Society is like this—diverse, chaotic, and filled with all sorts of people. China has thousands of years of culinary culture, with numerous regional cuisines forming their own distinct schools, so it’s not surprising that factions have emerged. However, for these culinary factions to evolve into mafia-like organizations—this was something Shui Miao had never heard of before. The mafia represents the dark side of society; ordinary people fear them, and Shui Miao, not wanting unnecessary trouble, naturally felt some apprehension.
On the surface, the position of restaurant manager seemed prestigious and elegant—definitely a white-collar job.
But the reality was different. The role of restaurant manager was actually the most difficult in the entire hotel. If you didn’t have connections in the legitimate world, you wouldn’t get government-funded banquets, and your income would plummet. If you didn’t have ties to the underworld, gangsters could come and cause trouble, making business impossible and ultimately leading to losses—enough to push the hotel toward bankruptcy. The hotel hired you to generate revenue; if you couldn’t bring in the business, why would they keep you? Do they just have too much money?
Shui Miao, being young and inexperienced, didn’t know these harsh realities at first.
Today, after hearing what Old Bi had to say, Shui Miao finally realized how serious the situation was.
“So what should I do? Is there any other way to keep everyone here?” Shui Miao thought there must be another option.
Old Bi sighed and said, “Well, there is a way, but it’s just not worth it. The association has a rule: you can register a school license for three million yuan, and only after obtaining that license can you recruit chefs to take over the restaurant. That’s also why hiring a group of chefs costs so much. Of course, there are benefits after getting the license—for example, if any unaffiliated chefs come to compete for your business, you can report them to the association, and they’ll take care of them, even crippling the competition.”
Three million for a license—in essence, it was just a protection fee.
“So shady!!”
Shui Miao finally understood. He hadn’t expected such a dark secret behind it all. “Oh, right, Uncle Bi, didn’t you also take over a kitchen? Don’t you have a license then?”
“I can lead a team because there’s a big brother in the association backing me. But he said he can only protect me for life. If I quit, the people under me will have to be absorbed into other factions. This big brother means what he says—you shouldn’t even think about trying to get to him.” Old Bi waved his hand dismissively. If he could have fixed this himself, he wouldn’t have waited until today.
With that said, there was no choice but to rehire a master chef.
“Uncle Bi, if I may ask, how much did you pay each month for managing the kitchen here?” Shui Miao thought that spending three million on a license was unrealistic, and hiring a master chef would be more cost-effective.
“Didn’t you ask Madam Lin about that?” Old Bi was taken aback, surprised that Shui Miao didn’t even know this.
“Not yet, I haven’t had the chance.”
Shui Miao felt awkward. He had been pushed into this position without any preparation, and he hadn’t even considered becoming a restaurant manager.
“Oh, then let me tell you. We have twenty-nine chefs and eight kitchen assistants here. The monthly salary is three hundred thousand yuan. This is actually the lowest rate in the industry. If you hire new chefs, I can introduce you to some contacts, but the minimum would be no less than four hundred thousand.”
“So much…”
Shui Miao was stunned. By this calculation, wouldn’t Old Bi be making over a hundred thousand every month as head chef?
“What do you mean ‘so much’?!” Old Bi shook his head, his face full of bitterness. “You think paying for the license is the end of it? You also have to pay a fifty-thousand annual membership fee. Don’t you think that’s money? By the time you earn back the three million, more than a decade will have passed!”
“Uh…”
Shui Miao was momentarily at a loss for words. This was a major problem right at the start of his new role. Once Huang Fei left, his customer base would scatter. As a regular employee turned manager, with no connections in either the legitimate or the criminal worlds, hiring chefs with a monthly salary of four hundred thousand without enough business would only lead to losses.
“Ah! You should discuss it with Madam Lin. Maybe she has a solution,” Old Bi said as he stood up and patted Shui Miao’s shoulder. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll go back to work now.”
※※※
After leaving the break room and opening the kitchen door, Shui Miao immediately encountered a beautiful woman.
