Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 846 - 421: Broad Avenue (Part 2)

Qu Jing nodded emphatically, "That’s exactly what I mean, Youyou is essentially very simple and pure. The residual memories of the spirit haven’t impacted her much; her simplicity makes her very self-consistent logically. Youyou told me that sometimes she dreams at night of begging for food or working, and when she wakes up, she feels it’s a reminder to herself to earn more money."

"During my previous life, the residual memories drove me crazy and mentally unstable. But Youyou’s residual memories only made her desire for money extraordinarily intense. Although we still don’t know what Youyou’s obsession really is, it must be related to money. Being able to get promoted and get raises through her own efforts to earn more money to satisfy that obsession is definitely safer and more reliable than what Mr. Luo said about just giving her money."

Qu Jing didn’t forget to mention Luo Jun’s shortcuts at the end of her statement.

Luo Jun kept a stern face and remained silent, one could say that as death approaches, people’s words become kinder. Bi Fang’s days are numbered, and his temper has also improved.

Chen Huihong found Qu Jing’s analysis very reasonable and praised it highly, her voice becoming much more enthusiastic, raising by eight degrees: "Jingjing, you really have a knack for this, chatting in such depth so quietly. I always thought you were just talking to Youyou on WeChat to show you care, like how I used to show you care, to stop her from feeling so hopeless as to commit suicide."

Qu Jing sometimes smiled awkwardly, "I was just trying it out; Youyou is different from me. Compared to me, she’s much more normal. Furthermore, Youyou’s mentality is very healthy, and in this lifetime, she likely won’t commit suicide; she’ll just die naturally or by accident."

Chen Huihong exclaimed in wonder, "That Three legged Golden Toad really has something. It’s quite rare for a spirit to live through a transitional life muddle-headedly without committing suicide."

"Actually, not all of them commit suicide, Sister Hong. Look at Mr. Gong and Uncle Wang; I think both of them have good mental states."

"That’s not necessarily true; the mental state during a transitional life can fluctuate. You can’t predict when they might suddenly lose hope and end it all."

Shi Dadan, who had been silently eating takeout, suddenly joined the conversation. He lifted his takeout box, took a sip of the soup, and said seriously, "Indeed, if you want to die, you can do it anytime. In my first life, I died quite happily."

Qin Huai: ...

Alright, let’s not talk about this, the internet is not beyond the law. Although none of us are humans, can’t we at least speak like one?

Qin Huai turned the phone back, raising his hand slightly to indicate that he wanted to interrupt this fascinating conversation.

"So our current urgent task is to find An Youyou an environment where she can be motivated but won’t be obsessed with being the boss and the desire to be a boss, right?"

Luo Jun looked at the camera with an expression like he was staring at an idiot, his face full of disbelief, like "Are you okay? Have you become stupid from making egg tarts these past few days?"

Shi Dadan slowly took another sip of soup, looked up at Qin Huai, and reminded, "I think Dr. Qu means she wants Xiao Qin to ask An Youyou to transfer to Zhiwei Restaurant as an apprentice."

Qin Huai was momentarily stunned; he wasn’t pretending to be dumb and honestly hadn’t caught on immediately.

"Transferring An Youyou to Zhiwei Restaurant as an apprentice, she would follow..." Qin Huai started to say, then suddenly realized that his recent understanding of Zhiwei Restaurant was different from what he originally thought.

The current situation at Zhiwei Restaurant is that apprenticeships are being expanded, basically as long as you have some foundation and are willing to endure hardship as an apprentice, you can gain entry. Then you come in and grind it out, and whether you can stand out depends on personal ability; getting in is easy, but elimination is also swift.

An Youyou definitely meets the qualifications; she has the foundation and is willing to work hard.

The apprentice salary at Zhiwei Restaurant isn’t high, so An Youyou might not have much motivation. But no matter, she can use the pretense of an exchange to work hard at Zhiwei Restaurant, and the salary can be provided by Qin Huai. The better she does, the higher her pay.

Although under normal circumstances, Zhiwei Restaurant only accepts exchanges for Masters, there are no explicit rules forbidding apprentices from joining the exchange.

