The wire was positioned between Nanjiang Glory Hotel and Lang Ai Hotel. If someone dined at Nanjiang Glory Hotel, they wouldn't trip over it. But for those going to Lang Ai Hotel, it was a different story. When people weren't paying attention or when it was crowded, it was very easy to trip.
"Get the electrician to come by tomorrow and nail this down," Xu Bo said, pulling out his phone to message the electrician. To his surprise, the Lang Ai Hotel group chat was buzzing.
Wen Zifan: "The boss said, this year at the annual party, he and the head chef will perform a show!!"
Doorman Xiao Ge: "I bet a bag of spicy strips that the boss and head chef will do a pole dance!"
Nurse Nana: "Pass it on, the boss and head chef will pole dance while eating spicy strips."
Plumber: "Pass it on, the boss will chew the head chef like a spicy strip on the pole."
Electrician: "Pass it on, the boss and head chef will kiss passionately on the pole!"
...
Xu Bo's mouth twitched. Ever since they learned that performing at the annual party would earn them a red envelope from Chen Jianhai, the hotel staff had been excited. Every tone-deaf, unartistic employee was frantically inquiring about others' acts, trying their best to come up with a performance for the rumored big red envelope. Even the braising pot chef composed a poem titled "The Song of Sauce and Mashed Potatoes," though no one understood what it was about.
Ignoring the chatter, Xu Bo messaged the electrician to bring his tools the next day, then returned to the workbench. At that moment, Qiaokeli was carefully putting her finished mousse into the fridge.
"I'm done, but it needs to freeze overnight," Qiaokeli nervously told Hongpei.
She had figured out the situation. The person kneading dough was in charge, but the decision to hire her was up to Hongpei.
"Then come back tomorrow at 10 a.m. for the result," Hongpei said.
"Okay, thank you!"
...
Although she was supposed to return at 10 a.m. the next day, Hongpei couldn't wait and took the frozen chocolate mousse cake out of the fridge at around 7 a.m. to taste it.
"Looks good!"
Hongpei was pleasantly surprised by the cocoa-powdered, soft, jiggly semi-spherical chocolate mousse cake on the tray. He picked up a knife, gently cut a few small pieces, and distributed them to the kitchen staff.
"Wow...! Not too sweet, not greasy, melts in your mouth!"
"Great taste!"
"This mousse cake is like jelly..."
As the kitchen staff tasted it, they shared their opinions.
Hongpei, the main examiner, didn't rush to comment but slowly savored the dessert.
"What do you think?" Xu Bo asked.
"The mousse is smooth and sweet, with a texture like eating cheese. The chocolate base is very crispy, with a hint of aroma," Hongpei described his impressions while tasting.
"Should we hire this girl?" Xu Bo inquired.
"Yes! She can be trained!" Hongpei beamed. He had been developing new products that incorporated chocolate, and having a chocolate specialist on the team would be incredibly beneficial.
"But... we can't hire her just like that," Hongpei's eyes gleamed with cunning.
"We're a five-star hotel. If a young girl applies in the middle of the night, works for an hour, and then gets hired the next day, it sounds too unbelievable."
"People don't cherish things that come too easily."
"And I want to see what else this girl can do," he added with a mischievous grin.
...
"So, you're saying my work wasn't good enough to meet your standards?" Qiaokeli's face fell as she stood at the workbench in Lang Ai Hotel's kitchen.
Hongpei was startled by the drooping pigtails and quickly clarified, "You did very well. But the taste is just one aspect of dessert making. The appearance and design are also important."
"I'll give you another chance. If you can make a chocolate dessert that impresses me in a day, I'll hire you."
"Really?" Qiaokeli was excited.
"Of course!" Hongpei nodded firmly.
Soon after, an employee from the Lang Ai Hotel dessert shop came over and led Qiaokeli back to the hotel to make desserts.
...
While Qiaokeli was showcasing her skills in the hotel's dessert kitchen, Chen Jianhai walked out of his room, seemingly confident in how to complete the system's task.
He had thought about it all night. Besides an assistant, the hotel might need a mascot! The parrot the system had given him was now left to fend for itself on the island.
But a mascot didn't necessarily have to be an animal or an object—it could be a person!
Today, he planned to stay in the five-star hotel's tent and see if anyone looked cheerful enough to approach and ask about being a mascot.
And maybe check out assistants at other hotels too. If he found someone he liked, he could poach them.
"Good morning, boss."
A pleasant female voice greeted him.
"Morning!" Chen Jianhai nodded at Wen Zifan, then strode towards the tent.
Wen Zifan watched Chen Jianhai's retreating figure with amber-colored eyes and cursed under her breath, "Bastard, thinking about poaching assistants from other hotels even though I do a great job! I've given you too much freedom lately, letting you play too much!"
She huffed and swayed her hips as she headed towards the hotel lobby.
Unaware that he had landed on Wen Zifan's blacklist, Chen Jianhai happily sat in his golden opera house restaurant, scanning the passing customers.
After a while, an elderly man with white hair caught his eye.
"This old man looks healthy and kind-hearted. Wouldn't he make a perfect mascot?"
Chen Jianhai stared at the old man, assessing him thoroughly.
The white-haired man was clearly a regular tourist, not a hotel resident. He carefully examined each hotel restaurant, checking the food, as if deciding where to eat. He was accompanied by a young man who seemed more like a grandson than a son.
"Come on, old man, come to me! I'll give you a job!"
Chen Jianhai stared intently at the old man, inwardly calling out.