Chương 45: You Want to Hit Me?!

The textile factory workers had long suffered from the terrible food in the canteen! Especially in the last two years, with the opening of the stir-fry section and Chef Xiao being transferred to oversee it, the quality of the large-pot dishes plummeted. That was bad enough; if you wanted a change of pace, you could come to the stir-fry section, pay a little extra, and the food was indeed quite good.

But since the beginning of this year, the head chef in the kitchen changed, Chef Xiao was fired, and the quality of the stir-fries has declined drastically, becoming increasingly unpalatable. Paying extra only to be disgusted by the food—this was commonplace in the stir-fry section. Whether you could get a meal or not was entirely a matter of luck. Zhao Dong's words were like setting off a powder keg.

"Isn't this communal cooking meant for humans? The beef stew with potatoes was so mushy, like cotton wool, and the potatoes were like mud, impossible to pick up!"

"The lotus root with pork cracklings was just boiled in water; even pigs would refuse to eat if fed this!"

"The mustard greens were wilted and scraggly, definitely leftovers, probably not even washed. A small stone almost chipped my tooth." The pent-up anger exploded.

"I'm telling you, it's that bastard Huang Fusheng, that hen who's been robbing a hen of its nest, ostracizing and suppressing Chef Xiao, causing all this trouble."

"This scoundrel couldn't even pass the third-level chef exam, yet he managed to get Chef Xiao, a second-level chef, promoted to head chef. Wang Defa isn't any better; he's all about nepotism."

"Like a turtle on the tracks, pretending to be a tortoise!"

"The factory allocated so much money, and this is what we get to eat? Some people are just scraping oil from chicken feet—greedy enough to squeeze every last drop!" Soon, the conversation shifted from complaining about the food to attacking Huang Fusheng and Wang Defa. The insults were incredibly harsh.

"That bastard Zhao Dong! How dare he curse me like that! And incite the workers to riot! I'll go chop him up!" Huang Fusheng, furious after being verbally abused in the kitchen, grabbed a cleaver from the knife rack and charged out. The other cooks craned their necks to watch him, but none of them stopped him. Huang Fusheng reached the door and stopped, turning back to the crowd and yelling, "Why aren't you stopping me? If I really go out and chop someone up, the canteen will be in big trouble!"

"Your little tricks are like paper lanterns, easily punctured. Do you even need to stop you?" Xiao Lei sneered. The cooks finally couldn't hold back their laughter. Huang Fusheng, his face flushed, ultimately dropped the cleaver. The incident caused quite a stir, and even Wang Defa, after being insulted, didn't dare to speak up. Finally, Liu Yusheng, the deputy factory manager in charge of the canteen, arrived and, after much persuasion, managed to calm the workers down.

"We are aware of the needs and demands of our comrades. On behalf of the factory, I promise you that we will hold a meeting immediately to discuss this issue and ensure that it is handled and resolved as soon as possible," Deputy Factory Director Liu solemnly promised.

"I'm sick and tired of this rhetoric," Zhao Dong muttered, getting up to leave.

"Zhao Dong, come to my office," Liu Yusheng called after him, and they left together.

"Deputy Factory Director Liu, this matter..." Liu Yusheng said sternly, "Your intentions are correct, but your approach is somewhat inappropriate. After all, you are the director; you need to be mindful of the impact. What if things escalate and a collective incident occurs? How will we handle that?"

"You're right, I was inconsiderate," Zhao Dong nodded, not arguing further....

"This broth is clear, yet the flavor is rich and intense. It's incredibly delicious; no wonder it sells for six cents a bowl and sells so much every day," Zhou Jie remarked, watching Zhou Yan emerge from the kitchen after all the customers had left. He'd counted them all; sixty-four bowls of braised beef with chili peppers were sold at noon today, and the customers all raved about it.

"I told you I could sell a hundred bowls, I wasn't lying, was I?" Zhou Yan laughed. He wasn't actually busy at noon; he only stir-fried six portions of stir-fried beef with chili peppers, heated up four portions of beef with bamboo shoots and two portions of braised pork ribs, and chatted with Zhou Momo for an hour, almost falling asleep.

"I believe you, I definitely believe you," Zhou Jie nodded. He'd just had a bowl of soup, and the difference was too obvious to ignore. Zhou Yan's recipe was far superior to his own. If he learned it, no one selling soup at the dock could compete!

"I heard from the workers that a fight almost broke out at the factory canteen because the food was so bad. The workers were cursing Wang Defa and Huang Fusheng, and it was only after a deputy factory manager came that things were under control," Zhao Tieying said, somewhat puzzled.

"How can such a big factory canteen not even cook a decent dish?" The workers who arrived later were all discussing this, and Zhou Jie and Zhao Hong also looked at Zhou Yan curiously.

"It's no wonder this happens when laymen instruct experts and nepotism prevails," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"Even a chef as skilled as my master can only work as a kitchen helper. Skilled chefs can't even get a touch of the ladle, while those who know how to flatter become masters. Do you think they can cook well?" This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Everyone suddenly understood.

