Chapter 12 — Tomorrow's Kitchen

Ha's knife was placed in a cotton towel, next to a resignation letter.

Khoi found it at six in the morning, when he opened the tool cabinet to get a knife to chop vegetables. The paper has only three lines:

I LEAVE FROM THE END OF MY SHIFT TODAY.

ALL QUANTITIES RECORDED IN THE BOOK.

DON'T CALL ME TO ASK FOR RECIPE.

He read it again and again. The kitchen wasn't open yet, but the knife tray was missing a spot that made everything look wrong.

Ha was sitting at the bus station, preparing to go to her sister's house in the next district. Khoi found her thanks to Mr. Sau, who called her but did not ask about the break. He just asked if the knife was allowed. Ha said no.

“What did you come for?” Ha asked when Khoi sat down on the stone bench.

“Bring a knife.”

“I leave.”

"I know."

Khoi placed the towel package on the chair between the two of them. The bus passed by, kicking up dust on his shoes.

“Min called me,” Ha said.

“What does he suggest?”

"Join central kitchen. Double salary. Title of seasoning team leader."

Khoi felt a feeling like jealousy in his chest, but he didn't know if it was for Man, for Ha, or for someone who could use a clear suggestion to keep her.

“You answered?”

"Not yet."

“Why leave?”

Ha looked at the scarf. "Because yesterday you told the bank that I was the person in charge of kitchen engineering, but in the submitted plan, my name was in the 'support personnel' section."

Khoi remembers. He wrote the responsibility section, then Vy edited it to make the text more concise. I didn't check the final version.

"I'm sorry."

“You always apologize after the letter is sent.”

“I can fix it.”

“Fixing the paper doesn't fix the fact that you still think I'll be there.”

Khoi holds a package of towels. “I wrote down what you wanted.”

"Writing is one thing. Asking me before sending is another."

He couldn't deny it. In the past few days, he has learned but still maintains the habit of deciding first and then informing others. Loss of taste made him listen to the people eating, but did not make him listen to those in the kitchen.

Ha opened the towel and took out the knife. The blade has a small indentation near the tip. She has been using it since she first entered the shop.

“I don't quit because of the title,” she said. "I quit because if I stayed and you would still forget to ask, later on, the shop will change its model and just change its name."

“I want you to stay.”

“Because I'm good.”

“Because you know the kitchen.”

"That's why the shop needs me. Not why I have to stay."

Khoi looked at passersby. A boy carrying his schoolbag ran after his mother, a lottery ticket seller pushed a cart, and a motorbike taxi driver fell asleep on the saddle. Everyone has their own job, no one stands still and lets a kitchen decide their fate.

“What do you want me to do?” he asked.

Ha smiled, but her eyes were not smiling. “I don't want to give you the test.”

“So I'll fix it myself.”

“Fixed from where?”

Khoi thought about the banking plan. “From deleting the word ‘support personnel’.”

"Already?"

“State your name, the rights you have, the part you are responsible for.”

"Already?"

“Let me read it first.”

Ha im. Khoi took out his phone and opened the draft. He corrected right there on the bench:

HA — THE KITCHEN MAN, CO-AUTHOR OF SPICE RECIPES, HAS THE RIGHT TO STOP SERVING WHEN DOUBTING SAFETY OR QUALITY, AND IS NOT FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE DECISIONS OF OTHERS.

Ha read. “That last sentence sounds like you studied law.”

“Lawyer Hanh said it must be recorded.”

“You have the right to have a fixed day off.”

Khoi added.

“More money.”

I stopped. “What level?”

“I asked Vy.”

Khoi called Vy. She was at the shop and after listening, she immediately opened the spreadsheet. After After a few minutes, she said the price she could pay was lower than Man's proposal, but there was a mechanism to divide it from the condiments.

Ha said he did not want to share unknown revenue. Vy said you can record fixed parts and parts according to the number of parts sold. Ha asked who checked the numbers. Vy responded to the public sales board.

