At half past nine, a group of people gathered in the research and development room of Production Workshop No. 1.
“What is a clerk like you doing here joining in the fun?” Feng Jialing, the group leader of Production Workshop No. 1, sharp-eyed as she was, spotted Meng Ruo in the crowd.
Feng Jialing usually stayed close to Song Yan, and Meng Ruo guessed she must have heard something from her.
Meng Ruo turned her head and saw Song Yan, who had truly come just to watch the spectacle.
“She’s an accountant; what is she doing here? Why don’t you do something about her?” Meng Ruo pointed at Song Yan and intentionally spoke very loudly.
Feng Jialing found it hard to say anything in response.
Song Yan, however, spoke up righteously: “Is it not allowed for me to come and watch the fun?”
Meng Ruo turned her head back and ignored the two of them.
“Alright, everyone is here,” Zhang Caixia, the Director of Production Workshop No. 1, held up the bread in her hand and said, “Let’s talk about this bread.”
“This bread is different from the long-shelf-life bread we made before. This short-shelf-life bread tastes more fragrant and soft; of course, it also sells for a bit more.”
“Short-shelf-life bread simply means the shelf life is shorter, generally between 5 to 10 days. Everyone should know about long-shelf-life bread; those have longer shelf lives, from a few months to half a year.”
Meng Ruo looked at the bread in the Director’s hand and thought to herself that it looked a bit like toast.
There was toast in this era, but it was usually whole-wheat toast, which tasted quite dry and hard.
In the early 1990s, the domestic economy was gradually improving, and the people’s standard of living had also risen. Bread, which used to be relatively rare, now had many varieties on the market. Sandwich bread, “chicken leg” bread, caterpillar bread, and old-fashioned sponge cakes were childhood memories for many.
“Xiao Wang, break off some pieces for everyone to taste,” Director Zhang Caixia instructed.
At the Director’s command, the man named Xiao Wang began breaking the bread for everyone to sample.
Meng Ruo also received a piece.
She saw many people take the bread, look at it suspiciously, and then pop it into their mouths to taste. After finishing, they even asked Xiao Wang for more.
“It’s just a tiny bit; I couldn’t even taste the flavor. Xiao Wang, give me another piece.”
“Yeah, yeah, Xiao Wang, give me another one too,” others chimed in.
Xiao Wang refused directly: “There are only this many samples, and you’ve almost finished them all. How is the Factory Director going to compare the flavors later?”
Meng Ruo couldn’t help but smile. She picked up the bread, first examining it carefully, then smelling it, thinking to herself that it was quite similar to the milk toast from her own era.
Finally, Meng Ruo put the bread into her mouth to taste. It really was milk toast.
If it truly was milk toast, then it would be simple. She didn’t know how many times she had made milk toast with her mother; she had the recipe memorized long ago.
With confidence, Meng Ruo looked around at her surroundings. This place was essentially a bread R&D room where new products were developed and tested.
She took a cursory glance; both the ingredients and the equipment were very complete.
“After the tasting, those who feel confident can stay and try to make it. The Factory Director will personally come later to taste the bread you’ve made,” Zhang Caixia continued.
Those who were originally full of confidence looked at each other uncertainly after tasting the bread. A few minutes later, nearly half of the people gathered in the R&D room had left.
Seeing that Meng Ruo hadn’t left, Song Yan started making cold, mocking remarks alongside Feng Jialing again: “She’s just a clerk; I don’t believe she actually knows how to do it. Just wait and see how she makes a fool of herself in front of the Factory Director.”
Meng Ruo turned a deaf ear and began preparing the materials with a serious face.
High-gluten flour, white sugar, yeast, eggs, milk, butter…
“Why are you adding milk instead of water?” a female comrade nearby asked in confusion.
“Using milk instead of water makes it more fragrant,” Meng Ruo replied.
“Is that so?” The person, who had been about to pour water, thought for a moment and switched to milk as well.
Song Yan, listening from the side, immediately mocked her: “I’ve never heard of anyone making bread with milk instead of water. Besides, when it comes to actual production later, will they really use milk? Think of how high the cost would be.”
