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

After all, they were a family of blood relatives, and after a few words, Li Xiu'e and Grandpa Li stopped arguing.

Everyone sat down around the octagonal table and drank heartily with the few bottles of beer that Shen Weiping had bought earlier.

The two women didn't drink alcohol; they focused all their attention on the winter melon and tofu stew Chen Wei had made. Li Xiu'e, in particular, ate with tears welling up in her eyes.

This is what it tasted like when she was a child!

Just then, Old Master Li was in a good mood and inevitably drank a couple more cups. Shen Weiping and Li Xiue were so frightened that they kept trying to persuade him to stop. They finally managed to calm him down, but by then, they saw that Old Master Li's face was already flushed.

The meal was very lively, and when Chen Wei was packing up to leave, Grandpa Li grabbed him and wouldn't let him go.

She insisted on introducing her granddaughter to Chen Wei.

Chen Wei shook his head in fright. What a joke! How could he possibly be worthy of Director Li's daughter?

Deliberately ignoring Shen Weiping's dark and gloomy face, Chen Wei quickly made an excuse to leave the Li family, with Li Yannian following behind to see him off.

The two arrived outside the door, and Chen Weicai bid farewell to Li Yannian.

"Director Li, please wait a moment. I'm sorry to have bothered you today, and I'm sorry to have troubled you so much."

"Xiao Chen, I should thank you! Don't give me that nonsense, let's go, I'll go with you!"

As he said this, Li Yannian went out into the yard, pushed his bicycle out, and actually intended to give Chen Wei a ride.

"This..." Chen Wei thought to himself, this is unnecessary, it's not like I don't know the way back to the factory.

To everyone's surprise, Li Yannian said, "I know my brother-in-law's personality. He's conservative and unwilling to make radical decisions. This steel mill reform is imperative. Our Jinshi started with the steel mill in heavy industry, so even though your steel mill isn't large, it's still a force to be reckoned with. Let's go back together, and I'll personally talk to your factory director about the reform."

It turns out that Li Yannian was also afraid that Chen Wei, being of low status, would be caught in the middle and put in a difficult position.

"Alright! Then I'll trouble the director to make the trip himself."

Chen Wei smiled and followed Li Yannian onto the bicycle, heading towards the steel plant together.

-

The late summer afternoon was still unusually hot. When the two arrived at the steel mill gate, drenched in sweat, they found the gatekeeper sitting in the guardhouse, lost in thought.

Because many colleagues have the day off today, the factory gate is wide open.

Old Chen was lost in thought in the guard room when he suddenly saw two bicycles riding into the factory area one after another.

The car in front is Chenwei, but the one behind doesn't look like it belongs to any of our factory employees. Could it be some shady characters from outside?

Old Chen was startled and immediately ran out of the guardhouse. Standing at the door of the guardhouse, he suddenly realized that the figure seemed familiar.

It seems to be... Director Li!!!

Old Chen was stunned. Why did Director Li come to the factory without saying a word?

Could it be the kind of incognito visit that storytellers on radios talk about?

Good heavens, the factory manager is in for a world of trouble now.

I just heard that the factory director was reprimanded by Director Li in a document, but who would have thought that Director Li would actually come to my door just a few days later? It seems that the written document wasn't enough and he intends to talk to me in person.

Old Chen smacked his lips a couple of times, then pursed them and went back to his gatehouse. Anyway, he didn't see the bureau chief come, so the factory manager being criticized wasn't his fault.

-

When Chen Wei returned with a few popsicles from the canteen kitchen, he bumped into Wu Xiaochun leaning against the stove, slacking off.

As soon as Wu Xiaochun saw Chen Wei enter the room, he immediately sprang to attention and picked up the kitchen knife that had been lying to the side.

"Brother Chen, why are you back so soon! Have you finished talking with Director Li?"

Seeing the boy's ingratiating smile, Chen Wei knew that he must not have done any work during the time he was away.

Chen Wei casually opened the system panel in his mind and checked it. Sure enough, he found that his apprentice Wu Xiaochun had no proficiency bonus at all.

"Never mind whether my business with Director Li is over or not. You're not leaving until you've finished chopping two hundred pounds of vegetables today!"

"Ah!!! No!!!"

Upon hearing Chen Wei's words, Wu Xiaochun immediately screamed and almost burst into tears.

Brother Chen is amazing; he could even guess that he hadn't been working.

"I just rested for a while..."

He had originally wanted to struggle and explain himself, but before Wu Xiaochun could finish speaking, Lin Jun, who was standing next to him, directly exposed his lie.

"You haven't done any work since Brother Chen left, so I'd say punishing you is justified!"

Lin Jun's voice wasn't loud, but every word he uttered was piercing.

Wu Xiaochun knew he couldn't escape extra training this time, so he could only dejectedly accept his fate and pick up the kitchen knife.

"Ugh, it's all the same chopping every day, it's so annoying! Brother Chen, when can I finally cook?"

"You? You want to cook? You can't even chop vegetables properly! Look at the vegetables you've chopped, when will they even pass Brother Chen's eye before we talk about cooking?"

Lin Juncai ignored Wu Xiaochun's feigned ignorance and spoke without any restraint.

Chen Wei couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth, and nodded directly as if affirming Lin Jun's words.

"That's right, we'll only talk about putting the vegetables on the stove when none of them are ruined after cutting them!"

Chen Wei knew in his heart that Wu Xiaochun didn't really want to cook either.

To put it bluntly, this kid is always slacking off and cheating when he does work, and he's always like that.

However, this kid has his uses, and Chen Wei had already planned out Wu Xiaochun's future.

As long as the factory manager approves his hiring, Chen Wei will immediately replace Wu Xiaochun with a new recruit and have him do work that others cannot do.

Thinking this, Chen Wei turned and looked towards the office building.

In the factory director's office on the second floor, two figures flashed by; they were Li Yannian and Zhao Hongfei.

Li Yannian went to find Zhao Hongfei in person, but Chen Wei did not go with him.

He was just a cook in the kitchen, so he was only suitable to push things along from behind the scenes. As for stepping forward and getting Zhao Hongfei to change his mind and accept the technical reforms, that was Li Yannian's job.

It's unclear what Li Yannian and Zhao Hongfei discussed, but when the two left the office, Zhao Hongfei's face was filled with a solemn expression.

"I know what to do, don't worry!"

Li Yannian patted his brother-in-law on the shoulder and laughed.

"Hongfei, I believe in you! You should believe in me too. This reform is only beneficial to the steel mill. The future belongs to innovation, and we cannot be complacent."

"Okay." Zhao Hongfei nodded solemnly, and the two walked out of the office building side by side.

Seeing Li Yannian about to leave with his bicycle, Zhao Hongfei couldn't help but ask.

"Did Xiu'e tell you about this?"

Li Yannian shook his head, deliberately keeping everyone in suspense.

"This is something your wife wouldn't have thought of! It was a colleague from your factory who specifically came to me; otherwise, we would have definitely developed a rift because of this."

A young colleague in the factory?

Zhao Hongfei was taken aback, but then he realized who this person was.

Aside from Chen Jianguo's cunning nephew, there was no one else.

It seems I have no choice but to agree to their request for kitchen staff.

Zhao Hongfei smiled slightly and looked towards the kitchen from a distance.