Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 830 - 415: Morning Meeting (Part 2)

"These past few years haven’t been too noisy. I remember six years ago there was a huge quarrel. After work, they went straight to the lakeside and found a place to have a brawl. Many masters snuck over to watch, and someone even brought a camcorder to record it."

Qin Huai: ...

Can you guys really get better?

"Is the video still around?" Qin Huai lowered his voice further, using a tone like a spy making contact.

"Laosan definitely has a backup. Go find him later."

"Okay!" Qin Huai buried himself in eating.

After just a couple of bites, around 11:05, the door of the lounge was pushed open again. A person who wasn’t in an employee uniform but was immediately recognizable as Boss Su Qi made a grand entrance.

Su Qi looked exactly as Qin Huai had imagined, mainly because Qin Huai had seen a photo of Su Qi from about a decade ago when he was fairly young.

Now in his middle age, Su Qi hadn’t gained weight, his hair was still thick and black, and he looked full of vitality, fair-skinned, cultured, and brimming with energy, giving the impression of a very nice, kind, and dignified successful person.

Seeing Boss Su arriving, the head chefs who were still quarrelling stopped fighting and went to get their lunch boxes and found places to sit.

Master Zhou sat directly next to Qin Huai. Master Hua initially wanted to sit over, but upon seeing Master Zhou, snorted coldly and found a distant spot to unwillingly sit down.

"Good afternoon, masters. Sorry, I was on a call and got delayed for a few minutes. I’m late today," Su Qi said with a smile, then walked to the table, picked up the last lunch box belonging to him, and found an empty seat to sit down.

This seat wasn’t even the central spot in the lounge; it’s quite random.

Of course, the head chefs weren’t really concerned about Su Qi; everyone was busy eating or chatting softly.

Su Qi, after sitting, took out his phone to glance at the memo, then opened the lunch box, took a couple of bites, and slowly asked, "Master Qin, have you finished eating?"

Qin Huai quickly stood up nervously, saying, "Just finished."

Su Qi smiled and said, "No need to stand up, you can talk while sitting. Our Zhiwei’s morning meeting is actually just a time for everyone to communicate while eating."

"Then I’ll first talk about the most important thing for today’s morning meeting. I believe many masters met Master Qin Huai yesterday. I will briefly introduce Master Qin to everyone here."

"Master Qin is here at our Zhiwei from Yunzhong Restaurant in Shan City. Previously, we sent a batch of apprentices to Yunzhong Restaurant for exchange, which had great results. I also want to thank Master Qin for taking the time to teach and train our apprentices at Zhiwei."

Thunderous applause erupted in the lounge, even Master Zhou clapped with a smile.

"This time Master Qin came to our Zhiwei mainly to exchange experiences in finger skills. Yesterday, Master Zhou volunteered to be in charge of the initial exchange with Master Qin. Of course, the exchange cannot be with just one master. We have so many masters at Zhiwei, each with their own unique skills. I believe Master Qin himself is interested in our shows, and our masters are also very curious about Master Qin."

"Several masters asked me yesterday about the specifics of the exchange with Master Qin. I think the main thing is to go with Master Qin’s personal wishes."

"Master Qin, do you want to first study with Master Zhou and get familiar with our Zhiwei’s environment, or interact with several masters, or maybe..."

The last option, Su Qi didn’t even say out loud.

Instantly, all eyes were on Qin Huai, with Master Hua’s gaze being the most intense.

Master Zhou remained composedly beside Qin Huai, eating his lunch box with a posture as steady as a mountain amidst wind and rain.

After pondering for a few seconds, Qin Huai said, "Let’s just go with the current arrangements. I’m here to learn and exchange. I believe that in the coming days, I can learn a lot from the masters here at Zhiwei. For now, I’ll start by learning from Master Zhou, since biting off more than one can chew. I also really appreciate the masters letting me learn and exchange with everyone, sorry to trouble you all."

Faced with Qin Huai’s speech, Master Zhou was very satisfied and took a couple more bites of food, glanced at Master Hua, and his face was full of: You still want to compete with me, do you understand what it means to strike first, do you know the value of being the number one in pastry?

