At 9 a.m., Xia Xiaoluo arrived at the Wiesner Western Restaurant on time, out of breath. Ma Qianli, the Lobby Manager, hurried to greet her. She must take care of Xia Xiaoluo because Ling Tianyi asked her to do so.
“h.e.l.lo, Xia Xiaoluo! Welcome to Wiesner Western Restaurant! I’m Ma Qianli, the Lobby Manager here. You can call me Sister Ma! From now on, I will teach you, and you can ask me if you have any questions. I will give you my phone number later.”
“Xiaoluo! It’s your uniform. I’ll take you to the Locker Room and show you around.”
Ma Qianli was enthusiastic. She didn’t know the relationship between Ling Tianyi and Xia Xiaoluo, while she knew that she couldn’t bully or offend Xia Xiaoluo.
“Sister Ma, thank you!” Xia Xiaoluo knew how to please Ma Qianli. She kept praising her clothes and hairstyle on the way to the Locker Room. Ma Qianli was delighted to hear that because she was glad to be respected by a girl who she couldn’t offend.
After changing the uniform, Ma Qianli introduced some rules and regulations to Xia Xiaoluo patiently while they were walking around.
Xia Xiaoluo kept listening to her carefully, Ma Qianli was satisfied with her. With Ling Tianyi’s support, Xia Xiaoluo could ask Ma Qianli to do anything, but she didn’t. Ma Qianli was wondering why Xia Xiaoluo wanted to be a waitress.
Somebody called Ma Qianli. It seems that her father was in hospital.
“Xiaoluo! I…” Ma Qianli wanted to go home, but she was afraid that she couldn’t face Ling Tianyi if there was something wrong with Xia Xiaoluo.
“Sister Ma, I’m sorry to hear that. How is your father? Don’t worry about me, because I can learn from other colleagues. So go to see your father first!” Xia Xiaoluo was very kind-hearted.
“Xiaoluo, today is your first day to work here. As the Lobby Manager, I should have taught you. But something happened to my father, so I want to ask for a leave. It is nothing serious, but I’m still worried about him. I will introduce Xiaochu who is kind and smart to you. You can learn from him first, and I will teach you later!” Ma Qianli said and took Xia Xiaoluo to the kitchen of the restaurant.
“Xiaochu! Chu Tong! Come here!” Ma Qianli shouted. A sunny, handsome boy who was washing plates came out. He looked like Professor Du in a Kimch Drama.
“OK!” Hearing Ma Qianli’s calling, he came to her immediately.
“Manager Ma, what happened?” Chu Tong saw Xia Xiaoluo who was good-looking. He was enchanted at once. Pure and lovely Xia Xiaoluo was just the girl he likes.
“Xiaochu, this is our new trainee, and her name is Xia Xiaoluo. Take care of her. I will punish you if anything happens to her!” Ma Qianli said. In her opinion, Chu Tong was the most reliable waiter in the restaurant. He could do everything well. So he was the first choice to take care of Xia Xiaoluo.
She didn’t know that Chu Tong would fall in love with Xia Xiaoluo, becoming a strong rivals in love of Ling Tianyi.
“OK. Manager Ma, I will take good care of her, don’t worry.” Chu Tong said.
“h.e.l.lo! I’m Chu Tong, welcome to our restaurant!” Chu Tong said and stretched out his right hand, intending to shake hands with her.
Xia Xiaoluo shook hands with him and said, “h.e.l.lo! My name is Xia Xiaoluo! Nice to meet you!”
“We are young people, we are colleagues now, so I hope we can be friends!” Chu Tong smiled, and Xia Xiaoluo smiled back.
Ma Qianli told the Personnel Director to take care of Xia Xiaoluo because of Ling Tianyi. She just hinted, but the director understood at once. Xia Xiaoluo was a freshman, so it was also his duty to take care of the freshman.
“Xia Xiaoluo, are you an undergraduate?” Chu Tong asked while washing plates.
Chu Tong liked Xia Xiaoluo the moment he saw her, so he was very enthusiastic to talk to her.
“Yes! What about you? Are you doing a part-time job here?” Xia Xiaoluo asked.
“Yes! I major in Economic Management at Dwichen’s College. It’s a n.o.ble school, but I’m not a n.o.bleman.” Chu Tong smiled and added, “And you? Where is your university?”
