Chapter 66: Employee Motivation

The young man in the yellow jacket began to taste the buns from the shop, ordering four fresh pork ones.

The filling was quite simple: just pork and scallions.

Yet they tasted rather delicious.

He peeled two cloves of garlic, took sips of the millet porridge, and ate the buns bite after bite.

It was a deeply comforting and satisfying meal.

Due to the nature of his job, the young man frequently interacted with various restaurant owners and delivery riders.

He considered himself exceptionally well-versed in the quality of food served by all kinds of eateries across this district.

Consequently, people often asked him which restaurants served the best food.

His standard reply was that places refusing to offer takeout delivery were the tastiest, and if the person pressed for specific categories, he would recommend one or two from among them.

After finishing the buns,

he thought to himself: if anyone ever asked him again where to find worth-trying buns in the Guangming District, he would definitely recommend this place.

He simply hadn't expected it to be a newly opened little shop.

In his impression, that kind of bun flavor could only come from decades-old establishments.

It truly caught him by surprise.

The young man muttered to himself:

"I suppose my work experience is still not rich enough."

...

Today was the weekend, so customers didn't arrive in such concentrated rushes, but the buns sold out quite quickly, leaving Chen Zhou with nothing left to linger over.

Therefore, when it came time for the staff meal, he asked for the junior martial sister's opinion:

"Your sister-in-law is home this Sunday, and she just told me that if you're free, you can come over to our place for dinner. She made a couple of dishes, and we can have a simple bite together.

If it's inconvenient for you, I can just stir-fry a small dish here for you."

The junior martial sister hesitated for a moment.

She had tasted Ms. Lin's culinary skills at Chen Zhou's home last time.

And this morning, she had also shared the healthy breakfast prepared by Ms. Lin alongside Chen Zhou.

She thought to herself:

Senior brother and his family have been very kind to me. Since they invited me for dinner, I really ought to go. Besides, I'd love to play with Tao Tao for a little longer.

We didn't determine a winner in our Gomoku game last time. I lost so much face.

However, if cooking could be graded out of a hundred, I could only give Sister Yifan a 50...

Chen Zhou's voice interrupted Zhao Yilin's tangled train of thought.

"What are you pondering about? Are you skipping meals to lose weight too?"

"Meals still have to be eaten," the junior martial sister replied earnestly:

"Senior brother, you all take such good care of me, please let me treat you to a meal sometime. How about next weekend? By then, the design institute should be issuing my half-month salary."

The junior martial sister seemed to have grown more sensible.

Chen Zhou felt a sense of quiet gratification as he listened.

...

Thus, for today's staff meal, he simply stir-fried a quick side dish. Utilizing ingredients available in the shop, he made a plate of green peppers and eggplants fried with pork—

The eggplants were cut into rolling wedge-shaped pieces, dusted with starch, and seared in hot oil.

A single star aniseed brought out the rich aroma of the sliced pork, followed by the green peppers tossed in until just tender.

A few drops of sesame oil were added at the very end.

Right before dishing it out, Chen Zhou asked Zhao Yilin, "Do you want cilantro?"

"No cilantro," the junior martial sister shook her head. "I think cilantro tastes kind of strange. Actually, it's not that I can't eat it if there's a little bit, but it's best if..."

"Alright, alright."

Chen Zhou gave the wok a few flips, scooped out the stir-fry, and packed it into a lunch box. "Even if you loved it, there isn't any."

"Senior brother, you're teasing me again." Zhao Yilin took the lunch box, left the lid off, and took a sniff right there on the spot.

The aroma of star aniseed and pork blended together harmoniously.

After being flash-fried in oil, the eggplants became wonderfully tender, with the brown savory sauce clinging entirely to their surfaces.

Embellished by the green peppers, the entire dish looked remarkably lively in color.

Such home-style cooking felt extraordinarily grounding.

It would undoubtedly taste amazing mixed with rice.

