Everything I bought on online shopping platforms was genuine.

Chapter 1052 Sending the God of Wealth?

Since the latest work was just updated yesterday, there wasn't anything urgent at the studio today, so the class monitor naturally wanted to go to his restaurant to help out.

Not only can she learn to cook, but she also gets delicious food for lunch and dinner, and can even bring some back in the evening, so naturally she's willing to come.

There aren't many young people who enjoy cooking these days, and the class monitor doesn't like it either. But learning to cook is good for her. First, once she learns, she can earn extra income by cooking for her studio. Second, cooking for herself saves money. Now, He Xiaoyue from across the hall, Miss Yuan from the next unit, and Chuanmei come over for meals from time to time, so she and Director Wang don't have to buy ingredients themselves anymore.

If it weren't for other expenses, the two of them could practically live on zero cost just for food and lodging.

Don't think that food and lodging won't cost much. Anyone who has worked after graduation knows that food and lodging expenses can be quite high. The apartment Lin Mo rented, even in an older neighborhood, cost over a thousand a month, almost two thousand. Of course, that was in a pretty good location; it would be cheaper in a more remote area. If you add in the cost of meals, especially takeout every day, it would cost another one or two thousand a month.

Not to mention that the squad leader and Director Wang are two people, and they live in a two-bedroom apartment that is not small in size. The rent for such an apartment alone would be a considerable sum.

Of course, the class monitor also had other thoughts. In case things didn't work out with Chuanmei in the future, they would have to find some way to make a living!

After all, no one knows how long a Sichuan girl can stay popular as a social media influencer. If she really learns the skills, at the very least, the two of them can open a restaurant together. Even if things don't go well, who wouldn't want to eat something nice at home?

"Lin Mo, what are you doing?"

Inside the car, the squad leader, driving, couldn't help but ask.

"Let's check the weather forecast and take a break," Lin Mo said without even looking up from the passenger seat.

That's right, he had the class monitor drive today, while he himself was in the passenger seat doing the preliminary tasks for Weathering With You.

It's very simple, not difficult at all. It only takes half an hour. He can finish it on the way. There's no need to drag it out.

After all this time, he was finally getting a new skill, and he couldn't wait any longer.

"Weather forecast? What's so interesting about that? It's cloudy today, no rain. What, you want to go out with your girlfriend?" the squad leader asked as he drove.

In her opinion, only people who go out to play would care about the weather. Otherwise, why would a student like her, who works downstairs and doesn't even need to leave the house, need to check the weather forecast?

Whether it rains or not doesn't affect them much, unless they need to go out recently. In the past few years of university, the only time they have checked the weather forecast is two days before a holiday, for fear that it will rain and they will be stuck at school.

"Play? Where can we play now? We'll be graduating in two months. There's so much to do these days. If you really want to play, you can wait until after graduation. By the way, how's your thesis coming along with Director Wang's? The first draft is due at the end of this month, followed by plagiarism checks, the main text, and then the defense. It's all interconnected. You guys also have to work. The workload is quite heavy," Lin Mo said.

The class monitor nodded in agreement: "That's true. You'll have plenty of time to go out and have fun later. You're not short of money now, so you don't need to worry about making a living."

As for the thesis, Wang and I are making good progress. If we work on it, we should be fine before the end of the month.

Lately, we've been staying up late, writing until the wee hours. Xiaoyue is doing the same; we're both starting to get anxious. Her progress is even worse than ours!

He Xiaoyue is a bit impatient. Now that the class monitor is living with Director Wang, no one is watching her, so she has become a little lax.

"That's fine. If it really doesn't work, take a couple of days off. It's not like Chuanzi doesn't give you guys time off. When you came last year, it was agreed that you'd have weekends off. But since you two came, you've hardly had any time off."

"Let's get our diplomas first, everything else is secondary. We can always make money!" Lin Mo suggested.

Indeed, Chuanmei had said from the beginning that there would be weekends off, but since the class monitor and He Xiaoyue were not familiar with the work, and because Chuanmei paid them a lot of money and provided them with social insurance and housing fund, they didn't dare to take a break at the beginning.

Later, once they became more proficient in their work and the Wangcai account gained popularity, they went from being employees to shareholders. Naturally, they were even less inclined to rest. Posting more videos, doing more live streams, and taking on more advertisements meant more money!

This gives me even more motivation. Fortunately, while I'm busy when things are busy, I'm also really free when things are quiet. Sometimes I sit at work all day and have nothing to do, which is no different from being on vacation.

For example, today should have been during working hours, but because I just finished updating a new work and the materials I have on hand don't support editing the next one, I'm going to work to rest. It seems like everyone is used to this situation.

"Don't worry, I don't have much work these next two days, so I'll have plenty of time. Besides, Chuanmei already said yesterday that she's going to do two more videos for the social event."

"Xiaoyue went to her interview, Chuanmei and Director Wang went to film, so I'm much freer now," the class monitor laughed.

The two drove and chatted as they went. Before they even arrived at the restaurant, Lin Mo had already completed his task.

After receiving the ingredients and signing for them, Aunt Yang, the kitchen helper, arrived. The three of them worked together in the kitchen to prepare the ingredients. Soon, several waiters arrived and began to do their own jobs.

Although my cousin Su He wasn't here today, she still managed to arrange everything at the restaurant perfectly.

He was able to help him run the restaurant while he was working and dealing with his boss online. Now that he has plenty of energy, he can still give instructions even if he is in another city.

As long as the six waiters each perform their duties and do their jobs well, the rest will not be a problem.

"Not bad, squad leader. You've been handling the ingredients quite well lately," Lin Mo said, giving a thumbs up as he watched the squad leader skillfully urinate the lobsters.

