a video of your family member, Tan Ruju.”

Her serene and unassuming nature could no longer be concealed. Chen Zhou replied:

"Then just do as it says."

After filming the video yesterday, Ms. Lin edited it, adding an introduction to chestnuts, simple ways to eat them, and tips for peeling chestnuts.

It happened to coincide with the platform's intelligent push for a lucky draw, and the response was quite enthusiastic.

Traffic monetization has all shifted to community canteens.

As a result, in addition to making some fresh meat mooncakes after the Mid-Autumn Festival, chestnuts also sold quite well.

Thinking about Ms. Lin's daily life, she rarely expresses any particular fondness for anything. However, she is quite enthusiastic about making short videos.

Chen Zhou wanted to tease her again when he got back.

Because some of the chestnuts were used to make snacks for the new product, there weren't many left of the chestnuts that Chen Zhou got from his uncle a couple of days ago.

In addition to handling the front-of-house work, the junior colleague was also responsible for selling chestnuts.

She knew how to find a way; when she wasn't busy, she divided the chestnuts into smaller portions by weight.

Chen Zhou glanced at it and felt that it weighed only about seven or eight pounds.

I can contact my uncle again later and ask him to make a delivery.

Yesterday, customers in the residents' group also mentioned that these chestnuts were quite good. They're sweet, soft, and glutinous even when steamed.

There was the incident with the mooncake relay last time.

Regular customers have great trust in the quality of the community canteen and in Mr. Chen, the owner of the canteen.

The shop's reputation has been firmly established.

You can start the chain again.

Once the sales channels are established, the next step is to see how much more can be sold. My uncle's chestnut consignment business is essentially concluded here.

The community canteen's operating philosophy is to provide customers with high-quality, delicious, and safe food.

As a business owner, the goal is simply to gradually make money, expand the business, serve more customers, and gain more positive reviews.

in the afternoon,
Chen Zhou then took two shop assistants to the Harmony Market to find the young man.

Thinking of introducing Huang Yaoshi to the two people in the shop, I arrived at the market a little earlier than three o'clock.

When they arrived, the Houji Steamed Bun and Noodle Shop was closed, with its shutters down.

Looking at the "Shop for Rent" sign next to the roller shutter, Zhao Yilin asked:

"Is this the right place, senior brother? Did we go to the wrong place?" The junior sister sometimes gets lost even when following the navigation, so subconsciously she feels that getting lost is a very normal thing.

So they started babbling on and on, trying to comfort each other:

"It's okay if we can't find the way. We should first check if we searched the wrong place in the navigation, and then check for places with the same name. Look, I've put a little star on my phone for frequently used locations."

Chen Zhou didn't look at it; he came yesterday.

Hearing his junior sister say this, he suddenly remembered:

The last time this girl and Wang Meng got lost at the orchard, it was probably because Zhao Yilin pointed them in the right direction.

But Aunt Zheng still took it quite seriously.
Zhen took out his reading glasses from his pocket and carefully examined Xiao Zhao's phone.

The junior sister then explained to her how to add saved locations on her phone.

"This is our shop, this is where I live, and this is a nice little restaurant."

As they were talking, Chen Zhou saw Hou Wen walking over.

The two waved to each other.

After he approached, Chen Zhou introduced himself to the people present.

"This is Zhao Yilin, and this is Aunt Zheng Xiufang. They are both employees of my shop."

"Young man, Hou Wen."

After a brief greeting, Aunt Zheng thought the young man in front of her was quite good; he was very sturdy and a good worker.

The junior sister smiled and said, "You can call me junior sister if you like."

"Okay, Sister Zhao." Hou Wen was very obedient.

Then, Chen Zhou asked him why he wasn't in the store that afternoon.

Hou Wen replied, "I took a shower after exercising before coming over."

According to intelligence reports, this young man used to worry about his physique, and in addition to the medicine prescribed by Huang Yaoshi, he also seems to have been doing a lot of physical exercise.

The roller shutter door of the steamed bun shop was still manually operated. As Hou Wen turned the chain up and down, his muscular physique looked quite impressive.

Chen Zhou casually started talking about his fitness routine:
"Have you been to the gym? It looks like you're making good progress."

"No," Hou Wen shook his head.

"Just do 100 push-ups and 100 squats a day, and run 10 kilometers. If you stick to this for a year, that's how you'll do it."

Chen Zhou and the other two gave him a thumbs up.

Wow, that's quite persistent.

He was talking about endurance training, but the job at the steamed bun shop might involve strength training.

The group entered the store, which was relatively clean, but it was a bit messy due to the large number of items.

Hou Wen politely invited them to sit wherever they liked, but there really weren't many seats available.

So he started working at the cutting board.

"Brother Chen, my parents said they're not doing business today, so I'll just give them a quick demonstration of the basics."

Chen Zhou gestured for him to proceed.

Hou Wen stood with his feet shoulder-width apart and his knees slightly bent. He then leaned forward and began kneading the dough.

Each push and press engages the core muscles, and the muscles in the arms and back rise and fall with the movement, gradually making the dough smooth and delicate.

The junior apprentice watched from the side, thinking to herself: The kitchen must be hard work.

Chen Zhou and Aunt Zheng exchanged a glance and discussed their views.

The young man has a very solid foundation.

He then turned to Hou Wen and asked, "Have you discussed it with your family?"

The young man nodded. "My parents didn't want to continue anyway. If they want to sell the shop, then so be it. It's time for me to start over."

"Then, will you come to work tomorrow morning?"

"Okay, boss."

(End of this chapter)