Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Nonsense Literature Makes You Fully Understand!
Jiang Feng made three dishes in a row: Quick-Fried Double Crisps, Kong Family’s Superior Pot, and Sweet and Sour Carp.
His skill was flawless. The taste was the epitome of authenticity.
Even Zhang Hu, the executive chef, was amazed. It was truly beyond comprehension that someone so young was not only a restaurant owner but also possessed such formidable cooking skills. Judging by the mastery Jiang Feng exhibited, he was unequivocally at the level of a culinary master.
Zhang Hu was a traditional Shandong Cuisine chef, trained by a master of Shandong Cuisine. He realized that Jiang Feng’s mentor might be even more formidable than his own. Jiang Feng’s background is definitely not simple, he thought.
Actually, Jiang Feng had no significant background; he just had a System.
The chefs devoured all three dishes. As culinary professionals, even those less skilled could recognize Jiang Feng’s caliber. His skill could be summed up in one word: expert.
"Boss, with your abilities, leading the team would be effortless. May I ask who your mentor is?" Zhang Hu said with great admiration.
"I taught myself online. I don’t have a mentor," Jiang Feng explained.
Hearing this, Zhang Hu figured Jiang Feng might not want to disclose it. It’s probably inconvenient for him to say, he thought, deciding not to press further. After all, feuds were common among Shandong Cuisine masters. They often didn’t see eye to eye, with some claiming their own style was more authentic than others. It was understandable if he preferred not to say.
Jiang Feng looked at everyone and said, "I cooked today for one reason: to show you all that I know this business. I can tell how a dish is made and taste if any step isn’t up to par. In a moment, I want each of you to prepare a few dishes as you normally would. If I’m satisfied, we’ll sign the contracts. The restaurant needs half a month of renovations. I’ll pay your wages during this period, provided you continue to work for me afterward.
"Alright, Old Zhang, you make the arrangements."
When Jiang Feng addressed them, he carried himself with the air of a boss. Although his tone was gentle, there was an undeniable authority in his gaze.
Seeing this, Zhang Hu immediately began to organize the chefs.
The chefs got busy at their respective stations, working like a well-oiled machine. Everyone was fully focused and attentive. A restaurant relies on its culinary team; it cannot be sustained by a single person. Therefore, Jiang Feng needed to choose his staff wisely and delegate effectively.
Soon, a series of familiar dishes were prepared and brought before Jiang Feng: Sweet and Sour Pork Fillet, Four Happiness Meatballs, Braised Intestines in Brown Sauce, Sweet and Sour Carp, Braised Prawns, and Stir-fried Sea Cucumber with Scallions.
Jiang Feng tasted each dish one by one. These dishes were all up to standard, and the taste was acceptable, but there was still room for improvement. Jiang Feng had ideas for enhancing each dish, but he didn’t know if these chefs would still be working for him by the time the restaurant opened. He planned to conduct a training session two days before the grand opening and would save his suggestions for improvement for that session.
"Alright, your skills are fine. We can sign the contracts," Jiang Feng announced to the chefs. "Before the grand opening, I’ll conduct training sessions, which I’ll organize myself. These dishes have some areas that need improvement. The salaries I’m offering will definitely be higher than what you earned before. And if business is good, there will be bonuses too."
A hint of a smile appeared on everyone’s faces upon hearing Jiang Feng’s words. As long as we can keep working, that’s good enough, they thought.
"Alright, that’s all for today," Jiang Feng continued. "I’ll communicate any further details with Old Zhang. You’re all dismissed."
Then, Jiang Feng called Zhang Hu and Liew Mei aside for a separate meeting.
"The renovations will start tomorrow. It will mainly involve adding some partitions, screens, and similar items. It should be finished in about half a month. I’ll handle the promotion when the time comes; you two just need to prepare to welcome guests."
Upon hearing this, Liew Mei immediately said, "Boss, I can come by daily to supervise. Someone needs to keep an eye on things, especially since the restaurant was just renovated at the end of last year. It’s only been a little over half a year, and I’m worried the construction crew might damage something."
"Alright, just come over and check when you have time," Jiang Feng agreed.
With everything arranged, Jiang Feng let out an inward sigh of relief.
Opening a restaurant was no easy task, and there was a high chance of losing money if it wasn’t managed well. However, Jiang Feng was set to profit regardless. The restaurant was located in a bustling area and had two floors, making the property itself very valuable.
「」
Jiang Feng then began to busy himself with restaurant affairs. The System indicated a new task would be issued in three days. Before the restaurant opens, I should still have about a week to run my stall, though I haven’t decided where to set it up yet, Jiang Feng mused.
Jiang Feng named his restaurant "Jiangyue Terrace Shandong Cuisine Restaurant." He even designed a logo and registered the trademark.
Soon, the renovation company removed the large characters spelling "Gourmet Suite" from the restaurant’s facade. They repainted the surface, prepared the sign board, and hung a new plaque displaying the three characters for "Jiangyue Terrace."
A regular patron of Gourmet Suite happened to pass by the restaurant. Looking up at the newly changed signboard, he was puzzled. He saw the renovation supervisor walking out of the restaurant and approached him.
"Excuse me, sir," the patron asked, "this signboard used to say ’Gourmet Suite.’ Why has it been changed to ’Jiangyue Terrace’?"
