Chapter 369: Eighty-Era Gourmet System (7)

The Gad Steel Factory Canteen is actually not very big.

Especially with the factory's expansion, the Second Canteen and Third Canteen were opened in recent years closer to the new factory area, so the popularity of the Da Shitang has dropped quite a bit compared to before.

But because it was once the only canteen at the Gad Steel Factory, the workers have long been used to it after calling it that for so long; even though its scale can no longer compare to the Second or Third Canteen, they still call it the Da Shitang, Da Shitang.

After arriving at the Canteen, Xie Yang first went to find Director Lao, who is in charge of the Canteen, to explain the situation.

Director Lao had already heard about what happened to the Zhang family—there isn't a soul in the Gad Steel Factory who doesn't know about this piece of gossip—and was very accommodating: "Fine, then you will take over Zhang Pozi's position; she was previously responsible for assisting Master Lou."

There are currently two chefs in the Da Shitang, namely Master Lou, who is responsible for Yi Chuangkou, and Master Fan, who is responsible for Er Chuangkou.

Master Lou's master and Master Fan's aunt were once husband and wife; they had a very unpleasant falling out during their divorce, and coupled with the rivalry between peers, Master Lou and Master Fan have always been something of sworn enemies.

Even when just cooking a dish, they have to clang their ladles loudly.

If you make braised Fish today and get praised by the workers, I will make braised pork tomorrow.

In short, the two windows of the Da Shitang are like a fighting ring every day.

Unfortunately, the funds allocated to the Canteen by the factory are limited; in the first few days of the month, they can still use braised Fish and braised pork to compete, but by the middle of the month, it drops to the level of pig offal.

By the end of the month, it is even worse; it's either cabbage or tofu.

The workers have gradually figured out this pattern.

Therefore, in the first few days of the month, those who come to eat at the Da Shitang are often mostly single young people with decent family backgrounds.

By the latter part of the month, one can only see grandfathers and grandmothers who are habitually frugal in their lives, or workers who are under great economic pressure and have no choice but to stretch every penny.

Most workers would rather walk a few extra steps to eat at the Second or Third Canteen.

The popularity of the Da Shitang has also gradually declined for this reason.

Fortunately, Zhang Pozi was only a Temporary Worker, and the chores she was responsible for—washing vegetables, washing dishes, wiping tables, mopping floors—did not involve her in the backstabbing drama of the Formal Workers.

Now that it is Xie Yang, she naturally does these same chores, leaves as soon as the work is done, and never gets involved in the slightest.

If she had that spare time, she might as well walk around the streets to see what kind of business she could do.

In the mid-eighties, the individual economy had already begun to emerge in various places.

Because Mingjiang is a heavy industrial city with many large industrial factories, the number of positions set up is more abundant than in other cities, so there are not many self-employed individuals yet, and street stalls are not very common.

But this wind will blow over sooner or later.

Standing in the path of the wind, even a pig can fly.

Who has the time to get involved in the selfish schemes of the Formal Workers?

But because she had just transmigrated and did not yet understand the environment of Mingjiang City well, and furthermore, the Tube Building she currently lives in is not only cramped but also troublesome for water and fire, Xie Yang planned to just make do at the Canteen for now.

Once she was familiar with the environment and the timing was right, she would quit her job at the Canteen and go out to work for herself.

Since she didn't plan to work there for long, Xie Yang decided to strictly stick to her own "one mu and three fen of land"; whatever Zhang Pozi did before, she would do.

Even if she could finish in less time, she would drag it out until the end, firmly refusing to cross the line by even a step.

Anyway, she wasn't counting on being named an advanced worker at the end of the year.

The Da Shitang hadn't received an advanced worker quota for many years, and even if it did, it wouldn't be her turn as a lowly Temporary Worker.

No competing, no grinding, no internal friction.

As soon as it was time to get off work, she would grab the aluminum lunchbox she had packed with food in advance and go home to eat with the two little ones.