Khoi wrote down all three comments. He turned to Ha. “What do you think?”

“First time I see the question comes before the signature.”

Ha still hasn't said he'll come back.

The bank meeting takes place at nine o'clock. Khoi returned to the shop alone. Lan's mother placed the plans on the table, Binh brought the invoice, Mr. Sau brought the fan repair note, Vy held the cash flow sheet. Ha's place is empty.

Thu and Phuc sat opposite each other. This time they didn't take pictures. They asked to hear the plan in thirty days and see who was responsible.

Vy presented the data first. She did not hide the loss from the two hundred portion order, the refund and the schedule owed to Binh. Phuc asked why the restaurant still kept the food portion size if the profit margin was low. Vy answered because that dish creates a stable number of customers and can use seasonal ingredients.

The letter asked: "Is there evidence?"

Khoi gave the seven-day sales sign, feedback form and green book. She read the first page and asked who wrote it.

“Ha,” Khoi said.

“Is she in the plan?”

Khoi looked at the empty space. “Yes, but currently on break.”

Phuc turned over the file. “So the plan depends on an unconfirmed personnel.”

Khoi replied: "No. The plan must be clear enough for other personnel to accept, but also fair enough for experienced people to want to stay."

Phuc frowned. “Banks need operational capabilities, not philosophy.”

Vy said: "Operational ability is knowing who does what, who has the right to stop and who is responsible. Previously, the shop lacked that, so it borrowed money and had long debts."

Thu looked at Vy. “If the bank gives more time, what are the conditions?”

“Temporarily delay the principal for six months, pay interest monthly, report revenue and expenses weekly, do not transfer the brand during the restructuring period.”

Phuc said: “Additional collateral is needed.”

Lan's mother sat up straight. "Do not have."

“You can use the house.”

"Are not."

Khoi looked at his mother. She spoke very softly but firmly.

The letter asked: “If there are no additional assets, the revenue plan must be higher.”

Khoi opened the menu. He explained that the kitchen does not take large orders, only accepts tested orders. They will open the communal kitchen for seven days, sell group meals, collect usage fees and deduct a portion from the operating fund. Man was not mentioned by name, but the offer to buy the brand was still on the table.

Phuc asked: "Is the community kitchen a charitable activity?"

“No,” Khoi replied. “It is a kitchen use service, with process, price and responsibility.”

“Who bought it?”

“Groups of workers, students, seasonal cooks, people who need to try dishes in small quantities.”

“Where does the data come from?”

Vy gave the feedback sheet. “From two tryouts and current guests.”

The letter flipped to the page with Binh's signature. “What about the supplier?”

Binh spoke up: "I deliver according to quantity and schedule. I do not give unlimited debt. If the shop violates, I will stop."

Phuc looked at him. “Are you committed to continuing?”

“Conditional commitment.”

Thu nodded. “Conditions are clearly better than promises.”

The meeting lasted nearly two hours. The bank has not yet agreed, but asked them to send the official version before the next day. The letter said it would propose debt rescheduling if there were enough signatures from all parties.

When the banking group left, Khoi looked at Ha's empty seat.

Lan's mother said: "Don't use her name if it is not signed.”

“I know.”

“Have you gone looking for it yet?”

“I met.”

“Is it coming back?”

"Not yet."

Lan's mother nodded. “So don't say this plan already has someone in charge of the kitchen.”

Khoi understands. The truth may weaken the application, but lying will cause all signers to be pulled down if discovered.

At noon, the restaurant opens with a shortened menu. Without Ha, Khoi had to stand by the pot. He used the quantitative chart, called Lan's mother to check the soup, asked Mr. Sau to look at the amount of rice and asked Vy to write down the time. The braised chicken dish had the right amount of sugar reduced, but the vegetables came out slowly because no one organized pre-processing like Ha.

A guest complained. Khoi apologized and did not tell the kitchen assistant to leave. He asked if they could wait ten minutes or would they like to change their order. Customers change to tofu, the restaurant offers a discount.

