Su Qinghe went to the Personnel Department to complete the formalities with him, feeling confused about how things had suddenly changed on the way.
Her father-in-law wouldn’t do this kind of thing. Family members had to find their own jobs. It was already good if they could get a temporary job. Letting her father-in-law get her a regular job? That was impossible. Besides, her father-in-law didn’t seem to have that much power. State-owned hotels were independent units and belonged to the city. The city-level ones were managed by the province. Even the county magistrate might not be able to intervene. The manager of the county's state-owned hotel might not even listen to the county magistrate. The person in charge of the hotel had control over meat, and even the county magistrate might have to discuss things with him.
“Comrade, may I ask who arranged for me to do the formalities?” She couldn’t help but ask.
The female comrade in the Personnel Department replied, “I don’t know about that. Anyway, the city sent your regularization document.”
Su Qinghe was stunned again. She didn’t know anyone in the city.
After completing the formalities at the Personnel Department, Su Qinghe officially became a staff member of a state-owned hotel. Her job title wasn’t waiter—it was master chef.
Damn, that’s the same level as Master Qiao Fu.
After returning to the hotel, Aunt Li greeted her with a smile, “Xiao Su, you’ll be our chef here from now on. You’re really capable. We’ll call you Master Su from now on.”
Qiao Da was silently smoking on the side.
Su Qinghe smiled and said, “I’m just here to help the master and share some of the work. I don’t think I’ll be here long. When my partner succeeds, I’ll have to go to him.” Of course, this was just an excuse. Changan was capable, and she also had her own life. Whether or not she would go was another matter, but she had to say this for now.
Aunt Li smiled and turned to Qiao Da, “Look, Xiao Su is still young and not married yet. Sooner or later, she’ll leave to be with her partner. It's a pity.”
Qiao Da’s expression improved. Although Xiao Su became regular staff, she wouldn’t stay long-term. So, there was no competition.
He smiled and took a puff of his cigarette. “Xiao Su, how come your paperwork got approved and none of us heard about it?”
Su Qinghe looked puzzled. “I’m confused too. They said it was arranged by the city.”
Aunt Li said, “It can only be arranged by the city. The county doesn’t have the authority to confirm a master chef position.”
“Then I really don’t know. My father-in-law doesn’t get involved in this. He’s busy with county affairs and doesn’t care about my work. I also thought it might be a mistake.”
Aunt Li smiled and waved her hand, “Even if it was a mistake, now it’s been corrected. They can’t take it back, right? If they made a mistake, they’ll get punished. You just focus on cooking. Oh, but now that you’re a chef, I need to talk to the manager and find someone to help.”
Since Su Qinghe was now a regular chef, the kitchen workload needed to be re-divided. Normally, restaurants had at least two chefs. But the county restaurant wasn’t big, so one chef was enough. Qiao Da had been worried someone would compete with him, so he hadn’t applied for new hires these past few years. Without demand, the higher-ups naturally didn’t interfere. Now that a second chef had been added, organizing the work became a headache.
Unlike Su Qinghe, Qiao Da really valued his job, so he insisted on doing the work himself. “I’m used to making the breakfast. I can make the steamed buns quickly. I can handle lunch and dinner too…”
Basically, he could do it all.
Su Qinghe was happy to let him. For her, this formal job didn’t mean much except that it brought in income and gave her access to the kitchen.
So she said, “I have a few special dishes I can make. If someone orders them, I’ll cook. Or I can help research new dishes for the restaurant. The rest of the time, I’ll help the master. I’m still young and have a lot to learn.”
Hearing this, Qiao Da felt relieved. He smiled like a Maitreya Buddha. “Xiao Su, just focus on researching new dishes. Leave the rest to me. I’ll make sure everything runs smoothly.”
Basically, he meant: you can be idle; I’ll do the work.
Su Qinghe smiled and nodded, “Okay!”
The restaurant had strict rules. A chef couldn’t do a waiter’s job. That would be like asking the general manager to do the clerk’s work—it would hurt the hotel’s image. So, Su Qinghe retired from her post as a waiter with honor and officially became the most idle person in the kitchen... the second chef.
Su Qinghe felt like the heavens were helping her and immediately started researching new dishes.
There was a good supply on Mondays, including some meat. Mutton and chicken were rare and hard to touch, so Su Qinghe chose pork ribs. They didn’t have much meat and weren’t as valuable as fatty meat, so the quantity was large and usually used for soup. A bowl of rib soup with noodles made a meat noodle soup. So Su Qinghe used ribs to study new dishes, and Qiao Da didn’t object.
After all, when Su Qinghe cooked, she didn’t hide. Qiao Da could learn while watching.
When he saw Su Qinghe making sweet and sour pork ribs step by step, Qiao Da stopped smoking and asked in surprise, “Xiao Su, how are you so good at cooking?”
While analyzing her failures, Su Qinghe replied, “I cook a lot at home. I also cooked in the team cafeteria before.” Well, just once—but she didn’t lie.
Only then did Qiao Da realize that Comrade Xiao Su had experience. She had cooked in a big canteen. He remembered that those places served food openly—if you couldn’t cook well, you couldn’t stay long.
Because she hadn’t succeeded, Su Qinghe tried again. “I’ll make more and steam them. If no one wants to buy them later, I’ll just take them home to celebrate with my family.”
