Xu An pertama kali mengajak Xu Kang dan Xu Le ke pasar barang bekas. Dia memilih tiga kompor gas, dua oven, satu microwave, dan puluhan peralatan bekas lain seperti mixer dan blender listrik, total belanja hanya sedikit lebih dari enam ratus yuan.
Pulang membawa barang-barang hasil belanja, dia kembali ke depan Restoran Makan Cepat Xu. Di dalam, dia melihat orang yang wajahnya agak familiar sedang duduk. Pria itu langsung berdiri begitu melihatnya, ekspresinya gelisah dan cemas. Kelihatannya sangat gugup.
Xu An menurunkan Xu Kang dan Xu Le dari kendaraan sebelum berkata, "Halo, kamu siapa?"
Zhou Qi dengan gugup mengerem tangannya dan mulai memperkenalkan diri.
"Namaku Zhou Qi. Aku datang melamar posisi koki. Umurku dua puluh enam tahun, belajar masak sejak enam belas. Punya pengalaman sepuluh tahun di dapur, bisa masak segala masakan rumahan."
Zhou Qi merasa agak tidak percaya diri saat menyebut pengalaman sepuluh tahunnya itu.
Memang benar dia mulai kerja di dapur sejak enam belas, tapi bukan sebagai koki. Dia pembantu umum.
Nanti, seorang koki senior menyukainya, lihat dia muda dan rajin, lalu mengajarkan beberapa teknik memanfaatkan keahlian itu, dia dapat kerja sebagai asisten koki, perlahan menempuh jalur jadi koki.
Jujur saja, Restoran Makan Cepat Jiajia itu posisi koki pertamanya yang benar-benar nyata. Untungnya, tiga tahun terakhir dia kerja cukup baik, jadi agak percaya diri.
Xu An tak bisa menahan diri untuk mengamatinya lebih teliti mendengar nama Zhou Qi.
Dia tidak tinggi, tapi badannya tegap. Lengan kanan-kirinya tebal dan kuat, jelas hasil bertahun-tahun kerja di dapur. Wajahnya persegi, jujur, kelihatannya baik hati.
'Makin lama aku lihat, makin familiar.' Xu An mencoba ingat pernah ketemu orang ini di mana.
Akhirnya wajah Zhou Qi cocok dengan seseorang di memori Xu An. Orang yang diingatnya, versi Zhou Qi yang lebih gemuk dan kurang berbentuk. 'Tak heran kelihatannya familiar tapi aku nggak bisa ingat!'
Dia pemilik Restoran Zijing. Di kehidupan sebelumnya Xu An, kelasku sering reunion di sana. Makanan enak, porsi banyak, harga wajar, jadi pilihan utama buat kencan dan berkumpul.
'Tapi kenapa dia di sini sekarang? Dan wawancara jadi koki di warung makan cepat kecilku, dari semua tempat?'
Xu An tiba-tiba merasa sangat terhormat.
'Pemilik restoran besar masa depan, datang ke warung kecilku jadi koki... Benar-benar bikin pusing.'
EKHEM EKHEM.
Xu An batuk palsu, menahan kaget dan senang. Ekspresinya tenang saat bertanya, "Bisa cerita pernah kerja di restoran apa aja, dan tanggung jawab utama kamu apa?"
Mendengar pertanyaan itu, Zhou Qi makin tegang. Jari kakinya keriting di dalam sepatu, menekan keras ke kulit.
"A-aku kerja di tiga atau empat restoran di kampung halaman, mulai sebagai asisten plating. Pekerjaan terakhir... di... Jiajia... Restoran Makan Cepat... sebagai koki." Dia ragu dan ngantuk, butuh lebih dari satu menit untuk mengucapkan kalimat simpel itu.
Saat mendengar "Restoran Makan Cepat Jiajia", Xu An langsung paham semuanya.
Di kehidupan sebelumnya, Zhou Qi pasti kerja di Restoran Makan Cepat Jiajia sampai roboh, lalu dia berhenti dan buka Restoran Zijing yang sukses besar.
Tapi di kehidupan ini, entah kenapa, Restoran Makan Makan Cepat Jiajia kena kasus keracunan makanan, dan seluruh staf ditangkap.
Zhou Qi pasti merasa ada yang tidak beres dan lolos dari nasib itu. Tapi sekarang, tanpa tabungan cukup dan mungkin belum punya ide buka usaha sendiri, dia cuma cari kerja koki lain setelah keluar dari Jiajia.
Dia kebetulan lihat aku butuh koki dan datang mengetuk pintu.
Semua cuma kebetulan besar yang menyenangkan.
'Aku baru mikir mau rekrut koki, dan koki hebat langsung mendarat di ambang pintu.'
Bahkan kalo skill memasak Zhou Qi ini belum seahli dua tahun lagi, dia tetap lebih baik dari banyak koki lain.
Xu An sangat puas. "Biar aku ceritakan gaji dan fasilitasnya, lihat apakah bisa diterima. Gaji tiga ribu sebulan, empat hari libur. Izin usaha kita belum keluar, jadi kamu belum bisa mulai kerja resmi sampai izin datang sekitar sepuluh hari lagi."
