"But don’t worry, Master Qin. I will definitely work hard to learn and practice. These days, the first thing I do when I get home is knead dough. Every morning, I eat my own handmade noodle soup."
Qin Huai: ... Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on noᴠelfire.net
How did you go from thinking that begging is the best job in the world, faster than any other job, to having the ambition of becoming a breakfast chef?
Just how much of a psychological shadow did Jiang Weiguo’s buns cause you? Did Jiang Weiguo get rich from selling buns?
"That’s great, very ambitious," Qin Huai encouraged, "But don’t tire yourself out too much. By the way, I’ve arranged some employee benefits for everyone recently. When do you have a day off?"
"Tomorrow, go to Sister Xi to pick up the health check voucher. You know Dr. Qu, right?"
"Get a check-up at Dr. Qu’s hospital. Come by the shop before you go and take some snacks over to Dr. Qu for me."
After talking about work, Qin Huai wanted to shift the topic to life. He thought for a moment, then casually asked, "Youyou, I remember you said last time you were saving up to buy a phone, tablet, and computer. Did you buy them?"
"I bought a tablet. As soon as I got paid this month, I bought it." Talking about this made An Youyou’s eyes light up, "The screen is so bright and clear. Watching TV shows is super clear, way better than watching on my phone!"
"Do you go out when you’re off?"
"No, when I’m off I practice my knife skills at home! Really, I’m very diligent. I’ve bought a bunch of carrots to cut at home," An Youyou said earnestly, almost raising her hand to swear, with ambitions of promotion and salary raise written all over her face.
That’s not necessary; our cafeteria isn’t a place that demands a 996 work schedule or requires employees to be on call 24 hours like companies in nearby office buildings.
"Don’t feel pressured. Youyou, I remember you telling me your family used to run a breakfast shop. I haven’t met many people in the same trade all these years. Tell me more."
Qin Huai’s skill in extracting information increased ever since he met Gong Liang and Cheng Gong. If Gong Liang and Cheng Gong somewhat realized Qin Huai was trying to extract information, just saying what could be said to cater to Master Qin’s interest in gossip, then An Youyou had no clue.
A sincere kid, she said everything she could and couldn’t say.
From their town’s breakfast business to her dad cutting corners, being stingy with lard for buns and not using good vegetable oil, every time he used cheap oils bought from the market for buns, causing their buns to have an unpleasant stale taste, her dad even used extra spices to cover the smell.
Such actions not only didn’t reduce costs but raised them due to the cost of spices. Serendipitously, her dad discovered a new vegetable bun recipe—the mixed spices blended perfectly with their vegetable buns, very popular among locals, making their breakfast shop business flourish.
This directly led An Youyou to get up at 2 AM every morning to chop filling, and after graduating from junior high, chopping day and night at home. She chopped so much that just the smell of their family’s bun filling made An Youyou sick.
An Youyou didn’t treat Qin Huai as an outsider, revealing their secret recipe the moment she started speaking.
An Youyou even shared the moment when she arrived in Shan City looking for a job, pockets empty, trying to sell their secret recipe but ended up getting no offers.
In response, Qin Huai stated that until An Youyou awakens, he would never reveal any secret recipe to her.
Of course, it’s not like there’s any secret recipe to divulge. To Qin Huai, the snacks he makes don’t count as secret recipes. It’s all about skill levels; those you naturally master with enough practice, with perhaps a few tricks. Failing to produce them is just a matter of lacking skill.
With Youyou’s current level, she’s unlikely to understand any snack-making process.
After all the buns were wrapped, Qin Huai only reached one conclusion.
The same conclusion as before.
An Youyou is truly lacking money, loving money even more, and loving to spend money most of all, hence having almost none left.
She’s living a life that would be difficult even for a Three-legged Golden Toad.
After conversing with An Youyou, Qin Huai realized that what Luo Jun said during a video call wasn’t far off, just overly aggressive.
To deal with Youyou, direct promotions, salary raises, and material support are indeed necessary for her awakening. An Youyou is a spirit with obsessiveness and desires written all over, never avoiding showing it.
She simply wants to make money, a lot of money, enough for a lavish lifestyle, ideally for living extravagantly too.
How this money is earned isn’t her biggest concern, as long as she avoids being jailed for it. An Youyou’s moral bottom line on earning money isn’t high, even willing to sell their unique family recipe.
Letting her awaken and become wealthy is the most direct and useful approach.
But this method should be measured.
Not too abrupt nor seemingly dropping from the sky. An Youyou’s moral line in making money is already low and would drop further with effortless gains, making it prone for her to go astray, affecting her breakthrough.
What Luo Jun suggested, gifting a house and money, would surely not work. Youyou needs to achieve promotion and pay increment through her own effort, utilizing previously absent but now possible employee benefits to lead a better life.