Zhao Yilin remarked, "This doesn't feel like going to work anymore; why does it feel like I'm packing lunch for school?"

Chen Zhou instructed her, "Steam some rice for yourself when you get back."

"Understood. See you tomorrow, senior brother!"

"See you tomorrow, ride safely."

Chen Zhou and Zhao Yilin locked up the shop doors and parted ways.

As the junior martial sister mounted her electric scooter, her gaze fell upon the kitchen knife Chen Zhou had packed into his canvas bag,

and she grew curious:

"Hey, senior brother, it seemed like you brought this kitchen knife with you this morning too. Is there really any need to be this concerned about safety? What am I supposed to carry?"

Chen Zhou laughed and said, "No need to copy me, just make sure you wear your helmet properly."

"Fine."

Obediently, the junior martial sister put on her helmet and rode off down the street.

Meanwhile, Chen Zhou touched the kitchen knife inside the canvas bag through the fabric; this side bore the brand Wonderful.

Ever since using this kitchen knife, Chen Zhou felt slightly unaccustomed whenever he had to use any other.

It was a pity that raw and cooked ingredients had to be kept strictly separate in the kitchen, meaning a single knife could not be used for everything.

If only he could have a whole set.

...

Because he had fulfilled his promise to pay the junior martial sister on Friday and even granted her Saturday off,

Chen Zhou could sense that the young woman's spirits had lifted considerably.

Though she still chattered away in long streams of words, she no longer carried that oppressive aura she had back at the design institute.

He remembered when he used to run into the junior martial sister previously,

she would always have phrases like "they dumped all the work on me again" and "I'm so sick of this" hanging on her lips.

Looking at her now, she actually seemed quite passionate about her work.

This morning, she had arrived at the shop as early as six o'clock.

She had taken the initiative to soak the rice and even learned how to cook the porridge from Chen Zhou.

In truth, it wasn't difficult.

Chen Zhou himself had originally transcribed the method from Old Feng's voice recordings.

As long as one followed the steps, remembered the precise ratios of rice to water, and timed the boiling duration correctly, it was very simple to learn.

A restaurant's flavor ought to remain consistent.

Its production process should likewise form a standardized routine.

As a novice in the kitchen, the junior martial sister was able to synthesize the corresponding experience from her unique perspective.

She was very earnest and had even taken brief notes.

She told Chen Zhou that she would take charge of cooking the porridge from now on.

Treating the shop's employees well resulted in positive feedback from them in return.

This feeling was also rather heartwarming.

...

Back home, Ms. Lin and Tao Tao were waiting for Chen Zhou to have lunch.

Seeing him return, the family gathered around the dining table.

Ms. Lin asked with concern, "Are you tired today?"

"A bit, there were quite a lot of people over the weekend. You have no idea, today we had two different takeout delivery guys come in back-to-back..."

Chen Zhou chatted with his wife about the occurrences at the shop.

Ms. Lin listened quietly, occasionally offering a couple of insights.

Chen Tao Tao seemed to have waited a little while for lunch and was already somewhat hungry, eagerly digging into her food.

Looking at it this way, the meals cooked by his wife weren't bad at all; her culinary skills were adequate, and as long as he picked a couple of dishes the little girl loved, she could eat with great relish.

Perhaps this was the unique filter belonging to "a mother's touch."

No one else could ever replace it.

After the meal, Chen Zhou took a nap at home first.

The family didn't go out again, spending the rest of the weekend afternoon indoors.

Chen Zhou played with Tao Tao, introducing her to some novel activities.

Ms. Lin tended to consider things a bit more thoroughly, such as preschool education, regular physical exercise, special talents and hobbies, and so forth.

Her expectations for the child were higher than Chen Zhou's.

"At least she should keep pace with other children her age."

In reality, his wife had a great deal on her mind every day; although nothing about her daily routine was particularly dazzling, wasn't this precisely the process of making choices and trade-offs across all aspects of life?