Starting a new chapter in life

Chapter 229 A Major Reshuffle at Xiangmanyuan

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and even though he's not young anymore, he still feels great. These past few days, He Zhijun has been in a noticeably good mood at work. Those who are close to him know that his wife is back, so his spirits are at an all-time high. As for his other state of mind... well...

On weekends, Shen Runze, as usual, came to play chess with He Zhijun. Ever since Jing Yan sent the child away from home, the two of them had been eating out, but they would still spend their weekends at home.

When Shen Runze saw Jingyan arrive home, he was a little surprised: "Didn't you say you were going to buy a house for Zhizhi over there? Did you not manage to buy it? Why are you back so early?"

"The house is all bought. Chen Ping from Commander Lu's family also bought one for Xiaoxiao. The two houses are opposite each other. Xiaoxiao's house is currently rented to students from the Film Academy. Zhizhi and Xiaoxiao live in the other house. Now that things are settled there, I came back first," Jingyan replied with a smile.

"What are the house prices like over there?" Shen Runze asked.

"It's 2,700 yuan per square meter now, and it looks like it's going to rise further."

Shen Runze agreed with this view, "Have you inquired about the children's employment prospects after graduation? Or their potential employers?"

Jingyan... No, we really haven't. We haven't interfered with the children's work before, so we really didn't think of it at the moment.

Seeing Jing Yan's guilty look, Shen Runze sighed: "Never mind, I'll try to find out about this part."

He Zhijun ruffled Jing Yan's hair and said to Shen Runze, "Don't bully her. She's never had to worry about the children's work. It's normal that she didn't expect this. At least my wife takes good care of them in terms of daily life. You're their teacher, so it's only right that you pay more attention to them."

Shen Runze couldn't win the argument with the two of them, and he wasn't going to argue. He just smiled and then seemed to drift off into his own thoughts.

Jingyan ignored them and went into the kitchen to cook. Although her cooking skills were not great, it depended on who she was compared to. She could actually cook home-style dishes quite well. It was just that she could control the taste but not the presentation. It was a trade-off.

Now that Jingyan was back, the two of them decided to eat at home. To be honest, no matter how delicious the food at the restaurant was, it just didn't feel as warm as home. Jingyan's cooking skills were just average, but it had the warmth of home cooking, and the two of them enjoyed their meal.

The weekend passed quickly, and when the work week started, the house became quiet again. Jingyan really couldn't get used to this kind of idle life for a while, so she went to the store a little more often.

That day, seeing that there weren't many people in the store, Huo Benqin called Jing Yan over to the cashier to chat: "Auntie, um, Dou Zhixiao might not want to work here anymore. He seemed to be inquiring about shipping recently. I think he might have some other ideas."

Jing Yan was taken aback. Her current leisurely life was mainly due to Dou Zhixiao in the front and Chef Zhou in the back kitchen. If Dou Zhixiao resigned, there would really be no one who could take over the front of the house. She would have to find someone new, but a new person... Jing Yan really didn't want to bother with that.

"Is there any other news about the store?" Jing Yan genuinely thought Huo Benqin was a good person, knowing to help her gather information about the store.

"The Wang brothers, who specialize in Cantonese cuisine in the kitchen, also intend to leave, saying they plan to return to their hometown. However, judging from their demeanor, they seem to want to find opportunities for development in the city. I even overheard them making phone calls in the restaurant a while ago, asking about rent issues," Huo Benqin continued.

Jing Yan understands that individual businesses are developing better and better now, and it's normal for skilled people to have other pursuits. However, if everyone wants to leave, all staffing will have to be rearranged. But no one has approached her, and if she suddenly brings it up, it would seem like she's trying to drive people away. So she's going to wait and see.

However, the waiting time was not long at all. Dou Zhixiao was the first to come to us. He had been in charge of purchasing, so he had a lot of connections. Now that the shipping company was planning to split several transport lines into private contracts, he was immediately interested after hearing the news.

It was indeed stable for him with Jingyan, and he would get a raise every year. But men are always ambitious, always thinking about finding something to do. He didn't want to give up this opportunity. Before coming to Jingyan, he was really unsure of himself and wondered if he could still stand firm in his choice if Jingyan tried to keep him.

