Chapter 334 - "What are you doing here, Rugui?" (1)
Uncle Zong immediately ran up to Old Mr. Wan. “Commander, did you see Miss Young Grass?”
Old Mr. Wan handed the bag that he was carrying over to Uncle Zong. “Of course. The girl is pretty, poise, well-tempered, and competent. Not to mention her cooking.”
All in all, she was all round good. The more he got to know her, the more pleased he was with her.
Uncle Zong nodded in full agreement. “Miss Young Grass is truly a wonderful girl. No wonder Rugui had fallen for her. Oh right, Commander, what did you bring me?”
Old Mr. Wan rolled his eyes, “What do you mean what did I bring you? This is my dinner!”
Uncle Zong felt aggrieved. “……”
Commander, that was not cool!
You promised me that you would bring me food. How did they turn into your dinner?
Tong Mianmian’s fever had finally gone down the next day and the little girl started to smile again.
Tong Xuelu finally let out a sigh of relief.
Tong Jiaming and Tong Jiaxin had wanted to take the day off but Tong Xuelu would not allow them to do so. She had them gone in to work and handed Tong Mianmian over to the Wei’s to watch over.
She planned to make some extra meatballs and fish balls today and give some of them to the Wei’s in order to repay them.
As the days got colder, malatang at the restaurant became more and more popular.
A bite of some spicy food and a sip of the spicy soup would warm one up right away in weather like this.
Not to mention patrons could experience more varieties of meats and vegetables for less money. That was too much of a temptation for most.
Many who couldn’t bring themselves to spend the money and dine at a restaurant had given in and would come for a meal after pay day.
Tong Xuelu remembered the old man among them.
The old man would come almost one every day or every other day and would be the first in line every day. He would bring with him two lunch boxes every time and, every time he placed his orders, he would chat Tong Xuelu up.
Tong Xuelu wondered if he was a lonely old man who’d come to chitchat with her because he was too lonely at home.
Two more fall rains and it was almost the end of the month.
Tong Xuelu went over to the Commerce Department for her meeting again.
She did not go empty handed like she did last time.
Instead, she brought with her a summary report and her performance report.
Everyone looked at her with contempt the last time Tong Xuelu walked into the conference room.
This time, however, everybody looked at her differently.
Back then, everybody thought she was just bluffing and didn’t know what she was talking about when she said she could turn the restaurant around within a month.
Low and behold, the 19-year-old was able to turn the restaurant around in barely two weeks’ time and her restaurant was raved about at that.
Whenever government-operated restaurants were mentioned nowadays, hers was the first that people think about, especially her malatang.
Many at the meeting today had been there secretly, and it tasted as good as others said.
Watching Tong Xuelu walked inside with her head held high, some felt embarrassed, some had respect for her, and others just felt unreconciled.
Tong Xuelu had switched from her nonchalant manner from before. She would nod and greet anyone who looked over at her.
Seeing that she wasn’t snotty at all, others immediately grew somewhat fond of her.
“Comrade Tong, how did you make that malatang? The entire capital city are talking about it right now!”
“I know, right? My wife brought my child there once and they wouldn’t stopped talking about it after they had come home!”
“You have accomplished so much at your young age. That is so amazing!”
Tong Xuelu smiled and said, “Oh, you are too nice. Malatang is actually a regional dish but I came up with the recipe myself. I don’t have a lot of hobbies and just enjoy messing around with cooking during my free time.”
“Oh, right. I remember now. Comrade Tong is also the stand in chef for your restaurant, right?”
Tong Xuelu nodded. “That’s right. Our chef broke his arm so I have been standing in for him.”
Someone wasn’t happy with that. “You need a certificate to be a chef. How can Comrade Tong just stand in for the chef without a certificate?”
Tong Xuelu turned to look at the man who spoke. “Comrade Chairman had said that those who had not done their homework should not speak. I urge you to do your homework first before you speak. Else you are just making yourself a laughingstock.
“Not only do I have a certificate. I have the Class 1 certificate.”
The chef certificate had three different levels going from Class 3 to Class 1. That being said, most place would not hire some one with a Class 3 certificate. There was only a handful of Class 1 chefs in capital city. As such, most restaurants were only able to hire Class 2 chefs.
Her words shocked everyone there.