While Meng Ruo was kneading the dough, Song Yan watched from the side, growing suspicious. She actually knows how to do it?
And looking at her movements, she didn’t look like a novice at all.
Song Yan began to doubt whether she would actually get to see Meng Ruo’s embarrassment.
Looking at the others, some were still using ordinary flour, and some used water instead of milk.
After finishing the dough, everyone put them together into the large oven to ferment.
There was only one large oven in the R&D room, so everyone set the fermentation time, baking temperature, and time the same.
As time passed, the aroma of the toast bread gradually drifted out.
“It smells so good.”
Hearing this voice, everyone looked toward the door. The Factory Director had arrived at some point.
The Factory Director’s surname was Ma. He was in his late forties, short and stout, and he always spoke with a smile, appearing quite amiable.
When the time was up, Xiao Wang opened the oven, and the aroma that had only been a hint before rushed toward them.
It was a milky fragrance.
Because there were many people, names were written on each toast mold to prevent confusion.
Meng Ruo put on gloves and turned the toast bread out of the mold. It was a very beautiful rectangular block, indicating sufficient fermentation time. The surface was a layer of golden-brown crust, showing that the baking temperature and time were also appropriate.
She took out a knife, sliced the toast piece by piece, and arranged them on a plate.
The Factory Director tasted them one by one. She was in the last row, where there were only two people: her and another girl.
The Factory Director tasted them one by one, either shaking his head or saying: “Too dry, too hard, not fragrant enough, not soft enough.”
Toward the end, the Factory Director was too lazy to even taste them; he would just take a look and walk away.
The Factory Director had originally intended to take another look at the last row, but Feng Jialing suddenly leaned in and said, “Director Ma, there’s no need to look at the last two. Neither of them are professionals; one is a clerk, and the other is a general worker.”
These words had been prompted by Song Yan. Song Yan had been watching from the side the entire time Meng Ruo was making the bread.
When Meng Ruo turned the bread out of the mold, that rich milky aroma had spread out, and Song Yan almost drooled while smelling it.
The bread Meng Ruo made also had the best appearance and was very fragrant. Song Yan thought that perhaps she really had stumbled upon the right method by sheer luck.
Song Yan was unwilling to let Meng Ruo show off in front of the Factory Director, so she urged Feng Jialing to go and say those things to him.
The Factory Director looked up upon hearing this, his gaze lingering on Meng Ruo for a split second before moving away.
He remembered that pretty girl; she was one of the few college students in their factory. It seemed she really was a clerk.
Ma Dong frowned. Why was a clerk coming here to cause a pointless distraction?
Ma Dong turned, preparing to leave.
Meng Ruo’s heart sank. Why was Director Ma leaving directly without coming over to look at them? If the Director didn’t even look, then her hard work making the toast would be in vain.
Just as she was about to call out to Director Ma, the person next to her ran directly toward Director Ma carrying her plate.
Seeing this, Meng Ruo also hurriedly ran to the Factory Director with her own toast bread.
“Factory Director, you haven’t tasted mine yet,” the girl said.
Meng Ruo followed: “Factory Director, there’s mine too.”
After speaking, Meng Ruo caught a glimpse of the name on the girl’s uniform: Wu Aixiang.
This person is quite clever, Meng Ruo thought.
The Factory Director took a look at the toast bread the two brought over. Just by their appearance, they seemed quite interesting.
Ma Dong picked up a slice of toast made by Wu Aixiang and tasted it.
“Mhm,” Ma Dong nodded. “The taste is not bad.”
Wu Aixiang smiled with secret delight.
Then, Ma Dong picked up Meng Ruo’s bread and tasted it. After tasting, his eyes widened in surprise. He excitedly pointed to the bread on the plate and said, “This is the taste!”
Ma Dong seemed unable to believe it and picked up another slice to taste.
As he tasted, he said, “It’s even more fragrant than the sample.”
Meng Ruo thought to herself: Of course it’s more fragrant than the sample; this is purely handmade, using plenty of milk and butter.