Hearing this, the squad leader smiled a little embarrassedly: "Hey, practice makes perfect, it's just that my knife skills are so-so. How did you practice?"

Lin Mo's knife skills are simply art. He can cut vegetables with lightning speed without even looking, and his knife skills are also fair. He can even easily carve flowers with a kitchen knife if he wants to.

"Hey, knife skills take practice. Just do your best. After all, there are all kinds of tools now. Besides, knife skills don't actually have that much impact on the food. It just makes it look better," Lin Mo waved his hand and said.

He only has good knife skills on Wednesdays. His knife skills are usually quite average, but over the years, no one has ever suspected him.

Time flew by and it was already 10:30 in the morning. Suddenly, a waiter ran into the kitchen in a panic.

"Boss, something bad has happened!" "What's wrong, Xiao Du? Are some things missing?" Lin Mo asked upon hearing this.

The person who came was the only elderly person among the six waiters. His surname was Du and his name was Du Xiao. Ling was two years older than him. He had a master's degree in finance, was a decent worker, and was also decent-looking. His family background was probably average. In any case, he was a very honest person.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been kept by his cousin Su He, and he's now a team leader among the waiters, in charge of assigning tasks. Otherwise, he wouldn't know the other person's name.

Although she was a bit older than him, he was the boss after all, and he couldn't very well call her "sister," because without authority, it would be difficult to lead a team.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Du quickly said, "No, boss, someone has come from outside!"

"People coming in? For dinner? Just tell them we can't see anyone without an appointment, right?" Lin Mo said.

Although he doesn't have many restaurants, it's not like he's never had customers come to eat during business hours.

Even though his restaurant is located in a very remote area, people still come to eat from time to time.

As for the guests who made reservations, they certainly wouldn't come at this time. After all, if it were for lunch, Lin Mo would tell them directly which dishes they couldn't order.

After all, those elaborate dishes all require a lot of time to prepare! He had looked at the menus for both tables today, and they were both the kind that take a lot of time to cook, so there was no way he could have come over for lunch in the morning.

"It wasn't the restaurant owner, it was an old lady who came in and bowed, clearly indicating she was there to ask for money."

"I told her we didn't want her, but she just wouldn't leave. Now she's sitting in our lobby," Xiao Du said, sounding a bit embarrassed.

She was just a waitress; she could help refuse people, but she didn't have the guts to approach an old lady. After all, the old lady looked like she was trying to extort money, and who would dare to go up to her?

Hearing this, Lin Mo exchanged a glance with the class monitor, and then he said, "Aunt Yang, you go and prepare the ingredients first, we'll go out and take a look!"

“Okay, boss, I can manage on my own,” Aunt Yang said with a smile.

She is now very satisfied with her job. Her cooking is getting better and better. She earns two thousand yuan a month and only works four days a week. Sometimes she doesn't even work four days. What's wrong with doing some work?

Immediately, Lin Mo led the two class leaders out of the kitchen and into the living room, where they immediately spotted a figure sitting on the living room floor.

An old woman with half-white hair and somewhat worn-out clothes was sitting on the ground, her face plump and full of fat, neither shouting nor making a fuss.

"Auntie, I'm the owner of this shop. What can I do for you?" Lin Mo asked.

Upon hearing this, the old woman looked up and pulled out a picture of the God of Wealth from her bosom: "I've come to deliver the God of Wealth, boss, wishing you prosperity!"

Upon seeing this, Lin Mo understood what was going on. They were sending a God of Wealth to the shop owners, and many shops felt embarrassed to refuse, so they would pay some money to buy it, initially hoping for a good omen.

In earlier times, not only shops, but even rural areas would have people come to deliver the God of Wealth on New Year's Eve. They didn't know him, but he would just deliver it and wouldn't ask for much money, maybe five or ten yuan. During the New Year, most people didn't want to cause trouble, so they would just give him the money.

Although it's not forced buying or selling, this kind of behavior is indeed quite disgusting. If you pay, you feel uncomfortable paying out of your own pocket; if you don't pay and refuse, it's considered bad luck to refuse the God of Wealth during the Lunar New Year. So you can only grit your teeth and accept it.

But nowadays, this kind of thing is almost non-existent in rural areas, although there are still some shops in the city. However, it's not just about giving away the God of Wealth anymore; some people pretend to be beggars and ask for money directly, while others come in, play clappers, and then ask for money. In short, Lin Mo doesn't like this kind of thing.

“Auntie, it’s been a month since the Lunar New Year. The God of Wealth is late. My shop is about to go out of business. I don’t need the God of Wealth anymore. You can go now!” Lin Mo waved his hand and said.

Are you kidding me? Do you think a young man like him would suffer such a loss?

“Young man, this God of Wealth is good, God of Wealth,” the old woman continued to ramble.

Just as Lin Mo was about to speak, the class monitor tugged at his clothes and then stepped forward himself: "Auntie, here's ten yuan for you, keep it, God of Wealth!"

The class monitor's meaning was quite clear: just consider it spending a little money to buy some peace and quiet.

But it was obvious that the old lady exploded as soon as she heard it was ten yuan.

"What? Ten yuan? You're trying to fob me off like a beggar!"

Squad leader: "Then how much do you want?"

The old lady said, "One hundred or two hundred is not too little, three hundred or five hundred is not too much!"

Lin Mo: "You old geezer, you're trying to pull this on me, aren't you? Get the hell out of here and stop sitting in my shop!"

As he spoke, he stepped forward, his tone turning unfriendly. "At least a hundred? What a joke! You can't give this kind of person a friendly face, otherwise he'll come here all the time. I might as well give him a good slap in the face."

Seeing this, the old woman immediately lay down on the ground, even covering her face, waiting for the other party to make a move.

(End of this chapter)