Chapter 412

Taking down a building and rebuilding a new restaurant was too wasteful and the finance department did not want to spend that kind of money. As such, after much deliberation, they decided to remodel a restaurant nearby that had been abandoned for years to suit their purpose.

That restaurant, too, was a joint effort between a private party and the government. Unfortunately, there was a food poisoning case later on and someone died. The restaurant went belly up after that.Tong Xuelu had gone and checked out the location. It was a retro-style two-story restaurant. Many of their old furniture was still there and it had a very antique feel to it.It was a waste for something like this to be abandoned. She was glad that they would be picking this up.Tong Xuelu voiced some of her suggestions and requests. She liked this kind of old structure a lot and she wanted to keep it the way it was.Granted, during this very sensitive time, the best she could do was to keep the furniture and the original design of the restaurant. It would be impossible to hang the portrait of any famous figureheads from the past. The most she could do would be hanging the portrait of the president.By now, the remodeling was almost completed and they would open for business by next week.Tong Xuelu was delighted when she thought about her new restaurant.Arriving at the restaurant, Tong Xuelu could see three more people there than usual.Six pairs of eyes landed on Tong Xuelu as she gotten closer.Guo Chunyu, Meng Qingqing, and Guo Weiping quickly greeted her, “Good morning, Manager Tong!”Tong Xuelu, “Good morning.”The other three, upon seeing this, quickly made amends. “Good morning, Manager Tong.”A man in his 40s said, “I’m Lei Dayung, the new chef. I am referred here by Minister Lin.”The young man who was barely 20 years old next to him said, “I am Xiao Tian, the disciple. I am also referred by Minister Lin.”The third person was a girl in her 20s. “I am Hu Leizhu. I am referred by Minister Lin’s wife.”Two of there were referrals from Minister Lin and one from Minister Lin’s wife.Tong Xuelu got it now. They were all here because of their relationships.Tong Xuelu smiled and said, “You are here already? I thought you won’t be here for another couple of days. It’s cold outside. C’mon in. We can talk more once we have gotten inside.”The three felt better after they had seen how friendly Tong Xuelu was.Guo Chunyu and the others, to the contrary, were worried.All of the new people were here because of their relationships. They worried about their attitudes.Would the original crew be threatened?As though she hadn’t noticed the look on the others, Tong Xuelu walked over, opened the door, and let everyone inside.Once inside, Tong Xuelu had the windows opened before she called for a meeting.“Chef Meng will be back in a few days as well. We are getting more and more lively here at the restaurant. For the sake of us working better as a team, why don’t we have a round of self-introduction? Let’s start with Chef Lei?”Lei Dayung looked complacent when he was the first named by Tong Xuelu. “I have been a chef at a government-operated restaurant in City Jian for 8 years. I have a level 2 chef certification.”Tong Xuelu, “Very nice. I have a level 1 chef certification. I am sure we can learn a lot from each other.”Lei Dayung’s bubble was busted immediately and he sounded much more humble. “I don’t think I will have a lot to offer. Manager Tong was the winner at the culinary competition. I have a lot to learn from you.”Tong Xuelu smiled and said, “I am sure we all have our own strong suit. Chef Lei is from City Jian. I am sure you are well versed on their dishes over there. This will allow us to expand our menu.”Lei Dayung had thought that Tong Xuelu wanted to show him who was the boss. Now that she was complimenting him, he was baffled.Lei Dayung was the type who had been around the corners a few times. And, with his tie to Minister Lin, if she didn’t show him up right away, he would only grow to become more arrogant.That being said, she couldn’t take things too far either. He did have ties, after all, to Minister Lin. As such, the best way was a mixture of both approaches.