Date canceled
Upon entering, there weren't many people inside, only two tables were occupied. However, Meng Songying quickly composed himself, not wanting anyone else to see him in this vulnerable state except in front of Taozi.
Upon seeing them arrive, Zhang Fengzhi, the younger of the waitresses, turned around and sat at the table in the far corner, clearly showing her dissatisfaction.
At first, Wang Shuitao was puzzled, but after getting to know Jiang Manyun and her aunt, she realized that Zhang Fengzhi was upset because Jiang Manyun had taken away her opportunity to become Chef Zheng's apprentice.
This also led to the discovery of Wang Shuitao, who had dug Jiang Manyun out of the mud and introduced him to Chef Zheng.
Whenever she comes along, he becomes completely unreasonable and irritable.
But in reality, Wang Shuitao and her aunt Zhou Hong knew that Chef Zheng had never intended to take Zhang Fengzhi as an apprentice.
Even though Zhang Fengzhi was very ambitious and did everything she could to help Chef Zheng.
But the more he acted this way, the more wary Chef Zheng became of him.
He himself had deeply ingrained old ideas, believing that all his skills for making a living should be passed on to his son.
As for his daughter, he has already found a chef at a state-run restaurant in the neighboring county. They have agreed on the marriage, and his daughter will bring several recipes with her when she marries into the family.
The betrothal gifts they gave were also recipes, so it was essentially an exchange.
This is only because the distance is far enough.
Zhang Fengzhi is an outsider; it's impossible for her to learn our skills from such a small job.
He learned this skill only after working like a slave to his master and bleeding from exhaustion.
As for Jiang Manyun, she was an educated youth who couldn't find a job in the county town, which is why Chef Zheng was willing to take turns learning from her.
She has a good temper and is generous and cheerful. Sometimes her son and daughter come over to watch her cook, and she teaches them openly.
Chef Zheng also had some connections. He couldn't help the educated youth who wanted to become permanent employees, but he had trained the cooks at the textile factory himself, so his influence was still considerable.
He had already arranged with Jiang Manyun that after she finished teaching, he would send her to work as a temporary worker in the cafeteria there, but he would have to pretend to be a relative of the head chef from the countryside.
If he could open his own shop now, he wouldn't be so eager to do this, but isn't this why Jiang Manyun, even with all his skills, can only go back to the fields to make a living?
Chef Zheng also has relatives in the countryside, but they don't have that many seasonings at home, so his skills are useless.
Jiang Manyun had told Wang Shuitao about all these things, which is why she wouldn't tolerate Zhang Fengzhi's unwarranted accusations. Instead, she confronted Zhang Fengzhi and gave her a good scolding, leaving Zhang Fengzhi speechless.
Seeing that even Aunt Zhou wouldn't help him, he could only swallow his anger and hide in a corner whenever Wang Shuitao came.
There were fewer people today, so Zhou Hong reminded them from the side: "We had a few grass carp at noon, and Chef Zheng made them into smoked fish. They're sweet and salty, and very fragrant."
Wang Shuitao then ordered this dish.
Chef Zheng snorted: "I don't have much here. If I weren't familiar with you two, I wouldn't have any to sell."
Jiang Manyun popped his head out from behind and said with a grin, "Eat up, the dishes aren't even written on the blackboard yet."
She was also chewing on a piece of smoked fish, which was dark red and indeed had a sweet aroma wafting over.
Meng Songying turned to look at Taozi and saw that she was focused on the smoked fish, so she ordered a peach blossom dish for herself.
Peach blossom vegetables are basically a mixed stew in Shenxian County. After all, this kind of dish can perfectly solve the problem of wasting ingredients. People have been lacking food and clothing for thousands of years. With their wisdom, similar dishes can be found in every place.
Two bowls of flattened solid rice and a full plate of smoked fish were served first. Wang Shuitao drank a large bowl of water first, as she was a little thirsty after eating too many sunflower seeds.
She scolded, "I told you to eat some melon seeds and you didn't. If I get a sore throat tomorrow, you'll be sorry."
Meng Songying honestly replied, "I have some chrysanthemum tea; I'll get it for you when I get back."
She picked up her chopsticks again and brought the whole plate of smoked fish to herself. She picked up a piece of smoked fish, separated the fish meat from the skin, and divided it into half a plate. Only after Wang Shuitao repeatedly said "That's enough, that's enough" did she move the plate towards her.
Wang Shuitao pushed the plate back a little so that it was in the center of the table before she started eating.