“We are schoolmates! I study Chinese in Dwichen’s College and I’m a freshman! I’m not a n.o.bleman either. n.o.blemen will not work here!” Xia Xiaoluo said, feeling excited. She heard that a few students who were excellent and poor in Dwichen’s College would gain full scholarship in order to pay for the high tuition every year. She has never seen any of them, but she finally met one when working outside.
“Wow! What a coincidence!” Chu Tong wiped his hands and placed the last plate.
“I am a third-year student and I’m very glad to meet such a lovely younger schoolmate like you!” Chu Tong shook hands with Xia Xiaoluo again.
“I’m also glad to meet a senior like you!” Xia Xiaoluo smiled.
Later, Chu Tong told her something about working in the restaurant, Xia Xiaoluo understood it quickly because she was clever and she worked as a waitress before.
“Chu Tong senior!” Xia Xiaoluo wanted to ask something when she was free.
“We are not at school, so don’t call me Chu Tong senior. It’s strange.” Chu Tong said.
“Well, what shall I call you? It’s impolite to call your name directly.” Xia Xiaoluo tilted her head, waiting for his reply.
“Names should be called. Just call me Chu Tong, it’s OK. Or you can call me Brother Tong because some freshmen here call me like that. What’s more, I’m elder than you, so it’s OK!” Chu Tong said. He really wanted to get along well with Xia Xiaoluo.
“I will call your name! Chu Tong! Will you get angry with me?” Xia Xiaoluo smiled. She thought that Ling Tianyi would definitely lose his temper if she called another boy intimately.
“Do I look so narrow-minded?” Chu Tong smiled and added, “By the way, did you call me for something?”
“Yes! I almost forget!” Xia Xiaoluo stuck her tongue out and said, “Chu Tong, you have worked here for a long time, so I want to ask you if I have to work for 12 hours every day? I accepted the job on the spur of the moment yesterday. However, I realized that it is not suitable for me. I don’t know how to deal with it, so I want to ask you first.”
“As a matter of fact, full-time workers have to work for 12 hours every day, but you can do a part-time job. There are several shifts, including morning shift, swing shift and night shift. You can apply for it according to your own plan. I can help you to negotiate with the manager. I’m doing a part-time job now. The salary may be less. But we are working in a high-end restaurant, so we can still earn more money than those who work in common restaurants.” Chu Tong said. He was willing to help Xia Xiaoluo in order to leave a good impression on her.
“Well, how much I can earn if I am on the morning shift from Monday to Friday?” Xia Xiaoluo asked. She wanted to earn money, so she cared about it very much.
“As a trainee, you can earn 30 yuan per hour. If you work well, you can become a regular employee after one month. And then you can earn 50 yuan per hour. In other words, you can earn 2400 yuan in the first month and 4000 yuan every month after becoming a regular employee.” Chu Tong said.
“Humph! The Personnel Director cheated me! Yesterday, he told me that I could earn 3000 yuan per month if I worked for 12 hours every day. I could earn 5000 yuan after becoming a regular employee. He cheated me!” Xia Xiaoluo said, feeling depressed.
“He didn’t cheat you. We get the salary according to the national working time. We will get more money if we work overtime. For extra time, we will get overtime payment which is 1.5 times as much as normal payment in ordinary days, twice at weekends and triple in legal holidays. Those full-time waiters could almost earn more than 10 thousand yuan per month. So don’t worry about the money. If they cheat the employees, I won’t work here for so long.” Chu Tong told Xia Xiaoluo everything about salary, she felt relieved.
“Oh my G.o.d! I want to earn more than 10 thousand yuan per month too! But I don’t have so much time!” Xia Xiaoluo sighed, looking at the crystal chandelier.
“You can do a full-time job during summer vacation and winter vacation to earn more money. But you should focus on your study now. It’s not lunchtime and there are only few customers, so how about talking with the Personnel Director that you want to do a full-time job now? I will go with you.” Chu Tong asked Xia Xiaoluo, because he couldn’t decide it for her. They just knew each other.
Xia Xiaoluo really wanted to earn more than 10 thousands yuan per month, but she must keep it as a secret from Ling Tianyi. So she finally decided to do a part-time job. “I want to do a part-time job and I want to be on the morning shift.”
“OK. It is more relaxing. There are not so many cla.s.ses in the morning. You will sleep over time if you don’t do part-time jobs. It will be a waste of time!” Chu Tong laughed.
“You’re right! Are you also on the morning shift? Please teach me!” Xia Xiaoluo said.
“Sure! I will!” Chu Tong smiled.
They went to find the Personnel Director and he agreed at once. He dared not to offend Xia Xiaoluo because of Ling Tianyi.