"How's it going with learning how to cook tripe and beef?" Zhou Yan asked Zhou Jie.

"Almost there. I just cooked a few bowls under Fourth Aunt's guidance," Zhou Jie said confidently. Zhou Yan glanced at the system taskbar: [Side Quest: Inheritance of Braised Beef. Apprentice: Zhou Jie, Learning Progress: 1/3] "Good, you have a foundation. Come back for two more days tomorrow and the day after to consolidate your skills, and you can graduate," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"Okay," Zhou Jie nodded, without objection. At this moment, a bicycle stopped outside the door. Zhou Yan looked up, stood up, and went to greet him at the door: "Uncle." Zhou Weiguo was wearing his military uniform today, the one he wore after his demobilization. It looked quite new. Having changed clothes, his spirit and energy were completely different from yesterday; he was upright and imposing, as if the former Company Commander Zhou who led his troops into battle had returned.

He parked his bicycle and smiled, saying, "Just got back from the county, stopped by your restaurant on the way."

"What did the Personnel Bureau say?" Zhou Yan asked with concern. This matter had dragged on for four years, and he was worried about unforeseen changes. Zhou Weiguo said, "The Personnel Bureau held a meeting this morning to discuss this matter. There's no result yet. They told me to come back and wait for notification. They'll arrange things for me as soon as possible."

"That's good." Zhou Yan smiled, "You haven't eaten yet, have you? We haven't eaten either, let's have a simple meal together."

"Okay." Zhou Weiguo nodded and followed him inside. Everyone greeted each other. Zhou Momo slid off her chair and ran over quickly, her face beaming with joy:"Uncle! Uncle! What brings you here?"

"I came to see you." Zhou Weiguo smiled, patted his pocket, and held out his hand to Zhou Momo, revealing two glittering gold coin chocolates in his palm.

"Wow! Gold coins!" Zhou Momo's eyes lit up. She reached out and took them, overjoyed.

"Thank you, Uncle!"

"You're welcome." Zhou Weiguo's smile grew even brighter. These were casually given to him by a familiar leader from the personnel bureau. He had carried them all the way back to give to Zhou Momo, and seeing her beaming with delight was sweeter than eating them himself.

"A shiny gold coin, wow~ wow~ such a beautiful gold coin..." Zhou Momo took her gold coin and went to play with it. It was clear she really liked shiny things. In this day and age, showing off a couple of gold coins could make your friends envious for a long time. Usually, you wouldn't even eat them once you got them. Zhou Yan went to cook, while the others chatted in the shop, mostly about Zhou Hao's wedding, which was scheduled for this Sunday. Zhou Hao was Zhou Jie's younger brother, a sergeant in the army.

He had taken leave to come back for the wedding and wouldn't be back until three days before the ceremony; his family was handling everything. While Zhou Erwa's restaurant was filled with joy, across the street, Zhou Liangliang and his wife were already arguing.

"I said I wouldn't move, but you insisted! Now look what happened, not a single bowl of noodles sold, not a single pot of soup sold! Am I supposed to starve here with you?" Wu Guihua stomped her feet angrily.

"A magic cloak." Zhou Liangliang frowned and smoked, a pile of cigarette butts on the ground. He still couldn't understand why things had turned out this way.

"Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! Put it out for me! We made so much money selling meat, vegetables, and noodles today. If we can't sell them, we'll have worked for nothing for a month!" Wu Guihua clapped her hands, knocking the cigarette out of Zhou Liangliang's mouth, and stared at him with a deathly gaze.

"I've spoiled you..." Zhou Liangliang raised his fist.

"Go ahead and hit me." Wu Guihua directly confronted him, pressing her face against his fist.

"Zhou Liangliang, you think you're so tough now, daring to hit your wife?" Zhou Liangliang clenched and unclenched his fist, finally pulling it back, coughing twice and saying, "I'll figure something out. We can't possibly not sell a single bowl. There's no way we can do that!" After a simple meal, Zhou Weiguo and Zhou Jie went home.

Zhou Yan stood at the restaurant entrance, watching Zhou Weiguo ride his bicycle alongside Zhou Jie, the wind blowing his empty left sleeve, making it impossible to tell that his leg was lame.

"If Weiguo gets a job, matchmakers will be lining up to propose to him at the old house!" Zhao Tieying said with a smile, standing beside him.

"He's finally come to his senses."

"You have to praise me. I'm the one who did the talking to my uncle." Zhou Yan raised his head and smiled smugly.

"Isn't that right?"

"My son."

"Aren't you my son?"

"Absolutely!"... Meng Anhe was wearing a dark brown wool coat today. She came out of the family compound with her two sons, took Lin Zhiqiang's arm as he stood at the door, and asked with some doubt, "Why did you choose Zhou Yan to have dinner with the factory director? You know how picky his wife is about food. If we just have noodles, won't she complain about us for half a year?" (End of this chapter)