"Finally, I can take a break. I almost collapsed from exhaustion!"
After sending off a student who came too late and couldn't buy the soup dumplings, Hu Zhihai plopped down on a chair, not wanting to lift a finger.
Just like at noon, the business was booming, and it wasn't until all the ingredients were used up that they finally got to rest.
For a moment, he even wondered if there were enough ingredients prepared by Jiang Yu, would people keep coming day and night for dumplings?
Of course, that was just a thought. After all, he and Jiang Yu weren't robots that could work tirelessly.
Besides, even robots need regular maintenance, or else they would break down too!
After resting for a while, as soon as he regained some energy, his stomach started growling, and Hu Zhihai realized he hadn't even had dinner yet, so he quickly asked,
"Boss Jiang, where are the dumplings you saved? Can we start steaming them?"
Jiang Yu's voice came softly, "I'll rest a bit more, you do it yourself."
"You're so lazy."
Hu Zhihai clicked his tongue twice, struggled to get up from the chair, and went to steam the dumplings while muttering,
"I'm telling you, Lao Jiang, you need to focus on hiring people. If we have this many customers every day, we'll be worn out."
"Hmm, tomorrow we'll put up a recruitment notice, let's hire two people first."
Jiang Yu thought for a moment and said, "Hire a girl to take your place, handling sales, and another to wrap dumplings skillfully."
"It's easy to find someone to sell dumplings; there are students on work-study programs at school. For a skilled dumpling wrapper, we'll need to look outside."
Hu Zhihai scratched his chin with a finger, pondering,
"Maybe I'll ask around tomorrow, we should be able to find someone suitable."
"Okay, honestly, I've thought about it. Even if we hire people, we couldn't handle that many customers."
Jiang Yu took a sip from his cup, smacked his lips, and continued,
"With over 40,000 students at our school, even if only one or two percent come for dumplings, that's still seven or eight hundred people. How can our small store manage that?"
"So, what do we do?"
Hu Zhihai was taken aback, then suddenly excited, "Are we expanding the shop?"
"How big are we talking about?"
Jiang Yu shot him a side glance, looking exasperated,
"We only sell one kind of chicken soup dumpling. Why do we need a big shop? Plus, if we make too many dumplings, it's hard to maintain quality, and maybe business won't be as good as now!"
"So what do you suggest?"
"We can't play the limited sales game; we'd get blasted for that. But we can control our operating hours."
Jiang Yu pondered a bit more,
"For instance, breakfast from 7 to 9, lunch from 11:30 to 1:30, and dinner can be longer, from 5:30 to 9. After that, we'll close and stop selling.
This way, we won't be trapped in the store all day like now and will have enough time to rest and catch a breath."
"Will that be okay?"
Hu Zhihai scratched his head, hesitating,
"What if someone waited in line for a long time and couldn't buy dumplings? Won't they curse us?"
"We're human too and need rest. If they understand, that's great; if not, there's nothing we can do."
Jiang Yu pouted and added,
"Plus, we're not starting immediately. At least we'll announce it a day or two in advance. So if anyone is still in line near closing time, and they can't buy dumplings, that's not our fault."
"Alright, temporarily, this seems feasible."
Hu Zhihai thought carefully, adjusted after a while, and sighed,
"I never knew until now that such good business could also be a trouble!"
Jiang Yu: "..."
Indeed, some people can't be satisfied!
While they were talking, the soup dumplings in the pot were already cooked, filling the small shop with a tantalizing aroma.
Even though he had smelled it all day, Hu Zhihai still wasn't tired of it. The moment the steamer lid was lifted, his mouth started watering uncontrollably.
He swallowed his saliva quickly, eagerly urging,
"Lao Jiang, hurry up, hurry up, bring the dipping sauce over!"
"Are you reincarnated from a starving ghost?"
Jiang Yu gave him a look and handed over the prepared dipping sauce, reminding,
"Eat slowly and don't burn yourself. No one's going to snatch it from you."
"Got it, got it!"
Hu Zhihai waved his hand haphazardly, picked up the chopsticks, and started eating.
Seeing his impatient look, Jiang Yu was speechless. It's not like he's never eaten it before; why the urgency?
Not bothering with him anymore, Jiang Yu prepared another portion of dipping sauce for himself, intending to take the steamer from the stove, when suddenly a soft voice came from the window:
"Hello, is the owner here?"
Hadn't they already closed? How come someone was still here?
Jiang Yu turned around, puzzled, and saw two girls huddled together, cautiously looking over from the window.
"I'm sorry, girls, we're already closed, no more soup dumplings today. You can come back tomorrow morning."
"Liar, isn't there still steaming in the pot? I can smell it."
A faint voice was heard from a girl with long hair, looking somewhat fragile, as she mumbled.
"..."
Being caught in the act, Jiang Yu felt a bit awkward. He smiled and said, "That's our dinner; we're not selling it."
"No, no, we're not here to buy soup dumplings."
The other short-haired girl in a striped T-shirt quickly tugged the long-haired girl and whispered, "We came to the owner for something else."
"I'm the owner. What do you need?"
"I, I just wanted to ask if you need a server at your store?"
The short-haired girl hesitated, then finally spoke up,
"I can do all sorts of odd jobs except wrapping dumplings, and, and I don't need a salary, just meals."
This short-haired girl was none other than Yan Tongtong, and beside her was An Xiaoqi.
When An Xiaoqi suggested working at the dumpling shop earlier, Yan Tongtong was tempted. The main thing wasn't about the pay but the free meals!
Hot, delicious soup dumplings for free, every day—just thinking about it was exciting, and most importantly, no long queues!
Yan Tongtong wanted to rush to the shop to inquire right away, but it was so busy, she could only wait patiently on the side until the shop closed and there was no queue outside. That's when she gathered the courage to ask.
"You want to be a server? What year are you in?"
Jiang Yu looked surprised, sizing up Yan Tongtong before saying, "You should know, this store, even though it's just opened, is busy every day. Are you sure you have that much time for a part-time job?"
"I'm entering junior year and don't have many classes, so I should have time for a part-time job."
"Hmm, I see."
Jiang Yu nodded, thought for a moment, and added,
"The store does need a server. If you're willing, come by before 7 AM tomorrow morning. We can try it out for a day or two, see if you can handle the workload, and then discuss further."