Chapter 607: Digging a Small Pit for the Jia Family

The little incident at the Jia family didn't affect Shazhu's recent good mood; he devoted all his energy and time to renovating the main store.

It was painful yet happy.

No wall under heaven is windproof.

News of Bai Xu's newly opened main store spread like wind throughout the capital.

Bai Xu was already a hot topic of discussion.

This time.

It became the focus of attention.

Whether one can afford Bai Xu's food is another matter; the problem facing ordinary people is their food, drink, and bodily needs—a simple truth. The newly opened Bai Xu headquarters has five floors: the first floor is a hall, the second floor semi-private rooms, and floors three to five are fully private rooms.

What is a fully private room?

I don't know.

Just hearing the name feels mysterious.

For such a large place, how many workers are needed?

This is what the capital's residents really care about.

Bai Xu's waitstaff can earn over thirty dollars a month.

Now it's a situation of few jobs but many job seekers.

Many wolves, little meat.

Bai Xu's importance stands out.

Having just renovated for less than a month, many people tried every way to get close to Shazhu, hoping to reserve positions in advance.

Those who knew Shazhu went straight to him; those who didn't know him also refused to be outdone, they started scheming with people like Youli, Liu Lan, and You Fengxia—if they could help find work, they'd directly book positions; if they couldn't help find work, they'd pass a message to Shazhu, strongly demanding he reserve positions.

This left Shazhu miserable.

He was really scared, because someone was actually waiting at his doorstep.

But that wasn't the worst of it.

The worst was when Shazhu was squatting in the toilet and job seekers barged in to discuss employment with him.

If it weren't inconvenient, he would have given them two slaps no matter what.

Just one sentence.

People were panicking.

Everyone was afraid.

Now Shazhu hides in the main store all day, watching the renovation crew and urging them to speed up as much as possible.

This is a gift for the offering.

We can't afford to mess up.

He isn't unreasonable.

He directly employed the sure‑fire trick that big money brings brave men, telling the workers that if they finished a day early they'd get a cash bonus— the earlier they finished, the bigger the bonus, with the renovation schedule tied directly to the reward.

Nobody would turn down money.

The generous bonus motivated the renovation crews to work overtime; although the project was originally scheduled for sixty days, with sufficient manpower and the added bonus they finished ten days early.

The renovation materials used now are all genuine, unlike later eras where everything is chemical— basically a methanol source.

They were simply left to dry for a few days.

Then they met the conditions to open.

With the hardware ready, Shazhu now had to handle the software— a restaurant can't run without staff— so he locked his door, hopped on his motorcycle, and putt‑putt‑putted to the Bai Xu branch.

He had something to announce.

It was good news for the staff, but bad news for Xiao Dang— basically he dug a pit for the Jia family widow.

He hadn't shown up for about fifty days.

The branch was running as usual.

You Fengxia proved through her effort that she could be an excellent branch manager.

Thus: Thus: Mahua had followed Shazhu for nearly twenty years, learning about sixty‑seventy percent of his skills; he wasn't a professional gourmet and couldn't tell good food from bad, but he earned the diners' respect with his cooking.

When Shazhu arrived.

The branch staff happened to be holding a standing meeting.

At You Fengxia's strong urging, Shazhu briefly explained why he had come.

「Manager You asked me to say a few words, so I'll reluctantly say a few: Bai Xu's today's achievement is inseparable from everyone's effort; it's your service, hard work, dedication, and smiles that let customers feel at home, and their dining is tied to our income— a restaurant without customers has no income, and without income, how do we here earn our wages? 」

The tone shifted.

He then announced the good news.

「To thank everyone for their over‑year's effort for Bai Xu, on the occasion of the main store's opening, as a return for your hard work, anyone who hasn't violated Bai Xu's regulations can recommend a relative or friend for a position; those you recommend who meet the following standards will be given priority hiring— no fighting, brawling, challenges, or knife‑related offenses, with the deadline tomorrow afternoon at five. 」

The branch.

It fell into a frenzy.

Everyone was shouting.

What Shazhu just announced is clearly giving them money.

Now in the capital, a job at Bai Xu is very valuable.

For example, working at the steel mill might cost you a thousand, but working at Bai Xu as a waiter you'd have to spend at least fifteen hundred.

That's equivalent to advancing four years' salary.

If you have eligible relatives at home, you can give them the job quota.

If you have no relatives, selling the job quota yields a profit of fifteen hundred.

Among the cheering crowd, only Xiao Dang was an exception, wearing a gloomy face from beginning to end.

Don't think that just because Shazhu hasn't been at the branch these days, he still learned a few things about the branch from Thus: Thus: Mahua and You Fengxia's accounts.

Everything was as Shazhu had expected.

Xiao Dang, who entered Bai Xu to work, although he wholeheartedly did his job, but because of Jia Zhangshi, this expert who specializes in scheming against both sides.

This caused Xiao Dang some trouble.

Jia Zhangshi, having heard it from someone, said that everyone who works at Bai Xu gets a chance to bring family to eat free rice there; thinking that Xiao Dang, who does cleaning at Bai Xu, counts as a staff member, she brought two or three elderly ladies, said to be her old sisters, to Bai Xu to eat.

You Fengxia recognized Jia Zhangshi, but because Jia Zhangshi revealed her identity as a diner.

We can't just push the customer out, can we?

They politely ushered Jia Zhangshi to table six.

Including Jia Zhangshi, there were five people in total.

Jia Zhangshi displayed her haughty attitude, having You Fengxia introduce a few signature dishes.

You Fengxia listed a few ordinary dishes; Jia Zhangshi, without a second thought, wanted them all, and repeatedly urged You Fengxia to serve the dishes quickly, so as not to delay her treating her old sisters to a meal.

Out of consideration for Xiao Dang's sake, You Fengxia used her manager's authority to prioritize cooking Jia Zhangshi's dishes; when the dishes arrived, they ate and drank their fill, and as they were leaving, their ugly behavior was fully revealed.

Jia Zhangshi had no money in her pocket at all.

As for those few old sisters she hadn't seen in years, they were merely fair-weather friends she met while loafing on the street over twenty years ago.

Those people had no intention of paying at all; they simply left Jia Zhangshi behind and walked away.