The story of a cook

Chapter 451
Zheng Jiaqi didn't expect that Sister Jiang and Ye Yurong knew about that night, but they didn't tell them face to face.

There is no way to explain this matter, if you believe it, you believe it, if you don’t believe it, you don’t believe it, only the two parties know what’s going on.

It's impossible for Zheng Jiaqi to have feelings for me like Sister Jiang said, but it's okay to say that she is grateful.

On the day I invited Zhang Li and her young couple to dinner, when I went to the bar to pay the bill, the bar gave me a 14% discount. I thought I would pay the whole bill, but I didn’t expect to get a [-]% discount.The bar counter told me that as long as the employees of the store eat in the restaurant, they will get a [-]% discount. This has always been the rule.After knowing this rule, I was very happy, and thought that I could pack dumplings in the restaurant and eat them at home in the future, so as to save the waste of going to the restaurant.The dumplings in the old store are not expensive. A serving of sauerkraut stuffed dumplings is only [-] yuan. If you get a [-]% discount, it is only [-] yuan. It is cheaper than Hongfu Restaurant, and it is delicious.It's enough to eat a dumpling by yourself, and buy a bottle of white wine, the dumpling is just as good as the wine, and it saves money.

It is tiring to cook for a day every day. After returning to the dormitory and washing up, I lie on the bed and don’t want to move. Sometimes I read a book, and sometimes I miss home, my son, Lin Yan, and my mother.If you think about it, you can't sleep and you will suffer from insomnia.

It is difficult for a person to take care of himself when he is outside.The difficulty is not that the clothes are not washed and the bed is not cleaned, but that there is no one around.

Can a normal man not want a woman?It would be fooling me to say I don't want to, I do.

What do you want a woman to do?The daughter-in-law is not in front of me, and I can't find another woman, and I dare not go out to find the young lady for fear of getting sick.It can only be drinking, getting yourself drunk, and sleeping until dawn.

You can't always go out to restaurants with Master Li and Master Ma to drink. Seeing that it doesn't cost much at one time, it will cost a lot of money to drink all the time, and no one can afford it.Are you still living?There are wives and children at home.

So I went to the market and found a shop that sold loose liquor. I tasted it and it was quite good. It cost six yuan a catty, [-] degrees, and [-] catties a barrel, so I bought a barrel.Every night when I have a work meal, I put the work meal in the rice bowl, mainly vegetables, and then pack a dumpling, and go back to the dormitory and sit on the bed to drink some by myself.

I belong to the preferential treatment in the whole dormitory, and I have a room by myself, which is very quiet.

After washing up, he sat on the bed, put the rice bowl and dumplings on the table in front of the bed, poured a glass of white wine from the barrel, and drank slowly.Read a book while drinking.The books I read are fantasy novels, works by Huang Yi.When I drink, I read Huang Yi's works, and when I don't drink, I read Oriental Food Magazine.

He drank himself to a drowsiness, and fell asleep directly on the bed, thinking about women in his dreams.

Use drinking to solve the problem of thinking about women.

During this period of time, my cooking skills have improved by leaps and bounds, as long as the dishes I have improved are selling well.I feel that my understanding of the dishes has risen to another level, as if there was always a layer of window paper blocking my eyes before, and some things were ambiguous and unclear.Now this layer of window paper was pierced, and I saw a different scene.This is a feeling that I can't describe in detail.

Now put a dish in front of you, and you can intuitively know how to make the dish taste the best, including what kind of knife to use, how to handle the first cooking, what accessories to use, what cooking techniques to use, what seasonings to use, and what tableware to use. How to dress up, how to introduce to guests, etc., can be seen almost at a glance, and at the same time, the process can be quickly formed in the mind.

Several dishes of Master Ma and Master Li have been improved and upgraded. The name of the improved dish is still called the same dish name. Some have added one or two ingredients, some have subtracted one or two ingredients, and some have changed the recipe. Some have improved taste.The improved dishes have been recognized by customers. Although the sales are not as popular as Maoxuewang and boiled beef, they are much better than before.

The most prominent one is "little tofu". By the end of May, 60.00 copies were sold every day, becoming the most sold dish in the entire restaurant.Small tofu has low cost and high profit, and the gross profit is [-]%. In the words of Master Li, Moonlight has already earned his wages by selling small tofu.

May NO.15 is the salary for April, and the salary is 4000 yuan.

I was a little puzzled, but I was secretly happy, knowing that this was a salary increase for myself.

Accountant Cui told me: "Master Tan, your salary has been raised this month, five hundred."

I said: "Thank you!"

"You need a treat for a salary increase." Accountant Cui joked.

I said: "Please, it is necessary. Let's drink some Brother Cui at night, at the Hongfu Hotel."

Accountant Cui looked at me and said, "I heard that you like to drink, and I've always wanted to drink with you. Let's have a drink at night."

