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

Hearing Fang Xiuying's rather aggrieved voice, Wang An chuckled and said:

"Public matters are public matters, and private matters are private matters. Although I promoted you to the position of factory director because of personal reasons, if you don't perform well, then I will naturally have to remove you from the position for official reasons."

Although Wang An's words were spoken in a comforting tone, the warning within them was crystal clear.

Fang Xiuying snorted, revealing a girlish demeanor, and said softly:

"There are so many people here, and they didn't give me any face at all. Humph, men really are all big pigs."

Wang An smiled and said:

"Alright, let's eat. We'll talk more in your office after we finish eating."

And so, the two began to eat in silence.

Although neither the rice nor the dishes met the quantitative standards, it must be admitted that the steamed buns made from the two-component dough were indeed very well made, soft and fluffy, and delicious.

Although there was no visible minced meat in the dish, it was still quite oily, so the taste was very good.

Wang An opened his mouth wide and began to ramble on and on.

In less than 5 minutes, Wang An finished off a serving of rice, two steamed buns, and most of the lunchbox full of soupy dishes.

However, after finishing his meal, Wang An was embarrassed to find that he had only eaten half full!
There's no way around it; the first thing anyone would think of when they see Wang An's large physique is that he can eat a lot.

But as people guessed, Wang An really does have a big appetite.

Tall, strong, and young, and with Wang An also practicing martial arts, he absolutely could not survive without food.

Wang An turned his head and looked at Wang Yi, Huang Zhong, and Yang Qiuju, who had finished eating at another table, and asked:
"Are you three all full?"

After Wang An finished asking his question, Huang Zhong and Wang Yi shook their heads almost simultaneously, while only Yang Qiuju nodded.

Turning his head, Wang An complained to Fang Xiuying:

“Look at the food we eat every day. My two younger brothers don’t even get enough to eat with just two servings. How can those workers, who work every day, possibly get enough to eat?”

Fang Xiuying didn't dare to reply, but then she saw Wang An point to the lunchbox, frowning as he said:

"Go and find two more people to get us a few more meals."

Fang Xiuying nodded quickly and said to the subordinates who had finished eating at the next table:
"Go, four of you, and bring eight more servings of food."

As the four people went to fetch the food, Wang An said with a cold face:
"Go buy a scale tomorrow, and weigh the rice and steamed buns in the cafeteria every few days. If you find that two steamed buns or a serving of rice are less than 4 liang (2 grams), you might as well quit."

Fang Xiuying answered very obediently:

"Okay, I understand."

And so, Wang An, Huang Zhong, and Wang Yi each ate four servings of rice and dishes before they were finally full.

In fact, if the cafeteria hadn't skimped on the food, one serving would have been enough for a normal person, and two servings would have left them feeling quite full. Thinking this, Wang An then said to Fang Xiuying:
"In the future, we will issue a half-portion meal ticket with a side dish. Some people may not be able to finish one meal or two, so we will give them more options."

Fang Xiuying nodded again.

After the meal, Wang An sent Huang Zhong and Wang Yi away, while Fang Xiuying instructed a female subordinate to arrange Yang Qiuju's accommodation. Wang An and Fang Xiuying then returned to Fang Xiuying's office together.

Fang Xiuying brewed two cups of tea, and after they sat down, Wang An said directly:
“From now on, you need to seize every opportunity to study and improve yourself. If you continue to maintain this level, I advise you to step down as soon as possible. This factory will go bankrupt sooner or later if you keep it in your hands.”

Upon hearing Wang An's words, Fang Xiuying panicked and quickly said to him:

"I feel that I've done a pretty good job as the factory manager, not as bad as you say."

Wang An's expression turned very serious as he said:

“You remember this: when it comes to workers, there are no small matters. You can cause so many problems with a lousy canteen. What are you thinking about all day? Let me ask you again, do you even know when these bastards started skimping on the workers' meals?”

Fang Xiuying glanced at Wang An furtively, but didn't dare to speak, because she had no idea what was going on.

Then Wang An continued:

"You don't even know something like this? Is this what you call being responsible?"

After taking a sip of tea, Wang An said again:
“We built this factory to make money, not to raise maggots. These maggots are just eating away at the canteen, and you, the factory manager, didn’t know that. Now that you finally do, you’re thinking of letting these maggots go. Tell me, what use are you as the factory manager?”

To be honest, if Wang An hadn't been short of candidates for factory director, and if he himself were busy collecting bear bile and bezoar, he would have dismissed her by now.

The key point is that after so much time, she still hasn't realized her dereliction of duty.

But there was no way around it; buying bear bile and bezoar was just too profitable. The profits involved were far beyond what pharmaceutical factories could make today.

Of course, the reason for saying this is that the pharmaceutical factory has too many shareholders, and the issue of reserving funds to expand production scale also needs to be considered. Only one-tenth of the reserved funds can be distributed to Wang An.

When Fang Xiuying heard Wang An's even more scathing words, her face immediately flushed with shame, but she couldn't utter a word in rebuttal.

Wang An continued:
"Let me tell you, Sister Ying, in our factory, including myself, whoever is capable gets promoted, and whoever isn't has to get out of here right away."

"Starting tomorrow, no, starting in a little while, you're going to conduct surprise inspections in all departments and workshops. Fire everyone who's shirking their duties, cheating, or taking advantage of others, as well as those petty managers who just sit around doing nothing and do nothing but read the newspaper at work. Don't let a single one of them stay."

Wang An knew that many of the workers or foremen in the pharmaceutical factory were actually "connections" planted by the leaders of various departments. These "connections" accounted for at least one-third of the total number of workers.

There's no way around it; this is a characteristic of our times. A large number of people returning to the city have no jobs or source of income, forming a fairly large group of "unemployed vagrants."

For pharmaceutical factories, which are nominally affiliated companies but are actually private enterprises, the situation is relatively good, as their staff is not too bloated.

In addition, pharmaceutical factories have been adding equipment and expanding production scale, so the existing workforce can still be absorbed with difficulty.

At least it won't be like many state-owned enterprises where one person's work is done by three or four people, or a factory that would be perfectly adequate with 500 people but is crammed with 2 or so.

These situations are quite common at this time, everywhere. (End of Chapter)