Chapter 87 Notes: Director Zhao is the only decent person in the food factory.
Luo Wenshu was particularly scathing, saying, "Team Leader, we are your direct subordinates, your closest team members. We want to improve, too!"
Wang Ying looked at him and asked, "How do you want to improve? What kind of achievements do you want to achieve?"
This question stumped Luo Wenshu. He couldn't answer for a moment, so he asked, "What did the team leader do to help that female comrade just now?"
Wang Ying said, "She wrote a production proposal for a new product, using the framework of my previous proposal. I helped her revise it. It was that simple."
"Is the new product from the sauce factory? The sauce she wanted to give you just now?" Zhou Qianjin said.
"Yes, it tastes great," Wang Ying said. "I did help her a little, but I only helped her if she had the formula, could make it, and had written a proposal. My dear team members, if you also have a formula and a proposal, I would help you too."
Several team members were silent. How could they have the formula and proposal?
"Once she submitted the proposal, did the leader agree to the production?" Zhou Qianjin said.
"The factory manager has agreed to a trial run. As long as sales are good, we'll continue production," Wang Ying said. "If you have any supplement recipes, please feel free to bring them to our attention. Of course, we're not limited to supplement recipes. We could also offer suggestions for packaging improvements, workflow optimization, raw material upgrades, and so on. Anything that's beneficial to production and the factory is welcome."
Several people listened to Wang Ying carefully, as if they were in class.
Wang Ying added: "If you don't have a direction for the time being, just discover it through work. Find what you like and are good at, and then look for opportunities later."
Xu Lili sat next to Wang Ying. She hugged Wang Ying's arm and rubbed her face against it. "The team leader is really our dear team leader. He teaches us everything."
Wang Ying had a long-term vision. When the company reformed and the food factory split up, she was sure to grab a share of the snack food business. By then, she'd definitely need people who could be useful, so she had to start training and screening them now. As Luo Wenshu had said, they were her "direct lineage." If she could cultivate them all, it would be a huge help.
Tian Yulan and Yang Jianshe sat a little far away from Wang Ying. They both wondered in their hearts whether they could be considered the team leader's direct subordinates... But no matter whether they were or not, the team leader would definitely help them. Unfortunately, they were just operators and there seemed to be nothing they could develop into.
After lunch, the group returned to the workshop. Wang Ying returned to her small office, thinking that during her next break, she could go find Lu Zhongming and ask him about the peach pastry. Although the factory director hadn't yet agreed to the idea of bringing the peach pastry to Nanchong, she still needed to improve it. When she had the chance, she could directly offer a higher quality peach pastry, increasing her chances of success.
When it was almost time to get off work, Tian Yulan came to find Wang Ying.
"Is there something wrong?" Wang Ying asked her, "Sit down and talk."
Tian Yulan took off her mask and sat across from Wang Ying. She looked at him and hesitated before speaking, "Team Leader, what's the future of an operator? Becoming a more skilled operator?"
Wang Yingxin thought that she was touched by what she said at lunch.
"A skilled operator is also amazing, but the question is whether you yourself recognize this amazingness from the bottom of your heart," said Wang Ying.
Tian Yulan shook her head. "I don't agree, but I don't know what I want to do or what I'm capable of. Every day, I sit at the counter cutting pastries with a knife. As I cut, I feel as if I've melted into the knife, becoming a part of it. I have no thoughts, no soul."
Wang Ying could understand Tian Yulan's distress, which was caused by her worry about the future and confusion about life.
"Team leader, what do you think I should do?" Tian Yulan looked at Wang Ying dimly.
Wang Ying thought for a moment and said, "My life experience is limited, so I can only give you some small suggestions. First, focus on the present and be a good operator. Then, learn something new. Whatever you think of, you may find something you like and find new goals and hopes."
"What do you want to learn? A craft?" Tian Yulan said.
"Anything is fine, but it's best if you use your brain," said Wang Ying.
Tian Yulan seemed to be lost in thought. After a full minute, she said, "Thank you, Team Leader."
"You're welcome. If you have any ideas, you can always come to me." Wang Ying smiled at Tian Yulan. She felt that Tian Yulan was at a critical stage of awakening in her life and wondered what her future would hold. When reform and opening up brought about dramatic changes and she had greater freedom, she wondered how she would grow. Wang Ying was curious and excited.
"Okay." Tian Yulan nodded and put the mask back on her face. "I'm going back."
The Lantern Festival is here in a blink of an eye. Although the traditional lantern festivals and temple fairs are no longer held, we still have to eat Yuanxiao.
It happened to be a day off, and early in the morning, Chen Xiuqin made her specialty, sugar-fried Yuanxiao.
"This is the first time I've eaten sugar-fried Yuanxiao. We used to boil it in water and dip it in sugar," said Wang Ying.
