The day of the competition was a Saturday. The sky was clear and cloudless, with a bright and clear blue sky.

Yu Yao woke up to the sound of a bugle call. Lu Ze had already gone to the cafeteria to get breakfast and had returned.

The two aluminum lunchboxes were covered. After Yu Yao finished washing up, she stopped Lu Ze from opening the lids. "Don't open them yet. Let me guess what food I got today?"

Lu Ze placed the aluminum lunchbox on the table. "Give it a try."

Yu Yao sniffed, her eyes filled with surprise. "The cafeteria is making seafood dumplings again today? The aroma is amazing. The quartermaster's cooking skills have improved again."

Lu Ze smiled. "We've been catching a lot of mackerel lately. You guessed right. Let's continue."

Yu Yao smelled it again. "This sour smell must be from Baoluo rice noodles, which contain pickled vegetables, bamboo shoots, peanuts, and sesame seeds. Am I right?"

Lu Ze did not answer directly, but instead opened two aluminum lunch boxes.

Yu Yao looked down.

On the table were two aluminum lunch boxes. One box contained a row of plump and neatly arranged seafood dumplings, while the other contained Baoluo rice noodles with bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, pickled vegetables, crushed peanuts, and sesame seeds.

"I guessed right all along." Yu Yao smiled. "Commander Lu, aren't you going to give me a reward?"

Lu Ze looked at her and asked, "What reward do you want?"

Yu Yao sat in the chair, resting her chin on her hand, and smiled at Lu Ze, "I'd appreciate it if Commander Lu could take as many nice photos of me as possible today."

Lu Ze smiled indulgently, "Okay."

After breakfast, Lu Ze pushed his bicycle to the yard to wait for Yu Yao. "Yao, are you ready? We'll be late if we don't leave soon."

"Coming, coming." After saying that, Yu Yao took one last look at her appearance in the dressing mirror, smiled with satisfaction, closed the door, and left the main room.

"Lu Ze, do I look good in this outfit?" Yu Yao spread her arms and twirled in front of Lu Ze.

Today she wore a blue floral dress with white flowers, the collar and chest embroidered with exquisite vines, and a white knitted cardigan over it.

Two thick, black braids were combed out from both sides, making her look playful and cute.

A hint of amazement flashed in Lu Ze's eyes, "Beautiful!"

"Really?" Yu Yao had made additions and subtractions based on the characteristics of clothing and fashion in that era and modern aesthetics, and she wasn't sure if it would fit the aesthetics of that era. Hearing Lu Ze say this, she felt much more at ease. "Let's go."

Lu Ze got on the bicycle, and Yu Yao sat sideways on the back of the bicycle, with a camera hanging around her neck.

She encountered many young soldiers along the way, all of whom couldn't help but look at her, exclaiming, "Hello, sister-in-law! You look so beautiful today!"

Yu Yao was delighted and thanked him repeatedly.

When they arrived at the factory gate, they saw Fang Qiaoqiao waiting there from afar. She waved to them as soon as she saw them.

"Ah Yao, Commander Lu, over here."

Yu Yao didn't see Wu Huaiqing and asked Fang Qiaoqiao, "Hasn't my brother arrived yet?"

Fang Qiaoqiao pulled her along, "Comrade Wu arrived early. He went to the staff auditorium to save seats for us. Many staff members' families are here today, so if you go late, there definitely won't be any seats left."

Yu Yao also noticed that there were indeed many people at the food factory today.

The annual canned food R&D competition is a major event for Haixing Food Factory. I heard that an open-air movie will be shown after the competition, no wonder so many people came today.

When Yu Yao and her group arrived at the staff auditorium, they found it packed with people. Many had brought their own stools, and even the steps next to the auditorium were full of people.

The center of the auditorium was left open and a row of long tables were placed there.

The long table was covered with all sorts of glass bottles wrapped in paper, each labeled with a number, and containing canned food for the competition.

Soon, the representatives participating in the vote will select the canned goods they think are excellent, write them on slips of paper, and put them into the ballot box. They can select five cans for each category.

Fang Qiaoqiao searched for a long time but couldn't find Wu Huaiqing. "There are too many people. I'm not tall enough to see him."

Lu Ze said, "I'll do it."

Standing at over 1.8 meters tall, he was a towering figure in the crowd. All he could see were a sea of ​​heads. Fortunately, he had a wide field of vision and quickly found Wu Huaiqing's location, leading Yu Yao and the others there.

Wu Huaiqing's seat was in the second row of the canned meat section, where he could see the long table in the middle.

Yu Yao handed the camera to Lu Ze, "Lu Ze, can you take a picture of me and Qiaoqiao? Make sure you capture the canned food on the long table in the back."

"Hmm." Lu Ze picked up his camera, found a suitable angle, and pressed the shutter.

In her past life, when Yu Yao went out to play, she always envied her best friend for having a boyfriend who was good at taking pictures and could take many beautiful photos for her.

Now she has one too.

At 8:30, the final competition began. Director Wang first went on stage to speak, leading the workers in reciting a quote from a great man. After his opening remarks, representatives from each workshop who had voted came on stage.

The first step was the tasting session. There were many types of canned goods that passed the preliminary round, so each category was voted on separately to differentiate them. After the votes were cast, the results were tallied together at the end.

The most popular part of this segment is guessing the winners based on their facial expressions. The top five winners could all be numbered, making it a staple of the canned food development competition.

Because you can't see what's inside the can, and the surrounding smells are mixed, even Yu Yao might not be able to recognize the canned food she made.

Fang Qiaoqiao suggested, "Let's play a guessing game. The person who guesses the most correctly can make a request of the person who guesses the most incorrectly. Want to give it a try?"

Yu Yao found it quite interesting and nodded.

Fang Qiaoqiao then asked Wu Huaiqing and Lu Ze for their opinions.

Neither of them had any objections.

“Let’s begin. I’ll briefly explain some rules first…” Fang Qiaoqiao finished speaking and then added, “Ayao, there’s your canned food inside. To avoid affecting our three judgments, you should give the answer last.”

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!