Until today, when Qin Fang announced that Wen Yi had become the head chef of Fang Feixue, they finally realized that Wen Yi had truly completed his apprenticeship. The journey from the start of his studies to becoming a full-fledged chef took less than three months, a feat closely tied to Wen Yi's earnestness and diligence. However, without a mentor like Qin Fang, he certainly wouldn't have achieved such success.

Perhaps Wen Yi's foundation in cooking was still somewhat shaky, for instance, his basic knife skills were weak, but these shortcomings could be entirely compensated for by Qin Fang. At least they all knew that Wen Yi's current knife skills were no less proficient than those of the old chefs who had been in charge for ten or twenty years.

During this process, Qin Fang seemed to care little and seldom intervened, but his occasional visits to the restaurant and the kitchen, along with a few simple pointers, always left them feeling like they had gained immensely. This was precisely why they always thought Qin Fang was much stronger than Wen Yi.

In a span of three months, he had trained an apprentice who would have taken at least five to six years to be ready under them, and whose strength was obviously far greater. This caliber of training, even those well-known chefs in the country couldn't match, elevating Qin Fang's status in their hearts by an immeasurable amount.

This was the very reason they were all vying for the mere two available spots.

This was an incredible opportunity, and naturally, they wanted to secure this chance for their families and friends.

"Stop making a fuss for now. There are only two spots available, and you all are the veterans of Fang Feixue—you will certainly be given priority. However, I must state plainly that when choosing apprentices, character is paramount. Honesty, kindness, filial piety, respect for teachers—these are the bare minimum. I certainly do not want to end up raising an ingrate..."

"Next comes diligence. You have all seen Wen Yi's case. Her success today is entirely due to her hard work. Those who shirk hard work, even if I take them in, will be sent away..."

"The last point is loyalty. My apprentices are part of Fang Feixue, just like you. I will sign long-term contracts with them, ensure decent treatment, and the better their cooking skills, the higher their income will be, similar to Wen Yi's situation. Perhaps one day they will want to leave Fang Feixue to set out on their own, and I will certainly support that. However, before then, I hope they will stay with Fang Feixue."

"That's all I have to say. Go back and think it over. If you can accept these conditions, bring the candidates to me. I will train two directly, and the rest can be trained by Wen Yi. If I decide to take on more apprentices in the future, I will also choose from among them first..."

With that, Qin Fang didn't continue any further. He had said all that needed to be said, and what remained was to prepare some alternate candidates.

In fact, these requirements were what Qin Fang had thought up on the way back, and they were also his biggest concern. He wanted to win a good place for Fang Feixue in the culinary festival, and that meant raising their cooking skills to an advanced level before the competition, or rather, before the finals.

That's exactly why the requirements for choosing apprentices this time weren't particularly high, but they were certainly not to be compromised. He didn't want to end up doing all the hard work of passing on his cooking skills, only to have to strip it all away and waste his efforts if things went wrong.

Recruiting apprentices went quite smoothly. It took just one evening, and Qin Fang didn't return to the restaurant until the next afternoon. The reason was that several potential apprentices had already been sent to Fang Feixue.

The senior chefs were all locals from Ninghai, if not from Ninghai City District, then from the suburban counties at most, just an hour away from the city center.

It so happened that they had nothing urgent to do on those two days, so almost immediately after Qin Fang issued the directive, they informed their relatives. After explaining the opportunity carefully, those relatives pondered a bit and then sent the kids from their families who had no interest in academics but were still relatively honest to the restaurant.

Looking at these young people of the same age as himself, or even a bit older, Qin Fang felt a bit of pride in his heart. Among them, two would become his apprentices.

Similarly, the potential apprentices sized up Qin Fang with curiosity. They all knew that this young man, who was the same age as them, had started from a ramen stall and became worth millions in just six months, now owning this large restaurant—a legend in the making.

"Interview one by one..."

However, Qin Fang's expression was rather cold, simply sitting in a small room and asking the candidate apprentices to come in one by one for an interview.

The interview process was very straightforward. Under a highly stressful atmosphere, Qin Fang slightly intimidated them, causing a flurry in their minds, and he took the opportunity to use the Mind Reading Technique, thereby thoroughly understanding each person.

While there were nearly ten candidates who came this time, only three barely met Qin Fang's satisfaction in the end. But since it was a pressing matter, he had to settle, at least confirming these three were quite honest without any ill intentions, which Qin Fang cared about the most. As for diligence, it depended on the individual's drive, and Qin Fang believed that a high salary would be the best motivation.

He kept all three, taking Sun Liang and Wu Ping as his apprentices, while Zhou Rui became an in-name apprentice, with the understanding that his performance would determine whether he was taken as a direct apprentice or given to Wen Yi to train, and so forth. In any case, they kept him in the restaurant. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to qidian.com to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation.)

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