Chapter 54: So sour!

I have to say the oranges the system gave are too sour; He Yuzhu tried a segment and immediately frowned—how much he must despise himself, giving him such poor-quality stuff.

As for dealing with Deputy Factory Director Li's side, he actually came up with an immature idea—using a scapegoat. They want cake, right? We can just push it onto the Materials Section.

Anyway, better them than me.

Besides, the Materials Section is under Deputy Factory Director Li's jurisdiction, so this also counts as a blow to him. Later he'll figure out how to divert the workers' attention so they don't fixate on this bit of food.

In the morning he went to the cafeteria; a few helpers with some weight wanted to speak but hesitated. Seeing this, He Yuzhu understood it was about the cake—probably they were buying it for someone else.

"Ma Hua, any guests today?" He Yuzhu asked, holding his tea cup, "How are the lunch dishes coming along?"

"Still the expert from yesterday?"

He Yuzhu nodded and let him prepare the vegetables for lunch.

The vegetables hadn't been washed yet when an old worker in oil-stained hemp shoes came over; Ma Hua stopped him right outside the cafeteria, not letting him into the back kitchen.

"Little He, you guys are strict here—I wore this getup to the Factory Director's office and nobody stopped me." This person has been here since the factory was built and even had some authority back then.

Of course, now he's just another face in the crowd.

"This is the cafeteria's back kitchen, not an office." He Yuzhu smiled. "If someone saw you, it'd cause talk and hurt your prestige."

"Huh, who in the Steel Rolling Mill dares to talk back to me? Even the Workshop Director is just a rookie in front of me." This somewhat proud person said, "No more nonsense—do you have any cake? Give me some."

He really acts like he's the main dish.

Since you want to be the main dish, He Yuzhu will just take you to the Materials Section.

"Those cakes are prepared by the Supply Group, pre-ordered, and I don't have any extra." He Yuzhu stomped his foot. "You know the Supply Group is a tiny shrine—it can't guarantee factory-wide supply; we have to go to the Materials Section, right."

"That's the reasoning, but I just tried one, thought it tasted good, and wanted to buy some to take to relatives."

"Everyone comes to me to buy, but I can't do anything—you represent the ordinary workers and go talk to the Materials Section."

"Fine, I'll take on being the representative."

He Yuzhu had already delivered the cakes pre-ordered from the Supply Group to them; he just wanted to stir things up a bit more and then dump them on the Materials Section.

He Yuzhu was busy in the cafeteria preparing the expert's meals, while over there the Materials Section Chief was already cursing in his office.

He Yuzhu is really showing off, bringing back all these cakes—doesn't that make the Materials Section look incompetent? Workers come to them in batches, and he's now flustered.

"He Yuzhu isn't just a broken‑cook background, is he? Now he's starting to show off. Back in '58 when the factory lacked oil, it was me who made the connections—he was still chopping vegetables in the cafeteria then."

"Right, is this what you call demanding progress? It's personal heroism—back then I contacted a bunch of food suppliers, and who did I tell?"

The Materials Section Chief stubbed out his cigarette and said, "You two are the backbone of the Materials Section; I think handling this cake liaison still falls to you."

These two are good at talking, but when it comes to actually doing the work, they start making excuses.

"Chief, it's not that we don't want to go—we have no leads at all, we know nothing, how are we supposed to make contact?"

"Go ask Old Ma and Old Hou—this is the whole factory's expectation; don't screw it up."

The Chief can't do anything about the cake either; he can only use the 'substitute peach for apricot' tactic, so these two will end up taking the blame.

When they reached the cafeteria, Old Ma wanted to go in and ask, but Old Hou grabbed him and said, "We're here representing the Materials Section—He Yuzhu's rank isn't high enough; have him come out to see us."

He Yuzhu was swamped in the cafeteria, busy as could be—he had no time to deal with these two.

Only after people started eating in the cafeteria did the two begin to feel anxious.

"Older Brother Hou, should we eat first or wait?"

"Eat while waiting."

After they finished eating, He Yuzhu slowly came out of the kitchen—the Materials Section had originally planned to let them take the blame, so seeing them wasn't a big deal.

"Master Hou, Master Ma, your esteemed presence graces our humble abode." He Yuzhu beamed. "I'm in here busy cooking—what's the big deal?"

The two stared at He Yuzhu for a moment, then directly asked him where he bought the cake—this worker just wanted to buy it outright; why drag the Materials Section into it?

This is nothing but a cheap toothpick—take a handful.

"Ma Hua, bring over the cake boxes." He Yuzhu instructed. "I've been busy these days—I have no time for this; you handle it yourselves."

After getting the cake boxes, the two didn't even inspect them, heads held high as they went to Finance to get the money approved—in their view it was an easy task.

After they left the factory gate, the news had already spread through the Steel Rolling Mill—the Materials Section finally got something done.

"I said the factory wouldn't stand by idly—He Yuzhu doesn't need to do anything now." Yi Daye chatted in the workshop, "He's still young, not very savvy."

"That's right—otherwise how could Dad's money still be deducted by others?"

At the same time in the Street Cleaning Squad, Xu Damao leaned on his broom and bragged, saying if they sent him to liaise, it would definitely get the job done in one go—none of this later trouble would happen.

"How far off He Yuzhu and I are—if I were the Supply Group leader, I'd surely cater to all the workers, letting them eat meat when they want, drink when they want."

"Too bad, you're not part of the Supply Group."

"I'm not like you lot—this place can't hold me down. Once I make it big, this will be my humble retreat; maybe someone will even come interview you, asking how I fared here."

Those listening to his bragging laughed loudly.

"Xu Damao, the trash outside needs to be taken out—hurry up and go, or else the workers will complain and you'll end up cleaning toilets."

Old Ma and Old Hou wandered around a few malls outside, found no matching cake, and when they came back after work their faces were black. They'd been talking big—wasn't this a slap in the face?

"Chief, let's try again tomorrow—He Yuzhu just got lucky like a blind cat finding a dead rat; this cake factory must be a small outfit that hasn't made a name yet."

"Right, Old Ma's not wrong."

"Anyway, this task is yours—if you can't pull it off, you'll lose face for the Materials Section, and also for Deputy Factory Director Li."

Deputy Factory Director Li cares about face; if he loses it, he'd probably be left faceless.

What pressure!