Mark Clark at the front didn’t say much, just took the two of them for a stroll around the water station area to get familiar with the environment.

At a five-star restaurant like Jiuzhou Dingsheng, even the water station area is quite large, divided into two main sections: meat and vegetables.

The meat section is further divided into slaughtering and cleaning departments. With their current experience, the two of them weren’t qualified to enter the meat section yet. After all, slaughtering poultry and fish is a technical job, and there are many details to pay attention to during the cleaning process. No matter how much Mr. Clark wanted to put these two interns through the wringer, he wouldn’t risk the quality of the ingredients.

So David Carter and Kelly Payne were taken directly to the vegetable section.

Lunch and dinner at Jiuzhou Dingshi start at 10:30 and 17:00 respectively. Before mealtime, orders from the front hall come in like snowflakes, and that’s when the water station starts to get busy.

The water station is the front line of the “battle.” The speed of washing vegetables directly affects how quickly dishes can be served, and the quality of washing directly affects the quality of the finished dishes. If you wash too slowly or poorly, the other sections will definitely complain!

Mr. Clark checked his watch, then looked at the two of them, especially glancing at David Carter a few more times: “It’s 10 o’clock. In half an hour, lunch service will begin. The first orders from the front hall will come to our water station. Around 11:30 is the peak period. By then, you’ll witness just how busy it gets here.”

“For now, follow the master in the vegetable section and learn how to wash common greens, radishes, potatoes, and so on. Get some practice first.”

“Ms. Grant, we’ve got two interns here. Let them follow you and learn how to wash vegetables…”

As he spoke, he called over a plump, fair-skinned middle-aged woman from the vegetable section and pointed at David Carter and Kelly Payne: “They’re yours. Let them start by washing some common prep vegetables that aren’t sensitive to being washed in advance. If they’re up to the task, keep them on as your assistants. If not, let me know and I’ll send them back to their school.”

“Hey, everyone wants to come to Jiuzhou Dingshi to polish their resumes, but we’re not a junkyard here!”

“Mm… Don’t worry, boss! Huh?”

Ms. Grant, dressed in a black water station uniform, barely glanced at Kelly Payne before her gaze landed on David Carter—and never left.

Her eyes, squeezed into slits by her chubby cheeks, widened a bit. She secretly decided that if anyone had to be sent back, it would be that dark, fat, ugly guy. The fair and handsome one had to stay!

Who cares if he can wash vegetables or not? Just having him around to look at would boost her enthusiasm for work.

“Your name is David Carter? Nice name! You look like a talented young man! Mm-hmm… You two, come with me.”

“Student Carter, watch your step. Our conditions here are pretty good, but the water station is still a water station—don’t slip!”

Kelly Payne looked at Ms. Grant with mixed feelings. They were both just interns, so why did Ms. Grant greet David Carter with smiles and all kinds of care, while acting like he didn’t exist? I’m a handsome guy weighing over 200 pounds too, you know!

Not only did she give David Carter the best workstation, but even though the uniform already fit well, Ms. Grant insisted it wasn’t right and made him try on seven or eight sets, holding his hand the whole time, before she was satisfied. And the guy looked all reluctant, with that cool expression that just made people mad!

As for himself, Ms. Grant barely acknowledged him, assigned him a workstation in a corner, and the uniform he got even smelled musty! He mustered up the courage to ask Ms. Grant for a different one, only to be met with a glare: “Looking like that and you still have so many requests? Just make do!”

Suddenly, Kelly Payne felt like crying. Mom, this looks-obsessed world is full of malice…

“Go get some potatoes and greens. These are staple prep vegetables—you can’t wait until the front hall places orders to start preparing, or it’ll be too late.”

Ms. Grant warmly pulled David Carter to sit down, even found a brand-new cup to pour him hot water, telling him to have a drink and rest, while issuing orders to Kelly Payne.

The vegetables delivered that morning were piled up in the corner of the vegetable section, a mountain of all kinds of produce. The potatoes and greens were just waiting in the pile for the despairing fat guy to find them.

David Carter frowned slightly and stood up: “Ms. Grant, I’ll go with him.”

“You don’t need to go!”

Ms. Grant grabbed David Carter, scolding him playfully: “With your delicate skin, how could you do such rough work? Just learn to wash vegetables with Ms. Grant. Be careful not to hurt your hands while washing. Oh, here, take these gloves.”

She handed David Carter a pair of ultra-thin, transparent plastic gloves—high-end, deodorized ones that only the most experienced staff at the water station were allowed to use. For interns, they were unattainable “top-tier gear.” Ms. Grant didn’t hesitate to give them to David Carter.

“This looks-obsessed world…”

Seeing this, Kelly Payne could only sigh in sorrow, tears streaming silently, as he went to haul potatoes and greens.

David Carter declined the plastic gloves and Ms. Grant’s kindness. For a master at washing vegetables, the feel is everything—wearing gloves would seriously affect his performance, and might even hinder his skill upgrades.

However, he didn’t insist on helping carry the potatoes and greens either. His interest in washing vegetables came from the system’s granted skills, and also because it greatly helped his condition. He had no interest in doing manual labor.

“Oh, right, Student Payne, just leave half a bag of potatoes here later. The rest can be distributed to the other stations… Same with the greens.”