24: Hotpot opening

The more affectionately Ziyong called him, the more embarrassed he felt.

When Li Lian mentioned lowering his salary, Ziyong reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, jumping up in fright: "Lower my salary? Absolutely not!"

"Old brother, if you lower my salary, I'll break off our friendship!"

"But the supermarket's business isn't good right now; we're losing money. It really doesn't seem right for you, old brother, to still be taking such a high salary," Li Lian said, extremely embarrassed.

The surrounding employees also felt uneasy.

They were also earning much higher salaries than their counterparts in the same industry.

Moreover, Ziyong even paid their five social insurances and one housing fund.

To be a service attendant in a supermarket and also have the five social insurances and one housing fund paid for—Han City had only one such place!

The super-high salary of six thousand yuan was an immense fortune.

The boss was too good to them.

If the supermarket was losing money, they would rather have their own salaries be a bit lower than for the boss to have too much pressure.

"Alright!" Ziyong patted Li Lian's back and said to Zhu Daqiang behind him, "The Hot Pot Restaurant is opening today. Let's go taste how it is!"

The reason he was so happy today, besides the supermarket starting to lose money, was also because Heli 撈 hot pot had opened!

With the Hot Pot Restaurant opening, he now had another business that would lose money.

Most importantly, he finally had a place to eat!

He had been spending less than twenty yuan on food every day, and it was truly getting unbearable.

His personal assets were already in the single digits, and his wallet was getting emptier and emptier.

He had been waiting eagerly, day and night, for Heli 撈 hot pot to open.

Now it was finally open!

And the supermarket was starting to incur losses again—it was truly a double blessing.

Li Lian and Zhu Daqiang forced themselves to cheer up.

"Let's go, let's eat hot pot!" Li Lian said with a very forced smile on her face.

Meanwhile, Ziyong was overjoyed, his steps so light he looked like he wanted to skip.

Anyone who saw him would think Ziyong's happiness was truly from the heart.

Looking at Ziyong, who was walking ahead, overjoyed, Li Lian felt admiration from the bottom of her heart: "The one thing I admire most about Brother Qian is his ability to smile when he encounters difficulties, and his smile is infectious."

Zhu Daqiang was a bit puzzled.

Why was Li Lian so impressed by this aspect of Ziyong?

Li Lian smiled and explained, "You used to work for me too. When the supermarket incurred losses, did you ever see me looking worried?"

Zhu Daqiang thought back and shook his head: "Never!"

Li Lian gave a bitter smile: "To tell you the truth, I just don't show my emotions in the supermarket. At home, I can't sleep all night!"

"Actually, I want to put on a smiling face every day in the supermarket, but I really can't do it."

Zhu Daqiang scratched his head; he didn't quite understand why Li Lian had to smile in the supermarket.

Why, even if the supermarket was losing money and she was troubled inside, did she still have to smile in the supermarket?

Li Lian gestured for Zhu Daqiang to look around and said, "Look at the expressions on the employees' faces now."

Zhu Daqiang's gaze swept over them and he noticed that the employees' worried expressions had disappeared; they were all working energetically.

It was as if someone had just given them a shot of adrenaline.

Zhu Daqiang suddenly understood: "It's the boss's smile that infected them!"

"Think about it," Li Lian asked in return, "if Brother Qian had just been in the supermarket looking worried, like the sky was falling, do you think the employees would still be able to work with peace of mind?"

Zhu Daqiang shook his head.

If the boss looked like he was about to die, the employees would be even more flustered, ready to run away at any moment.

"So that's how it is!" Zhu Daqiang suddenly realized.

So there was a reason the boss came to inspect the supermarket.

So there was this deeper meaning to the boss's smile!

Zhu Daqiang looked at the boss's retreating figure and suddenly felt as if he was looking up at a towering mountain, unattainable!

He needed to learn this from the boss.

But even if he tried, he might not be able to learn it!

The boss's magnanimity was simply too vast.

Since he didn't have the boss's magnanimity, how could he possibly learn it?

...

Inside the Hot Pot Restaurant, Liu Gaoda's plump body sat on a chair, and he comfortably shifted his butt.

"This distance is just right!" Liu Gaoda had someone measure the distance between the seats and the dining tables, and recorded the data.

A large group of employees watched from the side as Liu Gaoda inspected the fruits and vegetables, occasionally picking them up to taste.

"Hmm! Very fresh!" Liu Gaoda nodded in satisfaction.

Ziyong walked in and saw that the employees in the Hot Pot Restaurant were all very idle, and he immediately became overjoyed.

Indeed, making Liu Gaoda the manager of the Hot Pot Restaurant was definitely a wise decision!

Unlike the supermarket employees, who were busy bustling about even without customers—a bunch of hard-working dogs who were practically making him numb from earning so much.

With Liu Gaoda leading the way in slacking off here, Heli 撈 was definitely going to lose money until it went into the river!

"The boss is here!" Someone shouted, and everyone immediately lined up at attention, looking at Ziyong, waiting for his speech.

With a new store opening, the boss would definitely say a few words.

"Ziyong, you're here!" Seeing Ziyong approach, Liu Gaoda was very excited.

He quickly ran over and embraced Ziyong: "Ziyong, do you know how much I've suffered for the Hot Pot Restaurant?"

Ziyong shook his head: "I don't know. I heard you're living with the Hot Pot Restaurant employees, eating well and sleeping soundly every day, with a two-hour nap every afternoon. You're having a great time."

Exposed by Ziyong, Liu Gaoda smiled awkwardly: "Isn't this just a balance of work and rest!"

These twenty days, he had lived very comfortably.

He didn't have to wash his own clothes, mop his own floors, or even make his own bed.

Besides that, there was a dedicated chef preparing meals every day, with plenty of meat and fish, and he could eat as much as he wanted.

The only downside was perhaps that he was living too comfortably; in just twenty days, he had gained five pounds.

He really couldn't get any fatter!

However, with the Hot Pot Restaurant opening, as the manager, he always had to lead by example.

If I don't eat, who will?

If I don't get fat, who will?

Even if he got fat to death, for the sake of the Hot Pot Restaurant, he would go all out!

So he still had to eat now, and he had to eat a lot.

"Ziyong, the Hot Pot Restaurant has been completely renovated. For the hot pot base, I found over fifty chefs, and finally found one that satisfied me!"

"Do you want to try it?" Liu Gaoda asked.

This was exactly what Ziyong had been waiting for.

"Of course I want to try it!" Ziyong was excited.

However, the employees were still waiting for him to speak.

Ziyong waved his hand at the employees: "Our establishment doesn't do this kind of thing. You all go about your business!"

The employees looked at each other, a bit surprised.

They had never seen such an unconventional boss.

Liu Gaoda laughed: "I told you long ago that our boss wouldn't play those superficial games. He's very easygoing. I told you not to be nervous, so why are you still lining up so nicely?"

Ziyong smiled and added: "From now on, you can arrive just on time for work and leave immediately when your shift ends."

"Absolutely no overtime allowed. Whoever works overtime will have their pay docked!"

He couldn't wait to eat hot pot, so he told everyone to get busy.

The boss wanted to eat, and everyone was very enthusiastic, quickly arranging things for the few of them.

"Boss, please sit!" A beautiful female attendant invited Ziyong to sit down.

Only then did Ziyong notice that the Hot Pot Restaurant was full of handsome men and beautiful women.

Ziyong jokingly scolded: "Gaoda, you're not being fair. When you recruit for the supermarket, you only recruit older people."

"But for your Hot Pot Restaurant, why are all the people you recruit handsome men and beautiful women?"