The renovation supervisor replied, "Well, this used to be Gourmet Suite. Now, it’s been changed to ’Jiangyue Terrace’."
With that, the supervisor promptly walked away.
The regular customer was dumbfounded. Are you even listening to yourself? What kind of circular talk is this? You’ve truly mastered the art of stating the obvious! he fumed internally. He was reminded of certain frustrating dialogues from *Journey to the West*—even the patient Tang Monk would want to smack someone after hearing that!
However, seeing the renovation materials scattered around and wooden furniture being unloaded from trucks, the patron realized Gourmet Suite had closed down and a new owner had taken over.
Jiangyue Terrace Shandong Cuisine Restaurant... Never heard of it. Will anyone even go there? he pondered.
「...」
Within his culinary team, Jiang Feng identified a very promising young chef. His name was Ho Tian, twenty-five years old. He was an apprentice to Executive Chef Zhang Hu and also Zhang Hu’s nephew. Ho Tian hadn’t excelled academically, so his family had him learn a trade early on. He began his apprenticeship with Zhang Hu at the age of eighteen.
Ho Tian worked the stove station, one of the seven key kitchen stations and the one most crucial in determining a dish’s flavor. The stove station chef is usually a senior chef, as the flavor of a dish largely depends on their work at the stove.
Just then, the System announced it was time to issue a new task, which Jiang Feng promptly received.
[New Task: Successfully cater large village banquets for seven consecutive days, ensuring diner satisfaction.]
[Reward for each completed banquet: 1,000,000.]
[Accept?]
Jiang Feng found the reward quite attractive. Although he had previously earned five million, buying a car, purchasing the small shop at the entrance of his residential complex, and now renovating the restaurant were all major expenses. The seventy to eighty thousand yuan he earned per month from his stall felt somewhat insufficient now.
Another direct cash reward. This is perfect; I need capital to invest in the restaurant, Jiang Feng thought. Besides, I have staff now, so catering banquets won’t be an issue at all.
He made his decision.
A short while later, Jiang Feng received a call from a villager.
"Hello, are you the new owner of Gourmet Suite?" the man asked. "I was referred by Duan Feng, the former owner. This is quite urgent. The culinary team I had booked suddenly canceled on me, and I’d like to book a banquet with you. I need it for tomorrow." The caller urgently explained his situation.
"Yes, that’s me. No problem," Jiang Feng immediately agreed.
The two discussed the details. The caller was quite generous, offering 1,200 yuan per table for sixteen tables. In rural areas, banquets typically cost around 400 to 600 yuan per table, with better ones going for 800 yuan. So, 1,200 yuan was indeed a relatively high price.
Each table was required to feature beef, prawns, pork knuckle, lamb chops, meatballs, fried fish, braised fish, stir-fried meat dishes, Mu Shu pork, chicken, vegetarian dishes, desserts, and cold appetizers, among other things. For a professional culinary team, this menu was not difficult at all.
So, Jiang Feng immediately called Zhang Hu and told him about the banquet.
"Boss, no problem at all!" Zhang Hu exclaimed. "Everyone is already on salary. Whether we cook in the kitchen or go to the village, it’s still work. Catering banquets is right up our alley.
"But Boss," Zhang Hu added frankly, "I have to say, it would be best to give everyone a little extra incentive, say one or two hundred yuan as an errand fee. That way, everyone will work harder, and it’ll be easier for me to lead the team."
Hearing this, Jiang Feng replied with a chuckle, "Don’t worry about that. Tell everyone that the revenue from this banquet is quite high. I’ll give each person a 400 yuan bonus for their hard work, and the three head chefs will get 800 yuan each. I’ll be there tomorrow too; I’ll personally take care of one dish. While the restaurant is being renovated over the next period, no one should be idle. Follow me, and we’ll earn some extra money."
Upon hearing Jiang Feng’s generous offer, Zhang Hu’s face lit up with joy.
These days, money talks loudest, Zhang Hu thought. If you’re willing to pay, anything can be arranged. A stingy boss might think it’s perfectly natural to send staff to cater village banquets since they’re already on salary. But that would surely create internal conflict, and the chefs wouldn’t be happy. After all, traveling so far for an off-site job means travel expenses should be covered, and a hardship bonus is only fair.
Jiang Feng quickly did the math: with a total income of 19,200 yuan from the banquet, ingredients would cost roughly 5,000 yuan, bonuses for the twelve chefs would be 4,800 yuan, and for the three head chefs, 2,400 yuan. This meant he could make a profit of 7,000 yuan. That’s quite a bit, he thought.
Next, Jiang Feng contacted the butcher he always worked with. This butcher had consistently been reliable and had never tried to cheat him. It was precisely for this reason that the butcher now landed a major account with the Jiangyue Terrace restaurant. Procurement was an area where shady dealings could easily occur, so Jiang Feng preferred to keep it under his direct control. Zhang Hu would list the needed items, Jiang Feng would contact the butcher to prepare the meat and other produce, and for seafood, he would continue to work with his previous supplier.
The butcher hadn’t expected such a huge stroke of luck to fall into his lap! This single large account with Jiangyue Terrace felt like a path to prosperity. His respect for Jiang Feng deepened. To the butcher, Jiang Feng was practically his God of Wealth!
All preparations were set in motion.
No stall this week; I’m catering banquets instead, Jiang Feng thought. Village banquets should be pretty lively.
He couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation.