"Student Jiang, there are many misunderstandings between us, but you have to believe that I have no ill will towards you. On the contrary, if possible, we can become like-minded friends."
Fu Yunsheng followed Jiang Yilu into the classroom. Jiang Yilu walked straight to the corner of the classroom, took out his notebook and made notes on his plans. When Fu Yunsheng approached, he closed the notebook and leaned back in his chair, showing an unwelcome attitude.
"I don't know what you are thinking, but I am sure of one thing, we are destined not to be friends." Jiang Yilu didn't want to keep a person who could stab him at any time by his side. Although Fu Yunsheng seemed to have become a different person over the years and was kind and friendly to him, Jiang Yilu could see that behind this friendliness, there was deeper jealousy and calculation.
"It's okay. There's a long way to go. I believe that after we get along for a long time, classmate Jiang will see my heart clearly." Fu Yunsheng was not disappointed by Jiang Yilu's cold face. He smiled meaningfully, turned around and left tactfully, and sat down next to his good classmate.
Jiang Yilu snorted coldly and didn't pay attention to his meaningful words. In his opinion, the so-called long time to come was just Fu Yunsheng's wishful thinking. In less than two years, everyone would go their separate ways, so how would he have the chance to get along with him?
Jiang Yilu opened his half-finished notes and began writing rapidly.
*****
"Boss, our first batch of garlic chili sauce is ready. We just need to bottle and box it." The old factory manager, Wang Guohua, brought Jiang Yilu to the last assembly line of the sauce production.
There are more than a hundred workers in the factory now. Jiang Yilu has recruited an additional fifty workers and reorganized the workers in the original workshops to ensure that each workshop has original and new workers to check and supervise each other.
Each workshop is supervised by a workshop director, who is responsible for controlling the work situation of their workshop. The salary of the workshop director is higher than that of ordinary workers, but if there is any problem in the process, the workshop director is also fully responsible. In addition to the workshop director, each workshop is also equipped with two to four team leaders. The work performance of each team member is recorded by the team leader and used as the assessment standard for each worker in the assessment every three months.
When the factory first started operating in the new mode, there were still many problems. After all, everyone was not very familiar with making sauces, so Jiang Yilu stayed in the factory almost all day to control their every step. Fortunately, the only sauces produced now are garlic chili sauce and bean paste, and the process is relatively simple, so the workers in the factory quickly got started.
When each factory is just opened, it is best not to produce too many kinds of products. Firstly, it is not easy to promote the products. Secondly, it is challenging for the workers to operate. So Jiang Yilu thought about it and decided to focus on launching garlic chili sauce and bean paste. These two sauces are the most frequently used and most in-demand sauces in people's lives. As for pickles, the focus is on the production of spicy cabbage. The production of other pickles will not be started for the time being. The small amount of supply is managed by the old lady in her hometown.
Now in front of Jiang Yilu were rows of neatly arranged brown vats. Wang Guohua walked forward and opened the lid of one of the vats. A spicy and numbing smell wafted into his nose.
"Boss, you can try it first to see if it tastes good." Wang Guohua took a clean small bowl and spoon from the worker behind him, scooped a small spoonful from the sauce jar into the bowl, and then tightly sealed the lid of the jar of sauce.
Of course Jiang Yilu would not eat the chili sauce dry, he just licked it a little with the spoon to taste it.
It was spicy and numbing enough, with a slight garlic aroma. The taste of the sauce stimulated the tip of the tongue to secrete a lot of saliva. Jiang Yilu felt that if there was a jar of white rice in front of him, he could eat all the chili sauce.
"Not bad." This mass-produced chili sauce certainly cannot be compared with that of a master like Grandma Miao who knows the marinating time, seasoning, and temperature of the sauce by heart. To be honest, there is still a big gap in taste. However, Jiang Yilu is already very satisfied. In his opinion, the taste of the chili sauce in front of him is no worse than that of Li Boji and Lao Qianma in later generations.
"I will have someone come to check these chili sauces later. After the check is completed and it is confirmed that all of them are qualified, they can be canned and sealed. Remember to remind all workers to do a good job of hygiene and wear gloves, masks and head covers." Jiang Yilu looked at the dozens of jars of chili sauce and was quite satisfied.
However, these days, the technology of disinfection facilities has not caught up. If you want to make things clean and hygienic, the focus should still be on the hygiene of the workers during production.
"Yes, I will have someone check it carefully when the time comes, and I guarantee there won't be any mistakes." The factory director nodded repeatedly. He didn't know where this new boss came from, but judging from what he had done since he bought the factory, it was not a failure. Wang Guohua didn't dare to play coy with this young boss, and nodded honestly in reply.
"How's the bean paste?" After looking at the chili sauce, Jiang Yilu focused on another main sauce. If chili sauce is a side dish and condiment that can be eaten directly with rice, bean paste is a rare seasoning when cooking. For example, mapo tofu, fish-flavored pork shreds, and dry pot pork are all inseparable from this seasoning. The bean paste is salty, fragrant, and spicy. In this era of relatively simple seasonings, it is almost a must-have seasoning for all Sichuan dishes and has a huge market.
"The Doubanqu is fermenting now. It will probably take another month and a half to be ready for release." Wang Guohua replied to Jiang Yilu.
The preparation of bean paste is more complicated than that of garlic chili sauce. It usually takes two months to ferment bean paste. During this period, the appropriate temperature must be maintained, and the bean paste must be manually stirred at regular intervals. Rainwater must not enter the jars, and there must be sufficient sunlight. If any step goes wrong, the bean paste may fail.
Jiang Yilu nodded to show his understanding. It would take some time to produce bean paste, but they could use these two months to open up the market for chili sauce.
******
On an ordinary evening, Li Quan, who worked at the National Cotton Mill, handed over his work to his co-workers and rode his old bicycle back home.
Li Quan and his wife Wang Aihong are both workers at the National Cotton Mill. Their shifts are often staggered. Often, when one of them comes home from the production line, the other is already on the way to work. Often, they only see each other for a few hours a day in a month, and one of them just comes home exhausted from work, while the other just falls asleep. Only when they are lucky enough to be on the same shift, can they cultivate their relationship after work.
Li Quan and Wang Aihong have three children. The eldest is a daughter, and the next two are boys. The daughter is twelve years old this year, and the two younger ones are twins, who are only eight years old this year. Because they are too busy, the daughter has been taking care of the two younger sons almost since they grew up. The twelve-year-old girl has done everything very well, including washing clothes and cooking. This makes them, as parents, feel guilty and distressed.
"You're back. The meal is ready. Hurry up and wash your hands and face and come over to eat." Wang Aihong arrived home earlier than her husband. She and her daughter prepared the meal. The two naughty kids sat at the dining table, banging on the table and shouting that they wanted to watch TV.
Li Quan and Wang Aihua were both working parents. The National Cotton Mill was a highly profitable factory, so they were allocated welfare housing early on. Because their family had a large population, they were allocated a two-bedroom apartment, which was quite spacious. Their parents were also old workers at the National Cotton Mill. Although they were retired, they still received a lot of pensions every month. In addition to taking good care of themselves, they could occasionally subsidize their grandchildren. Therefore, the family's finances were considered to be well-off. Not long after the television came out, they asked someone to get a TV ticket and bought a 14-inch color TV so that the children would not be so bored on weekdays.
"Which channel are we watching today?" Li Quan took the basin of water brought by his daughter, wiped his face hastily, and asked the children with a smile.
"Duchengtai, let's launch the underground warfare tonight. Boom, boom, boom, blow those little Japs to death." Li Quan's two sons took chopsticks as guns and rushed to perform the movements of the Eighth Route Army soldiers in front of him.
This movie is one of the most frequently shown movies on television. It is replayed almost every once in a while, and yet all the adults and children enjoy watching it over and over again.
"Okay, let's watch Ducheng TV." Li Quan happily turned on the TV and tuned to the channel he wanted to watch. The table was already set with four dishes and one soup, three vegetarian dishes and one meat dish. The soup was the most common seaweed egg drop soup.
"Eat more, you are growing up at this age." Wang Aihua picked up a large piece of meat for her daughter, fearing that she would not eat enough. Then she picked up a piece of meat for her two naughty sons. Seeing them laughing and playing, not eating seriously, she glared at them. Before she could scold them, she was interrupted by her daughter.
