AGN -Chapter 117 Excellent Employee

At Zheng Siyuan’s suggestion, Qin Huai asked Huang Xi to post a recruitment notice for apprentice workers under the name of Yunzhong Cafeteria. A notice was also pasted on the window outside the entrance.

That very afternoon, someone came to apply.

And the applicant was even an existing employee.

“You want to become an apprentice?” Qin Huai looked at An Youyou, who had a nervous expression on her face, and quickly searched her résumé in his memory from when she had applied as a general helper.

Good—he couldn’t recall anything at all.

Qin Huai’s impression of An Youyou was: from Guizhou, hardworking, very young (just turned 18), only had a middle school education, and was an inexpensive and practical worker.

He had chosen her back then precisely because of her cost-effectiveness.

An Youyou nodded firmly.

“The salary of an apprentice might actually be lower than what you’re earning now,” Qin Huai said, thinking she might be expecting higher pay. He reminded her, “Apprentices are there to learn skills. Meals are included but no lodging, and the salary is very low. If you have talent, you might even be taken as a formal disciple—if you don’t mind apprenticing under me.”

“But… we probably don’t take complete beginners, right?” Qin Huai said this while glancing at Zheng Siyuan.

Zheng Siyuan: “……”

Why are you looking at him? It’s not like he’s the one hiring apprentices.

Zheng Siyuan could only nod at Qin Huai.

He had never taken apprentices, and neither had his father, but his senior uncle Huang Shengli had taken quite a few. Those were traditional apprenticeships—formal and proper—where apprentices had to serve tea, bow in acknowledgment, and go through official rites, essentially considered half a disciple.

“So I wanted to ask if I could work as both a general helper and an apprentice,” An Youyou said somewhat shyly. “I want to learn a trade, but I also want to earn money.”

Such a simple, straightforward wish.

“Do you have any foundation?” Qin Huai asked, since he was somewhat familiar with her background.

“Yes! I can knead dough and chop fillings!” An Youyou emphasized. “My family runs a breakfast shop in town!”

“Then why did you come out to work?” Qin Huai found it odd. His own family also ran a breakfast shop. If he hadn’t inherited anything, he’d probably still be selling buns at home.

“My mom doesn’t give me money,” An Youyou said honestly. “In our area, if your grades aren’t good, you start working after middle school. My grades weren’t good, so after graduating from middle school, I went back to help at the family breakfast shop. I had to get up at around 1 a.m. and work until 11 a.m. every day. Even on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, I couldn’t rest. Since I worked at home, my mom only gave me 200 yuan a month as pocket money.”

“I really wanted money, so as soon as I turned 18, I came out to work. Before coming to the cafeteria, I submitted many resumes. Some jobs had no base salary, others paid very little. Even though the cafeteria starts work at 6 a.m., and I live far away so it takes over an hour to commute—meaning I have to get up at around 4 a.m.—the pay is higher!”

“And getting up at 4 a.m. is still later than at home. I actually like it!”

Zheng Siyuan, who had been silently eavesdropping, didn’t fully understand—but he was deeply shocked, and even felt a bit relieved that his family didn’t run a breakfast shop.

“Boss, your skills are great,” An Youyou said, no longer calling him “Little Qin Master” and instead directly addressing him as boss. “If I follow you for a few years, I won’t need to work as a general helper anymore. This morning I secretly asked Chef Chen about the salary—it’s 4,000 yuan higher than mine! I really want to become a breakfast chef!”

Qin Huai: “……”

He could tell—An Youyou truly loved money.

Her desire for money was practically overflowing from her eyes.

“Technically, one person cannot hold both a general helper and apprentice position at the same time,” Qin Huai said. Before she could look disappointed, he added, “But if you’re willing to get up even earlier, you can switch to working as a kitchen assistant.”

Qin Huai explained that although a 5,000 yuan monthly general helper position could still be hired, it was extremely difficult to find someone willing to get up at 1 a.m. as a kitchen assistant.

Yunzhong Cafeteria urgently needed such talent.

“However, if you work as an assistant, you’ll need to wake up earlier. On the other hand, you’ll finish work earlier too. As an assistant, you can still learn skills, earn higher pay, and most importantly, there are performance bonuses.”

An Youyou’s eyes lit up. “Can I be an assistant?”

“Can you arrive at the cafeteria by 3 a.m.?”

“Of course!”

“Try it out for three days. If there are no issues, I’ll have Huang Xi draft a new contract to transfer your position.”

“Thank you, boss!”

“Don’t call me boss—call me Little Qin Master.”

“Thank you, Little Qin Master!”

Qin Huai messaged Huang Xi, who was out handling business, informing her that they had successfully hired a new assistant. Unfortunately, they had lost an excellent general helper, so she needed to urgently recruit another one.

He then continued simmering broth while telling Zheng Siyuan about the good news of finding an assistant for him.

Zheng Siyuan said there was no need to specifically hire an assistant—he himself couldn’t wake up at 3 a.m.

“You breakfast sellers all get up this early?” Zheng Siyuan asked cautiously after Qin Huai skimmed the foam from the broth again.

“If we were running a breakfast shop, waking up at 1 a.m. would be normal,” Qin Huai nodded. “But I couldn’t do that. My parents used to wake up early to prepare the first batch of food, and I’d get up at 5 a.m. to sell the second batch.”

