[Congratulations, you have unlocked the 50th entry in your collection.]
[The culinary entry you unlocked is: Stir-fried Yellow Chives with M5 Wagyu Beef.]
[Food Rating: 90/100 [Excellent]]
[As the food rating is "Excellent," rewards are multiplied by 4.]
[Congratulations, you have received a cash reward: 800,000.]
[Congratulations, you have received a cash reward: 800,000.]
[Congratulations, you have received a special reward: 60-Year usage rights for 10 random commercial properties.]
[Congratulations, you have received a recipe reward: Stir-fried Yellow Chives with M5 Wagyu Beef.]
[For specific property information, please contact the real estate agent... ]
Seeing the commercial properties from the system reward, Li Xiao vaguely recalled that the second Xihan’er Milk Tea Shop was set to open in two days.
He hadn’t scheduled any special events for the reopening of the first milk tea shop.
He did this mainly out of concern that the kids would be overwhelmed by a sudden massive influx of customers, which could lead to them making mistakes in the rush.
But things were different now. After a period of practice and learning, the kids’ abilities had improved noticeably.
Everyone else believed the kids were improving so quickly entirely because Li Xiao had simplified the production process and the numerous automated machines he bought were doing their job.
However, Li Xiao knew in his heart that a larger reason was likely the Enlightenment Wind Chime he’d received as a system reward.
The Enlightenment Wind Chime was subtly and continuously improving the kids’ intelligence and alleviating their conditions, which was why they were gradually getting better.
With the help of community social workers and government staff, the news that the Xihan’er Milk Tea Shop would be continuously opening new locations spread among the kids’ families.
After seeing how popular the milk tea shop was, a large number of families, all hoping their children could learn to support themselves, rushed to send their kids to the shop to learn the necessary skills.
After all, what family doesn’t want their child to be able to live a good life on their own?
People eventually grow old. Family members can care for their child from age one to ten, to twenty, or even to forty.
But they can’t take care of their children forever. Now that they knew the kids could earn their own money—even if it wasn’t a lot—it was enough for them to live with dignity.
Thus, many families tried every way they could to contact the shop manager and Wen Chu Ren, who was in charge of this matter.
In the short time since opening, another twelve kids had joined the original six working at the shop, all wanting to learn and work there.
If it weren’t for the lack of space and the fact that too many people would hinder work, that number would have multiplied several times over.
Thinking about this, Li Xiao put down his chopsticks and looked at Wen Chu Ren.
"Oh, right. The second branch of the Xihan’er Milk Tea Shop is opening in two days."
"You have to come and show your support."
Wen Chu Ren wiped her mouth with a napkin.
"Even if you didn’t invite me, I’d have to go take a look. It’s in the neighboring district, but it’s not far from our own grid zone."
"Besides, I know most of the kids at the second branch. I have to see the results of all their hard work."
Li Xiao chuckled and shook his head.
"Classic corrupt bureaucracy. You actually picked all people you know. Aren’t you afraid people will accuse you of abusing your position for personal gain?"
Wen Chu Ren rolled her eyes prettily.
"What do you mean, ’abusing my position’?"
"I wouldn’t feel comfortable letting people I’m not familiar with go there to learn and work."
"You’re planning to turn this into a chain. This first batch of kids has to be reliable."
"You should know this too. Even though they are all Xihuan’Er, each child’s situation is different. Some of them can’t even get along with others at all."
"This current group that’s learning and working are the ones I believe are most likely to adapt to working in the milk tea shop."
"It’s just a shame the shop doesn’t have enough space, or we could have sent more people over."
Seeing Wen Chu Ren get so worked up, Li Xiao was taken aback and quickly waved his hands.
"I was just joking. No one would think you’re abusing your power for personal gain."
But her words did give Li Xiao an idea.
After thinking for a moment, a relaxed smile appeared on his face.
"What you said reminded me of something. The current training method is still too slow."
"What if I just set up a training center and put all the suitable kids in there? Would that be better?"
"That way, we could train a large number of kids at once."
"Then, based on each kid’s learning progress, we could assign them to different stores."
Hearing Li Xiao’s plan, Wen Chu Ren thought for a moment before her face lit up with joy.
Even though she and the community social workers had done their best to reassure the families, her phone had still been ringing off the hook lately.
Many families were hoping to get their children into the shop to start training as soon as possible.
If Li Xiao could really open a training center, it would indeed meet the demands of a large number of families.
But soon, a worried look flashed in her eyes.
"That’s a pretty good idea. After all, some kids learn faster and some learn slower."
"Opening a training center would prevent the slower learners from taking up spots for too long, and it would also allow the faster ones to start working sooner."
"But wouldn’t opening a separate training center cost a lot of money?"
Hearing her concern, Li Xiao suppressed a laugh and explained,
"It’s just a one-time investment, anyway. I estimate a few hundred thousand should be enough."
"I’ll have Lai Chunjiao find a location and get this training center set up right away. Once it’s built, you can help me by sending the kids over."
As he spoke, he took out his phone and called Lai Chunjiao.
On the other end, Lai Chunjiao didn’t object to her boss’s request.
As a manager, she knew very well that when a hands-off boss proposes an idea,
the job of the people under him is to figure out how to implement that idea, not to offer suggestions.
"Understood. I’ll select a site immediately."
"But, Boss, isn’t a 1,000-square-meter space a bit too big?"
"If it’s just for 100 kids to train, 500 square meters would probably be more than enough."
Lai Chunjiao’s reasoning was actually quite sound.
After all, given the land prices in Yangcheng City Center, the monthly rent for a 1,000-square-meter venue would be a considerable expense.
Li Xiao reminded her,
"Five hundred square meters might be enough for now, but what about the future?"
"Once the Xihan’er Milk Tea Shop gets past its initial break-in period, the subsequent expansion will inevitably be very rapid."
"Our initial goal is to help the Xihuan’Er in Yangcheng and the surrounding cities get respectable jobs through their own abilities."
"But that’s just our first step. Later, I plan to help people across all of Guangdong Province, and even the entire country."
"If we only build a 500-square-meter training base from the start, it’s just too small. I don’t want to be dealing with expansions every other day."
"So, 1,000 square meters is the most suitable size. It can meet the needs of future expansion."
Hearing Li Xiao’s vision, Lai Chunjiao was a little shaken.
Although from her perspective, her boss’s idea seemed a bit unrealistic.
Turning a brand into a chain wasn’t that difficult, but making it a national chain increased the difficulty exponentially.
This was especially true for the Xihan’er Milk Tea Shop, which was extremely unique in itself.
Managing it on a small scale wasn’t too hard, but expanding it nationwide while maintaining proper management would be absurdly difficult.