Chapter 59 File "We must stand together with the team leader!"...

Wang Ying and Wu Haiyang left Director Zhao's office. Wu Haiyang whispered, "Team Leader, I'm afraid something's wrong here."

"Well, just keep it in mind, no need to say it out loud. Director Zhao said he will handle it, so let him handle it first." Wang Ying said.

"Is it okay? Should we ask who it is..." said Wu Haiyang.

"Let's not ask for now and see what happens later. We just arrived and we don't understand many of the unspoken rules in the factory. Knowing too much is not a good thing sometimes, as we may not be able to digest it emotionally," said Wang Ying.

Wu Haiyang nodded, thinking that it was a good thing that Director Zhao was Team Leader Wang's father-in-law. He would definitely be on the same page with their team, so it should be easier to get things done.

Wang Ying thought the same thing. She could definitely handle this on her own, though the process might be more complicated. Now that she had the reason and Director Zhao had the authority, it would be best for them to jointly handle the near-expiry raw materials. Beyond the interests of a few individuals, the benefits of this matter definitely outweighed the risks.

"I see that there are quite a lot of walnuts in that batch, as well as some dates and other nuts and dried fruits. If they are kept for making mooncakes next year, they will probably go bad. It is just right for us to put them in cloud cakes or new pastries now. It can also reduce the budget." Wu Haiyang said.

Wang Ying smiled and said, "You're half right. Think about it, why can't the factory's raw materials be sold outside?"

"Huh? What's wrong? Isn't it just a good idea to use this horse to offset part of the budget?" Wu Haiyang said.

"If this batch of dried fruits is approved for us, we can use them, but they must be included in the budget. If we don't include this batch of goods in the budget, how will we prepare the budget for next year? Wouldn't it be much higher than this year's?" Wang Ying said patiently.

"Ah...it's true." Wu Haiyang said, "The team leader is really thoughtful."

"Also, although I say we're recycling waste, the factory certainly wouldn't call those things waste," Wang Ying said. "They're still in good condition. They haven't expired or gone bad."

"Well, according to what the team leader said, this is the same as us directly applying for a budget, right?" Wu Haiyang felt a little confused.

Wang Ying smiled. "How can that be the same?" She had to repeat the explanation. The truth was, the factory actually had an excess of dried fruit for mooncakes; the budget should always have been high. Originally, some of the extra had been eaten by some of the workers, and a small amount was given to the cafeteria staff. Now, she wanted to give the extra to her group.

After Wang Ying said this, Wu Haiyang finally understood. Then he said, "In this case, aren't we affecting the interests of some people?"

"We are doing this for the factory, the collective and the country. Those people are parasites!" said Wang Ying.

Wu Haiyang thought about it and felt that Wang Ying was right. This kind of behavior, if it was serious, would result in execution!

While they were talking, they went to Workshop 4. Fang Hongjun was talking to the workers, but Wang Ying and his men cut them with a knife and they stopped.

Wang Ying greeted Fang Hongjun politely: "Director Fang, we are here to continue our study. I want to ask, we are going to develop new products next. Which comrades and which equipment will you select for us to use?"

Fang Hongjun asked, "Have you thought of launching any new products?"

"Not yet. Director, you are an old comrade and you must have eaten more delicious food than me. Do you have any ideas? Or are there any old masters in our workshop? Everyone can tell us what they think." Wang Ying said.

Fang Hongjun sneered: "Ask me, ask them, what do they need you as the development team leader for? We only produce according to requirements! Innovation is not our job."

"Okay, then which people will Team Leader Fang send to me? Which equipment will I receive?" Wang Ying asked again.

"Wait until you have an idea. Don't delay production now," said Fang Hongjun.

"We can't just develop in our heads. We need materials, machines, and people to test them," Wang Ying said. "How about this: Workshop 4 has five groups, each with six people. I'll give one person from each of these five groups to you. What do you think?"

"Let's talk about it when you want to try it." Fang Hongjun still refused to give in for the time being.

Wang Ying wasn't angry, her face expressionless and unsmiling. She looked confident and steady, making it hard to believe she was only 20 years old. With her composure, Fang Hongjun had no way of dealing with her.

Wang Ying continued to stay in the workshop. Now that he had the official documents and the factory director's endorsement, Wang Ying could ask any employees questions he wanted.

The first person Wang Ying found was the oldest operator here. After watching him for two days, Wang Ying felt that his movements were the most comfortable to watch. They were smooth and flowing, and he was obviously a veteran.

"Hey, Master, what's your name? Come and be our operator. I think your skills are among the best in this workshop."

The old employee did not look at Wang Ying or answer her. He continued to knead the dough and then handed it to the next comrade, asking her to divide the dough into equal portions.

The dough divided into small pieces is then shaped by the next person into similarly smiling embryos and then sent into the big oven.

Wang Ying asked the dough kneader and then the dough shaper: "Hey comrade, why do you think the peach cakes are sometimes too crispy and break too easily? Is there any way to improve it?"

