Chapter 10: Personnel Allocation

The deed to the house on Little Flower Branch Alley was now firmly in Wu Xindeng’s hands. For the transaction to be finalized, Wu Tiande still needed his uncle’s approval.

Naturally, Wu Xindeng agreed. If his good nephew Wu Tiande had been a prodigal fool, he would have stepped forward as the villain to protect Wu Tiande’s last foothold.

But now that Wu Tiande’s luck was turning around and he had made a small fortune, wanting to exchange the run-down single-entry courtyard for a three-entry shop on a busy street, if his uncle still refused, that would be downright foolish.

He even asked Wu Tiande if he had enough money on hand or if he wanted to borrow some from him.

Wu Tiande waved his hand and said, “Just enough for now. If I run short, I can always come to you, uncle.”

Wu Xindeng was very pleased with this response.

He took out two strings of cash and pressed them into Wu Tiande’s hand, laughing, “Here, take it. In the past, you used to drop by every now and then to mooch off me, so much that your aunt frowned whenever she saw you. Now you haven’t come in a long while, it’s a bit strange for your aunt and me.”

“Hahaha, I’ve been busy with a few small, capital-free trades lately. When I have time, I’ll visit you and aunt more often,” Wu Tiande replied with a smile.

Though the old saying goes, “When elders give, one cannot refuse,” Wu Tiande knew that because of him, his uncle probably felt awkward in front of his aunt, so he resolutely declined.

He wasn’t short of these trifling sums now and saw no need to take small advantages like before.

After securing the deed, Wu Tiande, accompanied by Jiao Da, Jiao Er, Bao Er, and others, hired a local property clerk as a mediator, drafted the contract, and together went to the Wanping County government office to complete the transfer smoothly.

The money Wu Tiande had earned through trickery was spent before it even warmed his hands, and he even dipped into his savings.

Afterward, Wu Tiande returned to Little Flower Branch Alley, packed up, hired a donkey cart, and moved all his belongings, along with one person and one dog—Qingwen and Wangcai—to the new shop he had purchased on Ningrong Street.

“Woof woof woof woof—” Wangcai excitedly barked and wagged his tail, running around the shop.

“Not bad, not bad,” Qingwen said with excitement and delight.

She touched here and looked there, standing behind the wooden counter for a moment before asking, “Do I look like the lady boss of this shop?”

Wu Tiande looked at her small head, which barely reached above the counter, and couldn’t help but chuckle, “You do. If you grow a little taller, you’ll look even more like it.”

Just as Qingwen was feeling proud, a young girl emerged from the back courtyard.

“Who are you? Why are you in Mr. Wu’s shop?” Qingwen demanded.

The girl replied, “My name is Jiao Ya. My uncle told me to stay and watch over the shop. He said he already told Master Wu Jun, so I’ll be working here from now on.”

With that, she turned to Wu Tiande and bowed respectfully.

Wu Tiande took a closer look. Although the girl was young, about sixteen or seventeen, she had a well-proportioned, tall figure and fair, delicate skin. Though not stunningly beautiful, she was charming and elegant in a modest way.

However, compared to Qingwen’s radiant beauty, Jiao Ya’s looks seemed a bit plain.

“Well then, welcome. You can work here with peace of mind and receive a monthly salary,” Wu Tiande smiled.

Given that Jiao Ya had to make a living under Wu Tiande’s roof, the Jiao family hadn’t cut ties completely. They left some furniture—tables and stools—and some bowls, chopsticks, pots, and spatulas, rather than taking everything.

However, the most prominent item, the Eight Immortals table, was carried away by Jiao Fu and Jiao Gui.

“I tried to stop them for a long time but couldn’t. My two older brothers are just too strong,” Jiao Ya said, clutching her clothes and blushing.

Before leaving, Jiao Da repeatedly told her that staying with Wu Tiande was better than going back to their own den of wolves. She fully understood that Jiao Da was entrusting her to this new master.