"This is my specialty." Chen Xiuqin said with a smile.
"It's delicious. Nothing is bad when made with sugar and oil." Wang Ying likes Chen Xiuqin's sugar-fried Yuanxiao very much.
"Eat more if you like it," said Chen Xiuqin.
Zhao Yunsheng hurriedly said, "Even if you like it, you can't eat too much. Yuanxiao is hard to digest."
"Tsk, it's a rare opportunity to eat this." Chen Xiuqin glared at Zhao Yunsheng.
After breakfast, Wang Ying said he wanted to go out.
Chen Xiuqin asked: "Where are you going? Home?"
"No, I'm going out to do something and will be back as soon as possible." Wang Ying said.
Director Zhao was reading a newspaper. He put it down and asked Wang Ying, "Yingzi, are you going to look for Lu Zhongming?"
"Yes." Wang Ying responded.
"Are you going alone?" Director Zhao asked again.
"No, I'm with my colleagues. We agreed to meet at the factory gate." Wang Ying said.
Director Zhao nodded, didn't ask any more questions, and lowered his head to continue reading the newspaper.
Wang Ying brought the peach cakes produced by her own factory and those she bought from Nanchong, said goodbye to her family, and rode her bike out.
When Wang Ying arrived at the factory gate, Xu Lili had already arrived.
"Hehe, I can finally go out and do some work with the team leader." Xu Lili was very excited.
"Maybe it's a wasted trip." Wang Ying said with a smile.
"Don't be afraid, let's go, east or west?" Xu Lili asked.
"West."
There were not many people on the road, and Wang Ying and Xu Lili were riding side by side.
The address Lu Zhongming left in the factory files was on Chengxi Old Street, the site of the old food factory. Wang Ying wasn't sure if he still lived there, so she had to look for him first.
The old street in the west of the city still retains its appearance from the previous dynasty. A few years ago, it was vandalized and burned, and now it remains dirty, messy, and dilapidated. Years later, Beichong developed tourism and restored this area to its original state, creating a folk customs street. The former site of the sauce factory is also here, and has been converted into a folk customs museum. A traditional pastry shop also opened on the site of the old food factory, but it no longer has any connection to the non-staple food factory. In a previous life, when Wang Ying returned from the south, Zhou Xiaoqin dragged him here to play.
The old street was narrow, its bluestone pavement uneven and cluttered with debris. Even after a few steps, you could see scattered coal slag and household garbage. Wang Ying and her friends had no choice but to get off their bikes and push them forward. Some unrefined young men on the street stared intently at Wang Ying and Xu Lili.
Xu Lili was walking behind Wang Ying and was a little scared.
Wang Ying, relying on his memories from his past life, felt that they were almost there, so he asked an elderly person on the side of the road, "Auntie, do you know which old food factory this is?"
The old man pointed ahead and said, "Isn't it right there?"
Wang Ying asked again, "Excuse me, is Lu Zhongming still living there?"
The old man looked at Wang Ying and asked, "What are you looking for Lu Zhongming for?"
"Something's up." Wang Ying smiled at the old man. "Is he still living here?"
"You guys go and have a look, it should still be there," said the old man.
"Thank you." Wang Ying thanked the old man and continued walking forward with Xu Lili.
Arriving at the house the old man pointed out, Wang Ying found the exact same spot as the traditional dim sum shop he remembered. The old wooden door had no padlock, and the copper rings that should have been on it were missing, leaving several holes. Only the base of the stone lions at the door remained, and grass had begun to sprout in the gap between the two stone steps.
"It's right here." Xu Lili said in a low voice.
"Yeah." Wang Ying went forward and knocked on the door. He knocked several times, but no one answered.
Xu Lili also knocked more than ten times, but still no one answered.
"Are you going out or not living here anymore?" Xu Lili said.
"I don't know. Let's knock again and wait." Wang Ying continued to knock.
Just when the two thought there was no one inside, the door opened unexpectedly. The person who opened the door was a man who looked to be in his thirties, and it seemed to be Lu Zhongming.
The man looked at the two of them and said in a bad tone: "Who are you and what do you do?"
Wang Ying asked, "Excuse me, are you Comrade Lu Zhongming?"
"I am. What do you want to do?" Lu Zhongming glanced up and down at Wang Ying with a scrutinizing look in his eyes.
Wang Ying said: "I work at the non-staple food factory..."
As soon as he heard the words "non-staple food factory", Lu Zhongming slammed the door shut with a bang, shaking off some wood chips on the old wooden door.
Xu Lili shrank back in fear.
"Team leader, what should we do? He seems to be very resistant."
"Keep knocking." Wang Ying said and started knocking, one after another.