Aunt Li smiled. “When has there ever been leftover meat? Let’s put up a sign, and I’m sure it’ll sell fast.” The meat in a state-owned restaurant never went unsold.
At noon, Aunt Li put up a sign, and the diners came in droves. Su Qinghe’s sweet and sour ribs really sold out.
“Is Master Qiao trying out new dishes?” someone asked.
“That’s our Master Xiao Su’s specialty,” Aunt Li replied.
Wow, another chef! And this one was really skilled!
In the kitchen, Su Qinghe ate the ribs, analyzing what went wrong. Beside her, Master Qiao was sweating while stirring dishes.
By the afternoon, Su Qinghe finally got it right.
“Ding... Congratulations to the host for completing the Grade B cooking assessment task: Sweet and Sour Ribs. Good taste. 1 bonus skill point and two portions of sweet and sour ribs ingredients awarded.”
Finally done! Su Qinghe let out a breath of relief. She checked her cooking skill points.
Cooking (Grade B): 9
Still 1 point short.
After work, Su Qinghe rode her bike home with sweet and sour pork ribs and pickled fish.
…
When the Gu family returned home, the smell of ribs and pickled fish filled the air. The two scents mixed together, making it hard to choose which one to love more.
Deputy County Magistrate Gu was in a bad mood, but when he smelled the food, he relaxed a little. He asked, “We’re having a special meal today? Don’t waste money if it’s not a holiday. Let’s save a bit. Ordinary folks have it hard. If the year goes badly, we’ll be hungry.”
Gu Ma replied with a stern face, “If you don’t want to eat, don’t eat. Qingmiao’er brought it back. She’s a master now, a regular employee! Our Qingmiao’er is talented. She doesn’t need to rely on you to make a living!” Her face was full of pride.
The rest of the Gu family looked at Su Qinghe in surprise.
Just a few days and she became a regular?
Gu Changping asked, “Qinghe, did you really get a permanent job?” And as a master, no less! That’s impressive.
Su Qinghe nodded and smiled. “When I went to the hotel this morning, they told me to complete the formalities. They said the notice came from the city. I don’t know the details.”
Deputy Magistrate Gu thought of the earlier investigation team, but they wouldn’t handle things like this. You don’t get promoted just because your daughter-in-law cooks good pork.
Still, he couldn’t say anything rash. He smiled. “Finally some good news. We should celebrate. I misunderstood earlier. That’s my fault—I’ll punish myself with three cups.”
“What self-punishment? You just want to drink.” Gu Ma snorted, but still went to get him a bottle of wine. Lao Gu had been in a bad mood lately, so a drink to relax wasn’t bad. Normally, she wouldn’t allow it!
The family ate happily. Gu Dasao and Gu Ersao cleaned up together. This time, they had no complaints.
The third daughter-in-law worked at a restaurant and brought home good food regularly. Asking her to do chores at home really wasn’t right.
While washing dishes, Second Sister-in-law Gu smiled and said to Eldest Sister-in-law, “I think the third daughter-in-law is great. She has a good temper. Even though she doesn’t do housework, it’s because Mom won’t let her. And she brings food back too.”
Sister-in-law nodded.
Second Sister-in-law added, “If you ask me, the third should leave the army and come back. The third daughter-in-law works at the state-owned hotel now, so he could too—as a waiter, like what his wife used to do. They could eat at the restaurant and come home every day. Mom would be happy too. Wouldn’t that be great?”
“...” Sister-in-law Gu smiled, “As long as you're happy.” Then she wiped her hands and left. The second child’s family always had wild ideas—good or bad.
Watching her leave, Gu Ersao frowned. “We have food and drink, and Mom’s not crying. Of course I’m happy.” She felt like her sister-in-law was acting strange lately.
In the living room, Su Qinghe was chatting with Deputy Magistrate Gu.
“Dad, is the seed problem still not solved?”
“We can buy them, but the quality is poor. The weather hasn’t been good either. I don’t even know if anything will grow…”
Deputy Magistrate Gu looked worried. When it came to farming, he was worried about missing the season and the weather not cooperating.
These seeds might not grow at all.
But he had no choice. All the good seeds had been taken. He couldn’t just let people go without planting anything.
Even if it was a thankless job, he had to do it. He had to answer to his conscience and the chair he sat on.
He looked at Su Qinghe, “Thankfully, you’re capable now. That’s one less thing for me to worry about.”
Then he got up and went to his room.
Su Qinghe thought over his words. At first it sounded like an explanation… heh, sounds like he’s about to be punished.
Back in her room, Su Qinghe lay on the bed for a while. Once the house was quiet, she went into the army’s kitchen to cook.
“System, don’t lie to me,” Su Qinghe muttered.
She didn’t want anyone to starve, nor did she want her family to get punished. She just wanted to do something useful.
She was working hard for once. If the system was lying to her… “If you lie to me, I’ll stay lazy forever.” Laziness doesn’t kill anyone anyway.
“Friendly reminder: Host, please don’t use laziness as an excuse. Complete the upgrade task as soon as possible.”
Su Qinghe: “...” This system is really annoying!
“Ignition!”
With a sudden whoosh, the fire in the stove lit up.