Seeing You Che stop, Zheng Wan hurriedly walked forward with a smile.
You Che remembered who she was, though he didn’t recall her name, so he asked, “Are you here to see Meng Ruo?”
Zheng Wan initially wanted to shake her head, but then she nodded.
“What do you need her for?” You Che asked.
Zheng Wan found herself unable to answer for a moment. She had been so focused on coming to the electronics factory today that she had forgotten to come up with an excuse.
Seeing that Zheng Wan remained silent, You Che assumed that her business with Meng Ruo was something she wasn’t comfortable disclosing to him, so he didn’t press further.
“She’s at the food factory. Why did you come here?” he asked.
“I… I took a wrong turn,” Zheng Wan answered haltingly.
After answering, Zheng Wan’s gaze landed on the back seat of You Che’s bicycle. she wondered if You Che would give her a ride to find Meng Ruo.
Just as she was about to ask if he could take her, You Che spoke.
“Well, go find her at the food factory tomorrow then. It’s getting late,” he said, glancing at the watch on his wrist. “I have to go to the food factory to pick up Meng Ruo now.”
Zheng Wan was stunned, but she still voiced the thought in her heart: “Then, can you give me a ride to find Sister Meng?”
You Che looked at the back seat and shook his head. “The back seat can only fit one person. If I take you, I won’t be able to take Meng Ruo.”
“Is it something urgent?” You Che asked.
“It’s not that urgent,” Zheng Wan said, lowering her head.
“Then you’d better go to the food factory to find her tomorrow afternoon,” You Che said.
With that, You Che straddled the bike seat and was about to pedal away.
“Hey, You Che, wait a moment!” Zheng Wan hurriedly called out to him.
You Che stopped and asked, “What is it?”
“You don’t know my name yet, do you? I’m Zheng Wan,” she said, curling her lips into a smile, trying to make her expression look sweet.
“Oh,” You Che responded. “I’m off.”
Having said that, he pedaled away quickly.
After picking up Meng Ruo from the food factory, You Che mentioned the encounter to her.
Meng Ruo was quite surprised. “She came looking for me?”
You Che nodded. “Yes. I asked if it was anything urgent, and she said no, so I told her to come to the food factory to find you tomorrow afternoon instead.”
Meng Ruo was utterly perplexed. She hadn’t had any interaction with Zheng Wan during this time; what could Zheng Wan possibly want with her?
After all this time, Meng Ruo knew that because of her transmigration and the awakening of her consciousness, the original plot could no longer exert a decisive influence over her. She wouldn’t be like the original host—acting as if she were possessed the moment the female lead, Zheng Wan, appeared, becoming insanely jealous and causing endless trouble.
Unable to figure out why Zheng Wan would look for her, Meng Ruo quickly put the matter out of her mind.
The two passed a small vegetable stall, and You Che braked to a stop, asking Meng Ruo what vegetables she wanted to buy.
“Let’s buy a loofah,” Meng Ruo said. “We still have peppers and beans at home.”
You Che carefully picked out a loofah and showed it to Meng Ruo, asking like an obedient schoolboy, “Is this one okay?”
Meng Ruo glanced at it and nodded. Then, You Che pulled out a few small bills to pay.
By the time Zheng Wan returned to the restaurant from the electronics factory, the sky was already dark.
The electronics factory was not close to the restaurant—it was nearly four or five li away. Since Zheng Wan didn’t have a bicycle, she had to rely on her two legs to walk there.
When she first set out, Zheng Wan’s heart was full of anticipation, and she walked very fast—nearly half-running and half-walking. It took her less than twenty minutes to reach the electronics factory.
In her previous life, You Che had a good impression of her. He had praised her several times in front of Tan Lin for being capable and a virtuous helper. Therefore, she thought his impression of her in this life shouldn’t be bad either; perhaps after getting to know her, he would even take the initiative to contact her, Zheng Wan thought to herself.
But the reality was that You Che’s attitude toward her was consistently lukewarm. This lukewarm attitude was like a bucket of cold water poured over her. Consequently, on her way back from the electronics factory to the restaurant, she was somewhat absent-minded.
As she entered the back kitchen through the back door and looked up, she saw Meng Jun standing there waiting for her.
“Where did you run off to? Don’t you know the kitchen is at its busiest right now?” Meng Jun scolded.
Zheng Wan lowered her head guiltily and remained silent.
“I’m asking you a question!” Meng Jun said, raising his voice.
Zheng Wan answered in a low voice with her head down, “I had something to do, so I went out.”