At this moment, the peach blossom dish was also served. Chef Zheng was quick and efficient and didn't have any difficulty making choices. He prepared this dish, which allowed for improvisation, in just a few minutes.
Jiang Manyun took out the pork belly that Chef Zheng had kept for himself, rendered the fat, stir-fried it with chopped greens and beaten eggs, then added water. Once the water boiled, he added tofu skin, small river shrimp, and tiny potatoes that were only the size of a thumb and cut in half.
After finishing her meal, Wang Shuitao even served herself some soup, which was so delicious it made her eyebrows fall off.
"Girl, have you finished eating?"
Zhou Hong's voice could be heard from the side, asking the guests questions.
Of the two tables of people who came in, one table had already finished eating and left, and of course, they had taken their bowls and put them away themselves.
At the other table was a dashing young woman wearing a polyester shirt and army green pants.
She was all alone.
She smiled at Zhou Hong and said, "I'm done eating."
After setting down the bowls and plates, he walked directly towards Wang Shuitao and Meng Songying's table.
"Hello, you must be Wang Shuitao from the sugar factory. I've heard so much about you. I'm here from the provincial capital for an inspection. My name is Wang Sirou. We were family five hundred years ago."
Wang Shuitao had put down her chopsticks and was resting on the table with her slightly swollen belly.
It's because she has no idea what "seven-tenths full" means, and state-run restaurants all have long benches without backrests so she can just sprawl out on them.
She stood up and smoothed her hair: "Hello, hello, what a coincidence! The Pearl Sugar Factory welcomes your visit and guidance."
Wang Shuitao gestured towards Meng Songying and introduced, "This is Meng Songying, the chief engineer of the Pearl Sugar Factory."
Wang Sirou nodded politely in his direction, saying, "Hello, Engineer Meng."
Meng Songying: "Hello."
I happened to run into Wang Sirou, so our date was interrupted, and our plan to go shopping at the department store in the afternoon was also canceled.
On the way, Wang Sirou was clearly very interested in Wang Shuitao: "I heard that you were the one who secured the order from Qiujiang Food Factory in Harbin?"
Wang Shuitao humbly said, "While I certainly contributed, it was definitely the concerted efforts of the entire Pearl Sugar Factory that secured this order. At least, the raw materials and sugar production were not my achievement."
Wang Sirou smiled. She had inquired about this person when she arrived. She knew that this person had been very proactive and had many ideas since entering the sugar factory. Most importantly, she had the ability to make these ideas come to fruition.
The colorful candy gift boxes became an instant bestseller, and were highly sought after during the recent National Day holiday. They were not only effective at entertaining children, but adults also enjoyed trying something new.
After adding different fruit flavors to create more upscale versions, it has become a popular gift in the provincial capital.
This led to a shortage of sugarcane for sugar production, prompting them to contact a company in Heilongjiang Province to send sugar beets over.
As soon as she arrived, she seized the opportunity again and secured an order for liqueur candies that could earn foreign exchange. Moreover, it is said that the orders placed by those foreigners are 30% higher than the previous peak.
Seeing that Wang Shuitao didn't take credit, Wang Sirou turned to ask her how she came up with the idea of making liqueur-filled candies, and then asked about the flavors of the liqueur-filled candies, which ones foreigners preferred, and so on.
Wang Shuitao said everything she could, and went into more depths about why foreigners like certain flavors but keep quiet about those they don't.
Firstly, she couldn't explain how a country girl like herself would know this. Secondly, Director Sun Ming had once expressed intense anger at the provincial capital's attempt to steal the orders, and this kind of information, which is now considered a trade secret, couldn't be revealed to a former or potentially future competitor.
Her entire conversation was essentially emphasizing that the order from Harbin Qiujiang Food Factory was something that Pearl Sugar Factory absolutely had to fulfill, and that she could simply sit back and enjoy the credit for the provincial capital's effective leadership.
Wang Sirou seemed to understand, so she didn't press the matter further and asked another question: "I heard that another reason is that Qiujiang Food Factory's sales to foreign companies have declined, which is why they agreed to cooperate with us so readily. Pearl Sugar Factory has the secret recipe and you, so of course they don't have to worry about being left behind. If the food factory's foreign exchange earnings hadn't declined at that time, I wonder how Director Wang would have persuaded them?"
Her visit was not merely for inspection, or rather, that was the least important task.
Wang Sirou is the daughter of Wang Enxuan, director of the Sugar Industry Research Institute's Comprehensive Sugar Research Center. She has come to help her father scout for talent.
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