As it turned out, when it came to eating rice, it was quite easy to eat too much. At noon, they had prepared enough for 43 people, with each person consuming four taels of rice. Even estimating up to five taels wouldn't have been excessive, but in the end, she and her daughter had nothing to eat because everything had been devoured.
Both dishes were wiped clean as well, thank goodness there was a bowl of soup left. They had no choice but to settle for tofu soup with a few strands of green vegetables and some noodles thrown in. Mixing in the broth from the noon meal, the flavor turned out surprisingly good.
Unexpectedly, after eating, Deng Guoqiang actually came to the kitchen to find Gong Mingxia and discovered this scene. At first, he thought they were cooking a small, separate meal for themselves, but when he realized everything had been eaten and nothing was wasted, he couldn't help but laugh.
"You've cut it too close, haven't you? You've even squeezed out your own daughter and yourself?"
Gong Mingxia stood up, somewhat embarrassed, "It's just that I based the quantities on this morning's pastry amount. I supposed that an extra three or four jin would suffice. Seems like next time we'll need to prepare an extra two jin. Twenty-two jin should be nearly enough," she said.
"No worries, it's the first time, and over time you'll get a good grasp of the quantities. I ate two meals today, and I can't deny that Old Wang has a good eye. By recommending you, he's really whetted the workers' appetites. People work better when they eat well, and everyone has nothing but praise for you. I've come now to tell you that this afternoon, I'm going to buy you a tricycle. Are you sure you want to rely on a tricycle for grocery shopping? I heard from Old Wang that you can drive. If you can drive the vehicles at the construction site, you could use one to go grocery shopping. That would be faster," he said.
Gong Mingxia looked uncertainly at Deng Guoqiang, "Boss Deng," she began.
"Call me Mr. Deng. Forget this 'boss' business; I'm just a foreman," he interjected.
"Er, Mr. Deng, does that mean I can stay on here?" she asked.
Mr. Deng was generous in his response, nodding, "So far, you've arranged both meals very well. If you can maintain this standard, I am satisfied. The number of people at our construction site will not exceed fifty at most, and it won't be less than thirty. Sometimes there will be night shifts. For instance, in the summer, it's too tiring to work during the day, so we work overtime at night, and we don't work during the hottest part of the day. I'll keep a record of the daily number of meals. From now on, we'll follow the standard of four yuan per person per day. Is that okay?"
"No, no problem, but are you sure you're entrusting me with the purchasing as well?" Newest update provided by ⓝovelFire.net
Deng Guoqiang clearly understood her meaning.
"Of course. You're going to be both grocery shopping and cooking. Honestly, it's not an easy task. Your salary will be one thousand yuan a month. The workers will each contribute four yuan towards your payment, and we'll settle the accounts by the fifth of each month. If you can advance the money, do so; if not, come see me for funds. Does that work for you?"
Deng Guoqiang knew why Wang Hao had recommended her; it was simply to help her out. If a woman could handle this hardship, then it saved him trouble and maximized labor cost savings. After all, to let one person handle cooking and shopping for forty to fifty people, and then hiring another person would cost an extra thousand yuan. But if she could cook the meals well, earning several hundred yuan extra each month was a fine arrangement.
As long as she could endure, he was willing to pay the wages for two people, or just one, as long as the quality of the food was high, nothing else mattered.
This was certainly a classic case of "employ those you trust; trust those you employ."