Blissful Days After Widowhood - Chapter 62

When Gu Yin walked out of the Full Moon Hall, she found that the snow was extremely heavy outside.

Before she could decide where to go next, she stopped under a porch.

After a long while, she held up her umbrella and was about to leave, when Manager Zhou chased after her.

He handed over a food box and said, “It’s freezing cold, this is the Laba porridge that you just cooked. Take a bowl back to eat and warm up.”

Gu Yin had a very good impression of him. The staff in the restaurant was still as enthusiastic and thoughtful even when he knew that she was there to apply. Manager Zhou’s management ability could be seen. And when she was cooking porridge later, the eyes of others were all focused on her, only Manager Zhou was watching her movements from beginning to end, not her.

She took it with a smile, “Then I’ll wash the food box and send it back to you.”

“You can deliver it whenever you are free.” Manager Zhou said in a low voice, “You have extraordinary craftsmanship, and there are not many restaurants in our town that match your craftsmanship. But there is also a good restaurant that you can apply to called Hanxiang. But the relationship between the head and the kitchen of that restaurant is a little complicated, so you should be more careful.”

He was not related to her, but Manager Zhou came out to remind her, so Gu Yin accepted his affection and said softly, “Thank you for your kindness. I also want to tell you that this Full Moon Hall… Forget it, thank you anyway.”

When Gu Yin was cooking, she looked attentive and kept her eyes fixed, but in fact, the steps were all well-known in her chest. She had heard six ways, and had found that the back kitchen of Full Moon Hall seemed to be divided into two factions. One was naturally headed by Manager Zhou, and the other was the attentive and flattering Chef Zhao.

To say that Chef Zhao was not someone specially inserted by Mrs. Zhao, that only a fool would believe it.

No matter what era of the workplace, factional warfare was a headache, not to mention that the other party was still at the top with nepotism. If things were not handled well, Manager Zhou would have to stand on the opposite side of the boss. He, like her, was a person who concentrated on cooking, and knew that those who blindly thought about gaining power and flattering would not be able to win the top spot.

But she saw that in less than an hour as an outsider. How could Manager Zhou not know?

So Gu Yin just stopped, and didn’t say anything more.

Manager Zhou naturally knew that, and was worried about it before.

Back then, it was easy for him to come out of the state capital, but he offended the owner of the big restaurant over there, and it would be difficult to return to such a big place.

In Hanshan Town, only Full Moon Hall could meet his criteria for selecting a post. Hanxiang was smaller than Full Moon Hall, and the relationship between the head and the kitchen was really complicated.

He also had no choice, so he could only stay.

Gu Yin saw the loneliness that flashed across his expression, and her mind moved. If she had the opportunity to open a restaurant by herself, she would have to recruit people. Wasn’t the manager in front of her a ready-made candidate? He could cook and manage, he was a rare compound talent.

That was also Gu Yin’s dream. At the moment she only had a small stall, not even a small shop, let alone a large restaurant like Full Moon Hall.

So she didn’t say anything, just asked the shopkeeper’s surname, and after a few words of greetings, she left with the food.

Manager Zhou watched Gu Yin go away, and sighed in his heart.

When he turned back, he saw many guests inquiring about Laba porridge.

After all, Laba Festival was also an important festival. The relatives and friends would send some Laba porridge to express their affection. As the guests could smell the strong fragrance, it was necessary to inquire whether Full Moon Hall had a new speciality.

Manager Zhou was about to have people reject these orders, but Chef Zhao had already brought out some Laba porridge for everyone to taste.

Everyone gave thumbs up after eating.

Manager Zhou couldn’t show a bad face to Chef Zhao in front of people, and only pulled him aside after the guests had dispersed, “Why did you bring the porridge made by that little lady?”

Chef Zhao was smitten with himself because he helped the restaurant with so much business. Hearing that, he smiled and said, “That little lady cooked less, otherwise we could get more orders today!”

“That little lady doesn’t work here, how dare you…”

Chef Zhao waved his hand impatiently and said, “Manager, why are you so worried? Isn’t it just a mere bowl of Laba porridge, does it have to be made by the little lady herself? Besides, I’ve seen her method just now, and when the time comes, I’ll make it!”

There was a saying that experts watch the doorway, laymen watch the fun, and there was a saying that a full bucket of water was not noisy, a half bucket of water sloshed.

(The fools were often desperately trying to assert themselves. They made a lot of noise while the wise were quiet)

The second half of the two old sayings were about people like Chef Zhao.

Manager Zhou had to say more, but Chef Zhao was already impatient, “I just did that after asking the boss’s wife. If you have something else to say, tell her directly!”

After speaking, Chef Zhao left, and Manager Zhou’s face was ashen.

Later, on the day of the Laba Festival, the customers who placed orders came early to receive the porridge.

Chef Zhao cooked a pot of porridge early and packed it up for the guests to take away.

The guests happily took the porridge back, and boasted to their relatives and friends that it was bought from Full Moon Hall with a lot of money, and the taste was not comparable to that of ordinary Laba porridge.

But when they tasted that Laba porridge, they couldn’t help but feel that it was an exaggeration. Wasn’t it just an ordinary bowl of porridge? Also bought for a lot of money, people could really boast.

Some of the relatives in the family who were not in harmony immediately made a sarcastic comment.

People who bought porridge had a taste, which was really average.

Of course, if there was no pearl and jade in front, this porridge could be considered to be drinkable, but having tasted the porridge, the gap was hard to ignore.

Those who could go to a place like Full Moon Hall to order porridge were all people who had some spare money at home and ate well. How could they bear that anger?

They didn’t expect the porridge cook to change. They just thought it was New Year’s Day, and orders from Full Moon Hall surged, so they didn’t do their best.

Manager Zhou had a premonition that something was going to happen, but at that moment, Chef Zhao had already heard the wind and hid. 

As a shopkeeper, he had to come out and handle the matter.

Because of it, before the New Year’s Day, he paid a large sum of money first, and almost broke the signboard (name and fame) that had been in business for many years.

Wang Dafu, the real power holder of the restaurant, came to check the accounts and scolded Manager Zhou severely.