Boss Su is someone very adept at flexible adaptation; the more versatile, the better.

"It seems feasible," Qin Huai marveled, "With so many apprentices here at Zhiwei Restaurant, anyone aspiring to become the top apprentice here would have to endure quite a struggle. And here, it’s not just apprentices; there are also those training to become direct disciples, direct disciples, and even below the Master, can strive. If successful, they can gain promotions and raises upon leaving."

"This isn’t some underhanded scheme; this is practically a broad and open path!"

Qu Jing smiled without saying anything, modestly claiming no credit.

"I’ll message Huang Xi shortly to see if An Youyou is interested in coming to Zhiwei Restaurant for an exchange."

"As for the reason... Yunzhong Restaurant’s helpers also need to enhance their management, so we should send the best helpers to Zhiwei Restaurant for further study and learning advanced apprentice skills. Consider it a business trip, with extra allowances and bonuses; An Youyou should be willing to come."

After discussing business, Luo Jun seemed a bit impatient and asked, "Is there anything else? If not, I’m going to watch TV now. All this chit-chat is giving me a headache, can’t even watch TV. I don’t know what’s up with Zhang Shumei recently, buying so much fruit that it’s spoiling at home."

Chen Huihong enthusiastically replied immediately, "Should’ve said so earlier. I’ll select some for you after I pick up Huihui from the tutoring class later. Jingjing, what kind of fruit do you want? I’ll pick some for you."

"Kiwi."

"Alright, I’ll pick more then, if there are some particularly good ones, I’ll grab some for you too."

Luo Jun replied with a cold snort.

Qin Huai found it odd and casually asked, "Sister Hong, haven’t you had any tea parties at Mr. Luo’s house recently?"

Chen Huihong waved her hand, "No time, Huihui’s deskmate signed up for a violin class a while back, and Huihui wants to learn together, so every evening she has to go to the teacher’s house for violin lessons, and I have to chauffeur her."

"Jingjing’s hospital was wildly busy with medical disputes a while back; now there’s some conference or something, and Jingjing is writing a paper, not even having time to choose a burial site, so I picked that cemetery myself."

"Have you even looked at the places you chose? Once you die, you wouldn’t want to be buried there," Luo Jun mocked.

Chen Huihong didn’t follow up on Luo Jun’s words but continued on her own, "Speaking of which, we really haven’t gathered for a tea party in a long time. It seems like our group hasn’t had such a gathering yet; I haven’t even seen Cheng Gong in person."

"I wonder if we can all get together for a meal before Mr. Luo passes away."

"It’s doable," Cheng Gong suddenly spoke, startling everyone into silence. No one had noticed when he joined the call amidst the heated discussion.

"Assistant Chen, when did you join?" Qin Huai asked.

"I was in a meeting just now and couldn’t join right away. When I came in, I happened to hear everyone discussing methods of suicide. Coincidentally, I still had some follow-up work to do, so I just muted myself."

"I’m just not sure whether Mr. Luo plans to die this year or next year. If next year, I’ll have more time; if this year, we should set a date, and I should take a leave from President Han to attend the tea party specially."

Everyone looked at Luo Jun’s tile.

Luo Jun: ...

Now, Luo Jun really wanted to breathe fire and burn everyone in this video call to ashes; he wanted to be angry, but found he couldn’t muster it, could only display a furious expression while calmly saying, "Do you believe I could die right now?"

"Mr. Luo, you haven’t even finished watching your TV series; at least finish it before dying," Qin Huai advised.

Luo Jun: ...

He couldn’t help but feel Qin Huai’s words were strangely sarcastic. Luo Jun vaguely recalled that Qin Huai didn’t used to talk like this. How did a visit to Zhiwei Restaurant change him?

Before Luo Jun could speak, Qin Huai said, "Gathering for a meal is something the sooner the better; if delayed, who knows what might happen. Maybe when I get back from Zhiwei Restaurant, we can set a time to meet for a simple meal, or we could directly have the tea party at Mr. Luo’s place."

"Whatever suits you," Luo Jun said in a bad mood, "If you’re coming to my house, let me know in advance. Just one rule: Chen Huihong is not allowed in my kitchen to cook!"