I've been possessed by a culinary genius, and I've turned Shaxian snacks into a rip-off!

Li Zhibai looked at the private messages on his phone, and his face darkened.

He received a lot of private messages, but they were all insults directed at him.

[Boss, are you serious about this job posting? Paying to work? Why don't you just snatch it away?]

Are you obsessed with money? Wouldn't it be better to spend 30,000 yuan to learn to cook at Lanxiang Technical School? They even guarantee you'll learn, master the skills, and get a job. What do you guarantee?

[I originally wanted to learn how to make Shaxian snacks, but when I saw the tuition was 30,000 yuan and it didn't even guarantee I'd learn it, I just gave up on the spot.]

[Those online crash courses on how to make Shaxian noodles can be had for a few thousand yuan, this boss really dares to charge such a high price! Does he really think he's a culinary god?]

[You upstairs don't understand. He said this is a high-end Shaxian restaurant. Do you think the tuition is the same as a regular one? High-end! Do you even know what high-end means?! (Just kidding!)]

I get it now, high-end = a complete traitor.

【……】

"Damn it! A bunch of ignorant fools! I'm giving you the chance to learn cooking from the greatest Shaxian cuisine master in Jiangcheng. This is an opportunity that many people would kill for, and you not only look down on me, but you also insult me!"

Li Zhibai angrily deleted the job posting.

Forget it, I won't confess anymore.

Paying for apprenticeships depends on fate. For example, Su Su was very destined to be with him. As for those who weren't destined, even if a mountain of gold was placed in front of them, they wouldn't see it, so there's no point in forcing it.

Once his shop becomes famous throughout the country, people will naturally come begging him to take them on as apprentices.

The tuition fee will then increase to 50,000.

No, 100,000! Even that depends on his mood!

We can't recruit apprentices for the time being, but we still need to hire employees, especially since the new store is several times larger and cleaning is more difficult. We need someone to share the burden.

His priority is still to recruit part-time employees, because he finds it troublesome to consider employee accommodation and social security issues for full-time employees. Although there are vacant rooms in his current place, he does not want to live with outsiders. Living alone is more free, and he can do whatever he wants, even if he runs around the house naked.

Therefore, it is more suitable to hire daily-paid temporary workers. They are paid daily, and they leave as soon as they finish their work. No one owes anyone anything, which is convenient and worry-free.

At 11 a.m., during the peak dining period, the number of people at restaurants near Financial Street began to surge significantly.

Whenever they had free time, Ke Yi and Ding Ling would go to the door to solicit customers.

The two girls were working very hard, for no other reason than to get Li Zhibai to give them more food. Ever since they had that welcome feast last night, they still couldn't help but drool when they thought about it.

And as they gradually got used to their work, they completely let loose, and their calls to customers became more and more natural, with very sweet words.

Strangers would never believe they were medical students; they seem more like salespeople.

"Handsome! You seem to have excellent taste. Have you ever tried our fried rice? No? Then you absolutely have to! It's a lost ancient recipe from Bodhi Jade Restaurant, and you can only find it at this one place in the whole of Jiangcheng. 1288 is too expensive? Not at all! Really not expensive! You get what you pay for! Just think, a meal that evokes the elegance of ancient scholars, what a bargain!"

"Beautiful lady, your skin is so good, you must pay special attention to health, right? Our stewed soup is rich but not oily, fresh but not greasy. After drinking it, your skin will be so supple. If you drink a bowl, I guarantee you'll want to kiss yourself when you look in the mirror tomorrow."

"Auntie, please don't go! You're already here, please come in and sit down! Our shop has free water and air conditioning, even if you don't eat, it'll be nice to rest your feet!"

"Uncle, you look so lucky! Why don't you try our braised pork? It's not greasy at all! Really, it's not greasy at all! If I'm lying to you, my cousin will never get rich in his life!"

When Li Zhibai heard her shout those words from the kitchen, he was immediately displeased.

This girl!

If you're just trying to solicit customers, why are you making such a vicious oath about me?

He can endure any hardship and suffer any injustice in his life, but he cannot be poor!

"Xiao Yi! Come in here!" he shouted at the door.

Ke Yi skipped in, "Cousin, what's wrong? I'm trying to attract customers, there are so many people outside, it looks like the shop will be packed today!"

"What did you just say? What do you mean my cousin will never get rich in his life? I have to give you a good talking to. If you're going to solicit customers, then do it properly. Don't ruin my luck with your words. If I ever go bankrupt, you'll be the first one I blame."