“If we say this taste is relatively close, then this one has surpassed it,” Ma Dong said to Zhang Caixia next to him, holding the toast made by Wu Aixiang in his left hand and the toast made by Meng Ruo in his right.
After his exclamation, Ma Dong looked at Meng Ruo with a joyful face.
“Aren’t you a clerk? How do you have this skill?” Ma Dong asked with a smile.
“Factory Director, a clerk can also know how to make bread,” Meng Ruo said with a smile.
Then she turned to look at Song Yan standing by the wall and said, “Didn’t Accountant Song also come over?”
Suddenly named, Song Yan looked bewildered.
Ma Dong’s attention was successfully diverted as he looked at Song Yan: “Could it be that Accountant Song also knows how to make bread?”
Hearing the Factory Director’s question, Song Yan hurriedly stepped forward and replied stutteringly: “Fac-Factory Director, I, I don’t.”
Hearing this, Ma Dong frowned immediately: “Then what did you come here for?”
“I… I…” Song Yan stuttered for a long while without being able to say a single word.
“Oh? I thought Accountant Song left her post to come here to make bread too,” Meng Ruo began to speak in a “tea-like” manner. “Then what did Accountant Song come for? Surely it wasn’t to slack off by leaving her post without reason.”
Song Yan said angrily: “Meng Ruo, what nonsense are you talking about? When did I leave my post without reason?”
Ma Dong understood immediately. Song Yan was a relative of Accountant Zhu from the finance department; was Accountant Zhu not even going to manage Song Yan leaving her post without reason?
“Your supervisor is Accountant Zhu, right? I’ll go find her in a bit,” Ma Dong said with a serious face. “Leaving your post during working hours to run around—what kind of behavior is that?”
Management in state-owned factories in this era was relatively loose, and it was common for workers to occasionally leave their posts. But it was quite rare to be as high-profile as Song Yan and be caught by the Factory Director.
Being scolded by the Factory Director in front of so many people, and being a person with strong self-esteem, Song Yan’s eyes immediately turned red. She wiped her tears and, regardless of whether the Factory Director had finished his lecture, ran directly out of the R&D room.
“I remember you are a general worker from Production Workshop No. 1,” Ma Dong said, looking at Wu Aixiang.
As he spoke, he looked at the name on her uniform: “Wu Aixiang.”
“Although the taste of the bread you made is still a bit short of the sample, it’s already very impressive,” Ma Dong praised with a smile. “Most importantly, you are just a general worker, yet you were able to make it almost correctly. This shows you not only have a foundation but are also willing to study it.”
Hearing Director Ma’s praise, Wu Aixiang was secretly delighted, thinking: Will the Factory Director promote me directly to a technical worker? If she became a technical worker, wouldn’t her salary double?
Just as Ma Dong said, Wu Aixiang had some baking foundation because her aunt owned a cake shop; before coming to the food factory, she often went to help at her aunt’s shop.
But the foundation was only that much; it was not as good as the factory’s technicians at all. The reason she was able to make bread similar to Meng Ruo’s was that she had completely plagiarized the recipe—preparing whatever Meng Ruo prepared and doing whatever Meng Ruo did.
And because Meng Ruo was focused, she didn’t notice her at all.
She had planned it this way from the start: she would copy whoever was standing next to her, because she couldn’t make it at all based on her own level.
“And your name is?” Ma Dong asked Meng Ruo. Although he had an impression of her, he didn’t quite remember her name.
“Meng Ruo,” she replied.
Ma Dong nodded and said, “Xiao Meng, make a few more of this bread today. I’ll take them to the higher-ups for review. If the leaders are satisfied, this contract will belong to our factory. When that time comes, I’ll formally transfer you to be a technical worker in Production Workshop No. 1.”
Meng Ruo nodded with a smile: “Alright, Factory Director.”
Ma Dong nodded with satisfaction and then turned to leave.
Wu Aixiang was a bit dazed and hurriedly asked, “What about me? Factory Director.”
Ma Dong turned back, and as if remembering something, he smiled and encouraged her: “You keep working hard.”
Wu Aixiang was dumbfounded.