AGN -Chapter 416 Morning Meeting

The morning meeting at Zhiwei Ju was held in the staff lounge.

Yes, the very same staff lounge where the master chefs often came to blows and argued loudly.

Yesterday, Qin Huai hadn’t really gone inside—he only glanced in briefly. His impression was that the lounge was decently renovated and quite spacious, furnished with standard tables and chairs as well as some sofas and recliners.

Today, following Master Zhou inside, he found that it was pretty much the same as what he had seen yesterday. The only difference was that one table was piled high with boxed meals, each one labeled with a piece of paper bearing a name.

Eh, boxed meals.

Qin Huai’s attention was instantly drawn to them.

As soon as Master Zhou entered the lounge, he spotted Master Hua. The two of them clearly could not stand each other. So much so that Master Zhou completely ignored Qin Huai, strode straight forward, and stood face-to-face with Master Hua in confrontation.

Master Hua was unwilling to back down either. Though he was slightly guilty and uneasy, he still stubbornly lifted his chin and glared back at Master Zhou. It looked like a full-blown fight was about to erupt right there in the lounge.

The two masters at the door started arguing first.

“What do you mean by this, Ying Hetian? Yesterday I made honey-glazed layered cake, and you made honey-glazed layered cake. Today I made pine nut stuffed cake, and you made pine nut stuffed cake. Tomorrow if I make ruyi lock crisps, are you going to make ruyi lock crisps too?”

“Is it fun copying my pastries all the time? Are your pastries even as good as mine?”

“Chen En, don’t be so narcissistic. And what’s with calling your senior by name like that? Just because Master praised you a few times back then, you think you’re better than me? These pastries were all taught by Master. What’s wrong with me making them? I can’t make them? I haven’t even said anything about you copying me every day—you’re the one falsely accusing me first!”

“Spit it out. You still have the nerve to call yourself my senior? When you came to Zhiwei Ju for money, did you ever think you were my senior?”

“Chen En, is there something wrong with your brain? I didn’t sign a slave contract. I came because Zhiwei Ju offered better conditions. What’s wrong with that? Didn’t you also come here?”

“I came because Master told me to!”

“Back then Master didn’t say I couldn’t come!”

“You—@%&*/!”

“You’re the one who’s #%&@!”

Qin Huai was completely stunned.

Because at this moment, it wasn’t just Master Zhou and Master Hua arguing in the lounge—Chen En and Ying Hetian were also shouting at each other, and several others were exchanging hostile glares, the atmosphere tense like rivals refusing to acknowledge each other.

This didn’t feel like a company morning meeting at all. It felt like a gold-medal mediation session.

Wang Jiayi, however, was already used to it. Calmly, he pulled Qin Huai over to the table with the boxed meals, helped him find his lunch box, and then picked a seat far away from the conflict before starting to eat.

“Wang… Master Wang, are we really just going to eat?” Qin Huai was genuinely confused now. In his mind, there was no one normal in this staff lounge—including Wang Jiayi.

The meeting was about to start, people were arguing and possibly about to fight, and yet here they were, eating first.

Wang Jiayi calmly opened his lunch box. It was a rich set meal: pan-fried hairtail, sweet-and-sour pork with pineapple, stir-fried water spinach, garlic baby cabbage, and winter melon pork rib soup.

Seeing Qin Huai still standing there, he gestured to the seat beside him.

“Sit and eat. Our Zhiwei Ju morning meeting is originally for eating lunch. It’s your first day here for exchange, right? Later Boss Su will definitely introduce you to everyone. During the introduction, everyone will be eating, and you won’t have time to eat then. So you should eat first.”

Although Qin Huai didn’t understand, he accepted it and sat down in a daze, opening his lunch box.

The dishes inside were what he had discussed with Boss Su yesterday—recommended by Tan Weian. They were still hot, and looked very appetizing.

Seeing Wang Jiayi already eating heartily, Qin Huai also relaxed and started eating.

All the while, the lounge was filled with arguments from masters who clearly came from the same school but had now turned into sworn enemies.

“Master Chen and Master Ying are like this almost every day. You’ll get used to it. They argue fiercely, but they don’t actually fight. In the past people would try to stop them, but now everyone’s used to it. They only argue during morning meetings and don’t affect normal work. That’s actually not bad.”

Qin Huai: ?