However, Jingyan did not make things difficult for him. After learning about his future plans, she only asked her to give her a month to find someone to replace him before letting him leave. Her emotions did not change much. Although she was reluctant, she knew that all good things must come to an end.

On the contrary, Dou Zhixiao always felt somewhat guilty. After all, Jing Yan had given him a job and a place to live during his most difficult time, and her help during those years was truly invaluable. Moreover, he had found his wife at the shop.

It can be said that Jingyan has helped him the most in both his life and work. Leaving her now would feel somewhat immoral. Perhaps, for people in this era, human relationships are always more important than money.

Jingyan could tell what he was thinking just by looking at him, and said with a smile, "Xiao Dou, you don't need to feel bad. Over the years, I have helped you, but haven't you also been helping me?"

If it weren't for you all, I wouldn't have been able to be a hands-off manager these past few years, only responsible for collecting money and putting it in my pocket. But now that you older folks are leaving, I guess I'll have to be a bit more diligent. Fortunately, the children are all grown up, so I don't need to worry about them too much.

You're not young anymore; it's time to plan for your future. Even if you don't think about yourself, you should think about your children's future. Your decision isn't wrong. So, after you leave, will Jinhua stay at the shop or go with you?

Dou Zhixiao pondered for a moment: "Right now, I just have this idea. It will be tough at first, and the income won't be stable either. I'm thinking of having Jinhua continue working at the store, so that even if my business fails in the end, we won't be destitute..."

Jing Yan nodded, showing no intention of refuting: "Okay, it would be best if Jin Hua didn't leave. I only need a lobby manager. By the way, if anyone else in the store has any ideas, you can go back and tell them. They can also come and talk to me directly so I can make arrangements in advance. I don't like being surprised by others."

Dou Zhixiao was stunned: "Sister Yan, do you know that morale in the store has been low lately?"

Jing Yan smiled and said, "The environment is changing so much now. There are more and more people doing business and opening shops. Isn't it normal for them to have other ideas? As long as they don't use my shop as a scapegoat, everything else is negotiable."

After Dou Zhixiao left, Jing Yan picked up her teacup and took a sip. Sixteen or seventeen years of peace and tranquility were finally about to be broken.

In fact, Huo Benqin's observation was correct. Besides Dou Zhixiao, the Wang brothers also seemed to want to go it alone. There are many wealthy people in Shanghai who are fond of health-preserving medicinal cuisine, and their skills are indeed worthy of a place in the market.

However, if they don't work for Jingyan, they'll have to leave the island. The island has always had strict controls on outsiders, and the house Jingyan gave them to stay in will also be taken back.

However, they had already prepared for these problems when they first considered leaving. Less than half a month after resigning from Jingyan, their family moved away from Changxing Island and settled in Haishi City.

They rented a two-story shop with a backyard. The family lived in the backyard, and the front yard served as a Cantonese restaurant. Jingyan went there with them and found it to be quite nice. Of course, the rent was also quite good.

The sudden loss of two skilled soup and congee chefs at Manxiangyuan Restaurant has indeed impacted business to some extent. Jingyan isn't in a hurry to find replacements. Dou Zhixiao's position is very important, and after Jingyan posted a job advertisement, many people applied.

In the end, Jingyan set her sights on a girl who majored in hotel management in college. However, the reality is that there aren't many hotels of a certain size now, and they don't need many management personnel either. Her major is somewhat of a limbo, and she's here just to try her luck. In any case, survival is the most important thing.

Her name is Qiu Fu. She graduated from junior college and is the youngest child in her family. Her parents work in a military factory on Changxing Island. Jingyan didn't inquire about the specifics, as long as she knew that Qiu Fu wouldn't cause trouble for the store.

As for the chefs in the kitchen, Jingyan didn't require them to be proficient in any particular cuisine. As long as their cooking skills were good, whatever regional specialties they preferred, that's what they would promote. The main point was to do whatever they wanted. Besides, they also provided meals and accommodation, which was a benefit that other companies didn't offer.

In fact, Jingyan was also considering whether to let Chef Zhou go solo. After asking him, his answer was firm: "He can just be a head chef. I don't plan to open my own shop."

The reason is quite valid: Chef Lin once said that his personality was not suitable for doing business, and that he was content to make a decent living with his culinary skills. He was not allowed to be overly ambitious, so even now, in his forties, he has not become arrogant at all.

