Courtyard House: In times of famine, my hamster became a spirit.

As soon as Zhou Jianguo disappeared from the administration building, two security officers, pinching their noses and looking annoyed, rushed towards the forbidden area of ​​the factory—the dry toilet renovation zone.

"He Yuzhu! Get out here!"

With an impatient shout, Sha Zhu, who used to be a big shot in the kitchen, was dragged out of the squatting pit like a dead dog.

His gray work jacket was so worn that its original color was no longer visible. The mottled stains had hardened in the cold wind, emitting a nauseating stench. He was practically a walking biological weapon.

Sha Zhu was still holding the long-handled manure ladle in his hand, and his whole body was hunched over from bending over for a long time, making him look like a cooked shrimp.

"This smell...it's absolutely awful!" The security officer kicked him in the butt with disgust, not daring to kick too hard for fear of getting his shoe full of shit. "Hurry up! Director Li wants to see you!"

Sha Zhu stumbled and almost fell headfirst into the snow.

He raised his head in confusion, his face covered in stubble and mud, his eyes vacant.

These past few days in the cesspool have been like having his dignity rubbed into the ground.

There was no hot tea, no Sister Qin's soft little hands, only an endless stream of excrement and urine to clean, and the way the coworkers looked at them like they were plague carriers.

Even a stray dog ​​that just passed by ran away with its tail between its legs when it smelled his scent.

As they were being dragged along, the workers scattered, making way for a wide road.

"Hey, isn't this Chef He? What's gotten into you like this?"

"Shh, keep your voice down, don't inhale! This smell is making my eyes water!"

"I heard he offended a ruthless person, and his life is ruined. This is karma."

Those whispers seeped into Sha Zhu's brain through his ears.

He gritted his teeth, a hint of recklessness flashing in his eyes. He was about to curse a few times when a gust of cold air choked him, causing him to cough violently.

Administration building, third floor.

The air here has a faint aroma of tea.

The floor was polished to a shine, so bright you could see your reflection in it.

Sha Zhu was led to the door of Deputy Factory Director Li's office. Just as he was about to take a step, a figure cut in front of him like a wall.

It's Officer Wu again.

Just moments ago, Officer Wu was bowing and scraping before Zhou Jianguo, but now he was clutching a clean white handkerchief, tightly covering his mouth and nose, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly.

He pointed with his other finger to a dark-colored floor tile near the doorway, his voice muffled:

"Stop right there! Don't take another step! If you dirty this imported carpet, you couldn't afford to pay for it even if you sold your kidneys!"

Sha Zhu froze, and his back, which had been straightened up a little with great difficulty, stiffened again.

He looked into Officer Wu's eyes, which seemed to look at him like trash, and then looked down at his own cotton shoes, which he had just fished out of a soy sauce vat. A feeling of humiliation shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

"Secretary Wu, I..." Sha Zhu had just opened his mouth when the smell of garlic from years of working in the kitchen, mixed with the musty, fermented odor on his body, forced Secretary Wu to take two steps back.

"Shut up! Just listen!" Officer Wu waved his hand dismissively, as if shooing away a fly.

Just then, from behind the tightly closed mahogany door came the affected voice of Deputy Factory Director Li.

The door wasn't open, but the voice carried an air of condescension and arrogance.

"He Yuzhu, have your ideological awareness improved these past few days while you've been studying at the grassroots level?"

Sha Zhu's heart skipped a beat.

He recognized that voice!

In the past, if I made a mistake in the cafeteria, as long as the leader asked me this question, it meant they were giving me a way out!

He seemed to have grasped at a lifeline, and his mysterious confidence as a "successor of Tan Family Cuisine" instantly returned.

He thought the factory would eventually need his skills, and that the leaders, tired of the mass-produced food, would finally remember him, the imperial chef.

"Factory Manager! I've got it! I really have!" Sha Zhu shouted at the top of his lungs, his back straightening involuntarily, a smug smile spreading across his face. "I knew it! This big boss's reception duties can't be done without me! Don't worry, as long as I go back to the kitchen, I guarantee the boss will be eating until his mouth is greasy..."

There was a few seconds of silence inside the door, followed by a soft laugh, tinged with mockery.

