Food: Randomly set up stalls, even the little guy is drooling.

Chapter 94 Going to work means that those who love hardship will suffer.

Mondays are like going to a funeral.

Zeng Lingqi is a newly promoted kitchen helper at Taiheyou.

"Doing kitchen work" sounds like a skilled job, but in reality, it's just helping out in the kitchen and taking the blame—essentially a high-level kitchen handyman. If you're slow in cutting and preparing ingredients, you take the blame; if you deliver the wrong dish, you take the blame; even if the boss is in a bad mood and doesn't like you, hey, you'll be the one to take the blame.

As soon as he got to work today, he truly understood what it meant to be "standing in front of a pot, and the pot still falls from the sky."

Zeng Lingqi is processing grouper at the request of Taihe You Er's boss, Weng Wenxiao (iiao), who is also the restaurant's sous chef and partner.

As a result, while he was cleaning the fish's belly, the sixth man insisted on doing something else, and he splashed a few drops of fishy-smelling water into the dish of golden soup fish next to him.

That wasn't a big deal, but the diners actually found something strange in their food.

Weng Wenxiao's spittle landed directly in his face. "Zeng Lingqi! Are you blind? Customers have complained! Eighty yuan deducted!"

Zeng Lingqi stood frozen, knife in hand, his face flushing red and then pale. Eighty yuan! He only makes four thousand a month! The worst part is, he's being unfairly blamed! Wasn't it because you made him do the work that this happened?

They say your appearance reflects your salary, so isn't my miserable look a result of low wages and daily pay cuts?

Sometimes he really wanted to travel back in time and slap his younger self, who failed the high school entrance exam, twice. If he had studied hard, he could have gone to a vocational college and become the only college student in the village!

Going out to learn to be a chef sounds so appealing to guys: "Learn to be a chef, high-paying job, never unemployed!" But you only make 3,000 yuan a month right off the bat—you might as well be a delivery driver! Or you might as well be shouting "Loyalty to your employers!"

Before becoming a proper head chef, I was just a high-level handyman. Respectable? That would only come with endless overtime, taking the blame, and the head chef's spittle!

What does it mean to be lucky to even have a job? Going to work means suffering for those who love hardship. I'm so miserable!

I thought today was already incredibly unlucky, but then this second boss came into the kitchen yelling, "Who the hell is making smoke? Is this your first day in our smoke-free kitchen?"

"Did you do this again? Are you deaf?" Zeng Lingqi looked at his second boss with a blank expression. Holy crap, are you just looking for trouble? How can you blame me for this?

"Report, report, boss! I didn't do it!"

"If it's not you, then who is it? Are you kidding me?!" Weng Wenxiao continued to yell. "It's you! Find out the truth, or you'll lose another eighty yuan today!"

Eighty-eighty, memories of the Spring Festival keep flooding back into my head. Ugh, so annoying! Is your nose a dog's? Wait, why does it smell like fragrance instead of smoke?

Zeng Lingqi followed the smell and peered out the window, looking around. Why was someone cooking in that dilapidated little courtyard downstairs? He quickly reported it.

Upon hearing this, the second boss leaned out and yelled at the kid. But the guy downstairs not only ignored him, he dared to talk back – he was utterly lawless!

Hey! I've got a short temper! You think you can get away with this? Zeng Lingqi slammed the window shut in anger, then went back and added fuel to the fire, "Boss, that kid downstairs is so ungrateful! I told him to turn off the stove, and I offered to deliver some vegetables, but he just acted like he owned the place! I think he's just deliberately causing trouble!"

"Making trouble?" The second boss spat out the word through gritted teeth, staring at Zeng Lingqi. "I don't care whether he's making trouble or not. I'm giving you half an hour to resolve this. You can handle it yourself or call the police. If you can't, I'll deduct another eighty from your account!"

You're such a perennial runner-up, your surname must have been Huang in your past life, you were eighty or eighty years old.