Especially last year, Chef Lin officially withdrew from Xiangmanyuan and also refused Jingyan's offer to continue giving him dividends from Xiangmanyuan. Although he had received less than 200,000 yuan in dividends over the years, which seems like a lot, compared to current housing prices, it wouldn't even buy a house.

But soldiers are often stubborn; he felt he shouldn't expect anything in return for his efforts. He felt that Jingyan had already given him an apartment, which was enough, and Jingyan couldn't persuade him otherwise.

Now that Chef Zhou is certain he won't leave, Jingyan wants to keep him, so she offers him 10% of Xiangmanyuan's profits. Despite his age, Chef Zhou is still hesitant to make the decision on his own and insists on going back to discuss it with Chef Lin before giving a reply.

Chef Lin originally didn't intend to ask him for it, but after hearing from his wife that the two Cantonese chefs in the shop had left and Dou Zhixiao had also gone out to work on his own, he knew that Jingyan needed to have stable people around her, and he also thought that he could let Chef Zhou earn more money so that he could leave some savings for his descendants, so he reluctantly agreed.

After receiving the money, Chef Zhou became even more attentive. He conducted very strict interviews for kitchen staff. Despite his strictness, he did manage to recruit some skilled cooks: one specializing in Hunan cuisine, one in Sichuan cuisine, and another who, while not as skilled as Chef Wang and his colleagues, was still quite good, especially in Cantonese dim sum.

As soon as the three chefs came in, the menu was updated. In recent years, Xiangmanyuan's dishes have been delicious and the portions are affordable, but it has always been the same seventy or eighty dishes. No matter how much the old customers like it, it has lost its novelty.

The change in menu immediately brought a sense of novelty. When regular customers casually asked why the menu had changed, Jingyan didn't try to hide anything and answered frankly:

"The two chefs who used to specialize in Cantonese soups and congee have resigned and left the island. So I've hired a few new chefs, each with their own local specialties. Of course, the menu has to be changed as well. Please try it and see if it suits your taste. If there's anything you don't like, please give us your feedback so we can improve."

It has to be said that the island's residents come from all over the country, so they are very adaptable, at least more so than the locals in Haishi. Xiangmanyuan changed its menu in just over a month, and some customers who were used to health-preserving soups and porridges actually liked the spicy dishes.

After three or four months, business finally returned to normal. Jingyan usually assisted the new manager, Qiu, in the store. And you know what? Professionals really make a difference.

Each server's job duties were redistributed, along with their assigned areas. This ensured that there was no chaos even during peak customer hours, and Jingyan became increasingly satisfied with the front and back kitchen operations.

As the year drew to a close, Jingyan's family used to go to Yangzhou to celebrate the New Year. However, this year, He Jiaoxu informed them that they would celebrate the New Year here. So, after Jingyan settled down at the store, it just so happened that the children came home for winter vacation, and the family began to busily prepare for the New Year.

Fruits, meats, fish, dried fruits, snacks... boxes after boxes were being carried home. He Jin'an, who had come out to shop with her, felt overwhelmed: "Mom, are you planning to fill the house to the brim?"

Jingyan glared at him: "It's rare that you're all back. This year, Ci'en's family and your uncle will also be coming. With more people, it's better to prepare more things than to run out. Even if there are leftovers, you can each take some with you when you return to school. It won't be a big deal."

He Jin'an didn't say anything more. Indeed, it seemed that the whole family in the neighborhood had gathered together this year, which was very different from previous years. Actually, it was understandable. His grandparents were in their seventies and approaching eighty, and all they wanted was for the whole family to be together. This arrangement was perfectly reasonable.

Going to Grandpa and Grandma's place again wouldn't be enough for them to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner. It's better for everyone to come here. The house is big enough to accommodate many people. Otherwise, if we go to Yangzhou, we'll not only have to split into two families, but we might also have to spare some people to stay in hotels. It's not necessary during the New Year.

After purchasing most of the items, Jingyan and the children made handmade beef balls at home. She learned how to make them from the two chefs, Master Wang, who worked at the shop before. The taste was quite authentic, and most importantly, they could be stored for a long time, making them useful for stewing soup or cooking hot pot.