Gourmet: Midnight Vending-Chapter 316 - 293: The Interview Begins

Wanglong Mountain, the resort.

After several months of infrastructure work, the resort has begun to take shape. This is the power of money.

After leveling the foundation, we are now working on building the hotel and various shops. Once these buildings are completed, the hot spring project of the resort will follow. Overall, it can be said to be one of the top projects in Jingzhou City.

At the entrance of the resort, there is a vacant lot, which is the project department.

Three rows of prefab houses serve as dormitories for the project staff, and on the other side of these houses is the staff canteen, which can accommodate eighty people dining at once.

From the outside, the canteen looks a bit simple.

But inside, everything necessary is there, and the hygiene conditions are quite good. Fang Zhizhong chose this spot as the interview venue.

For such a large project, a huge number of employees will be needed once it’s completed. Recruitment isn’t a matter of just a day or two; starting a year or two in advance is a common practice.

Once the important staff are decided, hiring other service personnel temporarily won’t be a problem.

At this moment, Fang Zhizhong is standing in the canteen chatting idly with the head chef.

He plans to keep this chef, who alone can cook for over eighty people, and the dishes taste pretty good. Later, the chef can be responsible for preparing meals for the resort staff. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"President Fang, what’s the background of this chef? How can he ask for twenty-eight thousand right off the bat? Isn’t that like daylight robbery?"

Fang Zhizhong is often on the construction site, and he is very down-to-earth, so his subordinates can chat with him freely.

No wonder the head chef says so. He wakes up early and stays up late cooking for so many people every day and only earns eight thousand a month.

Even with this, it’s considered a decent job in Jingzhou. If he went to the city, he’d only make five to six thousand.

"He’s a famous Huaiyang Cuisine chef and has quite a skill with Huaiyang dishes. He even made a name for himself at a state banquet."

"Tsk." The head chef was obviously a bit disdainful.

Thinking, isn’t it just a knife and a ladle, throw the ingredients in the pot, stir them up, and once they’re cooked, eat them. What’s the big deal?

At that moment, the canteen door was pushed open.

"Hello, is President Fang here?"

Fang Zhizhong stood up and shook hands with the man who entered, "That’s me. And you must be Zhou Yu, Mr. Zhou, right?"

"Yes." Zhou Yu smiled politely at Fang Zhizhong, "Boss Fang, looking at it this way, our resort still has some time before it’s completed."

Fang Zhizhong understood what he meant, "Don’t worry about that. As long as we have an agreement, salaries will start being issued next month. I have some other small companies here in Jingzhou, and you can start there. Once the resort is complete, you can directly transfer over."

"Shall we start, then?" Zhou Yu said.

He was very confident in his own skills and saw this so-called interview as a mere formality.

After all, if this boss couldn’t appreciate his craftsmanship, then it would be difficult to find a better chef than him in Jingzhou.

As for recruiting from the Jiangnan area?

No one with his skill would be willing to leave their hometown for a job up north at a lower price.

He is an exception.

"Hold on a moment." Fang Zhizhong asked Zhou Yu to sit down, "To be honest, Mr. Zhou, I am not very knowledgeable about the quality of dishes, so I specially invited two friends to taste the food today. Hope you don’t mind?"

"Of course, I don’t mind."

Zhou Yu thought that this boss was well-prepared and wondered who these distinguished guests might be.

Speak of the devil, and he’ll appear.

Fang Zhizhong saw more people arriving through the window, and quickly got up to greet them, "Boss Mu, Master Hou. Wow, it’s really nice of you two to make a special trip up the mountain for my sake."

"No trouble at all. Just give me a membership card when you open." Mu Xin spoke freely, curiously looking around at the canteen, then glancing at the construction site outside, "Boss Fang, you’ve gone all out! This is quite an investment, isn’t it?"

"Haha, my friends gave me the honor of pushing me to lead this project. How could I afford to invest in such a thing on my own?" Fang Zhizhong turned to introduce, "This is the chef I specially invited from Jiangsu, and he’s been to the National Guest House. I’m just a rough man, so I hope Master Hou will have a good exchange with Master Zhou."

"Hmm." Hou Yao was not in a talkative mood today.

His thoughts were not on this Zhou Yu.

Earlier, at the unfinished building, Hou Yao didn’t give it much thought. He just felt Boss Xiao Chen’s culinary skills were extraordinary. At least, among those he had seen, he mastered the three major cuisines of Sichuan, Cantonese, and Xiang.

He also made many snacks, some of which were entirely Boss Xiao Chen’s own modified creations.

On the way to Wanglong Mountain, Hou Yao began to ponder it all.

Selling meals from a cart is completely different from being a chef like Zhou Yu.

The former can be modified according to one’s own ideas, as long as it’s delicious, it will be praised.

But chefs like Zhou Yu are different. Their dishes in restaurants must not only taste good but also look appealing; they must at least appear expensive.

So, can Boss Xiao Chen truly manage this?

On the way, Hou Yao kept thinking about this. If Chen Mo couldn’t handle it, then today’s event might not go well.

But if Boss Xiao Chen could manage it, then this would be quite shocking!

In other words, this meant Chen Mo could outshine top Huaiyang cuisine chefs, this...

The more he thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.

As they were about to start, a sound of tires crunching over gravel outside caught their attention, all of them looking, knowing well who that yellow food truck belonged to, yet none speaking.

"Hello?"

The canteen door was pushed open again, "I heard there’s a chef position available here? Is this the place?"

Fang Zhizhong almost wanted to laugh but held it in, "Yes, that’s correct. And you are?"

Chen Mo was a bit speechless, thinking, are they all putting on a show with one person?

"I’m here to apply."

"And which position are you applying for?"

"The chef of the Huaiyang restaurant."

Zhou Yu perked up immediately, just a moment ago pondering what dish to start with, now his attention captured by this young man in a black suit standing before him.

Huaiyang Cuisine?

The accent didn’t sound southern at all. A northerner learning Huaiyang Cuisine?

"Oh? Well, that’s perfect. We have another chef here applying for the same position, might as well interview both at once."

Fang Zhizhong gestured for him to enter the kitchen, but Chen Mo hesitated, "Uh... I’m used to working in better environments, and this is a bit too basic. Can I use my own vehicle instead?"

"Uh, this..."

"That’s fine." Hou Yao decided for Fang Zhizhong, "Of course. However, there’s an order to things, let’s first see Master Zhou’s skills."

Zhou Yu didn’t notice anything amiss and nodded before heading into the kitchen.

Everyone else followed inside, with Chen Mo at the back, waving a fist behind their backs.

Damn, throwing such a tough challenge at me!

If I had known Huaiyang Cuisine were this hard, a single store wouldn’t have been enough.