"It's good that you've figured it out." Deputy Factory Director Li said calmly, "Considering Comrade Yi Zhonghai's tearful pleas and the fact that we really need someone to cook, the organization has decided to give you a chance to redeem yourself."

Sha Zhu's eyes lit up with ecstasy!

He even imagined the stunned expression on Zhou Jianguo's face when he heard the news.

Grandson, your grandpa, Hu Hansan, is back!

Once I get back to the kitchen, it's still my domain!

"Oh, thank you for your guidance, Factory Manager! I'll go right now..." Sha Zhu was so excited that he was about to rush inside.

"Wait a minute."

Deputy Factory Director Li interrupted him, "Officer Wu, give him the agreement."

Officer Wu pulled a thin sheet of paper from the folder.

Instead of handing it to Sha Zhu, he pinched the corner of the paper between two fingers and lightly tossed it onto the cement ground at Sha Zhu's feet.

The paper fluttered twice in the air before finally landing next to the pair of filthy, worn-out cotton shoes.

Sha Zhu was stunned for a moment, and the feeling of being treated like a dog made the muscles on his face twitch.

But he still bent down and picked up the paper with his dark hands.

Agreement on the Ideological Reform and Job Adjustment of Comrade He Yuzhu

Sha Zhu didn't know many characters, but those key clauses sent chills down his spine.

Clause 1: He Yuzhu is reinstated as chef, but remains on probation. Any violation of regulations will result in immediate dismissal and permanent exclusion from employment.

Clause 2: During the observation period, wages will be reduced to the apprentice standard (18.5 yuan/month).

Clause 3: For the next three years, all meals served in the factory will be voluntary, with no overtime pay or right to withhold food (bringing your own lunchbox is strictly prohibited).

Do I have to work for free for three more years? And they won't even let me take leftovers?

Sha Zhu's eyes instantly turned red, and the veins on his neck bulged out like earthworms.

This isn't resuming work; this is clearly pushing people to their deaths!

This is a contract of servitude!

"What kind of rubbish is this?!"

Sha Zhu crumpled the agreement into a ball and slammed it to the ground, unleashing his reckless and stubborn spirit.

He pointed at the mahogany door, spitting as he spoke:

"Deputy Factory Director Li, are you kidding me? I'm the head chef! A successor of the Tan family cuisine! You're offering me apprentice wages? And I have to serve you for free for three years? I won't do it! Let whoever wants to do it do it! Without me, Sha Zhu, let's see what you'll use to entertain the big boss!"

The corridor fell into a deathly silence.

Several passing clerks stopped in alarm, never expecting that a latrine cleaner would dare to cause trouble in the administration building.

Sha Zhu was panting heavily, his chest heaving violently.

He felt he had the factory's lifeline in his grasp.

The big leader wants to eat Tan family cuisine. Besides He Yuzhu, who else in Beijing can make it authentically?

That's his confidence!

However, the expected panic from Deputy Factory Director Li did not materialize.

A loud thud came from inside the door as a teacup slammed heavily onto the table.

"You're not going to do it?"

Deputy Factory Director Li's voice was icy. "Very good. Officer Wu, take note. Comrade He Yuzhu refuses to be saved by the organization and is extremely stubborn. Notify the security department to send him back to the toilets. By the way, he doesn't have to be in charge of just those few dry toilets anymore; from now on, he will be in charge of all the sewer cleaning work in the entire factory. Lifetime appointment, never to be transferred."

This sentence was like a heavy hammer blow, shattering all of Sha Zhu's confidence.

Lifelong... drain cleaning?

Sha Zhu stood frozen in place, his previous arrogance seemingly extinguished by a bucket of ice water, leaving only a chill seeping from his very bones.

He's a cook; that's his fate.

If someone really spends their whole life shoveling manure, can they even be considered a human being?

Will Sister Qin still look at him with a second glance?

Seeing that Sha Zhu's face was deathly pale, Officer Wu, who had been covering his nose, finally released his grip and slowly delivered the most devastating blow:

"Silly Zhu, you should have a conscience. Do you know what that old man sacrificed to get you this opportunity?"

