In the 1970s, it started with contracting out communal dining.

When Chen Jianguo came out of the factory director Zhao Hongfei's office, he couldn't stop sighing.

Holding the application form in his hand, which Zhao Hongfei had casually written down two words on, Chen Jianguo had mixed feelings.

Without even thinking about it, hiring is out of the question!

At least for now, it's hopeless.

He walked towards the canteen with his hands behind his back. The hot summer wind, carrying the distinctive rusty smell of the steel plant, hit him in the face, making his throat feel tight.

As I passed by the bulletin board, I could see Ma Qianjin standing under the shade of a tree, chatting and smoking with several workshop directors.

As soon as he saw Chen Jianguo walking over, Ma Qianjin raised his face with a smile from afar.

"Old Chen! How's it going? Did the factory manager approve it?"

His question was incredibly irritating, but the workshop foremen around him didn't notice the undercurrents between the two at all.

I thought it was just a friendly chat between the two of them.

Chen Jianguo immediately rolled his eyes, completely ignoring him, and walked straight towards the cafeteria.

Several workshop foremen's puzzled voices came from behind.

"What happened to Section Chief Chen? Did the factory manager scold him?"

Unfortunately, Ma Qianjin pretended to be innocent.

"Sigh! I don't know either! When I went to see the factory manager just now, he was fine, but for some reason, he stopped talking to me as soon as we came out..."

"Never mind, Section Chief Ma, perhaps Section Chief Chen has something to attend to at home!"

The workshop foremen, not understanding what was going on, offered words of comfort.

These words made Chen Jianguo even angrier. It was clearly Ma Qianjin who had secretly instigated this, but now he was acting all innocent. Who was he trying to fool?

-

Fuming with anger, Chen Jianguo strode to the canteen. As soon as he lifted the curtain, he saw Chen Wei standing in front of the stove, teaching Lin Jun how to toss the wok.

"Keep your wrist relaxed, apply even pressure, and keep the bottom of the ladle close to the edge of the pot..."

As he spoke, he flicked his wrist deftly. The shredded potatoes in the pot surged up like waves, then precisely fell back into the pot, flipped over, and each strand was coated with a glistening sauce.

Watching his brat's smooth and effortless movements, Chen Jianguo felt even more resentful.

The workload in the canteen is getting heavier and heavier. When Wang Defa said he was hiring, the factory hired people without stopping. Why is it that when it comes to Chenwei, they are being obstructed in every way?

It's clearly not a big deal!

Chen Jianguo simply did not believe that Ma Qianjin hadn't played a part in this.

Otherwise, given how much Zhao Hongfei values ​​Chen Wei, how could he possibly refuse to hire two kitchen helpers?

"cough……"

He coughed lightly, feeling a little embarrassed to disturb the two who were focused on the conversation, and also reluctant to tell Chen Wei the news.

Just then, Chen Wei turned around and, upon seeing Chen Jianguo, wiped her hands clean on her apron and ran over with a smile.

"Uncle, how did it go? Did my application get approved?"

Chen Jianguo glanced at Chen Wei, puzzled, but said nothing. He simply handed over the application form in his hand.

Chen Wei unfolded the document and immediately frowned.

The application form had a blurry stamp in the upper right corner with two large characters on it: "Rejected".

What's going on? Weren't they saying there was a 80% chance this would be alright...?

Chen Wei scratched his head and looked at Chen Jianguo, only then noticing the other man's less-than-pleasant expression.

"Uncle? Has something happened?"

Chen Wei was no fool; he had been keenly aware of the undercurrents between Chen Jianguo and Ma Qianjin lately.

I just felt that sooner or later there would be a struggle between the two of them. Either one of them would retire early, or one of them would be promoted and directly suppress the other in terms of position. Otherwise, their open and covert struggle would never end.

After all, Ma Dayong's resignation was somewhat related to him, and his uncle was a fiercely protective person.

"This really can't be blamed on Ma Qianjin!"

There were no outsiders in the kitchen, only Chen Wei and Lin Jun. Chen Jianguo lowered his voice and spoke in a deep voice without any hesitation.

"Something happened at the factory!"

"What's up?"

"Although the specific reasons are unknown, judging from the factory manager's words, the upstream manufacturer terminated the contract, and our factory was also publicly criticized by higher authorities. Now, Factory Manager Zhao is extremely anxious and naturally cannot concern himself with the matter of hiring people for your canteen. If this were any other time, the factory manager would let it go when he was in a good mood, but it just so happens at this critical juncture..."

At this point, Chen Wei understood.

It wasn't Ma Qianjin's fault; the factory encountered difficulties.

This is going to be difficult. Who knows when we'll be able to wait until the factory manager is in a good mood?

He remembered that since the last cooking competition, a new shop had appeared in the system, and the dazzling array of equipment there was much better than what was sold in the supply and marketing cooperatives and department stores outside.

Chen Wei was itching to buy those top-tier equipment, but unfortunately, he still had zero in-game currency. He couldn't even afford the most ordinary rice spoon, let alone those top-tier equipment.

The only way to obtain store coins is to max out your proficiency level.

He currently has four equipment slots. The knife skills and coal stove slots can be obtained with the help of apprentices. As for the remaining two... he'll have to rely on himself.

However, the skill level gained by apprentices has a conversion rate issue, especially for middlemen like Wu Xiaochun who are only half-baked, so the conversion rate is even lower.

To improve his conversion rate, Chen Wei even gave him that ebony cutting board, but the improvement was negligible, which was a complete waste of his second-tier equipment.

Seeing that Ma Qianjin had finally managed to fill the production schedule on the production line to a fuller capacity than the 996 work schedule, Chen Wei didn't want to miss this rare opportunity.

You have to understand that in those days, in all state-owned factories, it was fashionable for people to slack off and become skilled at it. Even in this steel mill, an hour or two would pass by just chatting in the morning.

Opportunities to schedule overtime like this are rare.

Chen Wei naturally seized this opportunity and applied to the factory to add more staff to the kitchen.

Having one more apprentice is like having one more AFK clone, making things twice as efficient!

But right now, Chen Jianguo says that the factory director should bring up the matter again when he's in a better mood!

When is the factory manager in a good mood?

Once the factory manager is in a better mood, will the online operations still be busy? It's impossible for Chen Wei to just stand by and watch the canteen staff wandering around in the kitchen while he shamelessly submits an application to his superiors saying the canteen is too busy!

"Uncle...is there really no other way?"

Chen Wei asked with a bitter face, still unwilling to give up.

"What can we do?" Chen Jianguo glared. He was also unconvinced, but as unconvinced as he was, he couldn't force the factory director to stamp the document for this kid!

"If you really want to hire people, figure it out yourself! I'm not helping you anymore!"

Although that's what he said, Chen Jianguo still made up his mind to mention it to Zhao Hongfei again in a couple of days, just in case he could get his consent!