After doing this, he browsed through some new test questions, saw his latest score of 59 points, and felt his mood wasn’t too bad.

He decided not to continue browsing, instead following the instructions in the tweet to download a Zebra Video app.

“Huaxia Delicacies” had been airing recently, but he had never watched it.

His entertainment activities outside of work were quite sparse.

Busy work was one reason, and his lack of interest in relaxation outside of work was another.

He didn’t use social media much, didn’t watch unnecessary movies or TV shows, and even the communication apps he used for work were seldom opened when there was no work-related communication.

Since “Huaxia Delicacies” became popular, Zebra Video had given the show higher exposure, and the promotional materials were directly turned into splash screens.

Shen Qiming randomly clicked on the latest episode, planning to look for something, but unexpectedly, the first thing he saw was Ming De and Jin Yaotiao appearing on screen.

In this episode, Jin Yaotiao was preparing a meticulously made crispy roast pork.

The long strips of pork belly were marinated, deep-fried, and then hung on a hook, placed into a stove heated with countless charcoal flames.

The program’s sound captured the sizzling and crackling sounds of the meat under high heat.

The gentle background music and her delicate white fingers made the scene mesmerizing. When the hook was pulled out of the stove, the music abruptly grew intense.

At the same time, the crispy pork, golden on the outside, entered the frame.

The effect of the high heat hadn’t yet settled, and the crispy skin was still crackling with bubbles, the glistening oil flowing from top to bottom, eventually dripping along with the sauce.

Jin Yaotiao, whom he had just seen in the afternoon, appeared on the right side of the screen, with exquisite and calm features.

Shen Qiming smiled as he watched her through the screen.

Then, he wasn’t sure what happened with his finger, but somehow he accidentally clicked something. Suddenly, the screen, which had been clean and clear, was filled with dense text scrolling quickly from right to left, blocking Jin Yaotiao’s face completely.

Shen Qiming didn’t know what had happened. He quickly tried to remove the text, but before he could find the button he had accidentally pressed, he looked closer at the screen and saw:

【Weibo Jin Dong’s Fan Club Reports!】

【Fan club, raise your hands!!! Jin Dong, I declare you! Today is another day of beauty and perfection!】

【Ahhh, Jin Dong! Jin Dong! Jin Dong appeared!!! How great to see Jin Dong right at the opening screen! It’s so worth staying up hungry to watch the update!】

【Jin Dong’s dish is now on my life menu—fatty but not greasy, crispy skin, scorching hot, one bite made me fly in the air, spin 360 degrees, cross my legs, and land perfectly!】

【Jin Dong is so beautiful!!!!!! I love Jin Dong!!! I am just the pork belly in Jin Dong’s hand!】

【Sniff sniff sniff, the crispy roast pork smells so good, Jin Dong is so beautiful, I don’t even know where to look anymore! Wait for me to rewind and watch again.】

【Jin Dong’s jawline, Jin Dong’s peach blossom eyes, Jin Dong’s slender fingers have scrambled my heart. I unilaterally declare that I’m married to Jin Dong, please bless me!】

【The ones before, get out of the way! Jin Dong is my wife, okay?】

【Jin Dong is clearly my wife, where are you guys even coming from?】

【Because of you people, Jin Dong apologized to me for half an hour.】

Shen Qiming: “…”

Shen Qiming searched for a long time and finally found the message box for sending comments. After thinking for a while, he typed a serious message:

【Yaotiao is not your wife.】

But since he hadn’t logged in, Zebra Video showed a prompt:

“Dear, you don’t have permission to speak~”

Shen Qiming stared at the message, immediately exited the video, and opened the test questions he had just closed.

Xu Wan had been extremely happy these days.

Whenever she had time off, she would head to Jingmao, and she hadn’t been chased away yet.

She came back and told Jin Yaotiao, “Qi Ming is great in every way, but he’s just too busy. I’ve noticed lately that he’s always holding his phone while eating, checking it every now and then.”

Jin Yaotiao thought to herself that it couldn’t be true.

Shen Qi Ming was quite obsessive-compulsive, particularly focused on staying present, and barely spoke when eating.

