At the end unseen by Shen Wei, those who received the offer were not as calm as Shen Wei had imagined.
Take Liu Master Chef for example, he was a top-level chef at the Jiangbei Grand Restaurant, having worked here for half his life.
He had trained countless apprentices and disciples.
In the past, he could only learn the secret family recipes by formally kowtowing and accepting a master.
Cooking requires an innate talent, a slight deviation can lead to vast differences.
With the same ingredients and amounts, some people can create delicious dishes, while others always miss the mark.
Ordinary people may not taste the difference, but the seasoned gourmets who dine at the Jiangbei Grand Restaurant have tongues more precise than measurement units.
They spend at least four figures for a single meal here.
But this year, as consumption declined, hardly anyone came out for dinner.
Rumors circulated within the hotel that the owner planned to lay off staff.
When you think about it, such a large restaurant has four to five hundred service staff and seventy to eighty kitchen staff.
This round of layoffs would be no small number, at least two-thirds would be let go.
Everyone felt insecure.
They didn't know what to do if they got laid off. Start their own business? But the market isn't great now. But if they don't start a business, there are no jobs nearby.
Some familiar chefs began inquiring around in the kitchen, seeing if anyone was going somewhere else. It would be best to band together, even take a job with meals and accommodation elsewhere.
For some settled family men, the situation became difficult. With elders and children to support, they couldn't just leave for a good opportunity elsewhere.
They all sighed, "Ah, if only someone would poach us."
"You're just dreaming. What kind of person would be poached? At least someone like Liu Master Chef."
"Come to think of it, I heard Liu Master Chef really was poached. The offer was 50,000 yuan per month."
50,000?
Everyone gasped in shock at this number!
For a moment, they felt a bitter envy, and the news soon spread throughout the kitchen.
Even the HR manager found out.
As soon as Liu Master Chef came to work, he was summoned to the office.
The HR manager said, "Master Liu, you've worked hard here for half your life. You know our current business situation - the hotel may be sold in the future."
Liu Master Chef had indeed weathered wind and rain with the Jiangbei Grand Restaurant over the years. Stunned by these words, he looked at the HR manager and said, "What do you mean?"
The HR manager then let out a dry laugh, "I don't mean anything. I just heard someone is trying to poach you, offering 50,000 yuan which is quite good. As your personal advice, if there really is such a good opportunity, you might as well take it."
Liu Master Chef frowned, realizing this was intended to let him go.
He immediately replied that he would think it over.
Without even changing out of his chef's uniform, he turned and left!
Liu Master Chef went straight home that morning. His wife immediately came over, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Liu Master Chef then recounted how he was stopped as soon as he arrived, and what the HR department had said.
His wife chimed in, "Wasn't it a kindergarten trying to poach you? But didn't you agree not to go at the time?"
Although the 50,000 yuan salary far exceeded his current income, who knew how long he could last out there? Here was a stable iron rice bowl.
So at the time, he had no intention of leaving.
His wife nagged, "You have a loose mouth. What do we do now?" The HR manager had even talked to him about it.
Liu Master Chef protested innocently, "But I didn't tell anyone about this."
As the words left his mouth, Liu Master Chef and his wife simultaneously turned pale.
They suddenly realized there was only one person who knew - his apprentice, Liu Ming.
The two shared a hometown and surname.
Although an apprentice, Liu Ming was raised like a son.
He used to eat and live at their house, so Liu Master Chef hadn't hidden this matter from him, never expecting to be stabbed in the back by his disciple.
Liu Master Chef felt a chill run through his body, then said, "I never expected it would be him."
His wife said, "With the poor business, every company is laying off. If you leave here, he might become the Master Chef. When interests are involved, even father and son can have conflicts, let alone a master and disciple."
As she spoke, they both fell silent.
Although they understood the reasoning, years of affection made it unpleasant.
"So what do we do now?"
Two paths lay ahead. One was to return to work, apologize, and with his experience, get a small position by humbling himself.
The other was to leave this environment altogether. See what this 50,000 yuan job was about?
After a moment's thought, Liu Master Chef decided to visit this kindergarten that had made him an offer.
When his wife learned of his decision, she was supportive, "A kindergarten is great, just little kids. And in three months, our little granddaughter will be starting kindergarten too, so it will be convenient."
Liu Master Chef's resignation was submitted that afternoon.
The HR manager was highly praised by the boss, able to dismiss a high-salaried master chef without paying any compensation, saving the owner a considerable sum.
The boss also instructed over the phone to immediately promote Liu Master Chef's apprentice, Liu Ming.
For the first time donning the Master Chef's hat, Liu Ming was overexcited, not knowing what to say.
But on his very first stint at the stove, a dish was sent back. An old gourmet customer insisted his stir-fried tomato and egg wasn't authentic.
Though just a simple dish, it left him red-faced. Liu Ming wished he could pull out the customer's tongue.
So much fuss over a tomato and egg stir-fry? He felt mocked by the entire kitchen staff.
But what did it matter?
He was now the Master Chef, while his skilled former master had gone to cook for some kindergarten. Liu Ming felt rather smug.
At that moment, Liu Master Chef had just arrived at the Starry Sky Kindergarten.
He had never been to a kindergarten before and didn't expect them to be so luxuriously built these days.
The outer walls were covered in all sorts of children's drawings, with a playground and amusement park inside.
There was only Shen Wei present. Liu Master Chef had never felt so restrained in his life, "Hello, I'm here for the job application!"
A simple sentence, but it took several awkward attempts to get it out.
