Deliveryman filmed cooking order, angering employer

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For one Chinese food deliveryman filmed rushing to stir-fry an order on Sunday, it appears to have been a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire.

A nine-second video clip of the man was posted on Sina Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, along with a comment suggesting he was under such pressure to deliver the food on time that he stepped into the restaurant kitchen to cook it himself.

Meituan /Weibo Photo

Seen in the video alongside several other harried-looking chefs in an unknown location, the man is wearing the uniform of Meituan, a giant courier business that delivers products including restaurant orders to customers’ doors.

In China, takeout deliveryman is a high-stress job as the deliverymen are assessed on the speed of their delivery and often punished by their employer if they are deemed too slow. Customers can trace the route of their deliveryman after placing an order, and at the same time an estimated arrival time displays.

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Meituan told The Beijing Times that the deliveryman should not have stepped into the kitchen, as the company forbids this practice.

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However, the hundreds of netizens who have commented on the video on Weibo are mostly more sympathetic – and impressed by his cooking skills.

"He is a veteran. See the rhythm of tossing the dish," said @Chaoxiepulaoban.

"I think he can change his job to a cook," suggested @Situlanxi.

"It is a one-stop service including cooking and delivering," said @Feiteer.