She couldn’t imagine him playing with his phone.

However, it had been a long time since she last ate with Shen Qi Ming, and she didn’t understand it, so she chose not to pursue the matter.

After the Winter Solstice, she had been very busy.

Apart from her work with the company and the documentary, she had to deal with the tricky and annoying Maler from Shenzhen.

Maler was really irritating. Jin Yaotiao found it strange that after five minutes of not hearing his endless chatter, she felt somewhat uncomfortable. Before entering the conference room, she looked around and asked, “Where did he go?”

Jin’s father shrugged, “He took a phone call and went out.”

Jin Yaotiao muttered a quiet “Amitabha” and entered the conference room with her father.

However, the joy from earlier quickly dissipated after the meeting started.

The long table was filled with employees, all reporting on the progress of projects related to new ventures in Shenzhen.

The funds were sufficient, and with the recent heat generated by Huaxia Delicacies, Mingde planned to push forward with important new branches.

Shenzhen was a huge market, and it was far from saturated.

Mingde’s three project teams—Yin Yan, Mingde Grand Courtyard, and Xunxiang Yan—were opening ten new stores, all of which had to open within six months.

This was a huge challenge for the company.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t open the stores one by one, but time was money, and the lifeblood of business growth.

Mingde had become accustomed to a slow pace, and its corporate culture had become lazy, much like an elderly person convinced that their legs were too weak to walk faster and never attempting to pick up speed.

The company would never truly transform unless it tried to speed up.

Six months was already a long timeline, and in many restaurants, it would not be impossible to open twenty stores in half a year.

Sure enough, despite Mingde looking orderly on the surface, the pressure from Jin Yaotiao revealed its inherent problems.

Other aspects of the business could quickly be improved, but when it came to Master Tu, things were truly tight.

Master Tu had recently acquired shares in Mingde and became even more closely integrated with the company.

When he voiced his difficulties, he seemed even more worried than Jin Yaotiao, like a farmer realizing that his crops weren’t as good as those in the neighboring fields.

“We really don’t have enough chefs,” Master Tu lamented. “At the start, it was manageable, but I’ve calculated it out—at most, I can distribute them to six stores. The rest definitely can’t open within the next six months.”

He had accelerated the recruitment and training of apprentices, but the traditional apprenticeship model was inefficient.

Finding good apprentices was a hassle, with no clear channels, relying mostly on word of mouth and familiar contacts, then training them through repeated, hand-on work.

Whether in the East or West, famous chefs often had this model, which was one reason why many renowned restaurants couldn’t scale up.

For a company like Mingde, with its unique style that couldn’t be easily replicated, it was often doomed to stay small, unable to grow into a larger network, no matter how good it was.

Jin Yaotiao, however, was unwilling to accept this. She rubbed her head and suddenly had an idea.

“Master Tu,” she said cautiously, “this situation can’t continue. Shenzhen is fine, but as Mingde expands, your speed in training chefs will never keep up with the new store openings. Have you ever considered stepping down from the kitchen to focus solely on teaching?”

Master Tu was startled. “What do you mean by focusing on teaching?”

Jin Yaotiao’s idea was still a bit unclear, but she described it vaguely: “It’s like professional courses, but different from those fake culinary schools. The students you train can be selected to go through company training based on their progress, and those with the necessary skills can directly work in Mingde’s restaurants.”

This would create a cycle where new head chefs could be selected from the assistants in the old stores.

With Mingde’s chef shareholding system, students who were willing to learn and stay would not be few.

The top performers could access the core techniques, and there would be no fear of Mingde’s foundation being undermined.

Master Tu was stunned.

This was still the apprenticeship model he was familiar with.

But since he had been working under Jin’s father, surrounded by chefs who had undergone the same experiences, he had never considered a more efficient solution to the problem of sourcing new chefs.

Jin Yaotiao’s father, overhearing, became excited. “That would mean all the apprentices are part of the Jin family!”

When it came to renowned culinary families, no one had managed to establish such an advanced apprenticeship system.

Jin Yaotiao nodded.