"You two eat your food seriously, or I'll change the channel so you can't watch the Underground War." The eldest sister is like a mother. The elder sister who disciplines her younger brother on a daily basis has more authority than Wang Aihua, the mother. She put on a stern face and said this, and the two little brats settled down and ate their food honestly, but they made eyes at each other, obviously still active in their minds.
Li Quan and Wang Aihua looked at the scene in front of them, and all their tiredness disappeared. Isn't the hard work of being a parent just to let their children grow up healthy, happy and carefree?
"Dad, when will the tunnel warfare begin?" The twin brother took a bite of fat meat, his mouth shining with oil, and said gloomily while watching the news still being broadcast on TV.
"It will be ready soon." Li Quan looked at the old clock on the counter at home. The evening news was about to end. Once the news was over, it would be time for the movie to begin. As soon as he finished speaking, the news anchor announced the end of tonight's evening news. The two children cheered. They had just finished half of their meal, but their eyes were glued to the TV.
Instead of the expected black-and-white tunnel warfare movie scenes, what I saw was a clean and tidy kitchen.
The camera is aimed at a boiling pot. A pair of slender hands enter the camera and slowly pour the golden and transparent vegetable oil from the kettle into the pot, making a slight sizzling sound. The speed slows down and white mist rises. It seems that the nose can already smell the fragrance coming from inside.
Fish with fermented black beans, twice-cooked pork, mapo tofu, noodles with spicy sauce... as the camera switches, one delicious dish after another emerges from the iron pot. While everyone is drooling over the steaming hot dishes, they all notice the cans of fermented black beans and chili sauce that appear frequently during the cooking process.
The scene changed, the kitchen shot disappeared, and a clean dining table appeared in front of the table, on which were two bowls of steaming white rice, with a can of bean paste and chili sauce placed next to the white rice. Then, it was the same pair of slender hands that used chopsticks to dig a small hole in the rice, and a spoonful of thick bean paste was poured into the bowl, which gradually seeped into the rice under the action of the heat. The same action was done for the bowl next to it, except that chili sauce was put into the rice instead.
In the slowed-down shot, the gradually rising white mist seemed to carry the unique aroma of the sauce. As the picture became still, an icon appeared in the center of the screen, along with a line of advertising slogan - Jiangwei Seasoning Sauce, the most delicious.
Then, the picture disappeared, and what appeared next was the black and white picture from the opening of the movie Tunnel Warfare. However, the picture from the advertisement remained in everyone's mind. Looking at the home-cooked meals on their own dining table, they suddenly lost their appetite.
"Sister, I want to eat that chili sauce on TV."
“And bean paste.”
The two twins of the Li family swallowed their saliva and spoke to their eldest sister. After hearing what her younger brother said, the eldest daughter looked at Li Quan and Wang Aihua eagerly, her eyes also full of desire.
"Buy both. I wonder if our supply and marketing cooperative has it." Wang Aihua was also attracted by the chili sauce in the TV commercial, but as an adult, he was embarrassed to show it as obviously as the children.
"Then I won't eat until I get back from buying bean paste." The older twin put down his bowl and found a reasonable excuse for not wanting to eat. Seeing his brother's behavior, the younger brother also felt like trying it.
"If you don't eat, be careful that your father will beat you." Li Quan gave him a threatening look. His brother shrank his head and ate the food on the table with a bitter face, which he had already tasted a lot.
His mother and sister are good in every way except that the food they cook is terrible. I just hope the bean paste on TV can be as delicious as he advertises.
*******
The same scene was played in most Chinese households with televisions. Although the visual effect of the delicious food was greatly reduced on the black and white TV, everyone still remembered it. This promotion was completely different from the current rigid TV commercials.
Many people decided to take a look at the so-called chili sauce and bean paste when they went shopping for groceries the next day, and if the price was right, they might buy a bottle to try it.
Therefore, the next day, as soon as the supply and marketing cooperative opened, it was questioned by many elderly men and women who came to buy vegetables.
"Do you have that top-notch chili sauce and bean paste? It looks like it's called Jiang, Jiangwei. Yes, that's the name."
A neatly dressed old lady found out from the teller at the supply and marketing cooperative.
"We have garlic chili sauce, but we haven't got any chili bean sauce." The clerk thought about it and realized that they did get chili sauce of this brand a few days ago. But the price was 10 cents higher than the chili sauce they sold before. The clerks thought it might not sell well, so they kept it in the corner of the shelf. As a result, they haven't sold a single can so far.