She stood about 1.7 meters tall, with skin as smooth as flour and as translucent as jade. Her eyes were enchanting, and her smile could make anyone lose focus. She was none other than Xiao Tang, the hotel’s head waitress. A native of Jiangxi, Xiao Tang had excellent demeanor, standard Mandarin, and a sharp mind, making her one of the most famous beauties in the hotel.
Xiao Tang was warm and enthusiastic toward superiors and guests.
But she was strict and cold toward the waitstaff, rarely smiling.
Her attitude toward Shui Miao had always been the same.
Shui Miao had worked at the hotel for two years and had never once seen Xiao Tang smile at him.
But today, her expression could melt anyone’s heart.
“Oh! Xiao Shui, Manager Xiao…”
Seeing Shui Miao, Xiao Tang immediately clasped her hands over her deep cleavage, her ample bosom bouncing as her face suddenly flushed red!
Are you a chameleon or something? Shui Miao almost wanted to ask.
“Hehe, you know, do I really look that young?” Shui Miao didn’t know why, but seeing her like this, he couldn’t resist teasing her a little. He had to admit that although she was a bit ambitious, her abilities and charm were undeniable.
“Oh no! That’s not what I meant at all…”
Xiao Tang playfully bit her tongue and hurriedly waved her hands in explanation.
Seeing no one around, Shui Miao raised his eyebrows slightly. “Then what did you mean?”
“I…”
“You… you’re so bad…”
As she spoke, Xiao Tang shyly reached out to pinch Shui Miao’s arm. He instinctively raised his hand and accidentally touched her chest—it was soft and elastic!
“Oh! You’re so naughty, so naughty!”
Xiao Tang’s face turned red all the way to her neck. She playfully punched Shui Miao’s chest repeatedly, though her punches were anything but painful.
Shui Miao didn’t raise his hand again but instead gazed deeply into her eyes.
Xiao Tang suddenly noticed his gaze. Their eyes met, and the atmosphere, already somewhat intimate, made her heart flutter. Her punches grew gentler and gentler until she softly pressed her hands against his chest, leaning closer to him, her eyes slowly closing…
She clearly wanted him to kiss her!
If it were any ordinary guy, he would have already seized the moment and kissed her passionately!
But Shui Miao gently placed a finger in front of her lips, shook his head slightly, and whispered, “Xiao Tang, there are a lot of people watching you.”
“Ah!”
Xiao Tang suddenly snapped back to reality and quickly turned around, rushing toward the women’s locker room.
In reality, not many people were watching. Only Chen Bing had come over from Hall B.
Watching Xiao Tang’s retreating figure, Shui Miao suddenly felt a sense of satisfaction.
Bang!
Xiao Tang slammed the locker room door shut, leaning against it with her back, and excitedly whispered to herself, “Great, great! Now I have a chance to become a supervisor…”
It turned out that after learning about Shui Miao’s new position as restaurant manager, Xiao Tang had planned to get close to him and use the opportunity to get promoted to supervisor. But during their unexpected encounter and flirtatious exchange, she realized that Shui Miao was actually interested in her. Excited and flattered, she suddenly found him quite charming—why hadn’t she noticed this before?
In fact, in her eyes, anyone with money and status was attractive.
※※※
“Boss Shui, the lobsters have arrived, all big ones. Do you want to check them out?” Chen Bing had just seen Xiao Tang run into the locker room and although he was curious, he didn’t dare to ask any unnecessary questions after his previous experience.
“No need, you can handle it,” Shui Miao waved at Chen Bing and turned toward the manager’s office nearby. “Come here, I need to talk to you about something.”
This was the office Huang Fei had set up beside the restaurant.
The office was in a mess. Huang Fei rarely came here, and it had become a temporary storage room filled with red wine and beer. In the past, when business was slow, everyone used to hide here and play cards. Entering the office, Shui Miao immediately whispered to Chen Bing, “Madam Lin said that none of the other department managers are clean—they’ve all embezzled hotel funds. They’re all bastards. I want to play a prank on them during lunch to give them a humiliating welcome and make them lose face in front of all the employees. What do you think?”
“This… I’ve never even thought about this…”
Chen Bing was stunned. How had Boss Shui suddenly turned mischievous? Scaring the department managers—was that something an ordinary employee could even think of doing?
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