Early the next morning, Lin Jiang arrived at the shop.
He had to get the water ready, and the technician was coming to install the security cameras.
Just as he finished with the water, the shop door was pushed open.
A young man in his twenties, wearing a black tank top and jeans, walked in from outside.
He carried a retractable ladder in his left hand and a toolbox in his right.
"Hey, Boss. Are you the one who needs security cameras installed?"
"That’s right."
Lin Jiang brought out the cameras he had bought. "I spoke with customer service. They said six cameras should be enough to cover every spot without any blind spots. That should be fine, right?"
"More than enough."
"Then I’ll leave it to you. If you need any help, just let me know."
"You got it."
With nothing else to do, Lin Jiang sat to the side and started looking for a suitable renovation company, occasionally glancing at the technician before him.
He wasn’t old and worked quite efficiently, but judging by the tattoos and cigarette burns on his arms, he must have been a delinquent in his youth.
But now, it seemed he had bowed his head to life.
Lin Jiang got up and grabbed a bottle of water for him.
"It’s pretty hot today. Have some water."
"Thanks, Boss."
The technician twisted open the cap and took a swig.
"I really envy you guys. No wind, no rain. It’s great."
"But we’re not free. We have to work all year round, not like you guys," Lin Jiang said politely. "People in your line of work must make at least ten thousand a month, right?"
"Not even close. I’m lucky if I make three or four thousand."
"No way. Your job is both physical and skilled labor. If the pay is too low, no one would be willing to do it."
’University students are the real beasts of burden. These guys aren’t.’
’If the money’s not right, they’ll really just stop working and walk off the job.’
"Sigh... To be honest with you, I got into a fight and did a year in jail. Now I’ve got a criminal record, so I can’t find a good job. I can only take on odd jobs like this."
"So that’s what happened," Lin Jiang murmured. "Take it slow. You’ll make it someday."
Faced with this situation, Lin Jiang didn’t know what else to say, so he could only offer a bland, noncommittal word of comfort.
"Yeah."
Not wanting to slow the man down, Lin Jiang didn’t chat with him any further.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t finish the installation before opening time, which would delay business.
Just then, Li Yuanyuan and Zhou Xiaoli arrived.
They saw the technician but didn’t ask any questions, as they already knew about the security camera installation.
After arriving, the two of them started their work. As it neared ten o’clock, they prepared to open for business.
"It’s almost ten. Why isn’t Brother Zhang here yet?" Zhou Xiaoli muttered.
"I’ll give him a call and ask."
Li Yuanyuan sat at a table peeling garlic and put the phone on speaker as she dialed Zhang Guofu.
"Brother Zhang, where are you?"
"You can tell him I quit."
"Huh?!"
At his words, Li Yuanyuan’s voice shot up several octaves.
"Everything was fine, why are you suddenly quitting? Even if you’re going to quit, you should have given some notice! Brother Jiang needs to find a replacement for you. What kind of way is this to do things?"
"I’ll work if I want to and quit if I don’t. Why do I have to tell him?" Zhang Guofu said rudely.
"But..."
"Let me talk to him."
Lin Jiang interrupted Li Yuanyuan and took the phone.
"If you just walk off the job like this, I can’t pay you your previous wages."
"I don’t want that pathetic salary. You can keep it. Without me, your shop can just wait to go under."
Zhang Guofu abruptly hung up, not giving Lin Jiang a chance to say another word.
Lin Jiang suddenly felt like laughing.
’This old coot has zero self-awareness. Does he not know what his own cooking tastes like?’
Li Yuanyuan and Zhou Xiaoli both looked at Lin Jiang.
"Brother Jiang, we don’t have a chef anymore. What are we going to do?"
"What’s there to panic about? Before you two came, I ran this shop all by myself. I can manage just fine without him."
Zhang Guofu’s sudden departure seemed to catch everyone off guard, but Lin Jiang was already prepared.
He had already posted the job advertisement. He could hold down the fort for a few days until he found a suitable replacement.
It wouldn’t affect things at all.