Why is there someone here today specifically asking about this thing?
"How much?" When everyone heard that there was no bean paste like the one seen on TV, they were a little disappointed, but the chili sauce was also good.
"Eighty cents a can." The teller answered without hesitation.
"It's a little more expensive than ordinary brands." Everyone present was an old hand who was familiar with the prices of various things. When they heard the price the teller said, they naturally hesitated. Eighty cents could buy a pound of pork.
"Okay, give me a can. It's only a little more expensive. It's a big brand that's been on TV, so it must taste good." An old man said happily. Although he had never heard of this brand before seeing the commercial yesterday, this did not prevent him from considering Jiangwei as a well-known brand after seeing the commercial.
You should know that the brands that can appear on TV nowadays are all foreign brands like Westinghouse and Citizen.
A chili sauce that costs 80 cents can feed a family for a month if you save it. On average, the difference of 10 cents is almost negligible. Moreover, they dare to sell it at a higher price than other chili sauces, so they naturally have the confidence. If the taste is bad, wouldn't it damage their reputation?
"You're right, comrade, give me a can of Jiangwei Garlic Chili Sauce too!" Everyone nodded in agreement. Nowadays, those who had a television were not from a bad family and would not really need that dime. They all paid for a can of Jiangwei Garlic Chili Sauce.
The teller was still wondering when more than a dozen pairs of hands came to her to ask for chili sauce. She and her colleagues had no choice but to hurriedly move the chili sauce that was piled up under other goods and distribute them one can at a time to those who wanted to buy it.
"Oh, Jiangwei has really started selling this chili sauce. Comrade, give me two cans, no, five cans." A woman in her thirties or forties saw everyone crowded together and came over curiously to take a look. When she saw the familiar brand and trademark, her eyes suddenly lit up and she quickly took out money with both hands, for fear that the chili sauce would be snatched away.
"Comrade, have you ever tried this brand of chili sauce?" Everyone bought a can to try the taste, but no one was like her, buying five cans at a time.
"I have!" The woman nodded repeatedly. "Isn't there a delicious hot pot restaurant in our capital? This chili sauce is the same brand as that hot pot restaurant. When I first ate this chili sauce in the hot pot restaurant, I wanted to buy more. Not to mention the side dishes, I could make three bowls of bibimbap in one go. Unfortunately, the production was small at the time, and the boss would not sell it to me no matter how much the price was. He said that he would sell it in a unified manner after the factory was built. I was wondering when this chili sauce would be available for sale, and I came across it today. My family all likes the things in that store. Five cans are not a lot. We use it as a side dish for every meal, and for a whole family, it's gone in a month."
The woman raved about the taste of the chili sauce, which made people who had never tasted it more confident and more willing to pay for it.
People tend to follow the crowd, and everyone was scrambling to buy this brand of chili sauce. Even those who had never seen the advertisement or eaten at the hot pot restaurant opened by Jiang Yilu couldn't help but be tempted and paid for a can to take home.
This supply and marketing cooperative was not very big, and at the beginning it only received two boxes of garlic chili sauce. Almost in the blink of an eye, the two boxes of chili sauce were sold out. The last can was secretly hidden by the curious cashier, who was going to go back and try this chili sauce that everyone praised as delicious.
*******
"Boss, good news, good news."
Director Wang was old, but he rushed into Jiang Yilu's office with a smile like a child, forgetting to knock on the door. "It's sold out, all sold out. Supply and marketing cooperatives from all over the country called to ask for more stock. They also asked me about our factory's bean paste, saying that they would place orders as soon as it is produced."
"At the beginning, the 3,000 cans of chili sauce that the supply and marketing cooperatives tried to accept were all sold out. The ex-factory price was 65 cents. Now various places are requesting additional purchases. Just based on the orders, they have received a total of 50,000 cans. They said that if the sales are good, they will increase the purchase." The previous shipments plus the current orders add up to a total of 30,000 yuan. This is just the beginning. At this rate, it is simply the rhythm of making a fortune every day.
Director Wang's eyes were filled with tears. He had been the director of this food factory for eight years, and this was the first time he felt the feeling of making money.
Jiang Yilu was sitting at his desk, taking over a thick stack of orders from Director Wang. Until this moment, he finally felt relieved, having been so nervous.
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