Siheyuan: The Qing Dynasty is back

He Daqing was in the kitchen, carefully cleaning the area he was responsible for.

Looking at the oven that was specially modified to entertain these foreign experts, He Daqing also cleaned it carefully.

After cleaning up, I returned to the office.

He Daqing poured a cup of tea and drank it slowly.

I wonder what kind of work will be assigned to him next?

The next day at work, Director Huang came to He Daqing's office.

Seeing He Daqing leisurely reading the newspaper, Director Huang joked: "Master He, you live a more comfortable life than I do!"

He Daqing saw Director Huang, put down the newspaper, and replied with a smile: "Director Huang, we are the ones who are capable and should do more work. Even if you want to take a rest, I guess the leaders will not agree to it."

"Then you are wrong, Master He. This time the leader promised to let me have more rest. You will have to worry more about me in the future."

"Oh, Director Huang, what do you mean? Has the leader arranged a job for me so quickly?"

"As soon as those experts left, they arranged everything for me. They didn't even give me time to rest."

Director Huang smiled and said, "You are the only one who wants to take a break. I have already told the leaders to let you share some of the work with me. But they didn't agree to it because they were afraid of affecting the experts' meals. This time they have no excuse, so they agreed to it."

He Daqing shook his head.

"So it's you, Director Huang, who's behind all this? Don't even think about drinking good tea from me next time."

The two chatted for a while, and Director Huang said, "Let's go, Master He. Let's go to Director Li. He will still be responsible for arranging your specific work."

He Daqing also nodded and said, "Okay, let's go over there."

The two came to Li Huaide's office.

Li Huaide saw He Daqing and said happily: "Master He, you are here. Please take a seat!"

He Daqing sat down and said with a smile: "Director Li, I have completed the work you assigned to me successfully."

Li Huaide nodded and said, "Yes, I am here to thank you, Master He. Our reception was done perfectly this time, especially in terms of food."

"I heard that when those experts left, they proposed to their superiors that they wanted to take you, Master He, with them. But we didn't agree to that."

"This time you have helped our factory gain great reputation!"

"I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do, it's nothing."

He Daqing also said modestly.

Li Huaide smiled and nodded, saying, "Director Huang had asked you many times before to share some of his work with Master He, but at that time, considering the importance of these experts, the leaders rejected it every time."

"Now that those experts have left, there is no reason to refuse Director Huang's request. Master He, you have to do more in the future."

Director Huang nodded and said, "Yes, I am old now, and I feel more and more powerless. I will rely on you, Master He, to help me in the future."

He Daqing said with a smile: "Director Huang, please stop playing the victim here. Everyone knows that you are a veteran cadre here. Your experience cannot be replaced by ordinary people."

Li Huaide said: "Master He, after our meeting, we plan to let you be responsible for arranging and training all the canteen staff in the future."

"As you know, most of the chefs in our canteens are amateurs. The food they cook is of varying quality. We hope you can give them some guidance and improve the quality of the food."

"From now on, the canteen will be handed over to you. As for Director Huang, he will be responsible for the purchase and management of ingredients. He will also have to cooperate with you in the future."

"Master He, what do you think of this arrangement?"

He Daqing could have expected that there would be other work assigned to him in the future, but he didn't expect such a big one to come to him all of a sudden.

If he took over, it could be said that his power would be greater than that of Director Huang, the canteen's director.

After all, everyone in the cafeteria is under his management. As for the ingredients?

What is the situation now? How can there be any extra ingredients to manage? It seems that the factory leaders want me to slowly replace Director Huang and take control of the canteen.

After thinking for a while, He Daqing said, "Okay, since the leaders trust me, I won't refuse. I will take on this task."

After hearing this, Li Huaide said happily: "Master He, I am very confident in your ability. I believe you can definitely transform our canteens."

"But it's only a few days until the Chinese New Year, and Master He, you've worked hard for such a long time. Take a good rest these days, and then work hard again after the Chinese New Year."

Come to think of it, the Chinese New Year is less than a week away. It would be too late to make any changes if I took over now.

Besides, the New Year is coming soon, and people are not interested in going to work anymore. They are all waiting for the factory to give out some benefits before the New Year so that everyone can have a good New Year.

He seems absent-minded at work now.

The few of them chatted in Li Huaide's office for a while, and then He Daqing and Director Huang said goodbye and left.

