A courtyard house, equipped with a fishing system, living in an era.

After sending his two younger sisters back to their own room, Xu Pingan washed his face with a basin of cold water.

Resident liaison officer? Xu Pingan would definitely like to be one.

It's not about wanting to be called "Grandpa" by others, but about genuinely considering future development.

After all, as Lu Xun once said, don't underestimate the value of a steamed bun.

Even a sinecure in a neighborhood committee in Beijing would be enough to draw a huge influx of young people from Shandong Province to take the exam.

Even if Xu Ping'an wasn't from Shandong Province in his previous life, he wouldn't miss such a good opportunity.

Unfortunately, they have strict standards.

He couldn't possibly go up to people and say, "Hey, I can read, and I'm quite well-educated."

That's practically forcibly pushing yourself into the enemy's camp...

People can't help but suspect you!

However, this incident wasn't without its benefits.

At least it made Xu Ping'an clearly realize his shortcomings, and this weakness must be addressed as soon as possible.

As far as Xu Pingan knew, there were still many opportunities for the steel rolling mill in the future.

But regardless of which faction it is, they probably wouldn't hire an illiterate person...

The fact that the leaders from the Ministry of Metallurgy came to inspect the area the next day had nothing to do with Xu Ping'an.

They were still very mindful of their image; when they went to inspect the area, they only ate communal meals in the canteen.

Of course, we won't discuss future changes and adaptations for now, but at least for the time being, this is what everyone is doing.

However, just two days later, when the two sister units came to conduct research, the situation was different.

"Manager Wang, are the leaders from those two sister companies arriving today?"

Xu Pingan didn't expect the notification to come so quickly.

They arrived three days after the Ministry of Metallurgy's inspection.

"Yes, these two are both small factories with about a thousand employees. They will probably be merged into the steel rolling mill after the New Year."

Xu Pingan nodded, indicating that he understood.

However, he always thought that the steel rolling mill, which started with two or three thousand people and later became a large factory with ten thousand employees, had always recruited its employees from outside.

I never expected that there would be a factory merger.

It's not fair to blame him for being ignorant; the main reason is that he lived in an era of market economy where companies were responsible for their own profits and losses. Even with examples of state-owned enterprise mergers, it was difficult for him to extract relevant information from the vast amount of news and fragmented data.

Simply put, he wouldn't even glance at such a message; he'd just swipe it away...

But now the situation is different. This matter is now closely related to him, so Xu Ping'an naturally takes it seriously.

"Two factories, one from Sichuan Province and the other from Northeast China. Isn't that perfect? ​​You also cook Sichuan cuisine! It's a good match for your expertise."

Xu Pingan chuckled.

"Manager, you must be joking. This person traveled all the way from their hometown; who would want to eat their hometown food again? Do you think I can cook something more authentic than the local chefs?"

Wang Jianxing was taken aback; it seemed that this was indeed the case.

"However, Manager Wang, you don't need to worry. If those two factories are really merged later, and I stay here long-term, I'll start to enjoy home-cooked meals..."

Wang Jianxing rolled his eyes.

He was somewhat familiar with Xu Ping'an's arrangements; most of the time, he cooked small meals, and occasionally he would cook large batches of dishes.

Therefore, the second canteen will definitely need to provide him with extra cooks for large-scale cooking.

Otherwise, when hosting guests, should the workers wait, or the leaders wait?

Wang Jianxing dared not offend anyone, so equipping the rest of the staff in the second canteen was the optimal solution.

As for the cost?

It doesn't cost him any money.

His biggest task is to ensure that his work is error-free...

Having spent so much time in the factory, Xu Pingan had figured out some of the tricks of the trade.

His cooking skills are actually not that great.

The system's fishing skill only grants a beginner level of Sichuan cuisine proficiency...

The problem is, he made a good choice of employer.

These days, how many decent chefs with culinary skills and apprenticeships would be willing to work in a factory?

No!