Master Hua gritted his teeth and could only bury his head in eating.

Su Qi happily said, "Then Master Qin, in the coming days, please trouble Master Zhou to look after you more. I heard that Master Zhou and Master Hua were a bit unhappy recently and I hope the two of you don’t escalate minor issues and resort to a brawl."

"Next, I want to address the second matter. Recently, someone reported to me that someone was coercing or offering incentives for apprenticeships. After my thorough investigation, this is completely untrue."

"I hope not to hear similar rumors again in Zhiwei. I believe that all masters here have proper conduct, and we all have worked together for many years and should know each other well. Even if there are minor conflicts daily, we shouldn’t have such rumors appear."

"It’s common for conflicts to arise over competing for apprentices. I hope that while there are these conflicts, everyone can at least maintain basic harmonious coexistence. Good seedlings are rare, and good masters are even rarer. You are all top-notch snack masters in the industry and probably don’t want such unfounded things to ruin your reputation, right?"

"That’s about all I wanted to address to everyone. Now let me see... Master Wang and Master Ma..." Su Qi swallowed his last bite of food and drank two sips of soup before standing up and quickly walking over to the masters he mentioned, lowering his voice, "Did you two quarrel on WeChat last night? What happened?"

"..."

"...Oh, you feel that Master Ma disrespects your snacks, you invited him to try your new product and he left after just one bite."

"...Oh, you feel that Master Wang is petty, you had other commitments but still took the time to eat one bite, and he thought you disrespected him."

"It’s like this, masters, this is really a small matter, but it indeed deserves a quarrel. Everyone knows that your relationship has always been very good. Once the quarrel is over, it’s over, don’t become estranged over such a small issue. I remember Master Wang that your new product is lotus milk cake, last time..."

"..."

"What?! Master Liang’s apprentice who was two-timing and deceived that young lady, is the daughter of your neighbor’s teacher! And she was cheated out of two hundred thousand?"

"Okay, I understand. Rest assured, I will handle this issue seriously. We at Zhiwei will not allow employees with such poor character, even if they are direct disciples."

"..."

"Yesterday, the outside sales window sold your sesame candy made by your apprentice at the price of a direct disciple. Okay, I will investigate this matter and give you feedback today."

"..."

Qin Huai watched as Su Qi paced around the lounge, weaving between the masters, resolving each item written on his memo, leaving Qin Huai completely flabbergasted.

In an instant, Zhao Cheng’an’s words surfaced in his mind.

Zhao Cheng’an was right, once you attend a Zhiwei’s morning meeting, you’ll know that Boss Su is truly a marvel.

This isn’t a morning meeting; it’s simply a mediation assembly, with the boss transforming into a top mediator, resolving conflicts among the masters.

If this were filmed into a variety show, it would have to record at least a hundred or eighty episodes.

Wang Jiayi kindly explained, "Our Zhiwei has a complex staff, with masters from all over the place. Each one used to be authoritative pastry masters in various restaurants before coming to Zhiwei, each with their own temper and pride."

"If someone really has too difficult a temper to get along with, Boss Su wouldn’t keep them here by force. But after working together for a long time, conflicts are inevitable, and people might disagree with each other."

"So Boss Su arranged the morning meetings specifically, letting everyone eat while solving problems, and it’s said that people are in a better mood while eating and are more likely to listen."

"And even if it doesn’t solve the problems, if everyone is together, at most they’d just dump their lunch boxes on each other’s heads during a real fight."

Hearing Wang Jiayi say this, Qin Huai instantly caught the key point: "Has anyone dumped a lunch box on someone else’s head?"

Wang Jiayi gave Qin Huai a look that said, you’re gifted and very suited to joining our sect for gossip, "The day when mediating the conflict between Master Hua and Master Liu, they both covered each other’s face with a lunch box."

"Master Hua always felt at a loss because he had drunk the soup but Master Liu hadn’t, and he got an extra bowl of soup poured over him."