Back in the 1980s, hiking in the mountains was also a way of life

Wang An used a blue meal ticket and a red meal ticket to quietly finish a steamed bun, a stew of minced meat and potatoes with cabbage, a rice dish, stew of minced meat and cabbage with tofu, and a plate of pickled vegetables with scallions. Then he sat down on a long bench behind a table.

That's right, that's all there are, just these two dishes. As for the pickled vegetables, each person can only take a small dish.

However, for that era, it was quite good that the factory canteen had such dishes.

After Fang Xiuying took her seat, Wang An asked her:

"Sister Ying, what's the rule for how much a serving of food is in our cafeteria?"

Fang Xiuying thought for a moment before saying:
"Normally, it would be two steamed buns totaling 4 liang (200 grams), or a large bowl of rice totaling 4 liang (200 grams)."

Wang An chuckled and squeezed the two-component steamed bun in his hand, saying:

"Look at these steamed buns, they're steamed really well, so soft and fluffy. Sister Ying, how heavy do you think each of these steamed buns must be?"

Before Fang Xiuying could speak, Wang An pointed to the rice mixed with corn grits in the lunchbox and said:

"This rice, holy crap, it's supposed to be two-grain rice, but there are only a few grains of rice in here. It's all corn grits. The key is that 4 ounces of rice only filled a little less than half a lunchbox. It's really unbelievable."

Then, Wang An used his chopsticks to scoop up some minced meat, potato, and cabbage stew mixed with minced meat and tofu from the lunchbox, and said with a sarcastic expression:
"If you didn't know better, you'd think I filled a lunchbox with dishwater. Holy crap, not only is there no meat scraps, but there's also so little vegetable, it's all soup. What's the difference between this dish and vegetable soup?"

Upon hearing Wang An's words, Fang Xiuying, who had spent several years working in the countryside and knew exactly how much rice could be used to make how much cooked food and how much flour could be used to make how many steamed buns, immediately understood what was going on.

However, it must be said that the food in the lunchboxes of Fang Xiuying and several other office staff members was completely different from the food in Wang An's lunchbox.

Although the steamed buns were the same, their lunchboxes contained significantly more rice and vegetables, with very little soup in the vegetables; they were almost entirely vegetables.

In conclusion, the canteen staff not only embezzled a lot of money for rice, flour, and vegetables, but they were also very adept at "serving people differently based on their status."

As the factory director, Fang Xiuying has countless things to do every day, so she naturally has no time to care about trivial matters like the canteen. In particular, for the shareholders, the canteen's expenses are really negligible.

Although the matter is small, its impact is significant, as it concerns the daily meals of more than 300 people.

Fang Xiuying turned around and said to one of her subordinates:
"Xiao Tian, ​​go and fetch Director Cai for me."

Xiao Tian was eating quietly when, unexpectedly, Director Fang asked him to run an errand without even thinking.

However, with none of the shareholders showing up, who in the factory dared to disobey the factory manager's orders?
So, Xiao Tian, ​​who was chewing, immediately agreed, put down his chopsticks, and ran to a corner of the cafeteria.

Soon, Xiao Tian brought over an old man who looked to be around fifty years old. This old man should be Director Cai, whom Fang Xiuying had mentioned.

As soon as Director Cai stood still, Fang Xiuying said coldly:
"Director Cai, what's going on? A 4-ounce steamed bun only has less than 3 ounces, and a 4-ounce rice only has a little over 2 ounces. I remember that the monthly grain and vegetable purchases were all calculated based on the number of workers plus 15 percent more, right?"

Before Director Cai could answer, Fang Xiuying continued:

"What? You're already embezzling enough of the quota for fifty or sixty people, and now you're even trying to embezzle the workers' most basic meals? Director Cai, you're a logistics director, the factory pays you a level 5 salary, a full 87 yuan a month, and with bonuses it's over 100 yuan, aren't you satisfied?"

As the old saying goes, "If the cook doesn't steal, the harvest won't be good." So, it's almost universally acknowledged that purchasing staff and kitchen workers might embezzle funds.

Therefore, when Wang An discussed the details with the shareholders at the very beginning of the factory's construction, he set the rule of having an extra 15 percent.

However, the extra 15 percent of grain and vegetables, although nominally intended as supplementary meals for the workers, were actually used by the cooks and purchasing staff to sneak a bite. To be precise, this portion was the benefit they could pocket.

Although the amount each person receives after the cost is not much, it is still an extra source of income. Of course, if the cafeteria doesn't have any problems, then this 15% of the budget is their benefit.

However, whenever problems arise in the cafeteria and there's a need to address the issues with purchasing and the cooks, that 15% budget becomes a real poison—a quick and deadly poison that kills instantly.

There's no way around it, because this is solid evidence!
As she spoke, Fang Xiuying tapped the lunchbox hard with her chopsticks a few times, making several loud "clanging" sounds.

As soon as Fang Xiuying spoke, Director Cai's head instantly broke out in a sweat.

Given the ruthless nature of the shareholders, Director Cai will not only lose his position as director, but will also have to stay behind bars for at least three years.

Director Cai was seen wiping away cold sweat, his lips moving up and down as if trying to explain something, but faced with overwhelming evidence, he couldn't say anything.

Seeing Director Cai's miserable state, Fang Xiuying seemed to feel a little sorry for him, but this slight pity was quickly replaced by immense disappointment and anger.

As the factory director and one of the top ten shareholders, Fang Xiuying had already been told the principle of "a kind heart cannot command an army, and a righteous heart cannot manage finances" by Wang An when she first became the factory director.

So no matter what reasons or unspeakable difficulties Director Cai may have, none of them can excuse him from cutting back on workers' meals.

He has to go in! He also has to bear the corresponding losses.

Turning her head, Fang Xiuying then called out to the employee named "Xiao Tian":
"Xiao Tian, ​​go and ask Captain Suo to bring a few more men over."

Xiao Tian agreed and turned to run out of the cafeteria.

At this point, the nearly 50-year-old logistics director finally lost his nerve. In front of everyone in the canteen, his legs went weak, and he knelt down straight in front of Fang Xiuying.

Immediately afterwards, Director Cai tearfully admitted his mistake, saying that he knew he was wrong, that he had been blinded by greed, and begged the factory manager to forgive him this time, considering his hard work and dedication to the pharmaceutical factory.

Fang Xiuying glanced at Wang An several times, but Wang An remained indifferent, making Fang Xiuying afraid to say anything about forgiving Director Cai.

Just then, a middle-aged man, also in his forties, spoke to Fang Xiuying:

"Factory manager, I think Lao Cai knows he was wrong. Why don't we give him a chance? Anyway, the canteen didn't cause any serious consequences."

After this man finished speaking, another man who looked to be in his thirties, probably not even forty yet, also stood up and began to plead for Director Cai:

"Factory manager, I also feel that there is really no need to make a big deal out of this. Since the factory was built, Lao Cai has been in charge of logistics, and he has never made any major mistakes."

After these two people stood up, two more people stood up and said similar things.

It seems that in the eyes of these four people, cutting back on the workers' food was a trivial matter.

Wang An glanced at the four people pleading for Director Cai, and it immediately made him understand something he couldn't figure out when he was watching the news from behind a fence in his previous life.

The content of this matter is that many corrupt officials, even those who embezzled tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of yuan, ultimately only received a suspended death sentence or life imprisonment.

These four people who pleaded for Director Cai were afraid that one day they themselves would make the same mistake as Director Cai.

And by then, will they be able to get the factory manager's forgiveness?
Unfortunately, they seemed to have forgotten one thing: Wang Anke was still there! (End of Chapter)