“People around our Three-Lane residential area mostly wait for the second batch. Sometimes high school students would even be late because they were waiting for buns.”

“Sigh,” Qin Huai sighed. “If business weren’t so good now, I wouldn’t be waking up at 4 a.m. The days of waking up at 5 a.m. are gone forever.”

He continued shaping a Doraemon bun.

He had become fixated on making Doraemon.

The uglier it turned out, the more he insisted on making it.

“By the way, I’ll be accompanying Mr. Luo to the hospital for therapy tomorrow afternoon, so you should also take the afternoon off,” Qin Huai said to Zheng Siyuan. “Trust me—if you leave early enough at noon, you won’t have to see Uncle Cao, Grandma Ding, or Uncle Xu’s disappointed expressions.”

He was genuinely sharing his experience.

He was worried the neighborhood elders might act too convincingly and scare away their rare pastry talent.

Zheng Siyuan found his reasoning sound and decided to try leaving early the next day.

The next day, after lunch, both Qin Huai and Zheng Siyuan slipped away early.

Qin Huai had now become a regular visitor to the hospital.

Doctors and nurses in the rehabilitation department were already familiar with him. Some nurses even greeted him, asking why he hadn’t informed Dr. Qu in advance that he was bringing Mr. Luo for therapy, since Dr. Qu wasn’t in the department.

Luo Jun’s sharp gaze immediately sliced toward Qin Huai, as if wanting to dismember him.

“I forgot because I was thinking about recruitment yesterday—would you believe me?” Qin Huai said weakly.

Luo Jun sneered. “What, do you also have memory issues like Wang Gensheng?”

It seemed Luo Jun had been listening to quite a bit of gossip.

“I’ll call right now!” Qin Huai took out his phone.

The call didn’t go through.

“Please wait in the rehabilitation department. I’ll go find her now!” Qin Huai rushed to the elevator.

Luo Jun quietly walked toward the consultation room.

Before Qin Huai even reached the elevator, he heard Dr. Zhou exclaim, “Mr. Luo, why did you come alone? Where’s Little Qin Master? Where’s Dr. Qu? Are they both busy today???”

Dr. Zhou sounded like he was about to call the police for a missing persons report.

Qin Huai headed to the neurology department.

Dr. Qu didn’t have outpatient duty in the afternoon. After confirming with the nurses at the front desk that she was in her office, Qin Huai walked straight there.

The office door was closed, but the soundproofing wasn’t very good—perhaps the speaker was near the door.

“Two more patient complaints came in this morning. They said you were wearing a mask, gloves, and even a scarf in this hot weather—one said you looked strange and uncomfortable, another said you were disrespecting patients.”

“Everyone understands your condition, but ultraviolet allergy isn’t some incurable disease. You’ve been treated at outside hospitals for years without results—maybe consider visiting our dermatology department? Director Huang is quite experienced in this area.”

Qin Huai paused mid-knock.

“I understand, Director. I’ve actually been improving over the years. I’ll pay more attention next time and not wear the scarf.”

“I’m not blaming you. Since patients have given feedback, our hospital takes this seriously. Please try to be understanding as well.”

Qin Huai knocked on the door.

“Come in, it’s unlocked,” came the director’s voice.

Qin Huai pushed the door open. Director Zhang from the neurology department recognized him.

The neurology department had poor success competing for snacks like tangerine peel tea, and usually relied on Qin Huai secretly helping Dr. Qu to get any.

“Little Qin Master, what brings you here today? Is someone in your family here for an appointment? I remember your father had a checkup here recently—his back didn’t seem too good.”

“I’m here to see Dr. Qu,” Qin Huai said, pointing at her. “Mr. Luo suddenly decided to come for therapy today. I called Dr. Qu earlier but she didn’t pick up…”

Director Zhang understood. “Mr. Luo is here, right? Perfect, Dr. Qu’s outpatient session is already over. Xiao Qu, go and take care of Mr. Luo.”

“Little Qin Master, if your father needs a consultation for his back, let me know—I have a good connection with orthopedics.”

“Sure, thank you, Director Zhang. I’ll bring you some tangerine peel tea next time.”

“You’re too kind.” Director Zhang smiled broadly.

Qin Huai and Dr. Qu headed to the rehabilitation department.

Qin Huai didn’t mention what he had overheard at the door and pretended he hadn’t heard anything, quietly pondering in his mind.

Director Zhang had said that Dr. Qu’s ultraviolet allergy had been treated at outside hospitals all these years.

But Qin Huai clearly remembered that yesterday morning, when Uncle Cao offered to recommend a doctor, Dr. Qu had implied that her condition was being treated at their own hospital.

“Dr. Qu, your lip color seems a bit off these past two days,” Qin Huai said.

Perhaps because she had just spoken with the director, Dr. Qu wasn’t wearing a mask.

She froze for a moment, then took out a mask from her pocket and put it on. “Maybe I haven’t been eating regularly these past two days. I might have low blood sugar.”

“I’ve been working on a new paper recently, and I’ve been under some stress. I didn’t even notice until you mentioned it.”

They arrived at the rehabilitation department and stepped out of the elevator.