Zeng Lingqi was taken aback: "Call the police? Is this appropriate?" Looking at the second boss's face, which seemed to say "I'll deduct eighty from your account," he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

"Fine, fine, so I have to deduct eighty from my account, right? Fine, you're the boss, you decide." Zeng Lingqi, without further ado, pulled out his phone and called 110.

The police responded incredibly quickly; he had only been at the alley entrance for two minutes when he saw Officer Qin Xiao in his uniform. Officer Qin was the local police officer, in his thirties, reasonable in handling matters, but also principled and not easily fooled.

"Officer Qin!" Zeng Lingqi immediately adopted the expression of a victim, stepped forward, and pointed to the depths of the dark alley, "It's..."

"In there! In that very innermost courtyard! It's hidden so deep, it's smoky and smelly, seriously affecting the quality of our smoke-free kitchen, and our restaurant customers are all complaining!"

Officer Qin nodded, said nothing more, and gestured for Zeng Lingqi to lead the way. Before they even reached the small iron gate, a pleasant aroma wafted over, filling their nostrils.

Good heavens, this smell—it's even better than what I smelled upstairs! Zeng Lingqi quickly said, "Officer Qin, smell it! Doesn't the fragrance of our Taiheyou smell for miles around?"

Qin Xiao glanced at him speechlessly. Dude, I've been working in this area for so long, do you think I don't know if your food is good or not?

Everyone knows that besides its incredibly high prices, Taiheyou has no other redeeming qualities. Aside from business entertainment and out-of-towners, who goes there for no reason?

The aroma is really something. Has Taiheyou changed chefs? Maybe I should try their new egg fried rice?

Qin Xiao had been busy all day, and being called in to deal with this dispute near the end of the workday put him in a bad mood, and he was also a little hungry.

At this moment, smelling this domineering yet warm aroma, my stomach involuntarily stirred.

Officer Qin stepped forward and knocked on the door. The door opened quickly, revealing a young man wearing an apron.

"Officer? Is there something wrong?" The young man was Lu Feng. He thought to himself, "Good dog Taiheyou, always calling the police. Does the Public Security Bureau belong to your family?"

Qin Xiao said in a businesslike manner, "Hello, I am Qin Xiao from Jiefang East Police Station. We received a report that your business may be operating without a license, posing fire safety hazards, and causing disturbance to residents due to cooking fumes. Please show me your ID card and relevant business licenses."

Zeng Lingqi stood to the side, arms crossed, secretly pleased with himself. Investigate! Investigate thoroughly! It's no wonder they can't get licenses to set up stalls in a place like this!

Wait till your documents aren't complete, then let's see what you say!

However, Lu Feng only paused for a moment before nodding: "Okay, please wait a moment."

He turned around and pulled out a card from the side—a universal street vendor permit. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a file folder, neatly filled with various certificates.

Officer Qin took it and examined it carefully, then turned around and glared at Zeng Lingqi with a look that said, "Are you kidding me?" "Didn't you say they were operating without a license?"

"Maybe—maybe I'm mistaken?" Zeng Lingqi said with a smile.

Officer Qin returned the documents to Lu Feng, his tone softening slightly, "The documents are fine; we apologize for disturbing you. If there are no other issues, I will—"

Before he could finish speaking, his gaze involuntarily drifted to the stove behind the young man. Beside the pot, a plate held golden, glistening fried rice, each grain distinct, garnished with vibrant green scallions, emitting an irresistibly enticing aroma.

Officer Qin stopped in his tracks, unable to utter the last three words, "I'm leaving now." The fragrance, like an invisible hand, gripped his feet tightly. Damn it, let go of me!

Lu Feng felt like his eyes were playing tricks on him. Suddenly, he thought he saw Officer Qin doing two moonwalks in place. He thought to himself, "Are there still Michael Jackson fans these days? This is too much!"

"Are you selling your fried rice?"

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