Free Web NovelChapter 535: Chapter 447: Familiar Juicy Burst, Rekindled Passion
If it were any other restaurant, she wouldn’t care so much. Once pregnant, she could even take paid leave and receive government benefits like a milk allowance. It’s almost too good to be true.
But that’s not the case here.
Although Chef Marchello is one of the actual power-holders, looking at the situation now, it seems likely that the restaurant will be fully managed by Chef Lin in the future.
Chef Lin has a very friendly and easy-going personality. He’s always considerate of others, taking on tough or exhausting work himself or doing it alongside employees. He’s never dumped work on them to slack off.
Plus, business is booming at the restaurant now, and with the upcoming Olympics, as a newly appointed front-of-house manager, betraying everyone now would almost certainly mean losing her place in the restaurant’s core circle.
That’s the lighter consequence. More seriously, she could even face ostracism or dismissal.
Quickly reviewing the current situation in her mind, she became more determined in her decision.
At least for the next six months, there’s absolutely no chance of getting pregnant!
As for what comes later, she’ll wait until the end of the year to see.
Children can be born anytime, but good jobs don’t come around as easily.
While the two were chatting, Nicole came over again to bring them some freshly fried dumplings.
"Hey, hey! Nicole, hold on, why don’t you give those extra dumplings to the customers in the back first?"
Helena raised her hand to stop her.
"For convenience,"
Nicole shrugged helplessly, "Customers usually buy in dozens, and each pot only has enough extra fried dumplings for one customer, or maybe not even."
"It’s the same situation with steamed dumplings. There are even fewer left over."
"If we can’t put together a complete serving, the customers would still have to wait. But if the leftover dumplings were kept warm until the next batch is ready, the texture would be off. The chef lets us eat them ourselves first."
"I see."
Dais and Helena nodded thoughtfully. The waiting customers, although envious, couldn’t do much.
They couldn’t just say they’d wait and ask for the leftover dumplings themselves, right?
With so many people waiting and those who’ve already taken a number, they couldn’t bring themselves to ask for a freebie.
"Then I’ll go back to work. Be careful not to burn yourself while eating~"
"Don’t worry, we’ve got it covered."
Dais and Helena exchanged smiles and gave her an OK gesture.
After working under Lin Chen for so long, if they still didn’t know that Great Xia’s buns and dumplings often hid scalding soup inside, they might as well resign.
Nicole nodded, not worried they’d get burned. She said it mainly for the customers to hear, indirectly piquing their curiosity and increasing their patience while waiting.
Those who got up early to queue for breakfast had probably learned about Lin Chen and watched Lucas’s videos.
The more popular ones featured grilled oysters and meat-stuffed flatbreads, as well as the recent shrimp potstickers and buns, gaining popularity as more hotel guests flock in.
Nicole’s warning about the hot dumplings immediately brought up images they remembered from online.
"Do those fried dumplings have soup inside?"
"Definitely. I saw that big dumpling in a video online, and when you bite into it, juice sprays out."
"Yeah, I saw that video too. The comments said there’s no real way to claim you’ve eaten Great Xia’s buns and dumplings without getting burned."
"Miss, I’m really curious. Do those dumplings have that much juice inside?"
Nicole had just left, and Dais and Helena were about to pick up their lunch boxes when they suddenly noticed a dozen curious gazes focused on the dumplings they held.
"Uh, yes, there must be some."
Dais glanced at the fried dumplings and answered somewhat uncertainly, "Because Great Xia’s cuisine has so many variations. Even with the same food, different methods result in different outcomes."
"The steamed dumplings we just had did have some broth, but not much. So the fried dumplings must have some as well, but we can’t guarantee how much."
"Chef Lin once made soup dumplings where a spoonful of broth would come out of each."
As she explained to everyone, Helena had already picked up a fried dumpling, bit into it, and slowly tilted it forward in front of everyone.
"Plop."
A drop of brown meat juice fell from the bite mark into the lunch box.
Then, drop by drop, the liquid continued to fall, tracing a thin, shiny line in the air.
The line lasted only a brief moment, pooling into a small puddle at the container’s corner.
The guests couldn’t see from their angle, only a stream pouring out, causing them all to widen their eyes.
"There really is juice!!"
"Amazing, how do they fill them with so much liquid?"
"Using a syringe?"
"That can’t be. Wouldn’t using a syringe pierce the dumpling skin? Even if you inject it, wouldn’t the juice just seep out?"
Seeing the crowd’s lively discussion caused by her simple action, the corners of Helena’s mouth lifted into a smug smile.
"So this is what it’s like to work on Chef Lin’s team?"
The feeling of eager eyes on her was unlike anything she experienced selling buffet tickets before.
Passion!
She felt a long-lost enthusiasm ignite deep within her, wanting to serve fresh dumplings straight out of the pot and watch the customers devour them with glee.
This is the soul of a server’s work!
As she thought more about it, she remembered working at the Paris God’s Kiss Main Store under Chef Marchello before coming here.
The workload was high then, but she could always see satisfied smiles from customers and feel their genuine recognition and admiration for their work.
But since coming here, everything has changed.
No, it hasn’t all disappeared; it’s just that compared to before, her sense of fulfillment in the work has decreased significantly.
"Just a few more days, maybe by next week, Chef Lin will take over the entire restaurant?"
Today is Wednesday, and Saturday is only three days away. Sunday is a rest day, so no work.
As she daydreamed, Lucinda came out from inside the restaurant and patted her arm.
"The dishes are prepped, and we can start letting customers in."
As soon as she finished speaking, her gaze locked onto the dumpling box in Helena’s hand.
