Chapter 272 - 232: Why Don’t We Give It a Try, Too?

Chapter 272: Chapter 232: Why Don’t We Give It a Try, Too?

After spending all night psyching himself up, Zhang Dezhen was fully prepared. Even if Xu An rejected him on the spot, he’d still have the courage to suggest his wife come work as his assistant for free.

It was a workday, so Xu An didn’t return to the shop until after dropping off Xu Kang and Xu Le at kindergarten. By the time he got back, it was already 8:30 in the morning, and everyone was in the middle of a busy rush.

Despite having prepared himself, the moment Zhang Dezhen actually saw Xu An, his confidence still faltered...

’There are a lot of people right now. Maybe I should wait? I’ll talk to the boss during the break after this batch of braised dishes is done and the next one is in the pot.’

As he hesitated, Xu An had already made his rounds through all three shops. He listened to Tang Wen and the others report on the day’s main tasks and approved a few small budget expenses. He even spent a good while discussing the bonus structure and personnel restrictions for their bid proposal with Wang Fulong.

With all the routine matters taken care of, Xu An finally turned his attention to Zhang Dezhen.

He casually strolled over to the back door of the kitchen in Shop No. 1, poked his head in, and opened his mouth. The words he’d rehearsed several times the previous night came out smoothly. "Master Zhang, are you free to step out for a moment? I have something to discuss with you."

’He addressed me so formally!’ ’The boss... he actually addressed me with such respect!’

’Is he being polite just to soften the blow?’

’Has the boss already figured out what I’m planning?’

It turned out that a whole night of psyching himself up had been for nothing. At least, standing in front of Xu An now, Zhang Dezhen still felt incredibly anxious.

"Master Zhang, the Taobao Store has been getting a lot of orders lately. The workload is huge. It must be pretty tough, right?"

"The more I work, the more I earn! It’s not tough at all, not at all!" Zhang Dezhen said, shaking his head and waving his hands. Only after the words were out did he realize his mistake. ’If I say it’s not tough, how am I supposed to bring up my wife coming to help?’

Xu An had intended to start with some small talk before getting to the point. But Zhang Dezhen had killed the conversation before it even began. Considering Master Zhang’s personality, Xu An decided not to beat around the bush any longer and went straight to the heart of the matter.

"Master Zhang, don’t be so modest. I’ve seen how hard you’ve been working. The Taobao Store orders are already backed up by ten days..."

"It’s that bad? Boss, I’ll start working overtime today!" Zhang Dezhen was stunned, then immediately offered to give up his time off.

’I’m not exactly a slave-driving boss, am I?’ Xu An thought. He provided his employees with proper salaries, benefits, and time off. A small restaurant that paid triple for overtime was a rarity no matter where you looked.

But Zhang Dezhen’s reaction now was making Xu An feel like a total slave driver...

"Master Zhang, how about this? Would your wife be interested in coming to work at the shop with you? Her salary and benefits would be the same as yours, but she wouldn’t get a commission..." When speaking to an honest man, it’s best to be direct. This time, Xu An didn’t use any fancy language and stated his intentions plainly.

With every word Xu An spoke, Zhang Dezhen’s eyes grew a little brighter, and he began to rub his hands together gleefully, trying to contain his excitement.

Before the words had even finished echoing in the air, Zhang Dezhen was already nodding eagerly and agreeing without a moment’s hesitation. "No problem, no problem at all! I’ll tell my wife right now. I’ll have her pack her things and come over right away. I’ll go find a bigger house, too! Heheh, heheh."

With that, Zhang Dezhen didn’t even wait for Xu An’s response. He strode to the end of the alley, pulled out his phone with a goofy grin, and called his wife.

"Heheh, honey! Heheh, the boss just came to see me! Heheh, he was the one who suggested you come help me! Heheheh, and it’s a paid job! The boss is going to pay you! The same salary as me! Heheheheheh..."

Although Zhang Dezhen’s words were a jumbled mess punctuated by giddy laughter, once his wife understood what he was trying to say, she let out a huge sigh of relief, followed by a wave of pure joy.

’Hai City... that’s a big city!’

When they first got married, Zhang Dezhen had painted a beautiful picture for her: he would go to the city to work first, and once he was stable, he would bring the entire family over. From then on, they would live their lives in the city.

But in the blink of an eye, almost ten years had passed. Zhang Dezhen had gone from one job to the next, and every time things started looking hopeful, the opportunity would suddenly fall through.

This time, hearing his words, she hadn’t actually allowed herself to get her hopes up. After all, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. She never imagined that this time, it wouldn’t be disappointment waiting for her, but real, actual hope!

Without a moment’s hesitation, as soon as she hung up the phone, Zhang Dezhen’s wife began to pack up their things.

In truth, there wasn’t much worth packing in the house. The real issue was the vegetables and fruits in their garden patch. The ones that were fully grown could be picked and taken without a problem. What pained her the most were the ones that were still half-grown. She couldn’t take them, but she couldn’t just leave them either...

Just as Zhang Dezhen’s wife stood in the field, fretting over the half-grown plants, two of her younger brother’s friends happened to pass by. Seeing her staring into space, they came over and asked, "Hey, sis, what are you doing standing out in the field in the midday sun?"

"Huh? Oh!" Zhang Dezhen’s wife snapped back to reality at the sound of their voices and looked at them, a bit lost. "What is it?"

"I was just saying, the sun is brutal. You’re standing in the field without even a straw hat, you’ll make yourself sick!"

"Oh, right. It’s fine, I’m heading back now!" Zhang Dezhen’s wife said with a smile. She pulled out a basket that had been completely hidden by the overgrown tomato vines and hoisted it onto her back.

The garden patch was meticulously tended, and the harvest was impressive. The basket was filled to the brim with freshly picked produce, nearly overflowing.

Whether it was because she stepped on a small stone or because she was feeling unwell from the sun, Zhang Dezhen’s wife suddenly stumbled. She recovered quickly, but two tomatoes from the very top of her full basket fell off, ROLLING to the feet of the two young men who were about to leave.

One of them bent down to pick up the two tomatoes and give them back to her, but he noticed they were still quite green. Looking more closely at the basket on her back, he saw it contained many other unripe tomatoes.

"Sis, these tomatoes need a few more days to ripen. Why’d you pick them all already? If you’re craving tomatoes, come pick some from my family’s patch. Ours are all big and bright red!"

"Oh, well, I have to go away on a long trip for a few days. If I don’t pick them now, they’ll all be rotten by the time I get back!" Zhang Dezhen’s wife answered evasively.

"Brother Zhang isn’t home, Yao is away too, and now you’re leaving... what about your kid and the old grandma at home?"

"What else can I do? I’ll have to take them with me!"

Afraid she’d say too much and let something slip, Zhang Dezhen’s wife quickly took the tomatoes from the young man and hurried away, leaving the two of them looking completely bewildered.

Normally, the two of them wouldn’t have given the little incident a second thought. They might have muttered a couple of things, and then this non-event would have been forgotten.

But today, listening to what she said, they couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to her words than met the eye—that her few short sentences held a much bigger story.

At first, they just mulled over her words and the incident in their minds. But as they thought about it, their minds suddenly jumped to her younger brother, Yao. They remembered the photos Yao had sent them, and the one of Zhang Dezhen standing in front of a braised goods shop, grinning from ear to ear...

The two of them, lost in thought, suddenly looked up. Their eyes met, and they spoke at almost the exact same time: "Yao’s family... they’ve made it big!"

Then, an intense, feverish look entered their eyes.

’Since Yao’s family has already succeeded in making a go of it in Hai City... maybe we should give it a try, too?’