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

Lin Jun didn't respond, but stared unfriendly at the large bowl of hot and sour shredded vegetables in the serving window.

The fragrance comes from there.

He could smell the aroma wafting from the cafeteria from a distance; that sour, spicy, and numbing fragrance was unmistakable—it was the perfect taste!

He originally thought that his mentor, Wang Defa, had returned to work, or that the factory had hired some outside help.

But once inside the cafeteria, he discovered that the person standing at the window getting food was none other than Chen Wei, whom he had always looked down upon.

Adding to the ambiguity of Wu Xiaochun's words upon entering, Lin Jun's face darkened even further.

"Eating spicy and sour food so early in the morning, aren't you afraid of getting heartburn! On such a hot day, it's much cooler to eat some pickled vegetables."

Lin Jun bluntly uttered this sentence and then picked up his lunchbox and headed towards the locker.

I changed into my work clothes shortly afterward, and that marked the start of my normal workday.

But his eyes never left the large basin in front of Chen Wei. The vegetables inside were glistening with oil, and the aroma seemed to have grown legs and was drilling into his nostrils, making him itch with desire.

After making his way around the kitchen, Lin Jun returned empty-handed.

He couldn't help but think to himself, "Damn Chen Qiecai, why didn't he leave any leftovers in the kitchen?"

He couldn't bring himself to serve the food in front of Chen Wei, but the aroma was so enticing that he almost lost his soul. Plus, he had woken up early and was starving. Lin Jun swallowed several times, only to feel even hungrier.

The people in the cafeteria naturally noticed Lin Jun's embarrassed appearance. Chen Wei didn't have time to pay attention to him, but Wu Xiaochun deliberately tapped the large basin with his chopsticks.

"Jun'er! Don't you want a bite? Let me tell you, Chen Wei's cooking skills are really good, even better than Chef Wang's, which you lick with all your might. There's no one around right now, so if you can win us over, maybe I can get Chen Wei to teach you a few moves."

"I won't eat it!" Lin Jun's face darkened even more instantly. He casually picked up a sorghum bun from the steamed bun basket next to him and took a bite with a belly full of sourness.

But his belly couldn't be filled with just a simple steamed bun.

The aroma of the hot and sour shredded vegetables seemed to whet his appetite. The cornbread, which he usually enjoyed, tasted bland at this moment, and his mind was not on the cornbread in his hands at all.

After sitting in the kitchen for a while, Lin Jun took some pickled vegetables and chewed up the cornbread in his mouth. After throwing down two ounces of grain coupons, he really couldn't sit still any longer.

He simply picked up the swill bucket next to him with a dark expression.

"I'm going out to feed the pigs!"

With that, the person rushed out the door.

Wu Xiaochun burst out laughing when he saw his disheveled appearance.

"That son of a bitch, his mouth was practically watering, but he just stubbornly resisted! Serves him right for always bossing you around like that!"

Chen Wei didn't take Wu Xiaochun's joking scolding to heart. He just asked Aunt Wang to open all the doors and windows of the canteen and hang up the blackboard with today's dishes written on it.

Even good food needs promotion, right?

Before long, people started arriving at the cafeteria one after another.

Everyone peeked inside, but when they saw that Chen Wei was in charge of cooking, they hesitated to go in.

"Stop standing there! If you don't come in and get your food, I'm going to eat it all!"

Wu Xiaochun stood at the door with his half-eaten lunchbox and shouted.

As soon as this happened, the workers standing outside immediately smelled the overpowering aroma.

"Plop—"

I don't know who started it, I swallowed hard.

"How about... we go in and have a taste..."

The other looked troubled: "This musty smell... Didn't we say it's only the fourth day of work...?"

The second half of the sentence was left unsaid, but it couldn't be clearer.

Can he... do it?

The next moment.

Several workers who were peeking out saw the Wu brothers, Danian and Wu Danian, sitting in the canteen, pick up their shiny, licked lunchboxes and rush toward the food serving window.

"Chef Chen! Quickly, give me three more servings! It's so delicious!"

The two brothers almost simultaneously stretched out their lunchboxes, their eyes fixed on the large basin in front of Chen Wei, as if afraid that the good stuff inside would be snatched away.

The two workers outside were a bit unsure of what to do.

"Chun'er, what kind of dish is this? It's worth the two brothers fighting over it so much. Is it...is it really that delicious?"

Although the question was still asked, my stomach gave a more honest reaction first.

"Gurgle—"

His stomach had already told him that this dish was absolutely delicious!

Wu Xiaochun pushed the lunchbox in his hand forward, deliberately fanning the aroma from the lunchbox towards the two workers in the wind.

A strong, spicy, and tangy aroma immediately wafted into the nose of the short man opposite him.

"Plop—"

The short man couldn't help but swallow hard.

"It smells so good. Maybe...?"

The tall guy next to him couldn't resist any longer and reached out to grab Wu Xiaochun's lunchbox.

"Xiaochun, can I have a bite?"

"Go away!" Unexpectedly, Wu Xiaochun ruthlessly shooed him away. "Go inside and fight for yourself! I don't even have enough to eat myself!"

As he said this, Wu Xiaochun shoveled the food from the lunchbox into his mouth in a few bites.

He turned around and ran to Chen Wei, slamming the large lunchbox onto the table.

"Hey bro, give me three more servings! One isn't enough!"

Chen smiled and filled the large ladle to the brim, filling the entire aluminum lunchbox.

Even though only half of the twenty portions he made were left, Chen Wei was still satisfied.

The two workers who were still observing outside couldn't hold back any longer.

"Old Liu... how about..." The short man nudged the man next to him.

But when he reached out, he pushed at nothing.

When I turned around again, I almost cursed.

The tall guy called Lao Liu had already run up to Chen Wei, his face crinkling with laughter.

"Chef Chen! Three servings of hot and sour shredded vegetables, please! Here are your meal tickets!"

"Okay!"

Chen Wei readily agreed and took the lunchbox to get the food.

The short guy outside cursed Old Liu's cunning under his breath and quickly squeezed in as well.

"Chef Chen, how much is left? I'll take it all!"

No, this smells amazing!

"You little brat, can you even finish all that food?! Chef Chen, give me four portions, don't let this kid eat it all!"

"Stop fighting! Stop fighting!" Chen Wei quickly stopped them as a fight was about to break out.

"We're having a trial sale this morning, and I'll be making this dish again at noon! If the two chefs like it, they can have as much as they want for lunch."

After much persuasion, the vegetables in the bowl were still divided equally between the two of them.

"Slurp—this food tastes so good!"

Liu Youqing and Ma Wen immediately burst into praise after tasting it.

Lin Jun stood outside the kitchen window, his face darkening as he listened to the commotion inside.

"Is it really that delicious?!"

Could it be that this kid already had martial arts skills before he joined the factory? I've never heard him mention it before!

Lin Jun looked doubtful.

"How about... we try some?"

He muttered something, turned his head to look at the stale and spoiled dishes in the slop bucket, and hesitated before reaching out his hand.