Siheyuan: He Yuzhu since 1958

After parting with Ma Hua, He Yuzhu walked home and felt something was wrong. He planned to go to the factory to ask around. He ran into Sister Huang. He Yuzhu asked, "Sister Huang, where are you going?"

Sister Huang smiled and replied, "Master He, my wife gave birth to a big fat boy yesterday. So I went to the hospital to bring her food."

"Congratulations!" He Yuzhu agreed with a smile and asked, "Sister Huang, how is the performance of the food factory recently?!"

Sister Huang replied, "It's all thanks to the recipe you left behind. Otherwise, our performance wouldn't be so good. A few days ago, Director Han, Master Han's eldest son, was still talking about wanting to find you to help develop some new products."

He Yuzhu was slightly stunned and asked, "Old Han's son is your factory director?!"

"Yes!" Sister Huang agreed with a smile, saying, "Didn't this kid get sent to the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University?! After graduation, he returned to the steel mill, but the technical staff in the factory didn't like him. It just so happened that our food factory was separated from the steel mill, so he took the initiative to transfer there. You know what, people who have studied at university are different. This kid has a good brain, and now many food factories in Beijing can't do as well as us."

He Yuzhu said, "Sister Huang, go and deliver the food! We can talk later when we have time."

"Hey!" Sister Huang responded and left with a smile.

He Yuzhu thought about it and felt that it would not be appropriate for him to go anywhere now. However, he could not stay in the steel mill forever. Unconsciously, He Yuzhu walked to the door of his home. When He Yuzhu was about to take out the key to open the door, Wang Xia's voice sounded from behind: "Zhuzi!"

He Yuzhu heard the call and turned around to see Wang Xia and two other people walking towards him. He Yuzhu immediately went up to them and asked, "Auntie Wang, why are you here?!"

Wang Xia said, "Zhu Zi, your Aunt Wang asked you to help today."

He Yuzhu was slightly stunned, looked at the two people next to Wang Xia, and said, "Auntie Wang, this is not the place to talk. Let's go home and talk." After that, He Yuzhu walked to the gate, took out the key, opened the door, and walked in with Wang Xia and the others.

"Sit down!" He Yuzhu asked the three people to sit down, poured three glasses of water and placed them in front of them. He Yuzhu asked, "Auntie Wang, what's the matter?!"

Wang Xia said, "Zhu Zi, I know that you founded the Red Star Food Factory. The two people next to me are from the Sijiucheng Biscuit Factory. They received a task to solve the problem of bread crumbs falling off on the plane. They tried many ways, but none of them solved the problem."

He Yuzhu looked at the two people beside him. A young man wearing glasses immediately took out a paper bag from his bag, handed it to He Yuzhu, and said, "This is the bread we produced."

He Yuzhu did not take the thing from the young man, but looked at Wang Xia. Wang Xia immediately understood what He Yuzhu meant and said, "The son of your uncle's comrade-in-arms is now the head of the biscuit factory. They talked about this at a gathering of old comrades-in-arms a few days ago."

He Yuzhu asked, "Auntie Wang, could it be that my uncle saw that I was too idle and wanted to find me a job?!"

Wang Xia laughed and said, "It's not because you have too much free time, but I really want your help."

He Yuzhu took the paper package, opened it and took a look at the bread inside, then broke off a piece, put it to his nose and smelled it, then put it in his mouth and chewed it twice, and said, "Why is your bread the same as the one from Yili Factory?!"

The young man with glasses showed an embarrassed expression on his face and said, "Our factory used to produce biscuits. We only started producing bread in recent years. We didn't pay attention to this aspect before. But now we have to pay attention to our external image?! Our superiors gave us the task of improving bread. Yili Food Factory and Red Star Food Factory also received the same task. Currently, Red Star Food Factory's production is the best among ours."

He Yuzhu said: "The bread you produce currently seems to have three problems. One is that the flour is not strong enough; two is that not enough water is added; three is that the fermentation time is short. As long as you solve these three problems, there will basically be no crumbing problem."

The two people from the Sijiucheng Biscuit Factory were a little worried at first, but after hearing what He Yuzhu said, they immediately felt relieved. Another young man asked, "Comrade He Yuzhu, can you tell us more about it?"

He Yuzhu said: "It's hard to say. Because it all depends on experience."

Wang Xia said, "Zhu Zi, how about you go with them?!"

He Yuzhu said: "Auntie Wang, it's not that I don't give you face, but I really don't have time during this period."

Wang Xia asked: "What on earth are you busy with?!"

He Yuzhu said, "Aunt Wang, I'm sure you know about the Lou family and the Red Star Steel Mill. Some people have set their sights on the Lou family and want them to invest in the steel mill. The Lou family doesn't want to, so aren't they targeting me, the son-in-law of the Lou family?! I've been on unpaid leave since the Chinese New Year. Now they're using this as an excuse. I plan to find someone to transfer my connections out of the steel mill. If there's really no other way, I plan to resign and work with my wife."

Wang Xia smiled and said, "If the leaders of the steel mill knew your idea, they would probably cry."

He Yuzhu glanced at the two people from the biscuit factory, then raised his wrist to look at the time on his watch and said, "How about this! For the sake of my Aunt Wang, I won't let you run around in vain today. Come with me." After that, He Yuzhu led the two people out of the living room and went to the kitchen next door.

The two people from the biscuit factory were stunned when they saw the bright kitchen of He Yuzhu's house. Because the kitchen of He Yuzhu's house was bigger than the canteen kitchen in their factory, and the things were more complete than their kitchen.

He Yuzhu put on a bib and sleeves, walked to the sink and washed his hands. After wiping his hands with a clean cloth, he took out the flour and scooped some into the enamel basin. He Yuzhu started by kneading the dough and demonstrated to them step by step.

After working all day until 1 p.m., the bread finally came out of He Yuzhu's earthen oven. He Yuzhu handed one to Wang Xia and said, "Try it, too!"

The two people in the biscuit factory couldn't wait any longer. They quickly grabbed a piece of bread and started eating. After a few bites, the bread, which was the size of an adult's fist, was soon in their stomachs. The young man with glasses finished eating the bread and asked, "Master He, what kind of flour do you use to make the dough?!"

He Yuzhu replied, "I made my own bread flour." Then he changed the subject and said, "You all saw and recorded the bread-making process just now! I won't say much." He Yuzhu then took out a clean bag, put half of the bread he had just made in it, handed it to Wang Xia, and said, "Auntie Wang, take these breads back."

Wang Xia said a little embarrassedly: "Zhu Zi, you should keep it for yourself!"

He Yuzhu said, "Auntie Wang, if I want to eat it, I can just make it myself. Besides, there is some dough here. I'll make a few more later and save them for Xiao'e and the children tomorrow."

"Okay! I won't be polite!" After saying that, Wang Xia took the bag and left with the two people from the biscuit factory.