"I don't know." The man said coldly.

Seeing that they were still uncooperative, Wang Ying smiled and said, "It seems that the comrades are strictly following the work manual and not talking during work. I will ask you again after get off work. Then you can all stay and work overtime with me."

Wang Ying spoke in a voice neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for everyone to hear. Then, she added slowly, "Those who contribute will be recognized as heroes when new products are released. Those who are clueless will be reported to the factory director, suspecting they either lack the necessary skills or are refusing to cooperate with the factory's arrangements."

After saying that, Wang Ying turned around and left, saying to Wu Haiyang: "Let's go. Come back before get off work."

"Hey!" Someone called Wang Ying from behind, but Wang Ying pretended not to hear and just walked away. She didn't call out "Hey!"

Wu Haiyang followed Wang Ying, changed his clothes, and after leaving the workshop, he asked, "Team Leader, what are we going to do next?"

"Go to the archives room and check." Wang Ying said.

"What are you looking at?" Wu Haiyang felt that he could not keep up with Team Leader Wang at all.

"Let's take a look at the factory's history," Wang Ying said. She actually wanted to see if there was any information about the factory's integration, such as the ownership of the original factories, information about the staff, and detailed formulas for each product.

To enter the archive room, you must ask your leader for a note, then go to the security department to get the key, and then be led in by a colleague from the security department.

Wang Ying and Wu Haiyang went to Director Qian's office and explained their purpose. Director Qian readily approved the note for them.

The two of them went to the security department again. With the factory director's note, everything went smoothly.

A comrade from the Security Department took them to the most remote room on the first floor of the office building, opened the door, and let the two in.

After Wang Ying and his team entered, a comrade from the security department asked, "You're new to the development team, right? Why are you interested in the archives room? Usually, not many people come here."

Wang Ying said, "I want to check some information."

That is, their factory is not very large, otherwise there should be a special comrade on duty in the archives room to make it convenient for other comrades to retrieve information at any time.

There are two rows of filing cabinets, two desks, and two chairs.

Wang Ying found that these files did not seem to be kept in a very orderly manner, and it took him a lot of effort to find some useful materials.

What she wanted most was information about the old food factory. Wang Ying saw in one document that the old food factory had existed since the late Republic of China, and that its products went far beyond peach cakes and sesame biscuits. It also produced a variety of cakes, bread, butterfly cakes, mung bean cakes, osmanthus cakes, and more. The factory's earliest owner had learned how to make cakes in Shanghai.

Wang Yingguang's mouth watered as he read the words. These things were not rare in his previous life, but now he couldn't eat them even if he wanted to. It was a pity that these things were only recorded with names, without recipes.

Wang Ying continued reading and came across a short paragraph describing the former existence of this food factory. It included a sentence that said, "The capitalist bakery factory underwent socialist transformation, and the working people, formerly exploited slaves, were transformed into glorious workers."

This means that the non-staple food factory has old employees from the original pastry chef, which is good news.

Wang Ying continued searching until she finally found the file bag containing food recipes. She opened it and saw that there were indeed several recipes inside. However, these were written after the establishment of the food factory, using the factory's own red-lined notebook. They primarily contained recipes for current products. Besides the peach cakes currently in production, there were two other recipes for cakes and butterfly cakes that were not currently in production.

Wang Ying wrote down the recipes recorded above and continued reading.

She later looked at the soy sauce factory, which she had always known about. Because the soy sauce factory had a much longer history, it was likely that when the food factory was restructured, the soy sauce factory would have thrived as a spinoff, becoming a hallmark of Beichong. The pastry factory, on the other hand, had fallen into obscurity, likely due to poor management and closure.

"Team leader, look at this," said Wu Haiyang.

Wang Ying walked over and saw that the file in his hand had a heading that read "Notice of Punishment for Comrade Lu Zhongming from the Fourth Workshop of the Non-staple Food Factory."

Lu Zhongming turned out to be a former worker at the old food factory. He was later assigned to Workshop 4, where he was fired for slacking off and stealing product. The person who reported him was none other than Fang Hongjun, who wasn't even the workshop director at the time.

Wang Ying felt that she could ask Director Zhao about this person, and if necessary, she could even look for this comrade.

Wang Ying and Wu Haiyang gained a lot in the archives room. They thanked their colleagues from the security department and returned to the office together.

It was not long before the end of the workday, and Wang Ying asked a few people about their work arrangements for tomorrow. After they gave a brief explanation, Wang Ying asked them, "I'm going to the fourth workshop to work overtime. Are you guys coming?"

"I want to go!" Xu Lili was the first to speak. She didn't ask the reason and firmly supported her team leader!

Wu Haiyang said to the two male colleagues to the east, "You two should come too. The team leader has kept the people from Workshop 4 here today."

Wu Haiyang recounted what happened in the workshop today, and Zhou Qianjin and Luo Wenshu quickly said, "Then let's go too!"

Zhou Qianjin said: "We must advance and retreat together with the team leader!"