Chapter 120: After returning, we will have a big fight! ...

Wang Ying sat on the tram, gazing out the window at the streets. The current Shanghai was vastly different from what it would be like in the future. There were no tall buildings, no bustling traffic, and it was completely different from the millennium she had arrived in her previous life. But she knew what Shanghai's future would look like.

This feeling of knowing that everything will flourish makes Wang Ying feel extremely fulfilled and full of energy to do anything.

Wang Ying's first stop was an old candy and pastry shop recommended by the front desk of the guesthouse. I heard that it was opened by the French in the past and was nationalized after liberation, but the old craftsmen and old techniques were preserved.

Wang Ying found the shop according to the address. It had three floors inside and three floors outside, and the entrance was packed with customers. They didn't seem to be queuing. Wang Ying stood at the back of the crowd, hoping to wait and see. But soon, the people behind him pushed him into the crowd. Caught between a rock and a hard place, he had no choice but to slowly squeeze forward.

They have never experienced such a situation in Beichong. After all, it is in Shanghai, and the economic conditions are much better.

Wang Ying was gradually squeezed into the shop by the crowd, from outside. Inside, the shop was noisy and bustling. Several salespeople lined the small shop. A sweet aroma filled the air, bringing a sense of contentment and happiness.

The people in front bought their dim sum and left, and the people behind them squeezed in, keeping the shop constantly packed. Wang Ying was squeezed closer and closer to the counter, where she could see the dim sum being sold behind the glass. As expected of a shop once owned by a foreigner, it sold Western pastries. She spotted a classic Western pastry, the cream cake roll.

In addition to cream cake rolls, there are also butterfly cakes, almond cakes, Napoleon cakes, chestnut cakes... and some common Chinese snacks. In addition to snacks, they also sell various candies, fruit candies, and milk candies. Fruit candies are one yuan per pound, milk candies are one yuan and five yuan per pound, and cream cake rolls are sixty cents per piece.

Finally it was Wang Ying's turn. She took out her food coupons and money and bought a piece of cake and a small bag of butterfly cakes.

It was impossible to talk to the salesperson in this situation. No one would pay attention to her. After Wang Ying bought the snacks, she was immediately squeezed out by the customers behind her. She finally squeezed out of the shop.

After leaving the shop, Wang Ying looked back and saw that there were still as many customers at the door as before she came in. Wang Ying put the cream cake rolls and butterflies she bought from the shop into a canvas bag, holding the bag strap to prevent the bag from shaking too much and breaking the snacks.

Wang Ying stayed in this shop for more than an hour, and it was too late to go to the next place, so she continued walking along the street.

As she walked, she thought, the temperature was gradually dropping. Mint cakes and mung bean cakes would be off the market soon, and osmanthus cakes and jujube paste cakes would be in. She could also try making butterfly cakes. Their factory's sesame cookies had always been quite good, so they could also produce other kinds of cookies... Once their factory had more varieties, they could open a shop specializing in their own products...

As Wang Ying walked, he saw another crowd huddled in front of a shop. As he approached, he saw it was a pharmacy. They couldn't possibly be queuing for medicine, could they? Wang Ying asked, and discovered they were queuing for snacks, including hawthorn cakes, gorgon fruit cakes, and yam cakes. They were said to be made with a proprietary recipe, the only place in Shanghai where they could be found.

Then Wang Ying would definitely buy some to try, and also use it as a reference for her own products in the future... So more than an hour passed, and she bought four sets of Chinese dim sum, none of which she had ever eaten in her previous life.

When Wang Ying came out of the pharmacy, it was almost dusk. She didn't have time to go to the next place, so she simply took the tram back.

When she returned to the guesthouse, it was already completely dark, and she was the first one back. After returning to her room, Wang Ying placed the snacks she had bought today on the desk and wrote down her work notes for the day.

Feng Yun was the second to come back. She bought some five-spice beans and crispy peas. She also bought vacuum-packed five-spice dried tofu and vacuum-packed meat jerky...

"What a coincidence! I bought all the sweet stuff, and you bought all the salty stuff." Wang Ying looked at the table full of food and said with a smile, "This meat jerky looks really good."

"That's right. I can't bear to buy more. I don't have much money or tickets." Feng Yun said, "Is this what the director bought called a cream cake? I've never seen it before, I've never even heard of it. It looks delicious!"

"This small piece costs 60 cents." said Wang Ying.

"Tsk tsk, only people in Shanghai can afford to eat this." Feng Yun said, "When will we in Beichong have the conditions for this?"

"We can't even make this cake right now. It's said to be an old foreign recipe," Wang Ying said. "We can only try it first and then work towards it."

Feng Yun nodded and continued, "Our factory is not bad either. Our shaqi ma and peach cakes are both delicious. The peach cakes that the machinery factory used to treat us are not as good as ours."

As the two were talking, there was a knock on the door. It was Zhou Qianjin who came back.

"I came back late. I missed the tram and waited for a long time." Zhou Qian said after entering the room, "Director, have you had dinner?"

"No, we just got back." Wang Ying said, "Did you buy anything?"

"I bought some biscuits," Zhou Qianjin said, pulling out three brown paper bags from his bag. "One is the kind of salty biscuit with onion flavor you eat at the machinery factory, another is called a milk biscuit, and another is called a soda biscuit. We don't have any of these."

"Okay... I was thinking about developing new cookies!" said Wang Ying.