Lu Zhongming was so annoyed that he scooped a bucket of water from the water tank in the yard, opened the door and said, "If you knock again, I will throw it away."
"I sent Fang Hongjun to labor camp," said Wang Ying.
Lu Zhongming was obviously stunned, suspecting that he had misheard: "What did you say?"
"I worked at the non-staple food factory for two months and sent Fang Hongjun and his lackeys to labor camps." Wang Ying repeated that Fang Hongjun had caused him to lose his job, and Wang Ying felt that he must hate him.
"Are you serious?" Lu Zhongming asked.
"Of course it's true." Xu Lili chimed in, "He wanted to harm our team leader, but he saw through it and sent him to a labor camp!"
Lu Zhongming showed a bitter look on his face: "Then you are quite powerful, come in."
Wang Ying found the right stepping stone.
The entrance leads to a front hall, which later became a dim sum stall. It's a dilapidated place, with a few chipped jars and a pile of wooden planks in the corner. Passing the hall, I reach the courtyard. Half the east wall has collapsed, and the original bluestone paving has been dug up and piled in the corner, turning the entire courtyard into a patchwork of vegetable plots.
Lu Zhongming poured the water in the scoop onto the vegetable patch and then threw the scoop into the vat.
"Tell me, what do you want from me? Are you trying to redress my wrongdoing?" Lu Zhongming did not invite Wang Ying and the others into the backyard, but stood in the yard and talked to them.
Wang Ying said, "You haven't been accused of anything serious, so there's no need for you to be rehabilitated, right?"
Lu Zhongming snorted: "What do you mean, restore my reputation?"
Judging from Lu Zhongming's words, he must have been wronged at that time.
"You can tell me what happened at that time and I will see if I can help you restore your reputation," said Wang Ying.
Lu Zhongming looked at Wang Ying, his eyes seemed to say: Just you?
Wang Ying added, "My father-in-law is Zhao Chengjun."
When Director Zhao was mentioned, Lu Zhongming's expression softened a bit. He pointed to two small benches in the yard and said, "Sit down and talk."
Wang Ying and Xu Lili sat down, and Lu Zhongming went into the house and brought out a small rattan chair to sit on.
"First, tell me what you want to see me for." Lu Zhongming said, "Did Director Zhao ask you to come see me?"
"I guess so. He's in charge of all production matters anyway," Wang Ying said, pulling out two paper packages from her bag, one containing peach cakes from Beichong and the other from Nanchong. She handed both packages to Lu Zhongming.
Lu Zhongming took it and said, "Why, you brought me a gift?"
"I'm afraid you won't like the taste." Wang Ying said.
Lu Zhongming opened the paper package and saw that it was peach cake. Combining this with Wang Ying's words, he had an idea. He sneered and said, "What? After all these years, someone finally thinks the peach cake tastes off?"
"That's right," Wang Ying said. "Not only does it taste wrong, but it also breaks easily."
Lu Zhongming tried both peach cakes and said, "Each one is worse than the other."
"Do you know why? Is it because the recipe is wrong, or is there something wrong with the production process?" Wang Ying asked.
"Why should I tell you?" Lu Zhongming said.
"Tell me, can't we produce more delicious peach cakes?" said Wang Ying.
"Huh, do you know how I was framed by Fang Hongjun back then?"
"I don't know, tell me." Wang Ying was very curious.
"I was adjusting the recipe. After I made it, I felt the taste was not right, so I tasted a piece. After tasting it, I still felt it was not right, so I tasted another piece. Then he accused me of stealing things from the factory." Lu Zhongming is still indignant when he talks about it now.
"The factory fired you just for tasting two pieces of peach cake?" Wang Ying said.
"Those who were caught got two pieces, and I don't know how much those who were not caught ate. They were blatantly undermining socialism, and it was a great favor for them to just expel me," Lu Zhongming said sarcastically.
Wang Ying was silent, and she could also guess why Fang Hongjun did this.
"So, you were actually debugging the formula a long time ago, but you were forced to be fired?" Wang Ying said.
"Hmm. I didn't expect that after all these years, you still haven't finalized the recipe." Lu Zhongming said, "Don't the food factories make shaqi ma now? Why are you interfering with peach cakes again?"
"These are all traditional snacks, we can't throw them away!" Wang Ying said, "I came to you to ask if there was something wrong with the recipe we got from the food factory?"
"I don't know." Lu Zhongming said, "You also know what happened to the owner of the former food factory."
Wang Ying sighed, this is the trauma of the times.
After a minute, Wang Ying said, "But you still wanted to improve the formula. Fang Hongjun was afraid that you would make a better product, so he harmed you."
Lu Zhongming was silent for a moment and nodded: "You are young, but smart."
"Because he also targeted me when I arrived at the factory," said Wang Ying.
