Fang Lin and Su Wei entered the private room. She said, "The hot pot needs some time to cook."

Su Wei said to the waiter, "Bring five meat dishes, four vegetable dishes, and nine cold dishes first."

The waiter said "okay" and turned to leave the private room.

Li Yuzhu laughed and said, "Are you crazy? You've ordered nine dishes and you're still making us eat hot pot?"

Su Wei smiled and said, "Of course I have other guests. The more people there are, the more we can finish the food. They'll be here soon."

Dongqing and his wife really couldn't guess who she would invite over for dinner.

At this time, Chen Hong also came over after get off work, followed by Dong Qing's three older sisters. Su Wei had called to invite the three sisters over.

Li Yuzhu then realized that the girl had invited several older sisters.

Su Wei said with a smile, "I'd like to invite you over for an authentic Sichuan hot pot dinner tonight."

Dong Ermei smiled and said, "I know, it must be Fang Lin's skill. No one else can make authentic Sichuan hot pot."

Su Wei said, "Of course! When she was making it, I had the hotel's chef learn from her. Our local imitation hot pot is really not good. From now on, my hotel will only serve authentic Sichuan hot pot."

Amidst their laughter and conversation, all nine dishes were served. Su Wei said, "The hot pot will take a while to arrive, shall we eat the dishes first?"

At this time, Su Wei insisted on not drinking alcohol on an empty stomach, so she didn't have anyone serve her any alcohol and just ate food and drank tea.

An hour later, the hot pot arrived, its surface covered with a layer of appetizing red oil. Fang Lin said, "How about you try my cooking?"

Everyone picked up their chopsticks to eat hot pot. Dong Qing picked up a piece of mutton and put it in his mouth. After eating, he said, "I'm not exaggerating. I dare say that you can't find such an authentic hot pot in our area. The spicy flavor is pure, the aroma is rich and the aftertaste is endless. You'll know once you try it."

Everyone raved about the food after eating it, saying it was absolutely delicious. Su Wei exclaimed, "Why didn't I think of you before my hotel opened? From now on, we'll use your recipe to sell hot pot at our hotel!"

Fang Lin said, "Let me put it this way: when I was in junior high and high school in my hometown, I would help out at my aunt's hot pot restaurant every summer and winter vacation. I learned all these skills there. What you're eating isn't the traditional, folk-style hot pot flavor from my hometown. Even if you go to the hot pot restaurant in my hometown, it will taste the same."

Su Wei smiled and said, "Really? Looks like I've struck gold! Could you spare some time to come and supervise my hotel's kitchen? I'd like to add an authentic Sichuan dish to the menu."

Many people in the north also love the spicy flavor of Sichuan cuisine, so it's normal for Su Wei to have this idea. Running a hotel is all about catering to different regional cuisines, because hotel guests come from all over the country and have different tastes.

Fang Lin said, "That's no problem, I'll teach them for free."

Su Wei said, "Thank you, sister-in-law."

Su Wei is not even as old as Fang Lin, but given her husband's age, she can only be Fang Lin's sister-in-law.

The title of "sister-in-law" does not depend on her own age, but on her husband's age. At least that's how it's called in the local area. Even if the husband is older and the wife is younger, she is still called "sister-in-law." It really has nothing to do with her own age.

Chen Hong asked the waiter to bring two bottles of wine. He opened the bottles, poured the wine into glasses, and said, "Let's all raise our glasses."

Li Yuzhu picked up her teacup and said, "Since no one will be able to drive home after drinking alcohol, I'll have tea instead."

Su Wei smiled and said, "Okay, I'll let you off this time."

Li Yuzhu laughed and said, "Do you even know how to talk? Is it a crime not to drink? Please forgive me this once!"

Li Yuzhu's words amused everyone. The two of them rarely got together without bickering, and no one took their words seriously.

Su Wei smiled and said, "Sister-in-law knows she was wrong, so I'll punish myself with a drink. Is that alright?"

Li Yuzhu said with a smile, "You should be punished."

Su Wei picked up her glass and drank a cup by herself. Then she poured more wine, raised her glass, and said, "I want to thank everyone for your help all this time. I know my own limitations. Without the help of Dong Qing and his wife, I wouldn't be where I am today. I'd like to toast you two first!"

After Su Wei finished speaking, she drank two glasses of wine in a row, and Dong Qing picked up his glass and drank two glasses as well.

Li Yuzhu took two sips of tea instead of alcohol and said, "Sister-in-law, to be honest, you deserve our help. Please don't drink so much."

Su Wei said, "Okay, sister-in-law, I'll listen to you. Everyone, raise your glasses."

They drank two glasses together, and Chen Hong said, "Don't just drink, eat some food too."

The meal lasted a long time. Li Yuzhu left the hotel early and went to the company parking lot to drive her car over.

Li Yuzhu drove back to the hotel entrance, where several people were waiting outside the restaurant. After parking, they got in the car, and Li Yuzhu said goodbye to Su Wei outside the car before starting the car and driving into the city.

One month later, Yusheng Company successfully acquired the machinery factory, thus ending the history of the municipal machinery factory.

Yi Feifei used her connections to get her husband transferred to the textile factory, where he became the factory manager.

Even after changing jobs, he remained the top leader in the factory. If it weren't for his wife's connections, he would have been a deputy factory director or even a section chief at most if he had transferred to another factory.

After the machinery factory was acquired by Dongqing, Yiminghui finally found a good place to work. Of course, without his wife's connections protecting him, he was nothing, and no one would take him seriously.

Dongqing repaired the old factory buildings he had acquired in the suburbs ahead of schedule, and the machinery factory began moving a week after the acquisition.

Relocating an old factory is a complicated task; so much machinery and equipment cannot be moved in half a day.

When the machinery factory was demolishing buildings, Su Wei had someone drive a tractor to haul away the materials. She wanted to demolish her family's old house and build a villa, which would become her and her husband's home.

The bricks from the machine factory would have been thrown away anyway, and Su Wei wasn't exactly rich. What she did was turn waste into treasure, using both new and old bricks to build a house.

The overhead cranes in the factory haven't been dismantled yet. The dismantled precast concrete slabs are being lifted by the cranes, loaded onto tractors, and hauled back together, so Su Wei won't have to buy building materials.

Su Wei hired a small construction team and contracted the villa project to them, only providing labor and not materials.

Su Wei hired a tractor driver to haul materials home.

In the 1990s, the stone powder and sand that used to be delivered for free now had to be bought with money, but the prices were very cheap, almost like they were given away for free compared to the 21st century.

Building materials and labor were still very cheap in those days. As long as you didn't buy bricks and precast cement slabs, you could save a lot of money. Once the main structure was built, you could decorate it if you had the money, or leave the unfinished house there if you didn't. Anyway, she wasn't in a hurry to rent a house.

After the machinery factory was acquired by Dongqing, the houses in the machinery factory's residential area were also converted into commercial housing.

All the houses in the family quarters have the same layout and size. Each household pays 10,000 yuan to immediately obtain a property certificate; otherwise, they have to move out immediately.

In fact, the final decision was just for show. Everyone would be willing to buy the house. In this day and age, there are very few households that can't afford 10,000 yuan. Even if they can't afford that much, they will borrow money to buy it.