Everyone wants their salary to increase, and I also want to, but I didn't expect it to be raised in the first two months, which was unexpected.While immersed in the joy of salary increase, the phone rang, and it turned out that it was the old man calling.

"Hello, old man!" I greeted happily.

"I gave you a salary increase of 500 yuan this month. You have done a good job and the dishes are good." The old man said.

I said, "Thank you, old man."

"You're welcome, this is what you deserve." The old man said, "Do a good job here, and help Lao Zhao to tidy up the dishes. Lao Zhao appreciates you very much. The salary increase is also something we have studied."

"Don't worry, old man, don't worry about the food, I promise to do it well."

"That's good. I'm also busy during this time, so I don't have time to chat with you alone. When I have time, we can chat. That's it. I have something to do, so I'll hang up first."

The wages have risen, so we have to be ignorant and buy Lao Zhao a pack of cigarettes.Lao Zhao was very polite, and told me that it is necessary to give you a salary increase, and that you should increase your salary if you cook well.I said to have dinner together at night, but he refused, saying that he seldom went out to eat at night and his heart was bad.

The number of people who eat work meals on the day of wages is greatly reduced, and most of the employees go out to eat.

Bao Peng told me that he wanted to invite me to dinner, but I said no, it was already arranged for the evening.He said that Fang Lin also had the same idea, and I said no, I want you two to go out to eat, but drink less and spend less money, and send the money home for some.While talking, Fang Lin came over and told me that my uncle went out to drink at night.

I said: "I'm not going, I have an appointment with Accountant Cui tonight, you two go."

"You can't go if you think about it." She said: "If you don't go and pull it down, Bao Peng and we will go, and sister Niu will go too."

"Drink less, it's not good for a girl to drink that wine." I said.

"I don't drink much. I drink a lot." She said nonchalantly.

I look at her, she has put on makeup today, and she looks more energetic than every day.She also puts on makeup every day, but it is not as delicate as today. Today she looks like a little beauty.

"Come here, let me take a look." I said to her.

She took a step forward, raised her face and asked me, "What's the matter? What are you looking at?"

"What makeup are you wearing? Isn't it good as usual." I said.

"Make-up is not allowed. I wear makeup at home, and my mother didn't say anything about me." She gave me a nod.

I said, "Make-up is fine too, as usual."

"Isn't it better to look good? I don't care about everything."

"It's okay, just not used to it."

"Cut, I didn't tell you to get used to it, it's fine for my little Pengpeng to get used to it." After she finished speaking, she gave Bao Peng a flying eye.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, I saw the two of them didn't say anything, turned around and left.

"Master, she did it on purpose. I don't belong to her family. She doesn't want me for nothing." Bao Peng's voice came from behind.

Immediately afterwards, he begged for mercy: "Take it easy, it hurts, it's strangling me to death."

Invite accountant Cui to dinner, not in the hall anymore, this time in the small private room.

There are four people in total, me, Accountant Cui, Master Li and Master Ma.

It was the first time I had a drink with Accountant Cui, and when I met him every day for work meals, I nodded and at most talked to him.Accountant Cui gave me a good impression. He is not as rigid as those who do finance. Sometimes he will take the initiative to chat with our kitchen staff.In addition, his wife is the deputy of the old aunt, who is in charge of purchasing, and is familiar with our chef, and treats him very well by the way.

There are quite a few old subordinates of the old man in the restaurant, all of whom came from Tieling, some came alone, and some came together as a couple.Those who come alone live in collective dormitories, at least eight people per room.If you are a couple, you will live in a husband and wife room.The so-called husband and wife room is two small rooms separated from the big dormitory, with a double bed inside and a few simple pieces of furniture.

When working in a restaurant, they eat at the restaurant, and the husband and wife don't have to cook by themselves. They work during the day, that is, they live together at night, and they don't ask for anything.The husband and wife relationship looks crude, but it's okay.

The same is not good between husband and wife. The two people talk in a lower voice, the sound insulation effect is not good, and the noise can be heard from the next door if it is a little louder.The couples who live in the husband and wife room are all couples over 40 years old. They are all old couples.When young couples don't live here, they rent a house to live in, which is more convenient. No one will hear them when they are naughty at night, so there is less embarrassment.

Accountant Cui and his wife are both in their 40s. Their children are in college. They are both laid-off. They work part-time at the old man's restaurant together. In order to save some money, they live in the husband and wife room.

The couple have a good reputation in the whole group and are good people.

I treat guests, and I have to mention the first glass of wine.

I said, "Brother Cui, I've always wanted to drink with you, but I never had a chance. I just have time today, so the four of us will drink one first."

"Master Tan, you are being polite." Accountant Cui said.

The four of us took a sip.

After putting down the wine glass, Accountant Cui said: "I have been in our group for three years, and this is the first time I come out alone to drink with your kitchen masters."