Zhou Qianjin smiled and said, "I think so too."

"Should we go have dinner first, or wait for Director Xiang to come together?" Feng Yun asked.

"Let's go eat first. Director Xiang may be back at some point." Zhou Qianjin said.

The three of them went to have dinner while talking about what they had seen and heard in the afternoon.

Thousands of miles away in Beichong, the Zhao family.

Zhao Yunsheng held Dongbao in his arms and sat on the sofa, and both uncle and nephew sighed.

"Why hasn't my aunt come back yet?" Dongbao said with a pout.

"Alas, there are still two days left! Their company is too easy to deal with. They actually allowed them to go on a business trip for seven days at once!" Zhao Yunsheng was filled with resentment.

Director Zhao was listening to the radio. When he heard Zhao Yunsheng's words, he snorted and said, "I'm unfamiliar with the place. It's a rare opportunity to go there. If you don't give me a few more days off, it will be a waste of time if we can't reach an agreement."

"I don't know how the conversation went with Yingzi and the others..." Zhao Yunsheng stayed alone in the empty room for several nights, missing his wife more and more every day. He wished he could grow wings and fly over to find her.

Missing someone fueled his inspiration. After returning upstairs, Zhao Yunsheng was struck by inspiration and wrote another essay on the theme of missing someone. It was the same series as the one he had written on the day Wang Ying left, which was a farewell essay. He meticulously copied both essays onto manuscript paper, waiting for Wang Ying to return so he could show them to her immediately.

Wang Ying, who was far away in Shanghai, was writing work notes at this time. Although he only visited two stores today, he gained a lot.

For the next day and a half, Wang Ying and his companions visited several more stores, each with their own gains. On the final afternoon, they all went to the Shanghai No. 1 Food Store.

Wang Ying brought a camera, and they took photos in front of the First Food Store. Once inside, Wang Ying wasn't sure if she was allowed to take photos, but she secretly snapped a few anyway. Then, when no one was looking, she put the camera away. Luckily, there were so many people around that no one noticed them.

They saw a lot of vacuum-packed food in the First Food Store, including dried tofu, jerky, tea, cakes... These were the ones in the photos Wang Ying took secretly.

"Director, shall we buy some peach cakes here to try? And cloud cakes, they have various flavors!" Feng Yun said in a low voice.

"Please buy less peach cakes. I'm very confident in our peach cakes. Try some cloud cakes in flavors we don't have. If they're delicious, we'll make them by the end of the year."

"These little shortbread cookies look delicious, but we don't have any..."

"This is a cake, right? Can we make this..."

"What is this..."

Several people bought tickets as they walked, and they didn't leave until everyone had used up all the tickets. They returned with a full bag!

Wang Ying actually wanted to go back to the shop and buy another cream cake roll to bring home for Zhao Yunsheng to try. They had already shared the one she had bought the day before, and everyone was still enjoying it. But seeing that it was getting late, she gave up and could only wait for the next opportunity.

A few people had dinner outside before returning to the guesthouse. They placed today's spoils on the desk, which was full and dazzling.

"It's really a lot. We have to each take some when we go back tomorrow. If they are piled together, they will break easily." Zhou Qianjin said.

"Well, we'll be very busy when we get back," Wang Ying said with a smile. They'll have to "select products" when they get back.

Zhou Qianjin and Feng Yun both laughed, but Director Xiang remained silent, as if he was worried about something. Wang Ying saw dark circles under his eyes and knew that he had been staying up late for the past few days, probably discussing with others how to improve the vacuum packaging machine.

Wang Ying didn't know that Director Xiang wasn't discussing improving the vacuum packaging machine, but rather the technical difficulties of manufacturing nitrogen-filled packaging machines and synthetic aluminum film packaging bags...

"Should we have a meeting?" Feng Yun asked.

Wang Ying saw that Director Xiang was exhausted and waved his hand: "Don't open it anymore, let's go back to Beichong and open it again!"

"Okay, let's pack our luggage and go to bed early. Director, I see you are tired. Why don't you go back to your room and rest first? I will keep your share for you." Zhou Qianjin said to Director Xiang.

Director Xiang was so tired that he could hardly stand. He nodded and said, "Thank you very much."

After Director Xiang left, Zhou Qianjin whispered, "Director Xiang was talking about machines in his sleep..."

Wang Ying said seriously, "Director Xiang, this is not an easy time."

Zhou Qianjin and Feng Yun both nodded. Director Xiang was a bit of a hand-waver at the factory, but when it came to the critical moment, his influence was evident. If it weren't for Director Xiang, the factory wouldn't have agreed to their request so easily.

After packing her luggage, Wang Ying was so tired that she wanted to lie down. She took a shower to wake herself up and insisted on finishing her work notes for the day.

After finishing his work notes, Wang Ying was finally able to lie down and rest.

The lights in the room were turned off and it was pitch black. Wang Ying suddenly missed Zhao Yunsheng a little. She was sure that Zhao Yunsheng must miss her too!

The next day, another early morning train arrived. After boarding, several people still looked a little sleepy, and Director Xiang didn't look well.

"Director, please lean back and take a rest. We will take care of your luggage." Wang Ying said.

Director Xiang did not refuse. He had been using his brain intensively these past few days and staying up late, and he really couldn't bear it any longer.

They took turns resting, and by the afternoon, they had all regained their energy and spirits, and were all excited again. Even Wang Ying was excited, and he was going to work hard when he got back!