Koy stuck out her tongue: "I just said it offhand."

Li Zhibai: "..."

Ke Yi quickly said, "Cousin, I'll change it right away. When we're soliciting customers later, I'll swear on Zhao Lei, that lousy classmate of yours, okay?"

Li Zhibai nodded: "That's more like it."

"Go ahead, go ahead, and remember to yell at me hard, don't hold back, I'll give you extra food later!"

Koy saluted: "Yes, sir!"

Because there were more tourists passing by the store today than yesterday, and because the two lively young girls, Ke Yi and Ding Ling, were enthusiastically hawking their wares at the entrance, their sweet voices as if coated with honey, quite a few of the passing tourists actually chose to go into the store.

Of course, most people are scared away when they see the prices on the menu after entering the store.

But they were able to entice so many people to come in!

If seven out of ten people run away, and three can stay, then if even one of those three orders the deluxe version, then it's a huge profit.

By noon, the new store was almost full.

Keep in mind that the new store is much larger than the old one, so with so many people dining there, the revenue will naturally be high.

Li Zhibai was tossing the wok around in the kitchen like crazy, while Ke Yi and Ding Ling were also busy as spinning tops.

"Cousin, please add an extra order of steamed dumplings to table number 5!"

"receive!"

"Cousin, is the chicken leg rice for table number 8 ready yet? The customers are asking about it!"

"immediately!"

"Cousin, table number 3 needs to pay their bill; they want to participate in a prize draw."

Tell them to wait!

"....."

During a brief moment of respite from his busy schedule, Li Zhibai observed the crowd and noticed a significant increase in new faces compared to previous days. Besides the tourists brought in by Ke Yi and her group, there were even a few tables specifically there for the chef invitational competition video.

"This is it! The Shaxian restaurant owner whose picture is blurred out!"

"Yes, yes, the one about the Nine-Turned Intestine."

"I want to try his noodles and see if they're really that good, and if they're as amazing as the videos make them out to be."

"Boss, can I interview you? Were you not wearing any clothes that day? I'm not curious at all, just asking casually."

"......."

Li Zhibai rarely wished his face would twitch, making him seem unapproachable.

What does it mean for a Shaxian restaurant owner to have his face blurred out? What does it mean to be naked?

He clearly wore it! And he wore a very creative outfit! It was the production team who were jealous of his talent and maliciously suppressed him!

The production team is so mean!

But no matter what, as long as someone comes, that's fine.

Even black and red are still red, and it's better than nobody coming.

Yu Shen and Pang Yi arrived on time from the regular customers' side. Apart from these two foodies who treated his place like their canteen every day, no one else came.

Some were too busy with work to come, while others were at home reminiscing about their hard-working high school days.

Cha Xiaochai said in the group that he was diligently memorizing "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng" and vowed to take advantage of Li Heizi this time.

Wang Yun and Yao Qianqian were not to be outdone. Wang Yun recited "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng" and Yao Qianqian recited "Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River". The couple prepared to do both at the same time.

Of course, the most cunning one was Lu Qianshan.

Instead of foolishly memorizing those ancient texts, this guy went straight to Su Su's shop and tricked her into revealing the origins of the ingredients used in Li Zhibai's dishes, which he then recorded.

Li Zhibai was unaware of the underhanded tactics these guys were up to behind the scenes. If he had known, he would have applauded them and praised their commendable spirit.

These guys have been ripped off by him so many times, but instead of getting discouraged, they've become more and more determined, each one of them working like they're on steroids to figure out how to fleece him.

But none of this worked.

He was prepared.

After being teased twice by Huo Junmin and Mu Cixuan yesterday, he readjusted all the challenge items overnight, especially the simple memorization challenges, which he changed the time limit from four minutes back to three and a half minutes.

He believed that, apart from Huo Junmin, no customer who entered the store could memorize "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng" in three and a half minutes.

Furthermore, he wasn't worried about being harassed by the top lawyer after the adjustment, since she herself had successfully completed the challenge, so it certainly couldn't be considered false advertising.

Most importantly, memorizing the questions doesn't guarantee you'll get the right one; the increased challenge pool dilutes the probability.

Anyone who tries to take advantage of this opportunity is welcome to try, but if they succeed, they lose!

Just as Li Zhibai and his team were busy at work, an unexpected guest arrived.

Just as Ke Yi and the others were about to say, "Welcome!"

But when they saw who it was, they were both stunned.

Isn't this the street vendor who was chased by the city management officers last night?

Why is he in the store?