Officer Wu bent down, picked up the crumpled paper, gently patted it, and handed it back to Sha Zhu. His voice was extremely low, yet every word was piercing:

"Master Yi has taken out his life savings for his funeral and begged the factory manager overnight. If you don't sign this today, going back to the latrine is a minor matter, but Master Yi's money... will really be gone. Do you want him to end up abandoned by everyone and losing everything?"

boom--!

Sha Zhu's mind went blank.

An old man... his life savings...

The shackles of moral coercion, coupled with the desperate situation of survival, weighed heavily on us at the same time.

Sha Zhu's hands began to tremble violently, as if he had Parkinson's disease.

He stared at the paper, his vision blurred, his mind devoid of regret, filled only with Zhou Jianguo's cold, mocking face.

"Don't move, the smell of poop is too strong."

"Breaking it will save us food."

"Whoever touches it dies."

Those humiliating scenes burned into his heart like a branding iron.

If I go back to the cesspool, I'll only ever be a bedbug covered in filth, not even qualified to fight Zhou Jianguo to the death.

Sister Qin's family is going to starve, Bang Geng's legs are going to be crippled, and Grandpa is going to collapse...

Only by signing it!

Only by returning to the kitchen and holding that spatula again, even if it means being a slave, will I at least have something to do!

Only by having power, even the power to cook, can one have the opportunity to trample that beast Zhou Jianguo underfoot and repay the humiliation he inflicted on one's life tenfold or a hundredfold!

"Pen……"

Sha Zhu's voice was hoarse.

Officer Wu took a pen out of his pocket and handed it over.

Sha Zhu didn't take it; instead, he snatched it away.

Ignoring whether the ground was dirty or not, he lay down on the cold cement floor and spread the agreement out.

His large, filthy hands, still trembling slightly, had knuckles that had turned deathly white from the force he had used.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

He heavily wrote the three characters "He Yuzhu" on the paper, the pen tip tearing through the paper and making a screeching sound as it struck the cement floor.

After signing the last piece of paper, Sha Zhu lay on the ground, panting heavily.

The hesitation and cowardice in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a chilling ferocity.

That's the desperate act of a wild beast driven to the brink of despair, sacrificing its own leg to kill its prey.

Officer Wu bent down and pulled the agreement away. Looking at the signature on it, which was so forceful it seemed to pierce through the paper, his heart skipped a beat for no reason.

He glanced at Sha Zhu, who was lying on the ground, and felt a chill run down his spine.

This scoundrel... seems to have changed.

"Alright."

Inside the room, Deputy Factory Director Li seemed quite satisfied with the outcome. "Take him to the bathhouse for a good wash, scrub him clean. Change him into new work clothes, and get him to the kitchen to prepare the food immediately. If anything goes wrong with the high-ranking leader's hospitality, He Yuzhu, you know the consequences."

Sha Zhu slowly got up from the ground.

He didn't joke around as usual, nor did he express his gratitude.

He silently wiped the mud off his face with his sleeve, not caring whether he had wiped it clean or not.

He turned around and dragged his heavy steps toward the stairwell.

Just as he was about to go downstairs, he stopped and looked through the window at the end of the corridor, staring at the direction of the workshop in the distance.

Zhou Jianguo was at work there.

Sha Zhu's mouth slowly stretched into a grin, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

There was no foolishness in that smile, only endless resentment.

"Zhou Jianguo... let's take our time."

As Sha Zhu's ghostly figure disappeared at the stairwell, the administration building returned to silence.

Inside the office.

Humming a tune from the Peking Opera "The Empty City Stratagem," Deputy Factory Director Li locked the "contract of sale" into the drawer in a very good mood.

He glanced at the two heavy little yellow croakers on the corner of the table, then thought about the free labor clause that Sha Zhu had just signed, and took a satisfied sip of his tea.

"What an idiot."

Deputy Factory Director Li tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his eyes flashing with the shrewdness of a businessman and the ruthlessness of a politician.

They not only received money from Yi Zhonghai, but also gained Sha Zhu as a free long-term worker, and they didn't have to worry about him getting arrogant again.

This isn't like hiring a great chef; it's like finding a dog that can cook and has no temper.

As for Zhou Jianguo?

Deputy Factory Director Li sneered.

As long as it doesn't hinder his career, what does it matter if a few dogs are killed in this dogfight in the courtyard?

He just hadn't expected that this oppressive contract would unleash such a vicious wolf.