'Sepuluh hari?' Zhou Qi ragu. 'Lama banget nunggu. Aku bakal cemas kalo sebulan nggak kerja nggak dapet penghasilan.'
Lalu dia tiba-tiba ingat. 'Bukan mereka jual nasi kotak di kaki lima tiap hari? Aku lihat sendiri! Sore ini mereka masih di sana!'
"Sore ini... aku lihat kamu jual nasi kotak di kaki lima," kata Zhou Qi, agak malu.
Xu An terkejut sebentar sebelum paham maksud Zhou Qi.
"Kita bikin nasi kotak di Desa Keluarga Xu sekarang, lalu antar ke sini buat dijual. Jaraknya lebih dari empat puluh menit naik sepeda motor. Kita mulai kerja jam lima pagi, jadi terlalu jauh dan terlalu pagi kalo kamu pergi dari sini."
Mendengar itu, kekecewaan melintas di wajah Zhou Qi.
Saat itu, Xu Heping mengeluarkan kepala dari dapur. Dia mengedipkan mata dan mengangguk, menyarankan Xu An mendekat.
Xu An bingung, tapi bangun dan pergi ke Xu Heping liat apa yang diminta.
Lihat Xu An mendekat, Xu Heping cepat mendekat dan berbisik, "Kamu mau rekrut dia, kan? Kalo iya, kita bisa kosongin kamar sisa di rumahku buat dia."
Saat Xu An masih ragu, Zhou Qi tiba-tiba mengertakkan gigi, mengepalkan tangan, dan berbalik menghadap mereka. "Kalau aku pergi ke Desa Keluarga Xu," tanyanya dengan nada keras, "jam kerja dan gajinya gimana?"
Mendengar itu, Xu Heping tahu perannya selesai. Dia mundur ke dapur lanjut kerja.
"Jam lima pagi sampai sepuluh, enam puluh yuan sehari," jawab Xu An spontan. Dia nggak bisa minta Zhou Qi bantu jual nasi kotak di kaki lima; orang sudah cukup.
Zhou Qi hitung cepat di kepala. 'Selain mulai pagi dan perjalanan agak jauh, enam puluh yuan untuk lima jam nggak buruk.'
'Mungkin aku coba kerja sana beberapa hari dulu liat gimana?'
Setelah ragu sebentar, Zhou Qi mengangguk setuju. Tapi soal kontrak, dia hati-hati, menawarkan nunggu sampai Restoran Makan Cepat Xu resmi buka.
Xu An nggak keberatan.
Usai mengantar Zhou Qi pulang, Xu An memanggil Xu Heping bantu pindahin peralatan dari becak motor ke toko, menyisakan satu kompor gas di kendaraan.
Xu An bawa kompor gas itu pulang. Dipadukan meja dan tabung gas, jadi dapur sederhana. Sangat berguna, apalagi buat dia sendiri atau dikasih ke Zhou Qi.
'Kalau cuma pake wajan satu di rumah, gimana mungkin dua koki bisa dipakai?'
Lalu dia mikir soal gaji yang ditawarin ke Zhou Qi dan mengerut karena pengeluaran.
'Gaji harian enam puluh yuan. Aku harus jual minimal dua puluh empat porsi tambahan cuma buat balik modal gajinya.'
'Pesanan besok sudah delapan puluh tujuh. Karena aku punya koki tambahan... kenapa nggak tambah lima puluh nasi kotak lagi?'
Xu An first took Xu Kang and Xu Le to a second-hand market. He picked out three gas stoves, two ovens, a microwave, and dozens of other used appliances like electric mixers and juicers, spending just over six hundred yuan in total.
Laden with the haul from their trip, he returned to the entrance of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant. Inside, he saw a somewhat familiar person sitting down. The man immediately stood up upon seeing him, a restless and uneasy expression on his face. He looked extremely nervous.
Xu An lifted Xu Kang and Xu Le out of the vehicle before speaking. "Hello, and you are...?"
Old Zhou nervously wrung his hands and began to introduce himself.
"My name is Zhou Qi. I’m here to apply for the chef position. I’m twenty-six years old and started learning to cook when I was sixteen. I have ten years of experience working in kitchens, and I can cook all kinds of home-style dishes."
Zhou Qi felt a little insecure as he mentioned his ten years of kitchen experience.
He had indeed started working in a kitchen at sixteen, but not as a cook. He was a general helper.
Later, a veteran chef took a liking to him, seeing how young and hardworking he was, and taught him a few cooking techniques.
Leveraging those few skills, he found a job as a kitchen assistant, which slowly set him on the path to becoming a chef.
Truth be told, Jiajia Fast Food Restaurant was his first real chef position. Fortunately, he had done well over the past three years, which gave him a measure of confidence.
Xu An couldn’t help but study him more closely when he heard the name Zhou Qi.
He wasn’t tall, but he was robust. His arms were particularly thick and powerful, the clear result of years spent working in a kitchen. He had a square, honest face and looked quite good-natured.
