Siheyuan: Revenge of the Stupid Pillar

The older employees did not show any emotion when they heard the broadcast. After all, they all came from the old society and had experienced all kinds of hardships. Now they could still have enough to eat, so they were already satisfied.

When the young employees heard the broadcast, they immediately became agitated and started cursing and complaining, but they did not dare to do anything extreme because the comrades from the security department were standing not far away.

Li Huaide was afraid that the workers would cause trouble because of the "recalling the bitter past and thinking of the sweet future" meal, and since the leader was coming to inspect today, he arranged for the security department to maintain order.

Under the watchful eyes of the security department, the workers lined up in an orderly manner to get their meals.

The first person in the queue was an old employee. He had thought that this "bitter recalling the bitterness and sweetness rice" would be unpalatable. After all, he had eaten sweet potatoes, wild vegetables, and bran before, and the taste was really hard to describe.

But when he came to the window, he smelled a fragrance.

"Comrade, what do you want? We have steamed buns, wowotou, pumpkin porridge, steamed sweet potatoes, etc."

"Give me two steamed buns and a bowl of pumpkin porridge."

"Okay!"

The old employee found corn kernels and wild vegetables in the steamed buns. He took a bite and found that the taste was not bad. He couldn't wait to say:

"Comrade, give me two more steamed buns."

The worker behind him asked curiously, "Master Li, does it taste good?"

"Does it taste good?"

"You're not fooling me, are you?"

"If you don't believe it, try it yourself."

As he said this, he broke off a small piece of the steamed bun and handed it to the worker behind him. The worker behind him put the steamed bun into his mouth, chewed it a few times, and found that it tasted really good.

"As expected of the 'bitter and sweet rice' invented by Master He, this taste is so fucking unbearable."

The conversation between the two aroused the curiosity of people around them.

"Are you two shills?"

"I'll leave it to your mother, you son of a bitch, believe it or not!"

"Lao Li, just speak, why are you cursing?"

"I told you not to say I was a stooge, you son of a bitch deserves to be scolded!"

"Okay, Lao Li, now that you've bought the food, leave quickly. We're still waiting for the food."

"You are the reincarnation of a starving ghost!"

After this little episode, the workers' concerns were reduced a lot. Instead, they became curious about this rice that reminded them of the bitter past and sweet past, and bought some to try.

"This food is really good, especially the steamed buns. Not only are they not hard, but they also have a fresh fragrance."

"This steamed bun tastes really good. I see it contains corn kernels, bran, and wild vegetables. I'm going to use these ingredients to make steamed buns when I get home. I think I can save a lot of money."

"Come on, do you have the skills of Master He?"

"I can learn from him!"

"If you want to learn, you have to have someone willing to teach you, right?"

"How do you know he doesn't want to teach?"

"Stop arguing, it seems a senior leader is coming to inspect."

When everyone heard this, they turned their heads and saw that Li Huaide had come to the cafeteria with several old men who looked like senior leaders.

The old man smiled and said, "Xiao Li, it seems that your 'Remembering the Bitterness and Thinking of the Sweetness' event was very successful. The workers all enjoyed the meal very much!"

Li Huaide said modestly, "You are too kind, Leader. I hope you can offer more valuable suggestions."

Another old man said, "Xiao Li, if you want us to give you feedback, you should at least let us taste this 'bitterness-remembering-sweetness rice', right?"

Li Huaide nodded and said, "The leader is right. I'll have someone bring you food right away."

"We're already in the cafeteria, and we still need to get our food. Let's go straight to the window!"

"The leader is right!"

A group of people came to the window and began to look at the food in the bowl.

A leader picked up a steamed bun and tasted it. Then his eyes lit up and he smiled and said:

"This steamed bread tastes good. What is it made of?"

Li Huaide laughed awkwardly and said, "I really don't know about that. You'll have to ask our chef, Comrade He Yuzhu."

He Yuzhu immediately replied: "Wowotou is made by steaming cornmeal and oats, and steamed buns are made by steaming corn kernels, bran, and wild vegetables..."

"Master He, your cooking skills are truly superb. How can you make such delicious food using whole grains like corn, rice bran, and wheat bran?"

"Thank you for the compliment, leader. I still have a lot to learn!"

"You are a good young comrade. You are neither arrogant nor impetuous. You will definitely achieve great things in the future."

Another leader said, "My dear friends, how about we have this 'bitter and sweet rice' for lunch today?"

“Excellent advice, I agree!”

"I agree!"

Upon hearing this, Li Huaide immediately said, "Please take a seat, leaders. I will bring you food right away."

The leaders did not refuse and found an empty table to sit down.

A moment later, the food was placed on the table and several leaders started eating.

As the leaders ate, they began to recall the glorious days of the past.

"When we were crossing the grassland, we had nothing to eat. The regiment commander boiled his only belt for us to eat."

"Back then, I stole a steamed bun from a landlord's house and was hung up and beaten for three days and three nights. I almost died."

"When we were blockaded by the Japanese, I actually ate tree bark and grass roots."

"You're lucky to have tree bark and grass roots to eat. I once ate Guanyin soil and almost died of it."

"Things were so hard back then. I don't know how I managed to get through it."

"Ah! It's not easy to survive until now. When I saw my comrades falling one by one, I felt indescribable sadness in my heart."

"Let's not dwell on the past. I believe our future will be better and better!"

"You're right. The future will get better and better, and our country will become stronger and stronger. I have never doubted this."

"I'm convinced of it too!"

After seeing off several leaders, He Yuzhu was exhausted all over, feeling more tired than cooking ten meals in a row, but Li Huaide was energetic and in high spirits.

Seeing this, He Yuzhu once again confirmed that he was indeed not suitable for politics.

Li Huaide said excitedly, "Zhu Zi, the 'Remembering the Bitterness and Thinking of the Sweetness' campaign has achieved unprecedented success, and all the leaders are very satisfied."

He Yuzhu smiled flatteringly and said, "Brother Li, congratulations, you're one step closer to the position of factory director."

Li Huaide said with a worried look on his face: "Zhu Zi, when I take the position of factory director, I will immediately promote you to the director of the logistics department."

He Yuzhu pretended to be excited and said, "Thank you, Brother Li, for your training!"

Li Huaide said with satisfaction: "No need to thank me, this is what you deserve!"

"By the way, I heard that your wife is a small business owner?"

He Yuzhu was stunned for a moment, and said in a depressed mood:

"My wife is indeed a small business owner, but we are divorced now, and she should be going to America with her first husband."

Li Huaide smiled and said, "It's better to get divorced, otherwise your promotion will be affected."

He Yuzhu was surprised and asked, "Isn't it said that only people with the 'Five Black Categories' status will be affected in their promotion?"

Li Huaide shook his head and said, "It was like this before. Now, only those with the "Five Red Categories" status have the opportunity to be promoted."

The five red categories: revolutionary soldiers, revolutionary cadres, workers, poor peasants, and lower-middle peasants.