At the end of the shift, Khoi realized that Ha not only knew how to cook. She knows which order to keep in the kitchen without bumping into each other, who needs to be reminded, and when to skip a step even if the spreadsheet doesn't allow it.

In the afternoon, he went to his sister Ha's house. She was washing beans, her little daughter sat at the table doing homework.

“I brought the knife back,” Ha said.

“I keep it at the shop.”

“I thought you wanted to pay.”

“I want you to decide where it is.”

Ha wiped her hands. “How is the bank?”

Khoi told the truth. He said if she did not sign, her name would not be on the plan. Ha asked him if he regretted it. Khoi said yes, but no because the application is more difficult.

“Are you sorry I left?”

“I'm sorry it took me so long to understand that you had the right to go.”

Ha sat down. Her daughter asked: "Are you going to work at a new place?"

Ha replied: "I don't know."

Khoi asked if she wanted to read the edited version. Ha read from beginning to end, asking about revenue sharing and stopping rights. She discovered that Vy had added a section "replacement shift manager".

“Who is this person?” Ha asked.

“Not yet.”

“So it hasn't been recorded yet.”

Khoi corrected "will recruit and train".

Ha looked at him. “If I go back, I don't want to be the only one who knows the kitchen.”

“I don't want to either.”

“You have to actually study, not just write down.”

"Okay."

“You have to stand the morning shift with me for a week.”

"Okay."

“And if I say stop, you stop before asking for revenue.”

Khoi nodded.

Ha folded the paper. “I will sign the plan as the person in charge of the kitchen if the labor appendix is made separately.”

Khoi didn't hug her, didn't say thank you too loudly. He just asked: "What time will you be back tomorrow?"

“Four o'clock. But I don't go in through the back door like before."

“Enter the front door.”

That night, Ha returned to Bep Nha Kitchen to get the knife. She didn't put it in the closet right away. She stood in the middle of the kitchen, looked at the new board, then used chalk to write:

THE PERSON IN CHARGE OF THE SHIFT: DOESN'T MEAN THAT THE PERSON SHOULD BEAR IT ALL.

Khoi read. “Is there anything else you want?”

“More people.”

“I will recruit.”

"Are not. Train people who are already here.”

Ha pointed to a seasonal girl who had been burned. The girl came back, this time standing outside the hot zone and recording the time. “She has good eyes. You have to teach her how to make decisions.”

Khoi nodded. A chef cannot only keep people who know the job. You have to create people who can say “no.”

The next day, Ha signed the plan. Comment later. Mr. Sau signed the credit. Vy signed the cash flow. Lan's mother signed as the head of the household. Khoi is the last one.

He didn't sign right away. He asked if everyone wanted to read it again. They read. No one fixed it.

Khoi put pen to paper.

Meanwhile, Ha's phone vibrated. A message from Man:

“If you sign with Kitchen House, my offer will expire for the position of spice team leader.”

Ha read and locked the screen image.

Khoi asked: "Do you need to answer?"

"Have."

Ha texted: "I will not use my name in a place that does not have the right to decide. But I also will not stay in a place that only talks about rights without paying wages. I choose after reading the contract."

She sent it.

Khoi looked at the answer and understood that Ha's return was not an unconditional promise. It's a choice that can be changed if the shop doesn't get it right.

Kitchen Nha sends documents to the bank at eleven forty.

At twelve ten, Thu called back: "The documents are enough for a proposal. But before making a decision, the bank needs an actual revenue report from a stable operating order."

Vy asked: "How many days?"

“Seven days.”

Khoi looked at Ha. In seven days, they must prove that the plan is more than just pretty signatures.

Ha picked up the knife and opened the pot of soup. “So let's start with this case.”

Khoi stood next to her. He did not reach for the spoon. He asked: “What do you want me to do?”

Ha replied: "Hold the watch. And when I say stop, don't ask why first."

Khoi pressed the start button.

In the kitchen, which still smelled of freshly washed vegetables and warm metal, the right to make the first decision was returned to the person who was always present but rarely registered.