"Yuanyuan, go write a ’Help Wanted’ sign and post it on the door. Just say the shop is hiring a chef, salary 7,000."
"Brother Jiang, I dropped out in seventh grade. I don’t know how to write that stuff."
Lin Jiang looked at Zhou Xiaoli.
"I’m even worse than her. I only graduated from elementary school."
Lin Jiang rubbed his temples. His head was starting to ache.
Taking out a pen and paper, Lin Jiang wrote the ’Help Wanted’ sign himself and taped it to the glass on the door.
’A two-pronged approach. This should speed things up.’
"Zhang Guofu is too much. Walking out like that, it was definitely on purpose," Zhou Xiaoli complained.
"I think he’d been planning it for a while. When he left last night, he didn’t even say goodbye to us. He must have already made up his mind," said Li Yuanyuan.
"What a scumbag. That’s no way to do things."
"Alright, let’s not talk about him anymore. Let’s get back to work," Lin Jiang said.
"Okay."
Just then, the technician finished installing all the cameras.
"Boss, I’m all done. Connect it to the computer and see if it’s working properly."
"Alright."
Lin Jiang went to the counter and looked at the monitor feed.
As expected, they covered everything. Not a single blind spot. His skill and experience were definitely solid.
"You did a great job. Yuanyuan, get the man a bottle of water."
"Okay."
"Boss, you don’t have to get me another water. I overheard you guys talking earlier. Did you say the shop is hiring a chef?" the technician asked tentatively.
The three of them turned to look at him in unison.
"Don’t tell me you’re thinking of applying?" Lin Jiang asked, looking at him.
The technician gave a sheepish grin. "I actually trained as a chef before. I specialize in noodles."
"How long did you do it for?"
"I studied it in school for two years, then worked as an apprentice in a big hotel for a year, and then..."
’And then he went in...’
The technician looked at Lin Jiang and deliberately lowered his voice.
"After I got inside, the warden saw I had some skills, so he had me help out in the cafeteria. My skills didn’t get rusty."
Lin Jiang fell silent, considering the feasibility of this.
"Boss, don’t sweat it. I don’t need that much. Just give me 4,000. If I do a good job, you can give me a raise. If I don’t, you can just fire me. If you don’t trust me, you can withhold a month’s pay. If that’s still not enough, I can even write you a formal pledge."
Lin Jiang thought for a moment, then glanced at the technician again.
Although the tattoos and cigarette burns on his arms were jarring, his eyes were sincere. It was the same look Li Yuanyuan had when she first applied for the job.
"Alright, I’ll give you a chance. The salary will be 4,000. If you can meet my standards, I’ll raise it to 7,000. As for withholding pay, that won’t be necessary. As long as you work hard and aren’t afraid of a tough job, that’s all that matters."
"Don’t worry, Boss. I’ll definitely work hard."
The technician broke into a wide grin. To him, having a stable job was more important than anything else.
[You have received the technician’s gratitude. Charm +1]
Uh...
’Is this really a necessary way to increase my Charm?’
"How old are you? What’s your name?"
"My name is Yang Tao, and I’m 21 this year."
"Twenty-one... studied cooking for two years, apprenticed for one year, went in for a year, then worked as an installation tech for half a year..."
Lin Jiang muttered, "Did you graduate from junior high?"
"I also graduated from elementary school, but I lost the diploma. But I swear, I’m absolutely not faking my education. I really did graduate from elementary school. If I’m lying, may I be struck by lightning."
"I’m just saying, there’s no need to make such a deadly oath over an elementary school education."
"But I really did graduate from elementary school! You gave me a chance, so I can’t lie to you."
Yang Tao pointed a single finger to the sky. "Gaoshun County, Eternal Town First Elementary School. But my elementary school isn’t there anymore."
Lin Jiang: ...
Lin Jiang’s gaze swept over his three employees one by one.
’My three great generals... and the most educated one only made it to seventh grade. Who the hell am I supposed to complain to about this?’
’Is the universe discriminating against us noodle shop owners?’

Comments

Loading...