On the way back, Director Huang said to He Daqing, "Master He, I will hold on for a few more days. You should take a good rest. Even if you want to rest after the New Year, you won't have much time."

"Okay, Director Huang, thank you for your hard work these past few days. After the New Year, let's discuss how to improve the cafeteria. By then, I will need your guidance as a veteran."

Back in the office, He Daqing poured a cup of tea and drank it slowly.

He thought carefully about the several canteens in his mind.

The steel rolling mill now has four canteens of different sizes.

Canteen 1 is the earliest remaining canteen in the factory and is also the largest canteen in the factory. It can accommodate more than 4,000 people for meals.

There are about 30 people in the kitchen now. There are eight real chefs, and the rest are kitchen helpers and handymen.

The second canteen is where Shazhu is now.

This canteen was newly built after the public-private partnership. It is not as big as a canteen, but it can provide meals for 2,000 to 3,000 people.

This canteen is the closest to the office building. When it was first built, it was designed to provide dining space for people in nearby office buildings.

Later, workers from nearby workshops also came here to eat. Finally, after Sha Zhu came, his cooking skills gradually improved, and the big pot dishes he made became more and more delicious.

Some people from far away also came here to dine.

At the same time, the second canteen also undertakes the work of entertaining leaders. At the beginning, several private rooms were renovated here.

It has the best environment among the four canteens.

There were more than twenty people in the second cafeteria, including Sha Zhu.

There were eight real chefs, and the rest were kitchen helpers and handymen.

Then there is the third canteen.

This canteen is at the innermost and was the last one built.

As the steel mill continued to expand, many workshops were built innermost.

This means it is a bit far for workers to come to the canteen in front to eat after work every day.

Finally, the leaders decided to build a canteen near those workshops.

The third canteen is about the same size as the second canteen and can accommodate about 3,000 workers for meals.

There are only seven chefs in the third canteen, and they are all rookies. They also cook the worst food among the four canteens.

As long as time permits, many people from the third canteen will come to the second canteen to eat.

This also increased the workload of the second canteen.

As for the fourth canteen, it is the smallest one in the entire factory.

It's at the very end, by the Transportation Department and the Warehouse Square.

This canteen is responsible for providing meals for the transport team, security department, and warehouse personnel.

Because several departments here need to work night shifts, Canteen No. 4 is the only canteen in the steel rolling mill that provides three meals a day and midnight snacks.

If people from other workshops occasionally work overtime, they also go to this canteen for meals.

Although the fourth canteen is small and can only accommodate more than a thousand people, it has the most chefs, twelve in total. The kitchen assistants and handymen add up to more than thirty people.

They have to work in three shifts, so they are divided into three small groups.

He Daqing went over all this in his mind.

I haven’t figured out how to train and transform them yet.

So I just took out the newspaper and continued reading.

Take it slow, and wait until after the Chinese New Year to see the situation before making plans.

At noon, he went to the kitchen and got the meal that Sha Zhu had prepared for him.

I just heard everyone discussing what benefits the factory would provide this year.

Everyone has had a very difficult time in the past two years.

Many families may not have seen meat for half a year or even a year.

The steel rolling mill now makes do with mixed grain steamed buns and boiled cabbage and radishes every day.

Even so many people were reluctant to eat. They prepared the food and took it home. At night, they added some water and soaked the multi-grain steamed bread in it and cooked it in a pot. Each family member took a few bites and just hung on.

Now that the Chinese New Year is coming, everyone hopes that the factory can distribute some food as welfare so that everyone can celebrate the New Year. Otherwise, many families will have a problem whether they can eat enough, let alone eat well, on the day of the Chinese New Year.

After hearing this, He Daqing shook his head and returned to his office with his lunch box.

The possibility of getting food distributed by the factory is very small.

The remaining food in the canteen's warehouse is good enough to last until the holiday. As for distributing food, that is simply impossible.

Thinking of this, He Daqing also planned to take time to go to the night market in the next few nights. There was not much food left at home. He wanted to find a way to get some back.

He has no ability to help others, but if his own family can't even get enough food, then he, as a time traveler, would be a real disgrace to the army of time travelers.

Looking at the "boiled cabbage" in the lunch box without any oil or water, He Daqing broke open the two steamed buns, soaked them in the soup, and ate them mouthful by mouthful.

Who can make something out of these things? And also want to improve the quality of the food.

It’s hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice!