When Shen Wei rushed over, NiuNiu's mother was carrying NiuNiu down the stairs.
Although NiuNiu was crying pitifully, she still managed to greet Shen Wei: "Hello, Principal Sister."
Seeing NiuNiu in such a state made Shen Wei's heart ache. She said, "Baby, you mustn't do this again. Next time, if you come to work with grandpa, you must tell him you're here!"
At least there was someone watching the child; today had been far too dangerous.
NiuNiu nodded and said, "Mommy already spanked me. I know I was wrong."
Shen Wei said, "NiuNiu is a good girl. Next time, I'll give you an extra piece of cake!"
Only then did NiuNiu happily respond with an "Mm-hmm."
NiuNiu's mother said, "I'll take the child home now!"
She was also grateful to Shen Wei.
She had heard NiuNiu praise her kindergarten principal countless times. When children like someone, adults tend to like them too.
When Shen Wei went to find Liu Chef, she saw that he was still crying sorrowfully.
Shen Wei pretended not to notice and knocked on the door.
Liu Chef hurriedly wiped away his tears, but his nose was still bright red.
He was getting old, and now he couldn't bear to see his granddaughter cry. Back when he was raising his son, he hadn't hesitated to use the belt on them. It's true what they say about grandparents being closer to their grandchildren than to their own children.
Seeing Shen Wei, Liu Chef perked up and said, "What's the matter?"
Shen Wei said, "I've just been in touch with the best construction company in the city. The blueprints for the branch school are already done. Our Starry Sky Kindergarten will have three floors in total. We've also planned a small vegetable garden for you!"
The outdoor playground also needed to be planned in advance.
Then Shen Wei pulled up the blueprints on her phone to show him, asking if there was anything that needed to be changed.
For this Starry Sky Kindergarten, the government department had directly contacted the best construction company in the industry.
Without connections from higher-ups, it would have been impossible to find such an impressive company to build Shen Wei's kindergarten.
Liu Chef took a look and thought it was excellent: "The efficiency is quite impressive!"
It hadn't been long since they acquired the land, and the chef competition here hadn't even finished yet.
But the construction blueprints were already done. No wonder these companies make money; their execution ability was impressive.
Even he had to admire it.
Shen Wei asked, "Is there anything else you need to add on your end?"
Everyone else had already reviewed it; Liu Chef was the last one.
Liu Chef said, "No, that's fine. Oh, just make sure the kitchen is a bit larger!"
Shen Wei said, "Don't worry, we've already planned for that!"
Then she brought out the kitchen blueprints.
They had planned for three cafeterias in total.
Liu Chef asked, "How much is this going to cost?" The design plans for the renovation looked very good.
Shen Wei said one hundred million yuan.
All the money she had added up to exactly one hundred million yuan.
After building this, she would be out of money again. However, her financial strength still shocked the banks and the people in the new district. They had seen plenty of rich people these days.
But they had never seen someone who could directly produce one hundred million yuan without needing a loan.
Shen Wei's cash flow was very stable. The money from those idle positions was just sitting there, so she put it all into this.
It gave all the upper-class society a little shock.
Now they didn't dare to call themselves rich anymore. They did have more assets, but when it came to cash, they were strapped.
Shen Wei had more plans. She said, "I want to build a large restaurant on the adjacent area given by the government." There had been quite a lot of online calls for it.
These were all things she needed to discuss with Liu Chef.
Liu Chef said, "If we're going to open such a big restaurant, we'll need to hire quite a few people."
Liu Chef had originally thought they only needed staff for the second Starry Sky Kindergarten.
He hadn't expected they would also open a Tongyuan Restaurant here. Shen Wei said, "So if we find any good talent now, we can bring them on board."
This was also the purpose of holding the chef competition.
If they only needed three to five people, there would be no need for such a grand event.
Since they were doing this, it meant they wanted as many people as possible.
Liu Chef expressed his understanding, then said, "I think Jiang Xun is quite promising!"
Although the competition wasn't over yet, Liu Chef was already planning to recruit this young man.