After all, even a third-class cook in a restaurant earns a much higher salary than Xu Ping'an does now!

This time period is not when the original story began; that was 65 years ago. The biggest changes started in 58.

First came the full-scale implementation of joint public-private ownership, followed by three years of natural disasters and food shortages.

Back then, let alone whether people had money or not, even if they did, they wouldn't dare to go to major hotels for lavish meals and drinks.

With hotel chefs' salaries plummeting, it was only then that insightful individuals turned their attention to the kitchens of major factories.

But now, the factory can't hire anyone with better skills than Xu Ping'an, and there's no point in hiring anyone with worse skills than Xu Ping'an!

This allowed him to dominate the steel mill's kitchen with his rudimentary Sichuan cuisine skills.

"Manager Wang, should we decide on the menu, or should I draft one?"

"You draft it!"

"Um... well... shall I have you write it?"

Wang Jianxing was taken aback. "Are you being polite?"

Xu Pingan gave a forced, shy smile.

"Manager, I'm not very good at writing. My younger sisters started school recently, and I've been learning a few characters since then..."

"You can't be illiterate! You're a promising young man, but if you can't read, you won't be able to seize any opportunities in the future!"

"I want to learn too, but I don't know how. Look at me, I'm so tall and big, I'm too embarrassed to start learning from the first grade!"

Wang Jianxing smiled.

"Then you've come at a good time. The factory leaders just received a notice from above that a crash course in literacy is being implemented on a large scale in Beijing. A few days ago, they even held an experimental class for farmers in Dongxiang..."

What a coincidence?

Xu Ping'an knew that literacy campaigns were a key project in the early years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, but he did not expect that they had started so early.

In fact, Xu Ping'an's knowledge was not comprehensive; literacy campaigns had already begun 50 years ago.

After all, our working class and peasantry have achieved political liberation, and they must also achieve cultural liberation!

Otherwise, what's the point of splitting it in half?

However, the previous efforts weren't as large-scale as later ones; the real nationwide literacy campaign only began this spring...

"Manager Wang, you'd better keep an eye out for this for me. If our factory opens a literacy class, I'll be the first to sign up."

Wang Jianxing gave a thumbs-up: "You've got the awareness!"

As he spoke, he took out a pen and a notebook from his pocket.

"Okay, write down your menu, and I'll write it down for you..."

After Xu Pingan recited a long list of dishes, Wang Jianxing took a closer look.

"Isn't this still Sichuan cuisine?"

"Boss, I have to cook what I'm good at... My skill level isn't high enough to do whatever I want! Besides, I want to improve my cooking skills, and I can't embarrass the boss when I'm cooking for them, can I?"

Wang Jianxing put away his pen and paper, smiled, and pointed at Xu Ping'an.

After glancing at the menu again, Wang Jianxing hesitated.

"The same dishes will be served at both venues."

Xu Pingan was taken aback: "Are they even hosting us separately?"

Wang Jianxing touched his chin.

"I really need to report this to my supervisor and see what their arrangements are!"

Four people are coming from the factory in Northeast China. They'll arrive this afternoon, and we'll have to cook dinner tonight.

It will take some time before they arrive from the southwest.

Around 4 p.m. that day, Xu Pingan started cooking the first meal since the renovation of the second canteen.

In addition to the four standard Sichuan dishes—twice-cooked pork, Mapo tofu, Kung Pao chicken, and shredded pork with garlic sauce—I also made two of my more familiar Northeastern dishes.

Braised pork with vermicelli and stir-fried eggplant, potatoes, and green peppers!

Xu Pingan is good at these two dishes because he loved eating them in his previous life and often learned to make them by following the steps on Douyin!

Especially pork stew with glass noodles, which is one of his signature dishes!

"Boss, there are eight people tonight, would it be alright to cook six dishes?"

"You don't understand. Director Li personally instructed that the variety should be small, in response to the call from higher authorities to avoid extravagance and waste, but the quantity should be large..."

Now I understand...