Her father exchanged a glance with Master Tu, both moved by the idea.

However, this was all a foundation for the future; it couldn’t resolve the immediate problems.

Jin Yaotiao fell into deep thought.

---

Downstairs at Mingde, a group of young people couldn’t believe it.

“Le Ge, is Mingde really that generous? Giving out shares just like that?”

Ma Le, who had already investigated, proudly assured them, “I don’t know about Shenzhen, but here in Linjiang, every chef in their stores has a share. Have you heard of Yin Yan? There’s also one in Shenzhen. The chef of the first Yin Yan store, Wang Sheng, you won’t believe how much he makes in salary and bonuses every month.”

His disciple shook his head in confusion.

Ma Le gave a figure that left everyone stunned: “Wow.”

Some of the more prominent families treated their main chefs well, but when it came to the apprentices under them, they didn’t care as much, often forcing the chefs to pay for the apprentices’ subsidies themselves.

In traditional culinary families, apprentices’ chances for advancement were slim, unless, like Ma Le, they followed their father.

Others had to endure.

The apprentices had never heard of such an advanced promotion system in the industry.

Ma Le continued, “And this is just one branch. I’ve heard that if a chef at Mingde is skilled enough, they can even manage several branches at once.”

The apprentices were intrigued but hesitated. “Aren’t all the chefs at Shangjia? After we graduate, we should stay with Shangjia, right? Even though the opportunities are better, we can’t betray our masters for money.”

Ma Le hit his disciple on the back of the head. “You’re dumb. Did you think they wouldn’t know you took leave to come to Linjiang? Did they stop you?”

The apprentices realized what they had missed and shook their heads in confusion.

Maler smirked. “My dad is my dad, Shangjia is Shangjia. Don’t mix them up.”

---

In Shenzhen, Second Senior Brother and a few apprentices received calls from their own disciples.

After hanging up, they exchanged knowing looks, one of them hesitant, “Are we really letting them go to Mingde with Ma Le?”

Second senior brother stared into the void, sighing after a long pause.

“We’ve worked for Shangjia all these years for our master, but they don’t owe Shangjia anything. If they have a chance to make something of themselves, let them go.”

---

Jin Yaotiao stepped out of the meeting room, only to hear Ma Le’s voice again.

She was deep in thought about business matters and instinctively didn’t want to listen to him.

But when she looked up, she saw a group of unfamiliar faces behind him.

Jin Yaotiao frowned. “What are you doing?”

Was he starting a fight? She could easily gather ten times the number of people to wipe them out.

Ma Le grinned at her. “The menu’s not what you want, but how about the people?”

Jin Yaotiao stared at him. “What do you mean?”

Ma Le raised his hand and called to his followers, “Say hello.”

The group of disciples cheered, “Hello, President Jin! Please give us food!”

Ma Le smiled. “We’re all homeless and hungry, kicked out of our master’s place. We walked all the way here to Linjiang to beg for a meal.”

Jin Yaotiao recognized some familiar faces from when she met them at Maler’s family, and after a long silence, she said, “…Ma Le, do you think I’ll believe you?”

Ma Le nodded enthusiastically. “It’s true!”

His disciples chimed in, “Yeah, we’re really hungry.”

Ma Le continued, “And it’s so cold outside, we walked all the way here to Linjiang.”

The disciples chimed in, “Yes! It’s so cold!”

Jin Yaotiao was speechless.

Ma Le smirked. “You’re not going to make them walk back, are you?”

Jin Yaotiao turned to her father. “Call them!”

Her father immediately picked up the phone, dialing Second Brother’s number. “Lao Er, your son and your apprentices all came to Linjiang. You’d better come and take them back. This brat of yours is messing around again.”

Second Brother’s voice came through, distant and unclear. “What are you saying, Senior Brother? The signal’s bad, let’s talk later!”

And with that, he hung up again.

Jin Yaotiao’s father stared at the phone, speechless.

Jin Yaotiao frowned, her intuition telling her that something was wrong with Shangjia.

And what were these little chefs showing up out of nowhere?

Was her mouth blessed or something?