“No worries,” Wu Tiande comforted her. He thought to himself that people like Jiao Fu and Jiao Gui had shallow consciences. If they couldn’t take the Eight Immortals table, they’d take something else. Either way, it was the same.

Qingwen snorted derisively and teased, “You’re siblings. Who knows if you really tried to stop them or just pretended?”

“You? You? You?” Jiao Ya wasn’t as quick-witted as Qingwen. After stammering for a long time, she finally blurted out, wide-eyed, “How can you slander me without cause?”

Qingwen wanted to retort, but sensing the tension, Wu Tiande quickly changed the subject and led both girls to the back courtyard to choose their living quarters.

Qingwen chose the east side room, and Jiao Ya took the west wing.

Wu Tiande also assigned tasks: Qingwen would handle household affairs, while Jiao Ya would focus more on the business.

Both girls had no objections, for the time being.

Over the next few days, Wu Tiande, with Qingwen and Jiao Ya, thoroughly cleaned the shop, rearranged the layout, purchased new tables, stools, bowls, and chopsticks, and wholesale-bought rice, flour, grains, oils, meats, and vegetables from the market.

With guidance from his uncle Wu Xindeng, Wu Tiande also visited Liuquanju, whose owner was the head of the catering guild in Beiping. Since Wu Tiande wanted to enter the food business, he naturally needed the guild’s approval.

Beiping City had over a million people and countless eateries. The high ranks of the guild were dominated by upscale restaurants like Liuquanju, Quanjude, Dongshunlai, and Zhuangyuanlou.

For Wu Tiande’s small-scale venture, selling quick meals priced only ten to twenty wen each, they barely glanced at it and didn’t bother to cause trouble.

Of course, Wu Tiande’s status as a military officer in the Divine Machine Battalion and his background as a servant of the Jinling royal family helped smooth his entry.

Wu Tiande didn’t even meet the owner of Liuquanju in person. He simply paid a string of cash to a steward and quickly obtained a business license with the following certification:

“Authorized by the Catering Guild to oversee industry admission. Observing the Jiao family’s upright conduct and willingness to abide by guild rules: no cheating customers, no price gouging, no selling spoiled goods, no violations of market regulations, this certificate is issued accordingly.

From the date of issuance, the Jiao family may open and operate eateries within Beiping City. Fellow guild members shall maintain neighborly cooperation and not obstruct. This certificate is for official inspection and guild identification, not to be altered or lent. In case of loss, timely report to the guild is required.”

“Hahaha, it’s done,” Wu Tiande said happily, holding the certificate.

As a junior officer in the Divine Machine Battalion, an official with a rank, he couldn’t openly engage in business but used Jiao Ya’s name as a front.

This was why Wu Tiande quickly agreed when Jiao Da introduced his niece to work here.

If someone was willing to take the blame, why not?

However, Wu Tiande had only one maid and one female servant—Qingwen, who was still a naive child. She could barely manage his daily care, so relying on just these two to run the fast-food business was impossible.

Fortunately, around this time, Qingwen’s cousin Duoguan lost his temporary job in the Rongguo Mansion kitchen.

It wasn’t that Duoguan’s cooking skills were poor; rather, since Qingwen no longer served the matriarch, Manager Lai refused to help him further.

He introduced others to sell themselves as slaves for benefits, so why help Duoguan for free?

Duoguan had been out of the Rongguo kitchen for several days, doing odd jobs everywhere with no place to stay, living in fear and uncertainty.

When he heard Wu Tiande was hiring a head chef, he volunteered eagerly.

“I was doing well in the kitchen, and Manager Lai often said he’d recommend me to sell myself as a slave when there was a chance. But recently, Rong Mansion hired a man named Jiao Zhong and put him in the kitchen, replacing me. Wuwuwu…” Duoguan covered his face and sobbed bitterly.

