Chapter 124 - 106: Persuading to Quit
Chapter 124: Chapter 106: Persuading to Quit
"Chief, there’s definitely something wrong with this restaurant." The assistant’s tone was certain. "Following your instructions, I conducted on-site observations, visited the vendors they source from, and estimated the restaurant’s daily food consumption. There’s a discrepancy of at least dozens to over a hundred pounds between these two figures every single day!"
"A gap this large can’t be a simple estimation error."
"There’s something else that’s strange. The restaurant owner buys a lot of vegetables and takes them home almost every other day, then transports them to the restaurant the next day, but the numbers don’t add up. The amount she brings to the restaurant is at least two or three times what she buys and takes home!"
"Chief, I strongly suspect she’s using cultivation equipment at home to produce some of her own ingredients, and on a considerable scale. Buying vegetables to take home is just a cover for her real activities."
"Please issue a search warrant. If we move now, we can definitely catch her red-handed!"
The night breeze was gentle, the temperature just right. With no sand or dust, it felt unusually pleasant against the skin.
Carolyn narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Drop this matter. Don’t investigate any further, and don’t let a word of this leak."
The other end of the line went silent. It took a moment for the assistant to process, his voice filled with utter astonishment, "Ch... Chief?"
"We’re... we’re not taking action? But Chief, she’s clearly violated regulations!"
Half of Carolyn’s face was hidden in shadow, her tone flat.
"Seal her file and place it in my office. I have my own plans for it."
The hint of coldness in her voice instantly sobered the assistant.
"I understand. I’ll take care of it right away."
"Mm," Carolyn’s tone softened as her gaze shifted to her front left. "How is the investigation into that other matter coming along?"
"There’s no conclusive evidence yet. The other party is extremely cautious, and our people haven’t been able to infiltrate their inner circle. But we’re certain they’re hiding something."
A glint flashed in Carolyn’s eyes.
"Keep investigating. No need to rush; we don’t want to alert them."
"Understood."
After hanging up, Carolyn turned and went back into her bedroom, and soon all was quiet.
In the direction she had been looking, a square building blazed with light. On its roof, a massive, illuminated sign bearing the establishment’s name shone all the brighter against the surrounding darkness.
Gates House.
It was the club owned by Gates.
The only place in all of Beiluo City that provided entertainment for the rich.
Inside, wine glasses clinked and music played—a scene of peace and prosperity, as if from a golden age.
******
The video plan was temporarily handed over to Cindy and Karen. They needed to write a proposal for an internal vote at the TV station, which would take a couple of days. Ning He took advantage of the downtime and went with Connie Ahui to the academy cafeteria.
San Shui and Ding Wang had arrived early and were already working.
Seeing her approach, the two of them greeted her excitedly.
"Sister Ning!"
Ning He glanced at the noodle press, which was already running, and couldn’t help but be surprised. "So soon? What time did you get here?"
Ding Wang grinned. "We got here at one."
The prep work for selling noodles had actually become much simpler than before. They just had to use the machine to make noodles, stir-fry the meat sauce, simmer the scallion oil, and prepare the toppings for the oil-splashed noodles and the hand-pulled noodles. After Connie and the others got the hang of it, their arrival time had returned to the original three o’clock. But these two had actually shown up at one.
"Don’t you guys sleep? Why come in so early?"
Ning He found it completely baffling.
’Who would skip a good night’s sleep to come to work in the middle of the night?!’
’It’s not like I said I was paying overtime!’
"We wanted to come in early ourselves. If we finish making the noodles sooner, we’ll have time to learn how to pull noodles from Sister Kangni. It’s too tiring for her to do it all alone." Ding Wang gave a shy smile.
Understanding dawned on Ning He, and she immediately gave them a thumbs-up.
"Hardworking and eager to learn. No wonder Sister Kangni is always praising you two to me. Alright, work hard and learn well. Once you’ve mastered it, I’ll give each of you a five-hundred-yuan bonus!" Ning He declared generously.
’To her, five hundred was nothing now.’
’Reliable and conscientious employees like them were the real assets.’
’A small bonus was totally worth it!’
The two young men exchanged a look, and San Shui said, "Sister Ning, you don’t need to give us a bonus. The salary you pay us is already more than enough—it’s even more than my senior colleagues who work as prep cooks in big restaurants. You really don’t need to add more. Besides, we’re grateful just for the chance to learn a skill from Sister Kangni. We absolutely can’t take any more money for it!"
Ding Wang nodded repeatedly in agreement.
The salary model Ning He provided was a fixed wage plus a variable bonus. As Level 1 junior chefs, the two of them took home around 1,500 a month, which was more than what an independent food stall owner could make. Even their families couldn’t believe they were earning that much. How could they not be satisfied?