I smiled and said: "Your finances are different from ours. We belong to the front line, and there are many people on the front line, especially in terms of salary. I know what's going on after working for these years, and try to avoid private contact with your finances. What do we know?" Nothing happened, but the boss is different, he will think more."

"Master Tan understands people. That's the thing. I try to avoid these things as much as possible. We all work for the boss to earn other people's money. If we can not let others misunderstand, we should try our best not to misunderstand them. If we are good to ourselves, we are also responsible to the boss." Accountant Cui explain.

"Brother Cui, don't worry, when we drink together, we just drink. We don't talk about anything else, and we don't ask you to reveal any secrets." Master Li said.

He was straightforward and told the truth, but he said it a bit bluntly.

Accountant Cui said: "I don't know any secrets." Then said: "Don't look at me staying in the office every day, looking like I know everything, but in fact I don't know anything. Once the old man and the others study things in the office I will come out directly, and when they finish their research and leave, I will go in again, and never participate in the management of the hotel, only doing my finances.”

Accountant Ting Cui's words meant that he was explaining something and immediately changed the subject.

"I heard that brother Cui can drink quite well, so I have to drink well today." I said.

Accountant Cui's habitual rigor came up, and he asked me: "Master Tan, who told me that I can drink?"

I smiled and said, "Who do you need to listen to? My sister-in-law buys from your family. I deal with her every day. My sister-in-law always says that you should drink if you have nothing to do. Sometimes you can drink half a catty of dumplings when you go home."

Accountant Cui smiled and said, "I like to drink a little, but not much."

I picked up the wine glass and said, "Come on Brother Cui, we two will have a drink alone."

"Okay, let's come alone."

Accountant Cui and I drank alone and chatted for a while, and then Master Li and Master Ma also had a drink with him alone.It seems that Accountant Cui can drink very well. He didn't feel bad after drinking a glass of wine, and his face didn't even change color.

Master Li stood up and filled the second cup.

After three or two drinks, the alcohol took effect, and everyone began to talk more.

Accountant Cui said to Master Li: "Master Li is single."

"Yes, I'm single and divorced." Master Li said.

"Seeing that you are only thirty this year, you are not very old." Accountant Cui said.

"Brother Cui, you're not old enough to be thirty, you're old man." Master Li said.

Accountant Cui said: "Thirty is just the right time, not too old, unlike me and Master Tan, who will be forty this year."

I couldn't help laughing, it looked really old, people thought I was forty.

I said, "Not yet, it will be soon."

Accountant Cui didn't care about how old I was, and said to Master Li: "You're just thirty, you're fine, you're going to get divorced, and find a better one."

Master Li said: "It's hard to find, people can't get divorced, and divorce is hard to find."

Accountant Cui said: "It stands to reason that you should be easy to find a match as a chef. You have prerequisites. You work with the waiters every day. Aren't the waiters all young women?"

Master Li shook his head and said, "We work together every day, but the waiter is at the front and we are at the back. We can't even speak a word all day, and we don't see each other very well. Besides, the waiters are all girls in their twenties, and we are all in our 30s." Old men, they are more than ten years old, it is impossible to have a partner. If the food passers are okay, they are all boys, about the same age as the waiters, they can chat together, and we can’t, we are in the eyes of the waiters They are all uncles."

"It is said that 90.00% of chefs' wives are waiters, so what are they called? The first thing you can do is to be close to the water." Accountant Cui laughed.

"Young chefs are okay. If I am 23 or [-] now, I can find a waiter. Now it's not good. I'm old, and the waiters don't like it." Master Li said.

"If you're just thirty, it's the right time. Let's not look for someone who is young, but someone who is in his 30s. If it doesn't work, we should look for a second marriage." Accountant Cui said.

"My conditions are not high now. The little girl didn't even think about it. We know what we are. It is impossible to find someone who is not married." Master Li said, "Just find someone who is like me, but there is one condition. It has to be good for my son."

Accountant Cui asked, "Master Li, do you have a son?"

"Well, I have a son who is three years old." Master Li replied.

"It's a bit difficult to handle. There are so many people now. If you are born by yourself, it's okay, but it's not good to say that you were not born by yourself." Accountant Cui said.

After Accountant Cui finished speaking, Master Li didn't say a word.

I said to Master Li: "Don't say that you have to be nice to your son. Everything is mutual. If you want someone to be nice to your son, you have to be nice to him first. Tell you my brother, you have to be nice to him. If you are divorced, how about raising a child like you? Can you treat other people’s children well? Just like treating your own son? Then you will have to bear two children. Would you like to? Find a stepmother, and people don't want to find a stepfather for their children, if you want to make someone a good stepmother, you must first be a good stepfather."

"Brother is right." Master Li said.

I smiled, picked up the glass and said, "Don't just chatter, come and drink."

(End of this chapter)