Siheyuan: He Yuzhu since 1958

He Yuzhu asked: "Director, you asked me to come here just to tell me that the big boss is back, right?!"

Director Yang smiled and replied, "Telling you about the big boss's return is just one of the reasons. The other reason is that I want to introduce you to someone."

He Yuzhu said: "Director Yang, please stop joking about this."

"I'm not kidding you." Director Yang took a sip of tea and continued, "It's been a while since your wife left. Don't you want to think about it?!"

He Yuzhu said, "Director Yang, I don't want to think about this right now. Even if I want to think about it, I'll wait until my four children are settled."

"You!" Factory Director Yang sighed and said, "Forget it! Just pretend I never said anything." Then he changed the subject and said, "Now the workers have been saying that the food in the cafeteria is too monotonous. Can you think of a way to improve it?!"

He Yuzhu said, "Director, it's not that we don't want to buy more things. It's just that a good cook can't cook without rice. Now the things allocated to us every month are limited. The purchasing department can only purchase a small part of it. It's not enough for the whole factory."

Director Yang looked at He Yuzhu and asked, "From your appearance, it seems like you have some thoughts in your mind?!"

He Yuzhu said: "There is no way to have dishes, but the staple food can be more abundant. But it requires people."

"It's easy if we need people!" Director Yang agreed with a smile and asked, "How many people do we need?!"

He Yuzhu was stunned for a moment and asked, "Director, are you serious?!"

Director Yang asked back, "Is it fake?!"

He Yuzhu replied: "Then add 20 people first. And give me another factory building."

Director Yang hesitated for a moment and asked, "Is twenty people too few?!"

He Yuzhu said, "Director Yang, I also want to hire more people. But have you ever thought about it?! The food produced in the canteen can only be supplied to the workers in the factory. If we make too much, the supply will exceed the demand, and there will be waste."

Director Yang smiled and said, "I thought it was something else?! Does the supply and marketing cooperative at the gate of our factory know?!"

He Yuzhu replied: "Of course I know. This is the only good thing Li Huaide has done."

Director Yang said, "We can sell the excess to the supply and marketing cooperative."

"Can we sell it at the supply and marketing cooperative?!" He Yuzhu hesitated for a moment, looked at Director Yang, and asked, "Will we make a mistake?!"

Director Yang said: "The supply and marketing cooperative at the factory gate belongs to our factory's tertiary industry. It is also part of the steel rolling mill. It is not against the rules to sell the extra food from the canteen there."

He Yuzhu thought about it and said, "Director, give us 20 people first. If they do well, we'll add more people."

Director Yang thought about it and said, "Okay!"

He Yuzhu asked, "Director, you agreed so readily, when will the people be in place?! Let me make it clear that it would be best if there were more female comrades."

Director Yang said, "Come and pick up the people in a week. I will also give you another 300 yuan for equipment expenses."

He Yuzhu gave Director Yang a thumbs up and said, "You are so thoughtful!"

Director Yang smiled and said, "You don't have to flatter me, I won't buy it." Then Director Yang returned to his desk and wrote a note to He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu took the note, looked at it, and said, "Okay! I'll prepare it right away."

"Wait!" Director Yang stopped He Yuzhu and said, "From now on, you can stop being the deputy director of the canteen. Just be the director and chef of the canteen. The level of the factory is there, and we can't give you a chef's salary according to your level. We can only make up for it from other places. At the meeting yesterday, everyone unanimously decided to enjoy the deputy section-level treatment at level 20." Then Director Yang gave He Yuzhu a note and asked him to register with the Labor and Personnel Department.

Although He Yuzhu was reluctant, the factory had already made the decision. He Yuzhu had no choice but to accept the position of canteen director.

After finishing his work, He Yuzhu returned to the third canteen. Before He Yuzhu could speak, the factory broadcast sounded. The content of the broadcast was nothing else but the official announcement of He Yuzhu's appointment.

After the broadcast ended, Sister Huang smiled and joked, "Zhu Zi, now we can't call you Master He anymore. We have to call you Director He."

He Yuzhu said, "To be honest, I still like you to call me Master He." He Yuzhu then called together several older sisters with whom he had a good relationship and said, "Ladies, we have gotten along well in the past few years. Although the food here is good, the salary is low. I want to change your positions."

The sisters present looked at each other. Sister Huang asked, "Zhu Zi, just tell me what you want! Don't beat around the bush."

He Yuzhu said: "The factory director just called me over and wanted us to increase the variety of staple foods. Later I made a request to him. He allowed us to take the staple foods that the workers could not finish every day to the supply and marketing cooperative at the door to sell."

Sister Zhang said, "Zhu Zi, the staple food is steamed bread and corn bread besides rice. Even if we increase the amount, we can only add noodles, dumplings and buns at most."

He Yuzhu said: "Just because you don't know how to cook doesn't mean I don't know how to cook. I can teach you how to cook other foods."

Sister Wu asked thoughtfully, "Zhu Zi, I saw bread for sale in the department store. I wonder if you can make bread?!"

He Yuzhu said: "I can not only make bread, but also other pastries. I will teach you slowly when the time comes."

The sisters looked at each other and said in unison: "Zhu Zi, we listen to you!"

He Yuzhu said, "Since you listen to me, I will get the oven and the grill in a while. I will start teaching you this afternoon. In addition, the factory director will transfer 20 people here in a few days. These people will be your apprentices."

Sister Ma said hesitantly, "Zhu Zi, we are just starting to learn. Can you take me as an apprentice?!"

He Yuzhu smiled and replied: "Look, I'm here! As long as you master the fermentation and baking time, the rest is not difficult. You guys go ahead and do your work, I'll go get the equipment." After that, He Yuzhu hummed a song and left the kitchen.

It's no wonder that He Yuzhu has a good relationship with people in the factory. He asked a few people from the technical department to help. He used the existing equipment to build two electric ovens. He also asked the factory's bricklayers to build a large earthen oven in the abandoned factory building next to the third canteen. He also got a few tables. The canteen's tertiary production team was set up in this way.

At 2 pm, He Yuzhu and the people in the kitchen finished their meal. He called a few sisters together. He Yuzhu explained while kneading the dough. Soon the dough was ready. He Yuzhu then took out a ball of dough that had been kneaded in advance, pressed the dough, and saw that the dough had risen. He Yuzhu began to teach the sisters how to make patterns.

These sisters were all good at making steamed buns, so they learned how to make bread quickly. He Yuzhu put the finished bread into the small earthen oven at the back of the kitchen, which had been preheated. After about twenty minutes, the aroma of wheat wafted out of the oven. After a while, He Yuzhu opened the oven, took a loaf of bread out with a clip, and saw that the bread was ready. He Yuzhu took out all the baked bread quickly and put another batch in.

He Yuzhu looked at the older sisters standing around and said, "Why are you all still standing there? Try some!"