Chapter 11 Recruitment Arrangements

Parent-Child Cooking Day ended successfully, with each child eating an average of two animal-shaped buns. Chen Huihong became the most popular parent among the kids—eight children crowded around one cooking station, each holding a piece of dough and shouting that theirs would make the prettiest buns using the molds. Five parents asked if Chen Huihong’s molds were for sale, three tried to get the carpenter Zhang’s contact to order a Peppa Pig-style mold set, and two parents simply gave up on their mysterious dishes and forfeited on the spot.

Chen Huihong-brand molded buns—everyone who tried them praised them.

Although the awards wouldn’t be announced until four days later, it was obvious that Chen Huihui had already secured the “Most Popular” award in advance.

It was worth mentioning that although the “pay-to-win” parents’ group—aside from Chen Huihong, their hidden member—was almost completely wiped out, everyone unanimously agreed that this year’s Parent-Child Activity Day was the best ever. In previous years, competing for rankings with time, effort, and money had its own excitement, but it was nothing compared to how much fun everyone had eating and playing this year.

Many parents even suggested to the homeroom teacher that the event be held again next year. They planned to start practicing their cooking skills from the very next day, aiming to make a comeback, redeem themselves, and show their true abilities to their rivals.

Qin Huai hadn’t even finished packing up or left the kitchen, and the molds hadn’t yet been loaded into the car, when he heard the system notification sound.

“Ding! Congratulations, player Qin Huai, for completing the side quest [Chen Huihong’s Troubles]. You have received the rewards: [Chen Huihong’s Recognition], and Popularity Boost +100 (this reward will automatically take effect after opening).”

With the +100 popularity boost, Qin Huai felt he had moved one step further away from going bankrupt within three months.

Chen Huihong, who had successfully wrapped up the event, was also in a great mood. The smile never left her face, and once they got in the car, she even took the initiative to chat with Qin Huai.

“Xiao Qin, the renovation team started work today and will finish tomorrow. My brother just messaged me—recruitment can start this afternoon. Do you want to handle hiring yourself, or let his HR team do it? After they finalize a shortlist, they’ll show it to you for the final decision.”

Hearing that professional HR could handle recruitment, Qin Huai quickly replied, “Thank you, Sister Hong—and thanks to your brother as well. I’ll treat him to desserts sometime.”

“It’s nothing. You’re the one who helped me a lot,” Chen Huihong said. Just thinking about what had happened in the kitchen earlier made her feel refreshed, as if she wanted to go back and give every community staff member a 2,000-yuan bonus to celebrate.

“Have you set the opening date? July 1st?” she asked.

“If recruitment goes smoothly, we can open on July 1st,” Qin Huai nodded.

Over the past few days, while Qin Huai trained Chen Huihong intensively at home, Qin Congwen and Zhao Rong hadn’t been idle either. They surveyed nearby breakfast shops and fast-food restaurants, noting down products and prices. Zhao Rong, who didn’t know how to use Word or Excel, handwrote several tables and, drawing on over twenty years of experience running a breakfast shop, created a menu and pricing list.

According to Qin Huai’s business philosophy, Yunzhong Canteen would be a specialty community canteen centered around dim sum, with most of its focus on first-floor pastries. As for stir-fried dishes, as long as they were affordable and tasted decent—enough to attract cost-conscious office workers nearby—that would be sufficient to maintain a stable customer base.

The requirements for main-dish chefs weren’t high—ordinary chefs would do, though hiring a couple of skilled ones would be even better.

Ultimately, whether the canteen could succeed or grow would depend mainly on Qin Huai’s own cooking skills.

These days, relying solely on employees in the food business rarely ended well—at best, one would lose less money than Ou Yang.

As for waitstaff, despite the large space, the canteen’s model didn’t require many—five or six would be enough to handle serving, cashier duties, occasional table cleaning, and even helping in the kitchen when needed. It was essentially a small workshop-style operation with organized chaos.

Cleaning was simple—they wouldn’t hire anyone for now. Qin Luo insisted on working as a cleaner for a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan, and Zhao Rong agreed that saving money was important. She and Qin Luo would handle cleaning and kitchen chores, while Qin Congwen would assist Qin Huai on the first floor—saving over ten thousand yuan per month.

As for promotion, even simpler—hand out flyers.

Yunzhong Community was located in the CBD, surrounded by office buildings and commercial areas, making flyer distribution incredibly easy.

Qin Congwen went to a nearby print shop and spent 50 yuan designing a simple promotion: 30% off for customers who bring a flyer. Ou Yang joined local university part-time job groups and hired 15 students at 18 yuan per hour to distribute flyers nearby from June 28 to July 10, with the option to extend another 10 days if effective.