“So… what exactly is going on with those two?” he asked curiously.

Wang Jiayi took a sip of soup and glanced at the still-arguing pair.

“Master Chen and Master Ying are senior brothers from the same master. About twenty years ago, Master Ying was dissatisfied with the treatment at their original restaurant. Coincidentally, Boss Su was aggressively recruiting top chefs at that time, so he poached Master Ying to Zhiwei Ju.”

“Actually, that wasn’t a big deal. In Zhiwei Ju’s early days, many chefs were hired this way. But Master Chen has always been unhappy about it, thinking Master Ying betrayed their school for money.”

“That counts as betrayal?” Qin Huai whispered in shock.

Wang Jiayi shrugged.

“There might be details we don’t know. After all, it was more than twenty years ago. About seven or eight years later, the restaurant Master Chen worked at went bankrupt. His master arranged for him to come to Zhiwei Ju.”

“From the day Master Chen arrived, he and Master Ying never got along. They argue every few days, and everyone’s used to it by now.”

“In recent years it’s actually gotten better. Six years ago, they had a particularly bad fight. After work, they even went to a lake and physically fought. A lot of chefs secretly went to watch, and some even brought cameras to record it.”

Qin Huai: “……”

Can you people even function properly?

“Is the video still around?” Qin Huai asked in a hushed, spy-like tone.

“Old Third probably has a backup. You can ask him later.”

“Got it!” Qin Huai immediately went back to eating.

After a few bites—around 11:05—the lounge door opened again.

A man who wasn’t wearing a uniform but was clearly Boss Su, Su Qi, made his entrance.

He looked very much like what Qin Huai had imagined—though that was partly because Qin Huai had seen a photo of him from over a decade ago.

Now middle-aged, Su Qi still had thick black hair, no sign of weight gain, and looked energetic and well-groomed. He carried himself like a successful man—refined, approachable, and full of vitality.

Seeing him arrive, the arguing chefs gradually stopped and went to collect their boxed meals.

Master Zhou sat directly beside Qin Huai. Master Hua originally wanted to sit over as well, but upon seeing Master Zhou, he snorted coldly and chose a seat far away, sitting down reluctantly.

“Good afternoon, masters. Sorry about that—I took a call just now and was delayed a few minutes. I’m late today.” Su Qi said with a smile as he walked over to the table, picked up the last lunch box that belonged to him, and sat down wherever there was an empty seat.

That seat wasn’t even the center position of the lounge—it was completely casual.

Of course, the master chefs weren’t particularly concerned about Su Qi. Most of them were either eating or chatting quietly.

After sitting down, Su Qi took out his phone to glance at his memo, then opened his lunch box and ate a couple of bites before slowly asking, “Master Qin, have you finished eating?”

Qin Huai quickly stood up a little stiffly. “I’ve just finished.”

Su Qi smiled. “No need to stand. You can sit and talk. Our Zhiwei Ju morning meeting is really just a time for everyone to communicate and eat together.”

“Then I’ll start with the most important matter for today’s meeting. I believe many masters already met Master Qin Huai yesterday, so I’ll briefly introduce him again.”

“Master Qin is here from Yunzhong Canteen in Shanshi City for exchange and learning. Previously, our Zhiwei Ju sent a group of apprentices there for training, and the results were very good. I also want to thank Master Qin for being willing to spend time training and teaching our apprentices.”

Thunderous applause erupted in the lounge. Even Master Zhou smiled and clapped heavily a few times.

“This time, Master Qin has come to exchange with us mainly to share experience in finger techniques. Yesterday, Master Zhou already volunteered to take responsibility for Master Qin’s initial learning period here. Of course, exchange won’t be limited to just one master. We have so many masters at Zhiwei Ju, each with their own unique skills. I believe Master Qin is also very interested in our place, and our masters are also very curious about him.”

“Yesterday, a few masters asked me about the specific arrangements for Master Qin’s exchange. I think this should mainly depend on Master Qin’s own preference.”

“Master Qin, would you prefer to currently follow Master Zhou, get familiar with the environment first, or interact more with different masters, or perhaps…”

Su Qi didn’t even finish the last option.

Instantly, everyone’s gaze turned to Qin Huai—Master Hua’s gaze especially sharp.

Master Zhou continued eating calmly beside Qin Huai, as steady as a mountain unaffected by wind or rain.

