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

As soon as Zhao Xuegong shouted this, several workers who were working by the industrial furnace immediately gathered around.

They rushed forward, scooped up the icy well water from the large bucket, and drank it down their throats.

The water, freshly drawn from the well, was incredibly cool, but it offered little relief from the summer heat.

"This awful weather, it's enough to give anyone heatstroke!"

Old Li grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from his face. He casually flicked it away, only to find that the towel was already soaked with sweat, dripping down.

Old Li pursed his lips, wrung out his towel vigorously, then scooped out a ladle of well water and rinsed the towel thoroughly from end to end.

It landed on his head and face again, and this time he finally felt a cool sensation, and immediately let out a light groan of pleasure.

"Phew—it's really too hot today. Let's extend the lunch break starting tomorrow, and everyone can try to work more during the night shift and catch up on the progress at night."

Zhao Xuegong wiped the sweat from his face and began to speak.

Working in a steel mill is different from working in other places. You have to stay by the furnace all year round. Winter is okay, but summer is a real ordeal.

Although the factory has always provided high-temperature subsidies and usually distributes things like mung bean soup to cool everyone down.

But for some reason this year, the weather is unusually hot.

Drinking two bowls of mung bean soup did nothing to relieve the summer heat; standing in the workshop, sweat poured down your body like water.

Fans were something most people couldn't even dream of; they were luxuries reserved for executives' offices. Ordinary workers could only endure the heat. Fortunately, the leaders at Tianjin No. 1 Steel Plant weren't inflexible; they allowed everyone to adjust their work hours as needed, as long as each group's production kept pace.

Zhao Xuegong voluntarily adjusted his work hours because their steelmaking group was the first step in the process of producing molten steel, and it was the most difficult production line to endure in the summer. He was also afraid of making his colleagues suffer from the heat.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he said this, smiles immediately appeared on the faces of the surrounding workers, and they nodded repeatedly.

"Great! Line manager, I'm willing to work the night shift! I think working the night shift is great! It's not as hot as during the day, and..."

The worker who spoke had a dark complexion and chuckled.

Although he didn't finish the sentence, the surrounding workers immediately looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

Zhao Xuegong naturally knew what everyone was thinking; it was nothing more than the late-night snack made by Chef Chen, the newly popular chef in the factory.

The rule at Tianjin No. 1 Steel Plant is that you have to use food coupons to eat during the day shift, but if you're on the night shift, you're considered to be contributing to the factory and you get a free midnight snack.

In the past few days, Chef Chen has been delivering about 100 late-night snacks every day, so there are more and more people working the night shift lately.

This relieved Zhao Xuegong.

In this sweltering heat, it's unbearable to be guarding the molten steel furnace during the day.

"Alright, starting tomorrow, we'll reschedule our shifts. Once the schedule is approved, everyone will have the opportunity to work the night shift!"

"Good, good, good!" Everyone echoed.

The dark-faced man from before said with longing, "I happen to be on the night shift today, and I wonder what delicious dishes we'll have for supper! Did you all try Chef Chen's 'Three Treasures of the Earth' for lunch? It was absolutely amazing! If it weren't so hot, I could have eaten three or four more servings!"

"I've eaten! I also got to try the Three Treasures of the Earth, but it was too hot right out of the pot. It's all because of this damn weather! Chef Chen's dishes are certainly delicious, but this sweltering heat makes everyone lose their appetite!" another worker immediately chimed in.

Someone nearby sighed, "It would be nice to have a couple of cold dishes in this weather..."

Yes! On a hot day like this, if we could have a couple of cold dishes, life would be wonderful!

We just got paid yesterday, so everyone has some money to spare.

Maybe quite a few people would even be willing to spend two cents to buy a bottle of soda and eat it with cold dishes. Hey! That kind of life is something you couldn't trade for even an emperor!

Several workers huddled together, discussing the matter in small groups, while continuously pouring well water over themselves.

Just then, a loud shout suddenly came from outside the workshop.

"Dinner's ready! Everyone working the night shift, come and get your food. The cafeteria closes early today, so I've brought your late-night snack overtime!"

Everyone turned their heads and saw that Wu Xiaochun was pushing a cart with two large enamel basins placed neatly on it.

Although the two large enamel basins were stacked, each basin was covered with a lid.

Anyone who has worked the night shift and had a late-night snack at the factory knows that this means Chenwei has prepared two dishes for everyone as a late-night snack.

There was also a huge tin barrel on the cart, which should have contained mung bean soup.

"Hey! Speak of the devil! Let me see what Chef Chen made today!"

As soon as they saw Wu Xiaochun, several workers rubbed their hands together and ran over with big smiles.

Some of them were day shift workers, the kind who would be off work in half an hour.

However, considering that everyone was extremely hot today, Zhao Xuegong didn't stop them and just let them be.

The late-night snacks delivered by the cafeteria are free and served on a first-come, first-served basis. They make as many portions as they have in stock, and don't really count them by the number of people, so why bother arguing with them?

Wu Xiaochun was immediately surrounded by more than a dozen sweaty workers. They all rushed to touch the enamel basin, and found that the outer wall of the basin was covered with a layer of cool, fine water droplets.

"Huh? Today! Today the food is cold!"

Immediately, someone exclaimed in surprise.

The people around were stunned for a moment, then someone finally reacted and cheered.

"What a coincidence! Chef Chen made us cold dishes right after we finished talking about them! I have to say, Chef Chen really knows what we country bumpkins like to eat!"

"Go away! You really think Chef Chen is that close to you? He just made cold dishes because it's hot and he was too lazy to cook. I just didn't know that Chef Chen is so good at cooking hot dishes, how are these cold dishes...?"

I don't know who muttered that.

These words struck a nerve with Wu Xiaochun, who watched as the man stretched out his greasy, black hand and tried to lift the lid of the enamel basin.

Wu Xiaochun immediately brandished a large ladle, "Bang—"

"Ouch! Wu Xiaochun, why did you hit me!" With a spoonful, the oily hand that had been reaching out instantly retracted.

The man screamed in pain, his eyes widening in shock.

Wu Xiaochun wasn't afraid at all and just rolled his eyes.

"Line up! Do you understand? And Old Dong, I remember clearly, you weren't on night shift today! This midnight snack is for those working the night shift, what are you doing here! Get out of the way!"