"Even if you come to me, I don't know the original formula." Lu Zhongming said, "And what benefits can you give me? You don't have the right to ask me to go back to work. Even if you ask me to go back, I won't go back. In that factory, Director Zhao is the only decent person."
Wang Ying felt that his trip was in vain. He had originally thought that he could take a shortcut and not waste time and effort trying out the formula again. But now it seems that he has to go back and try it himself.
Wang Ying made a final effort and asked, "Do you remember how you debugged it then?"
Lu Zhongming looked at Wang Ying: "Forget it, just wait a moment."
Wang Ying's eyes lit up. Wouldn't it be a waste of time?
Lu Zhongming stood up and went into the house.
Xu Lili and Wang Ying looked at each other, both of them looking forward to what Lu Zhongming would bring out.
A few minutes later, Lu Zhongming took out a tattered little black leather notebook. Wang Ying and Xu Lili stood up, and Lu Zhongming handed the notebook to Wang Ying.
"Here, this is my work notes from that time. You can take it and see if it's useful. It's because of Director Zhao's kindness that I wasn't accused of anything and was only fired. It's also a thank you for putting Fang Hongjun in jail." Lu Zhongming said.
Wang Ying took the notebook and bowed to Lu Zhongming: "Thank you."
"It may not be useful. I've given you the things. You can go now." Lu Zhongming said.
Wang Ying put the notebook into her bag and asked without leaving: "Excuse me, what do you do for a living now?"
Lu Zhongming pointed to his vegetable garden and said, "Here, plant some vegetables. One person plants, one person eats."
That means he has no job and no family. Wang Ying didn't say anything else and thanked Lu Zhongming again.
"Thank you. If I succeed in making the improvement, can I visit you again?" Wang Ying asked.
Lu Zhongming said, "Come if you want."
"Then we won't bother you anymore." Wang Ying said.
Wang Ying and Xu Lili left, but Lu Zhongming did not see them off. After they had taken a few steps, he heard the door close.
Xu Lili said excitedly, "Team Leader, you actually got the notes! This should save us a lot of trouble!"
"It not only saves trouble, but also saves raw materials and labor. I'm so busy now, I don't have time to try it slowly." Wang Ying sighed.
"It's really thanks to Director Zhao, and thanks to you, team leader, for sending Fang Hongjun in earlier, otherwise he would definitely not give it. I wonder what's written in his notebook. Shall we start trying it tomorrow? It just so happens that we don't have to produce Yuanxiao anymore." Xu Lili said excitedly.
"Well, I'll take a look at my notes when I get back, and then I'll have to apply to Director Zhao and the factory director. There's a lot of work in the workshop, and we may not have enough people to spare, so we have to arrange everything one by one," said Wang Ying.
The two chatted as they left the old street and rode their bicycles back. They separated near the food factory and went home.
When Wang Ying returned home, Zhao Yunsheng was hanging clothes upstairs. When he saw Wang Ying come back, he stood upstairs and called her.
"Yingzi, you're back!"
Wang Ying looked up and saw Zhao Yunsheng. Next to him, on the clothesline, Wang Ying's underwear was drying...
Zhao Yunsheng ran downstairs just as Wang Ying had parked the car.
"Why don't you wait for me to come back to wash the clothes?" Wang Ying said.
"It's just a few clothes, I washed them easily. How is it? Did it go well?" Zhao Yunsheng asked.
"Thanks to Dad, everything went smoothly." Wang Ying said, "Where's Dad?"
"I went out to look for an old comrade," Zhao Yunsheng said. "Mom went to buy groceries."
"Well, I'm going upstairs to take a look at something." Wang Ying said.
"You go ahead, I'm just cleaning up downstairs." Zhao Yunsheng said with a smile.
Wang Ying went upstairs and began to read Lu Zhongming's notes. Lu Zhongming's handwriting was extremely straight, with not a single stroke connected, and he looked nothing like the person Wang Ying had seen.
The contents of the notes are also very clear, including the date, recipe, amount of main ingredients and auxiliary ingredients, dough state, baking time, shape and color when out of the oven, and state after returning to the oil. They are more detailed and serious than Wang Ying's own work notes.
Wang Ying felt that Lu Zhongming was a talented person and it was a pity that the non-staple food factory fired him.
The notes covered a total of more than twenty days, and he spent more than ten days adjusting the formula, but unfortunately it came to an abrupt end later.
Wang Ying looked at Lu Zhongming's notes and recalled a remark he had made that day: "Director Zhao is the only decent person at the non-staple food factory. I wonder to what extent the rest of the factory, especially the leaders, are dishonest."
Wang Ying couldn't help but think of another thing. In her previous life, Director Zhao was also expelled from the non-staple food factory. She wondered if it had anything to do with other leaders in the factory... She and Director Zhao had to be careful.
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