Siheyuan: The Qing Dynasty is back

It is said that Sha Zhu was at the steel rolling mill today, and in the afternoon, Director Huang from the cafeteria called him to attend a meeting.

Shazhu was also a little confused. Why would they call him to a meeting?

In fact, it’s not Shazhu’s fault that he didn’t know. Many people who attended the meeting today didn’t know the purpose of the meeting.

The story begins in the second half of this year.

This year, due to the tension between Longguo and Big Brother, all the experts sent by Big Brother to support Longguo left in August and September. Although the excuse was that these experts were not used to the living habits of Longguo, everyone knew that it was just an excuse.

The supporting experts left without a second thought, but the mess they left behind is not over yet.

Steel rolling mills are one of the industries that have been greatly affected.

Several sets of machine tools were being installed smoothly under the guidance of the experts. As soon as these experts left, the installation of those sets of machine tools suddenly stopped.

This made the steel rolling mill leadership headed by Director Yang Weimin very worried.

This thing is expensive and was brought from the West with great difficulty. Now it is just a decoration.

So Director Yang turned to the Ministry of Industry for help.

The Ministry of Industry was also anxious and started looking for people everywhere.

Finally, today Director Yang received a notice from the Ministry of Industry that three experts from Germany would come to guide the installation in a week. However, Director Yang was required to make good reception arrangements. The experts were really invited by the Ministry of Industry with great difficulty.

After receiving the news, Director Yang started to make arrangements. The first thing was food, clothing, housing and transportation. This time, he couldn't let anyone find an excuse to leave.

The Ministry of Industry also paid special attention to it, arranging high-end hotels for these experts, and having breakfast and dinner at Lao Mo Restaurant. They were picked up and dropped off by car.

But the lunch time was too short, so we could only have a meal at the steel rolling mill.

This doesn't mean you can just make do with the steel mill. You can't treat these precious experts unfairly, right?

So Director Yang started looking everywhere for good chefs who could cook Western food.

But there are not many chefs who can cook western food now. Even if there are, they have better jobs. Who would come to your shabby factory? Not only do they get high salaries in high-end western restaurants, but foreigners will occasionally give them tips if they do a good job.

Director Yang was at a loss, so he called several deputy directors, workshop directors, and canteen directors to a meeting to discuss the matter.

It was the logistics director Li Huaide who reminded him to invite a few chefs as well. After all, they were in the same industry. What if someone knew some Western chefs?

This led to the incident where Director Huang asked Sha Zhu to attend the meeting.

Sha Zhu passed the Level 6 chef exam some time ago. The next day he took the certificate to the factory and handed it to Director Huang.

The factory leaders saw this and saw no reason to keep his rank down any longer. So now he is a level 6 chef, one of the highest-ranking chefs in the steel mill.

There is another one who is the squad leader of a canteen. He is a retired soldier. In the army, he cooked big pot dishes. Although his cooking skills are not as good as Sha Zhu's, he has a lot of experience, so he has long been a level 6 chef. He also came to the meeting today.

I followed Director Huang into the conference room, where five or six people were already sitting.

Director Huang took them to sit at the back and told them not to talk nonsense and just listen.

After a while, Director Yang came in with five or six people.

When Sha Zhu saw that everyone else stood up to greet the leader, he also stood up hurriedly. He still understood these rules. He was not really stupid.

Director Yang saw that most of the people had arrived, so he coughed and said, "I called everyone here today because I have something very important to discuss with you. I hope you can all do your best for the factory."

Then Director Yang introduced the specific situation to everyone.

After the introduction, he said, "Now think about it, whoever can find a good western-style chef for our factory will definitely be rewarded by the factory. But the chef's cooking skills must be up to standard. When he comes, we will have to taste the food for assessment."

The dozen or so people sitting there looked at each other, and no one spoke.

As for Chinese chefs, they might know someone if they can find some connections, but they really don’t know anyone who cooks Western food.

Director Yang was very disappointed when he saw this. He had originally wanted to gather everyone's wisdom and see what other ideas they had. He also knew that it would be difficult to find such a chef. Now he was still a little disappointed.

Li Huaide looked at everyone and saw that they were all like this, and he became anxious too.

He is still the logistics director, and his father-in-law said that he can be promoted in one or two years at most. Now is the right time for him to make achievements.

So he tentatively said to Sha Zhu and the others: "You guys are all chefs, don't you have any connections there?"

Director Huang next to him heard this and shook his head.

The monitor of the cafeteria also shook his head.

By the time he got to Sha Zhu, he had been holding it in for a long time.

But Director Huang didn't let him speak, so he didn't say anything.

Now when he heard Li Huaide asking him, he was a little hesitant about whether he should betray his father?

Li Huaide was also trying to catch rabbits by raking grass. Seeing Director Huang and the monitor of the first canteen shaking their heads, he didn't plan to hold out hope. Everyone knew Sha Zhu's character, who would want to be friends with him?

But when he suddenly saw Sha Zhu's hesitation, Li Huaide immediately saw a glimmer of hope.

Director Yang also noticed that Sha Zhu was hesitant, so he asked anxiously, "He Yuzhu, do you know anyone?"

Sha Zhu looked at Director Yang and Li Huaide, then at Director Huang.

Director Huang was also very angry. Director Yang asked you a question, and you looked at what I was going to do.

So he whispered, "Answer quickly! Director Yang is asking you a question!"

Who is Shazhu? How many times has Director Huang criticized him? Although sometimes it is my fault, you can't save my face and criticize me in front of everyone. I won't give you a lesson this time.