Meng Jun was actually laughed in anger by her words. “You had something to do? Is work hours something you can just leave whenever you feel like it?”
“If you leave because you have something to do today, and he leaves because he has something to do tomorrow, then who’s going to do the work? Can my restaurant even stay open?”
“You’re useless at everything, you’re not diligent, and your brain is like a block of wood. If it weren’t for your second aunt’s sake, who would have let you work in the shop?”
“And now you’re even skipping out on work. Zheng Wan, you’ve really grown some nerve. I’m going to tell your second aunt later.”
Meng Jun unleashed a torrent of criticism. Although Zheng Wan was angry, she didn’t dare say anything. Once Meng Jun finished scolding her and turned to leave, Zheng Wan raised her head and glared fiercely at his back.
Who cares about working here? If I find something better, I’ll leave immediately, Zheng Wan thought resentfully in her heart.
In the evening, Meng Jun really did tell Li Mei about what happened today. Meng Jun wasn’t just complaining; he was laying the groundwork for firing Zheng Wan later. If she did something like this again, he would just tell her to get lost. By informing Li Mei now, she wouldn’t be able to say much when he actually let Zheng Wan go.
“If you hadn’t told me many times that this child was honest, hardworking, and willing to learn, I never would have let someone who knows nothing work in my shop.”
“Look at what she’s like now. Never mind being clumsy and lazy, she’s even starting to skip work. If I hadn’t happened to catch her today, I wouldn’t even have known.”
After Meng Jun finished speaking, he squinted his eyes to observe Li Mei’s reaction. He thought Li Mei would say something in Zheng Wan’s defense, after all, Li Mei had been very protective of this niece before.
Instead, Li Mei simply put down her chopsticks and said quite calmly, “I can’t control this niece anymore either. Whether she stays or goes, you decide for yourself.”
Li Mei thought to herself that it would be good to fire her. Once she was fired, she would have no reason to stay in the provincial capital. At that time, she would cancel the rental room and make this ungrateful wretch scramble back to her old home in the countryside; otherwise, she would have to be on guard against her constantly.
Meng Jun didn’t know the real thoughts in Li Mei’s heart. He thought she was just speaking out of anger, so he smiled and explained, “I’m not saying she has to leave right now. She’s just a child after all, and a first mistake can be forgiven.”
“I’ve already given her a harsh scolding. I doubt she’ll dare skip work again,” Meng Jun said.
Seeing that Meng Jun had misunderstood her meaning, Li Mei quickly explained, “Don’t think I’m just speaking out of anger; I’m being serious. This child has made me angry at home more than once or twice. She’s someone else’s child, and I can’t control her. If you really think she’s not fit to work in the restaurant, just let her go. I won’t say a single word.”
Meng Jun scrutinized Li Mei for a few moments; her expression as she spoke was indeed very serious.
“It seems this child has truly offended you,” Meng Jun remarked.
However, what Meng Jun didn’t expect was that after he scolded Zheng Wan, she did restrain herself and didn’t dare skip work again, but she started stealing things from the restaurant.
In fact, calling it stealing made it sound more serious than it was; Zheng Wan was merely sneaking some vegetables and meat from the restaurant back to the tube building for Wang Wenzhou.
On the day Zheng Wan was scolded by Meng Jun, she was in a very bad mood. Not long after she returned to the tube building, Wang Wenzhou came knocking. Wang Wenzhou had pursued many girls and was naturally very good at reading people’s expressions. As soon as he saw Zheng Wan’s face, he knew she had run into trouble.
Then, Wang Wenzhou used persuasive words to get Zheng Wan to tell him what happened. Zheng Wan did tell him, but only part of it. She only said she had been caught and scolded by Meng Jun for going out because she had “something to do,” but she didn’t tell him that this “something” was going to the electronics factory to find You Che.
After hearing this, Wang Wenzhou put on an indignant expression and cursed, “Evil capitalists! They only know how to exploit the working people. They act as if they own us and limit our freedom. Can’t a person go out for a moment if they have business? We are working people, not slaves who have sold our bodies!”
Zheng Wan felt that Wang Wenzhou was right. She had skipped work, but didn’t she have very important business? Besides, she was just a kitchen hand; what did it matter if she left temporarily? It wasn’t as if the whole restaurant would collapse the moment she left.
From condemning Meng Jun, Wang Wenzhou shifted the topic to eating.
“Capitalists are all like that,” Wang Wenzhou said. “The Meng family restaurant provides you with two meals, but you probably don’t even see a scrap of meat, do you?”
Zheng Wan was surprised again. “How did you know?”
“I know all too well,” Wang Wenzhou continued. “I had a friend who worked in a restaurant for a while. He worked hard all day, yet when it came to eating, he didn’t even see a trace of oil or meat. They do physical labor; without meat, where would they get the strength to work? So, my friend started taking some meat and vegetables home from the restaurant to cook for himself as an extra meal.”
“Isn’t that just stealing?” Zheng Wan said with a frown.
Wang Wenzhou waved his hand dismissively. “These small things don’t count as stealing. My friend said that not just him, but everyone in the kitchen takes a little bit.”
“If you don’t believe me, look closely at the people in your kitchen later and see if they take things home.”
Zheng Wan really did pay attention and observe, and she really did see many instances of petty theft. So, she thought, maybe I should take some too? At the very least, taking some vegetables could solve the problem of meals on her days off. Wang Wenzhou had a pot at his place; she could take the food there to cook, and then the two of them could eat together.
Working as a kitchen hand, Meng Jun only gave her twenty or thirty yuan a month. In a place like the provincial capital, twenty or thirty yuan was easily spent. She wanted to buy some pretty clothes and some vanishing cream for her face. If that money were used to buy vegetables, pots, and bowls, there wouldn’t be much left.
After thinking it over, Zheng Wan felt this was feasible. After all, she wasn’t the only one doing it; everyone was. She was even starting late. So, Zheng Wan also began taking some meat and vegetables from the kitchen back to the tube building.
The next day, as soon as Meng Ruo arrived at the food factory, Zhang Caixia, the Director of Production Workshop No. 1, told her to go to the Factory Director’s office.
Hearing this, Meng Ruo thought it might be good news.
Sure enough, as soon as she reached the office, Ma Dong told her with a happy face, “Xiao Meng, the contract is secured. The higher-up leadership is very satisfied with the toast bread you made.”
“I’m issuing the document now to formally appoint you as a technical worker in Production Workshop No. 1,” Ma Dong said.
Meng Ruo responded with a very calm “Good” on the surface, but internally she was exceptionally excited. She had successfully transferred to a technician role, and her salary would double! She was one step closer to her goal of making money!
The Director seemed to remember something and asked, “By the way, I looked at the recipe for this bread. You used milk and butter in it?”
Meng Ruo nodded. “Is there a problem with the recipe?”
The Director frowned and nodded. “There’s no problem with this recipe for small batches, but for mass production, the cost is too high.”
“Think of a way to replace the milk and butter in the recipe while ensuring the taste remains largely the same,” Ma Dong said.
It was Meng Ruo’s turn to frown. Wasn’t this asking the horse to run without giving it grass? As expected, leaders of any era were the same. Replacing milk and butter while keeping the taste similar was a thorny issue.
Although she wasn’t one hundred percent sure, Meng Ruo still accepted the task: “Alright, Director, I’ll try my best to improve the recipe.”
“Director, do I start work in the production workshop today then?” Meng Ruo asked.
“Tomorrow. Spend today packing up your things in the office and handing over your work. Go to the workshop tomorrow.”
With that, Ma Dong turned and instructed Director Zhang Caixia: “Director Zhang, Xiao Meng probably hasn’t used many of the large machines in our workshop. Arrange for someone to guide her.”
Zhang Caixia nodded. “Alright, Director.”
Coming out of the Director’s office, Meng Ruo began to organize her current work and temporarily handed it over to Sister Wang and Sister Zhao. Their functions were similar, so the handover wasn’t difficult.
“Oh, Xiao Meng, so you’ve officially transferred to be a technician in our factory?” Zhao Fang said with a smile.
Meng Ruo nodded and said with a smile, “I start the position tomorrow.”
“I must say, college students are different; they can do clerical work and serve as technicians too,” Wang Cuifeng praised from the side.
Meng Ruo’s work handover was almost finished by the afternoon. She let out a breath and was about to take out her notebook to think seriously about the improvement of the toast bread recipe.
Suddenly, Sister Wang, who had been out for a while, pushed the door open and entered.
Wang Cuifeng looked as if she hadn’t recovered from a shock and said, “Something big has happened! Something big has happened!”
“The Director of the electronics factory has run away!”
Hearing this, Meng Ruo also raised her head in surprise.
“Which electronics factory?” Zhao Fang asked hurriedly, as her husband also worked at an electronics factory.
“Which one could it be? The Fengzhou No. 3 Electronics Factory,” Wang Cuifeng said.
The hand Meng Ruo used to hold the pen paused. Wasn’t the Fengzhou No. 3 Electronics Factory the unit where You Che worked?