Chapter 90: The Salary Issue

The stewed meat was tender and carried a rich meaty aroma. When you ate a piece, the flavor went straight from your throat down to your stomach.

The Cabbage Rolls looked plain, but it was the natural taste of the Chinese Cabbage that cut through the greasiness of the meat. Even though they were stuffed with meat filling, you could eat several pieces without feeling greasy.

Not only did Alex like these two dishes, but the adults liked them too. At the end of the meal, Robin even scooped some meat and broth from the pot and mixed it with his rice, then ate it in big, happy mouthfuls.

“The taste of these two dishes is really good, but they take a lot of time to make,” Nina said after taking a big gulp of Beer.

“I originally wanted to eat less today and have more salad, but I ended up eating so much again without realizing it,” Sasha beside her said with a bitter smile.

“Eating a little once in a while is fine. Actually, I never understood why you care so much about your weight. It’s not like you’re overweight; being a little plump is even more beautiful,” Liu Heming explained.

But his last comment earned him two pairs of eye-rolls, so he quickly shut up.

He was in a very good mood, and now he wasn’t too worried about the task. Out of the six dishes, he had already finished five; wasn’t the last one going to be easy to handle?

He had figured out the trick to this task. The flavor didn’t have to be incredibly rare or hard to find. As long as it was something his daughter hadn’t eaten before and she participated in making it, it basically made the little one satisfied.

After a short nap, he brought his daughter to the Restaurant. Amelia was teaching the two newly hired servers to diligently learn how to make Dumplings.

“George, now I think you care more about this business than I do,” Liu Heming joked when he saw George there too.

“Dexter, can you estimate roughly how many more people you’ll need? I’ll make sure to get them all ready for you,” George asked Liu Heming.

“Let’s wait a bit. I don’t even know how the business will be in the coming days. If business is good, I plan to hire two more and poach Amelia from Lewis,” Liu Heming said with a laugh.

Lewis on the side shook his head helplessly; he already had a feeling that Amelia wouldn’t be working for him much longer.

Liu Heming thought for a moment, then waved to George and Lewis, and they went inside.

“Dexter, what’s up?” Lewis asked.

“I wanted to ask, what’s the salary standard over here? That way I can figure out how much to pay them. I think we all kind of forgot about this issue,” Liu Heming said.

“George, didn’t you talk to the two people you brought about their salary?” Lewis asked, looking at George.

George shook his head awkwardly. “I only told them the job here would be pretty good; they forgot to ask too.”

“I’m really defeated by you guys. You know, this could easily lead to problems,” Lewis said, shaking his head helplessly.

“For Amelia and the others, the hourly wage is 3.5 US Dollars, and I also cover their meals. They work about 12 hours a day, sometimes longer.”

“Lewis, is such a low salary enough for their daily expenses?” Liu Heming asked curiously.

He had just done a quick calculation in his head: the monthly salary would be around 1,300 US Dollars, which didn’t seem very high. Even though it converted to a good amount in Chinese Yuan, over here you still have to pay taxes and things like Medical Insurance, so basically there wouldn’t be much left.

“Basically, that’s the standard rate for a Restaurant like ours. Actually, I pay an extra 0.5 US Dollars per hour because they often work until late at night,” Lewis said with a shrug.

“How much they earn each month also depends on their luck. If customers are generous and leave good tips, it’s pretty normal for them to earn over three thousand US Dollars a month.”

“This month has been pretty good. Because your dishes are popular, more drivers have been coming, and everyone can earn around thirty-five hundred US Dollars.”

“But then, I have a bit of a problem,” Liu Heming said with a bitter smile.

“Amelia and the two new hires will be responsible for making food, so they’ll miss out on getting tips. How should I set their salary?”

Hearing Liu Heming’s words, Lewis was stunned and then furrowed his brow too; this was indeed an important issue.

Liu Heming was now operating in his own place. If he set Amelia and the others’s salaries at the standard for Chefs, the servers at his place might get upset. But if the salary was too low, they’d be better off continuing as servers.

“Dexter, I really think you need to carefully consider the salary issue,” George said seriously from the side.

“Of course I’m considering it; aren’t I discussing it with you right now?” Liu Heming said with a bitter smile.

“Uh… I can only give you that suggestion,” George said, a bit embarrassed.

This matter had been handled a bit too hastily; it was all because he always had that dream of reviving Xiangshui Town in his heart, and he ended up forgetting all about this.

“Dexter, I think you could set their monthly salary at around two thousand US Dollars. Then give them some incentive pay on top, so you can also have some flexibility each month,” Lewis said after thinking for a moment.

Based on the current growth in sales, Liu Heming’s business was likely to improve a lot more. But how much exactly, he couldn’t predict.

“Let’s do that for now, and see later based on sales. I didn’t expect running a business carefully to be so troublesome,” Liu Heming thought for a moment and nodded.

The salary issue was temporarily settled like that, but whether the girls would be satisfied still depended on how much they ended up making. Relatively speaking, if there were more customers later, their work would be much harder than that of servers.

Here, they made handmade Dumplings. When it got busy in the evening with customers, they would have to keep making them nonstop.

“Amelia, after work today, bring the two of them to my Ranch tomorrow,” Liu Heming said to Amelia after coming back out.

“From now on, you’ll work directly for me. Let’s try to open our own shop in the shortest time and steal all of Lewis’s business.”

“I regret it now; I should have asked for more from you earlier,” Lewis on the side said helplessly.

What Liu Heming had said earlier was partly a joke, but not entirely. If his business became very popular, he would definitely open his own shop eventually, and then Lewis’s business would indeed be affected a bit.