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

Back in his dorm at night, Chen Wei lay on his bed, but his mind was racing.

Recently, the summer heat has subsided and the weather has turned cooler, so the dormitory isn't as hot at night.

But Chen Wei's anxiety remained undiminished.

His consciousness was focused on patiently examining the semi-transparent system panel in front of him.

A new option appeared on the previously simple system interface, and clicking it immediately brought up the system store.

This is different from the previous system store which only had a lottery interface.

The system store has been refreshed with many items available for purchase.

【1. Purple Clay Stew Pot (Tier 3): 500 Shop Coins, increases the quality of stewed dishes by 20%, unlocks the "Slow Stew" effect】

2. Silver Dinnerware Set (Tier 3): 800 Shop Coins, Plating Aesthetics +30%, Unlocks the "Visual Feast" effect.

3. Traditional Soy Sauce Brewing Recipe: 1200 Mall Coins, permanent increase in condiment quality by 15%, unlocks the "Secret Sauce" series of recipes.

[4. Molecular Gastronomy Machine: 5000 Shop Coins, unlocks modern cooking techniques, including sous vide cooking, foam cooking, and spheroidization technology.]

【5. Limited-Time Offer: Century-Old Broth (Legendary): 10000 Shop Coins. Inherited century-old broth, can be used indefinitely. Each use randomly increases the quality of dishes by 1-3 levels.】

[Note: Products are refreshed daily at 00:00; limited-time offers are refreshed weekly.]

Chen Wei looked at the glittering golden interface in front of him and felt his eyes hurt from the glare.

Each item radiated an alluring glow, yet each item also made him hesitate to approach.

Looking up at the large zero on his in-game currency overview screen, Chen Wei felt like the system was playing a joke on him.

Since unlocking the system shop, a whole bunch of practical and awesome products are refreshed every day, but none of them are affordable for Chen Wei.

"Mall Coins! Mall Coins! I want Mall Coins!"

Chen Wei was so angry that he looked up to the sky and roared, wishing he could snatch tens of thousands of mall coins from the system right now.

But a system is a system; you can't steal it.

If you want in-game currency, you have to honestly grind for experience points.

Only when your proficiency level increases will the system stingily reward you with a few store coins.

Chen Wei felt that the dozens of mall coins he had used for the lottery were a complete waste, a huge loss!

If you saved them up now, you could redeem even the lowest-tier item.

Unfortunately, regret is useless now. Chen Wei can only pick himself up and start accumulating store coins.

Chen Wei opened the equipment menu and reviewed the system equipment again.

The few lines of small print above made him want to cry.

Knife skills (beginner): 256/500

[Seasoning (Beginner): 439/500]

[Mastery of Cooking Techniques (Proficient): 20/500]

The Ebony Cutting Board in the fourth equipment slot has no other use besides its permanent freshness-preserving effect, so there is no proficiency section displayed.

After grinding for so many days, my knife skills have only increased by a paltry 100 points. The seasoning skill is even worse; after cooking for half a month, my proficiency level isn't even maxed out. This shows just how difficult it is to increase proficiency.

Chen Wei scratched his head, racking his brains to come up with a reason to get Zhao Hongfei to agree to let him recruit new people.

After thinking for a long time, he still had no clue, so he scratched his head and slumped back onto the bed in frustration.

"Beep beep beep—"

Just then, someone gently knocked on the wall next to me. I knew immediately that it was Wu Xiaochun from next door causing trouble again.

"Brother Chen? Is Brother Chen asleep? Was that you just now? Can't sleep either?"

The dormitory at the company was an old-fashioned tenement building with terrible soundproofing. If Wu Xiaochun, who lived next door, farted, Chen Wei could hear it even while lying in bed.

It must have been the thud Chen Wei made as he lay back down on the bed that caught Wu Xiaochun's attention.

Already annoyed, Chen Wei was too lazy to pay attention to the kid, and simply replied in a muffled voice, "What?"

"What are you doing? If you're still not tired, I'll give you extra practice tomorrow!"

Sure enough, as soon as these words were spoken, a wail immediately came from the other side of the wall.

"Brother Chen, no, no! Don't do extra training! I was wrong, okay?!"

Wu Xiaochun, on the other side of the wall, begged for mercy repeatedly, fearing that Chen Wei would really give him extra training.

But for some reason, after only two minutes of silence, Chen Wei heard his voice coming from his window again.

This time, a thin silhouette appeared at the window; it was Wu Xiaochun standing there.

The young man rubbed his hands together and said with a smile:

"Brother Chen, I'll just say one thing! If you're not interested, I'm leaving right now! Please don't give me any extra practice!"

"What on earth happened?!" Chen Wei was speechless for a moment.

Then, Chen Wei heard Wu Xiaochun chuckle twice outside the window and say in a low voice.

"I heard our factory manager got into a fight with his wife, and she even went back to her parents' house in anger, saying she's going to divorce him!"

It turned out to be a private matter concerning the factory director's family. Chen Wei rolled his eyes, lay back down on the bed, and felt bored.

Only Wu Xiaochun would be so interested in the gossip in the factory manager's backyard.

"What? Are you going to pick up the factory manager's wife for him?"

"I wouldn't dare! She's Director Li's own sister, after all. I wouldn't dare flirt with her even if I had 18 lives!"

Wu Xiaochun grinned slyly, clearly enjoying the gossip about Zhao Hongfei's backyard.

But Chen Wei noticed a name: Director Li?!

Is it the Director Li he's thinking of?

He sat up abruptly from the wooden bed and flung open the door.

He bumped right into Wu Xiaochun, who was leaning against the windowsill outside, grinning mischievously. Wu Xiaochun was startled and thought Chen Wei was angry and was going to give him extra training. He instinctively took two steps back.

"Ah, Brother Chen, I..."

"Which Director Li are you talking about?" Chen Wei interrupted him directly, asking anxiously.

Wu Xiaochun was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Which other Director Li is there? The one who visited our factory a while ago, Brother Chen, you've met him! Li Yannian!"

Upon hearing the name, Chen Wei was overjoyed and could hardly believe his ears.

"You mean our factory manager's brother-in-law is actually Li Yannian?"

In other words, the person who criticized Zhao Hongfei was Li Yannian! And the person who issued the document to the steel mill to return the goods was also him!

Chen Wei narrowed his eyes, a wicked idea rapidly forming in his mind.

If you put it that way, then hiring will be a piece of cake!

If we can deal with Li Yannian, it's the same as indirectly dealing with Zhao Hongfei!

If you can please the factory manager, you won't have to worry about finding people!

"Xiaochun! You've really helped me a lot!"

Chen Wei laughed, slapped Wu Xiaochun on the shoulder, turned around and slammed the door shut before returning to his dormitory.

Wu Xiaochun stood outside the door, listening blankly to the laughter coming from the dormitory, completely bewildered.

Has Brother Chen gone mad?!