Seeing her cousin act like such a loser, Qingwen furrowed her brows, feeling helpless.

Wu Tiande, however, thought that Bao Er was doing quite well in the Jia Mansion, managing to accomplish this so quickly—he wondered who helped.

Since Duoguan was Qingwen’s cousin and had extensive kitchen experience, he was suitable to be the head chef of Wu Tiande’s fast-food shop.

“What dishes are you good at?” Wu Tiande asked.

Duoguan immediately became confident and enthusiastically replied, “My specialties are wild pheasant soup and steamed lamb with milk. Even the old lady of Rong Mansion praised these nourishing dishes. I can also cook wild cucumber, fermented goose feet, steamed duck in wine sauce, chicken marrow bamboo shoots, fried quail, ham-braised pork knuckles, and I’ve tried shrimp balls, chicken skin soup, pigeon eggs, and eggplant stew. The eggplant stew isn’t hard but time-consuming—it requires peeling and frying eggplants, then stewing them with chicken breast and mushrooms. The process is quite intricate…”

“Stop, stop, I get it,” Wu Tiande quickly interrupted.

He was running a fast-food business focused on speed, affordability, and value. If he operated according to Duoguan’s complex recipes, he’d lose everything.

“This is a small operation. I don’t need your fancy dishes,” Wu Tiande instinctively refused.

“No, no, please don’t,” Duoguan begged. “I can cook home-style dishes just as well. I don’t even ask for wages—just food, lodging, and a bowl of wine, that’s enough for me.”

“That’s not unreasonable,” Wu Tiande pondered. “Why don’t you spend a few days learning how to make pork stew with vermicelli and boiled cabbage, some pickled radish, and seaweed egg soup? If customers like it, I’ll pay you a monthly wage of one or two strings of cash.”

Hearing there might be wages if he did well, Duoguan was delighted, grinning broadly.

But one person alone couldn’t handle all kitchen tasks.

Wu Tiande then hired Ms. Lou to assist Duoguan.

Lou was a young widow struggling to make ends meet by doing odd jobs—mending clothes, washing laundry—earning a few copper coins.

Recently, she had accepted two assignments from Wu Tiande, each rewarding, leaving her with a good impression of her new master.

Now that Wu Tiande trusted her with steady work, she naturally agreed.

With someone handling cash and service, and others working in the kitchen, Wu Tiande planned to hire two or three more to operate mobile stalls in crowded areas, expanding sales.

At this moment, the Bao couple, having heard the news, surprisingly came forward and volunteered.

“You two have a new home now, so why come here to suffer?” Wu Tiande asked, puzzled.

Bao Er’s face turned sour. “The new house is good but expensive. I thought with the two hundred taels I just earned and selling the old house, I’d almost have four hundred taels. But Little Flower Branch Alley is so remote, it couldn’t fetch a good price. In the end, Commander Deng Gang bought the old house for 150 taels out of kindness. That still leaves us fifty taels of debt.”

“Now, Jiao Da has shifted this debt onto his brother Jiao Er’s family. Jiao Er’s two adopted sons, Jiao Fu and Jiao Gui, are burly men who come every day to demand repayment, making life unbearable. To repay the debt sooner, I came to Master Wu, hoping we can work under you a while longer. As long as we earn and pay monthly, Jiao Fu and Jiao Gui won’t be too harsh.”

Wu Tiande chuckled inwardly. The Bao couple were just like the mortgage slaves in the big city in their past lives—living in multimillion-yuan homes, paying off loans monthly, rarely home, working tirelessly at the office, bullied by superiors but too afraid to speak out.

Slaves are the most obedient and easiest to manage.

“All right. We’ve been neighbors and had good cooperation before, so there’s no reason not to work together. But let me be clear: once you’re at my table, you answer to me. Don’t slack off or dawdle. If I catch you, I won’t be merciful,” Wu Tiande declared.

The Bao couple nodded in unison, “Of course.”