After eating, she would go for a walk on the street to help digest.

The Canteen, if nothing else, has a longer lunch break than other departments—work doesn't start until two in the afternoon—so there is plenty of time to get familiar with the external environment.

Hmm, this plan is quite perfect!

However, plans cannot keep up with changes...

Because Master Lou is a Master Chef, he is only responsible for the dishes for lunch and dinner, and often only for the meat dishes.

The staple food and simple vegetable dishes are left to the two kitchen assistants, including the morning porridge, steamed buns, and mantou.

Zhang Pozi used to arrive at her post at seven o'clock; after arriving, she would first scoop the porridge clean from the bottom of the pot, drink a bowl herself, pack any leftovers into a lunchbox, and then wash the pots, bowls, and ladles that the assistants had used in the morning before starting to wash the vegetables.

Xie Yang followed Zhang Pozi's method; after arriving at her post, she first took out the two aluminum lunchboxes she had brought, one for the porridge from the bottom of the pot and one for the two dry mantou left for her.

She had already eaten an egg this morning and wasn't hungry yet, so she packed these up to take home for lunch.

Then she began to wash the pots, bowls, and ladles in a leisurely manner.

While washing, she waited for Master Lou to come and assign her the day's work.

However, she waited and waited, but Master Lou never came.

It wasn't until the kitchen assistant Xiao Fu ran in with an anxious look on his face—

"It's bad! It's bad! Something happened at Master Lou's house! His wife accidentally fell and is likely going into premature labor; he took his wife to the hospital early this morning. He just entrusted someone to ask for leave, and I'm afraid he won't be back before noon; he told us to figure it out ourselves."

Master Lou attaches great importance to the child his wife is carrying.

Because the first two were daughters, he is determined to have a son to carry on the family line.

So ever since his wife became pregnant with this child, he specifically found a midwife to check, and she said this child is guaranteed to be a boy.

Plus, there is talk of family planning recently; if this pregnancy isn't successful, there will be no more chances to have a son in the future.

Xiao Fu can understand Master Lou's feelings, but they can't handle this stall.

He stomped his feet in a hurry: "How are we supposed to figure this out? Besides chopping and preparing vegetables, I only know how to cook porridge and steam mantou; I haven't learned how to stir-fry big-pot dishes yet."

Xiao Rong, who is usually responsible for vegetable dishes, scratched his head: "I can handle the vegetable dishes, but what about the meat dishes? Today they sent pork liver and large intestines; these two dishes won't taste good without some skill."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Fu immediately had an expression as if the sky had fallen: "It's over, it's over! What should we do!"

Xie Yang: "..."

It couldn't be that unlucky, could it?

The personnel configuration for the Yi Chuangkou group consists of only four people in total: the head chef Master Lou, the kitchen assistants Xiao Fu and Xiao Rong, and then her, the Temporary Worker.

Logically speaking, both windows belong to the same Canteen; if the chef at Yi Chuangkou has an emergency and cannot come, the chef from Er Chuangkou should step in.

By the same token, if something happens at Er Chuangkou, Yi Chuangkou wouldn't just stand by and watch.

But who could help it when the only two Master Chefs in this Canteen were mortal enemies!

They usually avoided each other, and even if they crossed paths, they would roll their eyes at one another, or else hold their chins high and snort a "Hmph" through their noses; in short, they were eager to crush the other in every way and never let the other get ahead.

When encountering such a situation, gloating was the mildest reaction; it would be good enough if they didn't kick someone while they were down, so how could they possibly help each other?

Xie Yang turned her head to look at the pig liver and large intestines delivered by the farm today... Oh, it was the middle of the month again, and the Da Shitang had entered the period for enjoying pig offal.

She then looked at the two assistant chefs who were as anxious as ants on a hot pan, sighed, rolled up her sleeves, and said, "Don't just stand there, wash the vegetables first! I know how to make this dish, I will teach you."

"..."

"!!!"