’The more I look at him, the more familiar he seems.’ Xu An tried to recall where he might have seen the man before.
Eventually, Zhou Qi’s face clicked, matching a person from Xu An’s memory. The man he remembered, however, was a chubbier, more out-of-shape version of Zhou Qi. ’No wonder he looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place him!’
He was the owner of Zijing Restaurant. In Xu An’s past life, his class had held several reunions there. The food was delicious, the portions were generous, and the prices were reasonable, making it a top choice for dates and gatherings.
’But then, why is he here now? And interviewing for a chef position at my little fast food joint, of all things?’
Xu An suddenly felt incredibly flattered.
’A future big-shot restaurant owner, coming to my little shop to work as a cook... It’s truly mind-boggling.’
COUGH COUGH.
Xu An cleared his throat, suppressing his shock and excitement. He maintained a calm expression as he asked, "Could you tell me which restaurants you’ve worked at before, and what your main responsibilities were?"
Hearing this question, Zhou Qi grew even more tense. His toes curled up inside his shoes, pressing tightly against the leather.
"I-I worked at three or four restaurants back in my hometown, starting as a plating assistant. My most recent job was... at... Jiajia... Fast Food Restaurant... as a chef." He hesitated and stammered, taking over a minute to get the simple sentence out.
The moment he heard "Jiajia Fast Food Restaurant," Xu An understood everything.
In his past life, Zhou Qi must have worked at Jiajia Fast Food Restaurant until it was demolished, after which he quit and opened the highly successful Zijing Restaurant.
But in this life, for some reason, Jiajia Fast Food Restaurant got caught up in a food poisoning case, and the entire staff was arrested.
Zhou Qi must have sensed something was wrong and escaped that fate. But now, without enough savings and perhaps not yet having the idea to open his own place, he was just looking for another chef job after leaving Jiajia Fast Food Restaurant.
He just happened to see that I was hiring a chef and came knocking.
It was all just one big, happy coincidence.
’I was just thinking about hiring a chef, and a great one lands right on my doorstep.’
Even if this Zhou Qi’s culinary skills weren’t as masterful as they would be two years from now, he was still better than a good number of other chefs out there.
Xu An was very satisfied with him. "Let me tell you about the pay and benefits and see if it’s acceptable. The salary is three thousand a month, with four days off. We don’t have our business license yet, so you can’t officially start until it arrives in about ten days."
’Ten days?’ Zhou Qi hesitated. ’That’s a long time to wait. I’d feel pretty anxious with no work and no income for that long.’
Then he suddenly remembered. ’Don’t they sell boxed lunches from a street stall every day? I saw them with my own eyes! They were out there just this afternoon!’
"This afternoon... I saw you selling boxed lunches from a stall," Zhou Qi said, a bit sheepishly.
Xu An was taken aback for a second before he realized what Zhou Qi was implying.
"We’re making the boxed lunches in Xu Family Village right now, then we transport them over here to sell. It’s over a forty-minute bike ride from here. We start work at five in the morning, so it’d be too far and too early for you to travel from here."
At this, a flicker of disappointment crossed Zhou Qi’s face.
Just then, Xu Heping poked his head out of the kitchen. He gestured with his eyes and a nod, signaling for Xu An to come over.
Xu An was confused, but he got up and went over to see what Xu Heping wanted.
Seeing Xu An approach, Xu Heping quickly leaned in and whispered, "You want to hire him, right? If so, we can clear out a spare room at my place for him."
Just as Xu An was hesitating, Zhou Qi suddenly gritted his teeth, clenched his fist, and turned to face them. "If I were to go to Xu Family Village," he asked loudly, "what would the hours and pay be?"
Hearing this, Xu Heping knew his part was done. He ducked back into the kitchen to get on with his work.
"Five in the morning until ten, sixty yuan a day," Xu An blurted out. He couldn’t ask Zhou Qi to help them sell the boxed lunches at the stall, too; they already had enough people for that.
Zhou Qi did a quick calculation in his head. ’Aside from the early start and the slightly long commute, sixty yuan for five hours isn’t bad at all.’
’Maybe I’ll go work there for a couple of days and see how it goes?’
After a moment of hesitation, Zhou Qi nodded in agreement. However, when it came to signing a contract, he was cautious, suggesting they wait until Xu’s Fast Food officially opened.
Xu An had no objection to this.
After seeing Zhou Qi off, Xu An called Xu Heping over to help move the appliances from the tricycle into the shop, leaving one gas stove on the vehicle.
Xu An planned to take this gas stove home. Paired with a table and a gas canister, it would make a simple cooking station. It would be very useful, whether he kept it for himself or gave it to Zhou Qi to use.
’Otherwise, with just that one wok at home, how could they possibly make use of two chefs?’
Then he thought about the salary he had offered Zhou Qi and winced at the expense.
’A sixty-yuan daily wage. I’ll have to sell at least twenty-four extra meals just to break even on his salary.’
’Tomorrow’s orders are already at eighty-seven. Since I have an extra chef... why not add another fifty boxed lunches to the count?’
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