The Gourmet Customizer

Chapter 105: Chapter 77: I, Li Mingtao, Body in Cao Camp, Heart with Han

After sending the message, Li Mingtao put his phone away and leaned back in his chair.

If it was nine hundred a month, ten kids would be nine thousand, and fifty kids would be forty-five thousand.

The Mechanical Kindergarten had nearly three hundred children. If you counted one hundred of them, that would be a considerable sum!

He wasn’t thinking about the money itself, though. After all, it was all to solve his son’s problem.

The next step was figuring out how to persuade Boss Su and find a way to add some beds for the children.

’So I’m in Cao Camp now, but my heart’s with the other side?’

Li Mingtao couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought that had suddenly popped into his head. Here he was, working at Xinghui, yet he spent all his time worrying about Delicious’s business.

When there were more people involved, things would get complicated.

Li Mingtao spent the entire morning chatting with parents. After tallying the responses, he found that over thirty parents were interested.

Everyone’s thinking was largely the same. They didn’t want to give up their children’s spots at the Mechanical Kindergarten, but they were also worried about pick-up and drop-off if their kids came to the Development Zone.

Evenings were fine, since they could handle pick-up and drop-off after work.

But midday was a huge problem.

Another twenty or so parents were still on the fence. The rest were from wealthier families with nannies or housekeepers, so they didn’t have to worry about such problems at all.

"Director Li, want to head over there for some fried chicken?" Zhou Kai stretched. Right now, the thing he looked forward to most was his meal after work.

"You go ahead. I’m not going. I’ll just grab a bite at our cafeteria later." Li Mingtao was still buried in the parents’ messages.

"If you don’t go, our trio will be missing a person! Oh well, I guess I’ll just eat more chicken today, haha!" Zhou Kai laughed and left the office.

He immediately found his partners after heading out.

A new custom had already formed at Xinghui. Every day when the lunch break started, employees would split into groups of three and head for the building across the street.

That 88-yuan plate of fried chicken was most economical when shared by three people.

Meanwhile, Li Mingtao compiled the information from the parents into a spreadsheet. He even brought it with him to read while he went to the cafeteria to eat.

Walking into the empty cafeteria, he saw Sun the Second standing at the service window, staring blankly into space.

"Director Li?"

"Huh?"

Sun the Second put on his hat. "How come there’s no one here again today?"

"Why would there be anyone? Look at this food you make. Even I don’t want to eat it."

Sun the Second gave an awkward laugh. "Well, this is our chef’s skill level. By the way, Director Li, what’s the deal with the boss of the building across the street?"

"What ’deal’?" Li Mingtao was baffled by Sun the Second’s question. ’Why bring up our Boss Su out of the blue?’

"He must be a big shot. A National Banquet Chef gave him a thumbs-up. I almost... what’s the saying? ’Let the great flood wash away the Dragon King’s temple.’ Is that how you describe it?"

The day before, Sun the Second had been thoroughly chewed out by his uncle over the phone after his uncle learned that the boss of the building across the street had some connection to a National Banquet Chef.

Sun the Second had learned his lesson.

’If that’s really the case, then that’s someone we can’t afford to mess with!’

’Whatever, let him be!’

’Anyway, I’m still getting the minimum subsidy from the big boss.’

"A National Banquet Chef?"

Li Mingtao really didn’t know about this.

"Yeah, look, I even have a picture!" Sun the Second took out his phone, which showed a screenshot from a livestream his uncle had sent him. "This one. This guy is the National Banquet Chef, a super amazing cook!"

Li Mingtao took a closer look. Although he didn’t recognize the person, since Sun the Second was so sure, it must be true.

"Sun the Second, send me this photo."

"Huh?"

"Hurry up."

After receiving the photo, Li Mingtao went online to do some research and confirmed the authenticity of the information.

He immediately forwarded the screenshot.

[Li Zihan’s Dad: The food quality at this after-school lunch program is absolutely guaranteed. This is a photo of the owner with a National Banquet Chef. Even the National Banquet Chef gives the owner a thumbs-up!]

[Wang Xinyi’s Mom: Really? What’s the chef’s name?]

[Li Ruoxi’s Dad: Awesome! Sign me up, sign me up!]

[Sun Xin’s Dad: Whoa, a National Banquet Chef is cooking for our kids? That’s amazing. Forget three hundred, it’s worth five hundred! Count me in!]

With this piece of news, Li Mingtao managed to win over more than forty additional parents in a single afternoon!

[Li Zihan’s Dad: But I have to say this upfront: the company’s main business isn’t this lunch program, so I still have to discuss it with the owner. Also, the company is a bit of a distance from the school, so we’ll probably have to pool our money to rent a school bus for pick-up and drop-off.]

This suggestion immediately received widespread support from the parents.

For one thing, there wasn’t much traffic in the Development Zone, so it was relatively safe. For another, everyone felt more at ease pooling money for a school bus, and the cost per person wouldn’t be much when split among everyone.

Seeing how perfectly he had resolved the issue, Li Mingtao broke into a happy smile.

Now, he wouldn’t have to worry about his son’s situation anymore. And as for himself, he would only need to pay around 1,000 yuan a month.

’No matter how you looked at it, it was a steal!’

Next... was the matter of convincing Boss Su!

...

"How’s revenue been lately?" Su Chen asked, taking a moment after a busy lunch service.

Liu Shengnan no longer needed to check the ledger. "Morning revenue was 2,200 yuan, and lunch was 2,250."

The company’s main source of revenue was still the Xinghui employees. The plan Ling Shuyu had proposed was having some effect, but it looked like it would take time to develop.

Perhaps the only good news was that after two days, Su Chen’s main quest was already half complete.

He hadn’t relied on anyone else, just Xinghui.

’In a party of three, there must be a plate of chicken!’

At the last meeting, the company had over fifty thousand in cash flow. Over the past couple of weeks, that figure had grown to a little over sixty thousand. At the current rate of revenue, he would still be short twenty to thirty thousand when it was time to pay rent.

Because this period also included a weekend, when the Xinghui employees didn’t work.

Even a hero can be stumped by a single penny!

Su Chen felt as if everything was sinking into a mire once again.