After thinking for a few seconds, Qin Huai said, “Let’s just follow the current arrangement. I’m here to learn and exchange. I believe I can learn a lot from all the masters here in the coming days. For now, I’ll follow Master Zhou first—too much at once might be hard to absorb. And thank you all for being willing to let me learn from you.”

Upon hearing this, Master Zhou nodded in satisfaction while taking another bite of food. He glanced at Master Hua with a look that clearly said: See? First move wins. Do you even understand the value of being the white-bai pastry number one?

Master Hua gritted his teeth so hard it felt like they might break, and could only lower his head to continue eating.

Su Qi happily said, “Then I’ll trouble Master Zhou to take good care of Master Qin for this period. I heard there’s been a bit of disagreement between Master Zhou and Master Hua recently. I hope you both don’t escalate small matters into fights.”

“Next, the second matter—recently someone reported that certain people were using coercion or inducements to take apprentices. After thorough investigation, this is completely false.”

“I do not want to hear such rumors in Zhiwei Ju again. I believe everyone here was chosen for their character. We’ve worked together for years, so you should understand each other well. Even if there are small conflicts, rumors like this should not arise.”

“Disputes over apprentices are common. But even so, I hope everyone can maintain basic harmony. Good apprentices are rare, and good masters are even rarer. You are all top-tier pastry chefs in the industry—you wouldn’t want baseless rumors to damage your reputations.”

“Alright, the main points for today are these two.”

Then Su Qi glanced at his memo again. “Next… Master Wang and Master Ma…”

He finished his last bite of food, drank a couple of sips of soup, then stood up and quickly walked over to the two masters he mentioned, lowering his voice: “Did you two argue in WeChat last night? What happened?”

“……”

“Oh, I see—you felt Master Ma didn’t respect your pastry because he only took one bite of your new dish before leaving.”

“……”

“And you think Master Wang is being petty, because you did try his dish despite being busy, but he still felt disrespected?”

“……”

“This really is a small matter, but it did cause a conflict. You two have always had a good relationship—everyone knows that. Once the argument is over, it’s over. Don’t let something like this create distance between you. If I remember correctly, Master Wang, your new dish is hibiscus milk cake, right? Last time…”

“……”

“What?! The apprentice of Master Liang who was involved in that ‘two-timing relationship scam’—she’s actually your neighbor’s teacher’s daughter? She was scammed out of 200,000 yuan?”

“Alright, I understand. Don’t worry, I’ll handle this seriously. Zhiwei Ju absolutely does not tolerate employees with such bad character—even direct disciples are no exception.”

“……”

“Yesterday the external sales counter mistakenly sold your sesame sugar cake as your apprentice’s work, charging it at disciple-level pricing. I’ll investigate this and give you feedback today.”

“……”

Watching Su Qi move through the lounge, circulating among different masters and resolving one item after another from his memo, Qin Huai was completely stunned.

At that moment, Zhao Cheng’an’s words suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Zhao Cheng’an was right—anyone who attended a Zhiwei Ju morning meeting would realize that Su Boss truly was like a god of Zhiwei Ju.

This wasn’t a morning meeting at all—it was a mediation session. The boss had turned into a professional conflict mediator handling disputes between masters.

If this were filmed as a variety show, they could probably shoot a hundred episodes.

Wang Jiayi kindly explained, “Our Zhiwei Ju has a complex staff structure. All the masters come from different regions, and before coming here, each of them was a top-tier authority in their own kitchens. They all have temperaments and pride.”

“If someone really can’t get along, Boss Su won’t force them to stay. But after working together for a long time, conflicts are inevitable.”

“So Boss Su specially arranged this morning meeting—everyone eats while solving problems. The idea is that people are in a better mood while eating and more willing to listen.”

“And even if things can’t be resolved, if they really start fighting, the worst that happens is someone puts their lunch box over the other person’s head.”

Hearing this, Qin Huai immediately caught the key point: “Someone actually puts their lunch box over another person’s head?”

Wang Jiayi gave him a look like you have talent for our gossip lineage.

“When we mediated the conflict between Master Hua and Master Liu, both of them ended up with each other’s lunch boxes on their faces.”

“Master Hua still thinks he suffered a loss because he had already drunk his soup, while Master Liu hadn’t—plus he got an extra bowl of soup dumped on him.”