Free Web NovelChapter 106: Chapter 78: New Department: Delicious Small Dining Table
If worse came to worst,
Su Chen had already figured it out. He’d just take Bai Xiaobo and the others to set up a street stall!
He’d do the cooking, He Shuting would draw in customers, Liu Shengnan would handle the cash and serve the food, Bai Xiaobo could be responsible for the heavy lifting, and Aunt Fang would continue to keep the stall clean.
’No matter what, I have to be the boss!’
Su Chen chuckled at the thought. "By the way, why didn’t Bai Xiaobo come to work today?"
"Did he not ask you for time off?" Liu Shengnan looked up, a little confused. "He didn’t ask me, either."
Since Liu Shengnan handled both finance and HR, she was also responsible for tracking everyone’s attendance. So if someone couldn’t come in because of a family matter or something, they just had to let Sister Shengnan know.
"That’s strange. Give him a call later and ask," Su Chen instructed. "It doesn’t look like we’ll have many customers this evening, so you all can head home early if you’re not busy."
That was Delicious for you!
Extremely flexible work hours!
If there was work, we’d get it done. If not, we’d pack it up!
Just then, He Shuting ran over from her workstation. "Boss, Director Li is saying he has something for you again!"
Liu Shengnan shot up from her seat. "Is he bringing us another big deal?"
Su Chen, however, frowned slightly.
When Li Mingtao had first left, he still dropped by every few days to check in. Now, he had completely vanished. Su Chen already knew Li Mingtao had taken a job with the company across the street, but he figured Li Mingtao didn’t yet know that he knew.
’Is he coming to find me at a time like this to talk about his resignation?’
"I don’t know. Director Li just said he had something to discuss with the boss, but you weren’t answering his WeChat messages."
"Ah!" Su Chen looked a little sheepish. "When you’re logged into WeChat on the computer, the phone doesn’t give you notifications!"
He took He Shuting’s phone. Li Mingtao’s message read, "Boss, you in? I’ll head over right now, then."
Before long, Su Chen and the others saw Li Mingtao burst into the office, full of urgency.
"Boss! I’ve got something, something big!"
Su Chen waved a hand, gesturing for Li Mingtao to sit down first. "What’s going on?"
"There’s a huge deal on the table. It just depends on whether our company is interested."
’So it wasn’t about his resignation?’
Su Chen sat up straighter. "What kind of deal?"
"Do you remember back when we were doing pre-prepared meals, and we cultivated connections with several schools?"
Su Chen knew about this.
In fact, as Su Chen saw it now, the main reason the company’s bankruptcy had accelerated was that most of its funds had been spent on networking and favors.
"Boss, the city is trying to accelerate the development of the High-Tech Development Zone, so they’re starting to relocate schools over here to the Development Zone."
Su Chen cut Li Mingtao off. "We’re not planning to continue the pre-prepared meals business."
Su Chen himself wasn’t a fan of that stuff, especially not for schools. If nothing went wrong, it was fine, but even the slightest incident would be a complete catastrophe.
"That’s not what this is about." Li Mingtao wasn’t in a hurry, continuing at a relaxed pace. "The first one to move is the Mechanical Kindergarten. I’ve asked around. It’s a public school, right?"
"So, they don’t offer services for kids to stay over the lunch break. This means lunch for all those little kids has become a problem, and not all parents have the time to pick up their kids and drop them back off!"
"So you’re proposing...?" Su Chen immediately thought of a business model.
The kind of lunchtime care service that was popular in many cities.
"We could totally provide lunch service for the kids! At the current market rate, we could charge at least 900 a month."
"I get it." Su Chen nodded slightly. "But there’s a problem. Our company can’t provide a place for the children to rest. And we can’t offer a pick-up and drop-off service either."
"The biggest problem is, at 900 per child, ten kids is only 9,000. The amount of effort we’d have to put in for just ten kids would be immense."
This was the main reason Su Chen couldn’t agree to the plan.
Nine thousand a month, and we wouldn’t just be cooking. We’d have to watch the kids over their lunch break too. The effort would absolutely not be worth the reward.
"Boss, hold on, don’t be so hasty." Li Mingtao was a little exasperated by Su Chen’s rejection. "I’ve already spoken with the kindergarten principal. They’re willing to invest in a shuttle bus for transportation. We would just have to provide lunch and a place for the kids to nap."
"As for the space, I’ve thought of that, too. Isn’t our company’s building mostly empty? The Development Zone has a policy where the first year is rent-free for renovations. We can just rent another floor!"
"We do some simple renovations, buy some cots for the kids to sleep on, and everyone can just bring their own bedding from home. What do you think?"
Holy cow!
Su Chen was completely baffled by Li Mingtao.
’This isn’t a big deal, you’re asking me to open a whole new company, aren’t you?’
Across from him, Director Li was still rambling on.
"And the parents, they work in all sorts of industries! A few of them sell furniture, and a few others are in the renovation business. We can just give the work directly to them!"
Su Chen: ???
"I’ve already coordinated with the principal. If our company can pull this off, at least 110 children will choose to come to us!"
Li Mingtao discreetly took all the credit for himself.
Liu Shengnan counted on her fingers, silently doing the math in her head.
times 900 equals?
GASP!
’A hundred thousand a month?’
Su Chen leaned back in his chair. ’You’ve already arranged everything, so what the hell did you come to me for?’
Seeing his boss remain silent, Li Mingtao assumed Su Chen was still worried about money and continued to offer assurances. "Don’t worry, Boss. For the renovations and supplies, those parents I mentioned... they said as long as their kids can eat and sleep healthily, they’re willing to front the costs. We can just give them an IOU and pay it back within a year! Plus, they promised to use absolutely genuine, high-quality materials!"
"I think what Director Li is saying makes sense."