To ensure the money wasn’t wasted, Ou Yang even requested permission from Chen Huihong to sneak out every two hours for 15 minutes to check on the students’ work. Impressed by his loyalty, Chen Huihong approved the request and even allowed an extra 5–10 minutes if needed.

Ou Yang was so touched that he asked Qin Huai if they could extend flyer distribution for a month—he’d even help on weekends. Recently, he’d been so broke he could barely afford large bottles of cheap soda, which didn’t suit his “rich second-generation” image at all.

All things considered, although Yunzhong Canteen looked like a makeshift operation before opening, with a guaranteed +200 popularity boost as a safety net, Qin Huai felt the future was promising.

Since Chen Huihui had classes in the afternoon and was already full from the morning, Chen Huihong dropped her off at school before driving Qin Huai back to Yunzhong Community.

On the way, Qin Huai thought that the system wouldn’t give him a dream of Chen Huihong for no reason—it must be useful. So he carefully brought it up indirectly.

“Sister Hong, Huihui told me something interesting this morning.”

“Hm?” Chen Huihong glanced at him through the rearview mirror.

“She said she often dreams that you’re holding her, and she calls you ‘Mom.’” Seeing her expression unchanged, Qin Huai continued, “She even consulted a fortune-teller, who said she was your daughter in a past life—and wants to be your daughter again in the next life.”

“You two must have a great bond,” he added.

Chen Huihong’s smile froze slightly. After a pause, she asked, “Xiao Qin, let me ask you something.”

“You seem to have a good relationship with your adoptive parents, like me and Huihui. But after all these years, have you ever wished to live with your biological parents? Felt conflicted? Regretful…?”

Qin Huai interrupted her, “Of course not.”

“When I was in the orphanage, the director thought I had ADHD—though back then they didn’t even call it that. People just said I wasn’t very bright, and I couldn’t get adopted.”

“If my parents hadn’t adopted me and invested in me, I probably wouldn’t have made it to college. I might’ve dropped out after middle school and gone to work.”

Back then, people thought he was slow mainly because he couldn’t read and didn’t understand the strange ‘Loading Game…’ icon he kept trying to tap away.

Qin Huai deliberately exaggerated his tone: “Like you said, my relationship with my parents is great—no worse than yours with Huihui. How could I feel conflicted or regretful? I feel lucky to be their son. Why would I think otherwise?”

Chen Huihong laughed. “You’re right—I was overthinking.”

“You may not know this, but Huihui is just like you—she’s my adopted daughter from an orphanage after my divorce.”

Qin Huai was stunned.

A faint smile appeared on Chen Huihong’s lips. “Actually, when you mentioned her dreams earlier, I felt happy—because sometimes I have similar dreams too. I dream that I’m holding Huihui, and she calls me ‘Mom.’”

“In the dream, I’m much younger—at least ten years younger than now.”

“Maybe we really are connected somehow,” she said, then shook her head. “But there’s no such thing as past and present lives. My brother was once tricked into believing that nonsense and spent over 200,000 yuan on rituals—it’s all a scam.”

“Anyway, enough of that. Let me know once the opening date is set—I’ll bring Huihui to support you.”

“Of course, Sister Hong. I’ll tell you right away!”

After returning home, Qin Huai found a note at the entrance. Qin Luo and the others had gone out again to gather more “intelligence,” feeling their earlier research wasn’t thorough enough. Zhao Rong told him to just eat something simple on his own.

With no one home, Qin Huai sat on the sofa and opened the game panel to check his newly acquired reward.

[Chen Huihong’s Recognition]: A warm-hearted aunt’s acknowledgment. With this title, there’s a high chance of gaining Chen Huihong’s goodwill and help, and a small chance she’ll open up and share unknown secrets.

So that’s why she opened up in the car?

But she hadn’t revealed any real secrets. Since Huihui was adopted, it was probably not something hidden, and Chen Huihong seemed quite open about it.

Still, the title was quite useful. As the leading figure in Yunzhong Community, Chen Huihong’s support carried significant weight.

Qin Huai silently gave the title a thumbs-up.

Great—one step further away from losses.

Now there was only one thing left…

His finger slowly moved toward the item [A Segment of Chen Huihong’s Dream].

Watching someone else’s dream felt a bit creepy, but…

He wanted to see.

Just a little.

Qin Huai returned to his room, carefully locked the door, and clicked on the item.

[Enter “A Segment of Chen Huihong’s Dream”? Yes/No]

Enter? Fully immersive?

[Yes]

[Loading Dream—]

(End of Chapter)