Sha Zhu said leisurely: "Director, when Director Huang came, he didn't let me speak, just listen."

After hearing this, Director Huang was so angry that his head hurt. What kind of place is this? This place is full of leaders, except for the two chefs Sha Zhu, who have more power than him. Aren't you looking for trouble for me?

You are good! I will remember this for you!

But he quickly stood up and said with a smile: "Well, they are all cooks and have never been to the meeting. I was afraid they would say something nonsense."

After saying that, he wiped the cold sweat from his head.

Director Yang didn't have time to think about these things at the moment. He said directly: "He Yuzhu, if you have something to say, just say it quickly. Do you know any Western chefs?"

Sha Zhu stood up at this time and rolled his eyes at Director Huang. He said proudly, "Yes, his cooking skills are praised by the masters in the big house. Last time when I assessed him, he got a full score for a dish he made. Don't you think it's amazing?"

After hearing this, everyone became interested.

Li Huaide thought for a moment and said, "I've heard about this, too. It's said to be a very amazing dish. Just looking at it is like a painting. It was indeed praised by all the masters at the time."

"But that's Chinese food, right? We need to find a Western chef now."

After hearing what Li Huaide said, everyone was also a little yearning. What kind of dish can be cooked like a painting and receive praise from all the masters?

Director Yang also echoed, "Yes, there is still a big difference between Chinese food and Western food. Those who can make good Chinese food may not be able to make Western food."

Shazhu's mouth corners were pulled to his ears with pride.

"I didn't expect that you, Director Li, had heard about it too. That's right, it's that chef. Maybe everyone doesn't know, but that's my dad, his name is He Daqing!"

No one had any impression of the name He Daqing. After all, when he left, the people present had not arrived yet.

But there is one person who knows, and that’s Director Huang.

At that time, he was already the canteen director of Lou's Steel Rolling Mill. After so many years of public-private partnership, his position had not risen, just because he was an old man who stayed behind at that time.

If he wasn't really good at managing the canteen, he would have been transferred to some workshop long ago.

So he said, "I know He Daqing, but can he cook Western food?"

Sha Zhu curled his lips and said, "My dad knows so many things. Last time, he cooked Western food at home. What about French fries and salad? He also mentioned a lot of dishes I've never heard of. Although I don't understand Western food, from what he said, those things are very simple for him."

Director Yang said happily: "Then bring your father tomorrow and we can try the food!"

Director Yang's words stunned Sha Zhu. He scratched his head and didn't know how to continue. He was just bragging and now he felt a little overconfident.

Li Huaide saw Shazhu's look and asked, "He Yuzhu, is there any problem with this? Does your father work somewhere else?"

Everyone in the conference room looked at Sha Zhu. No matter how thick-skinned he was, he felt a little embarrassed at this moment.

"Director Li, my dad is not at work yet. He just came back from another city and is still renovating his house."

"But my dad is a very fierce person, and I'm afraid I can't persuade him. Although he has only passed the exam for a second-level chef, those people said that my dad's cooking skills are better than those of ordinary first-level chefs."

"Several people invited him to work for them, but he refused. I don't think it's possible for him to come to our factory? He didn't go to any big restaurants or government agencies."

What you said shows how much you, Shazhu, look down on the steel mill where you work.

Now is not the time to worry about these things. Everyone has heard that this is a fool, nicknamed Shazhu. Who would worry about a fool?

Director Yang thought for a long time but couldn't come up with any good solution!

Li Huaide was smart. He said, "I think we should try to get the position. Didn't Director Huang say last time that their cafeteria was still short of a deputy director? If he can come, we can let him work as a deputy director first. If he is really suitable, after these experts leave, we can also transfer him to a formal cadre. We will make arrangements based on the situation at that time."

The conditions Li Huaide offered were indeed not low. A deputy director was equivalent to a deputy section chief. In terms of administrative level, it was 18th level, which was 87.5 yuan a month.

As soon as Li Huaide finished speaking, Director Huang wanted to speak. He himself didn't know when he wanted a deputy director? What was he going to do? To divide his power?

But just as he was about to speak, Li Huaide's eyes forced him to swallow his words.

Sometimes, if your boss says you want something, you have to ask for it. You have to ask for it even if you don’t want it.

After hearing this, Director Yang also felt that it made sense. This condition was the best they could offer. If it still didn't work, then he could only think of other ways.

So he said, "Director Li's idea is good. Whether it succeeds or not, we should strive for it! This condition is also very safe. The period of receiving the expert can be regarded as a test period for him!"

"Now we need to persuade He Daqing to do some ideological work, and then try the food. Who will do this task?"

After Director Yang finished speaking, everyone looked at each other again.

After all, this job is not easy. If you can persuade He Daqing to come, it will be good for you, me and everyone else. If he doesn't come, it means you are not capable enough. Then when the time comes, the boss will blame you and have an opinion of you.

At present, it seems unlikely that He Daqing will be persuaded. After all, with his current level of cooking skills, the salary will be higher anywhere else, right?

Seeing that no one was going, Li Huaide said, "If no one is going, then I will go. Comrade He Yuzhu and I will go and try it this afternoon."

Someone took on the responsibility and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The atmosphere at the venue also became much more relaxed.

After seeing this, Director Yang adjourned the meeting. He then called Sha Zhu and Li Huaide to his office to discuss some specific matters. He also took out some good cigarettes and wine for Li Huaide to take with him. He had to invite people.