Not only did Jiang Xun have solid fundamentals, but he had also had a falling out with his master. Liu Chef couldn't stand this kind of bullying.
Plus, he was his granddaughter's savior.
With all these factors combined,
He was already one of Liu Chef's key talents to cultivate.
Shen Wei had no objections to this.
Liu Chef mentioned this and also said, "Do you remember a pastry chef named Gao Qian? Her pineapple cakes are sweet but not greasy, very delicious."
Every time Gao Qian participated in the competition, she presented desserts.
Including things like croissants, tiramisu, and pineapple cakes.
She was versed in both Chinese and Western desserts.
Looking at her resume, she was genuinely self-taught.
After growing up, she specifically went to a university for Chinese pastry.
Her pastry skills had already surpassed Liu Chef's.
Since they wanted to open a big restaurant, a pastry chef was indispensable.
So she was also put on the list of potential hires.
Especially her pineapple cakes, which had a taste reminiscent of a century-old shop.
Particularly the filling, which had a very granular texture.
For these traditional pastries, some people now try to innovate by adding things like cheese or glutinous rice to create a stringy texture.
But that tends to make them too rich and greasy.
Gao Qian's version had a crispy outer layer with a rich milk fragrance, and large chunks of fruit inside that were absolutely delightful.
Liu Chef joked, "Everyone can spot good talent. If I hadn't given my old friends a heads up in advance, those other judges would have snatched them up!"
They all had various restaurants under their management.
Liu Chef thought that although the competition wasn't over, they needed to ask about the intention to join early for the people they had decided on.
Otherwise, in the end, the chosen people might end up working for others.
Shen Wei said, "You're more professional at this than I am. You have free rein to handle it, and I fully support you."
Liu Chef knew that Shen Wei supported him.
But every time he heard Shen Wei delegate authority like this, he was still deeply moved.
Fortunately, he had come to Starry Sky Kindergarten. This was the most fulfilling job he had ever had in his life.
Liu Chef said, "Then I'll get right on it!"
Then he took the contracts and went to ask if they had any intention of joining. His efficiency in getting things done was like that of a young person.
...
Shen Wei was thinking about starting construction as soon as possible.
Because the new district had only given her a year's time.
Now Starry Sky Kindergarten was even more popular.
So once the design draft was completed on one side, the other side needed to start work immediately.
However, Shen Wei knew nothing about this. So she couldn't help but ask Gu Qingyan about it.
As soon as Gu Qingyan heard this, he immediately patted his chest and promised, "You can rest assured leaving this matter to me. I'll definitely oversee the whole process beautifully for you."
Shen Wei said, "Thank you so much!"
Gu Qingyan's ears grew a bit hot, and his eyes couldn't quite meet Shen Wei's: "There's no need for thanks between us. Just watch and see."
Shen Wei said, "Alright!"
Gu Qingyan waved his hand: "You seem quite busy with things on your end, so you should head back first."
Shen Wei indeed had a lot on her plate right now.
Hearing Gu Qingyan's words, she had no choice but to leave.
However, just five minutes after walking away, she suddenly realized she hadn't given Gu Qingyan the blueprints yet, so she turned back. Unexpectedly, she overheard Gu Qingyan making a phone call behind her back.
"Brother, I want to ask how exactly do I oversee this project? What do I need to do now? Who should I contact?"
He nervously fired off three questions in a row: "You've got to help me with this."
The voice on the other end of the phone was quite loud: "That's what you get for taking on this job without understanding it first. Now you're in a panic!" His brother was teasing him a bit.
But the Gu Corporation did have construction-related businesses under its umbrella, so they could definitely help. Still, he couldn't resist teasing Gu Qingyan a little.
After being mocked, Gu Qingyan wasn't angry and said, "I had no choice, I'm a man after all. A man can't say he's not up to the task."
Shen Wei fell silent after hearing this.
She knew Gu Qingyan was someone who cared about saving face, so she quietly left.
She didn't let Gu Qingyan know she had overheard.
She sent the blueprints to him via WeChat instead.
In her heart, though, she felt she owed Gu Qingyan an enormous favor.
