In 1992, a small village owner became the richest man in the village by owning a car.

Chapter 488 Give Me a Bowl

Factory Director Yu was actually quite grateful to Duan Dahai, after all, Duan had truly revitalized the flour mill.

His ability and courage alone were enough to earn his admiration.

The flour mill is better than before. As long as Duan Dahai focuses on getting familiar with everything about the mill, he will definitely be able to manage it well in the future, and there will be no need for this old guy to do anything.

Outside, when Yu Dawei walked to the first floor, he saw Duan Dahai and Boss Liang emerge from around the corner, which startled him.

"Why are you two trying to scare me instead of serving your own clients?" Yu Dawei stood still, looking at the two men.

"How's it going upstairs? We saw you taking Director Yu upstairs when we were on the first floor." Duan Dahai's eyes were filled with anticipation.

If the old factory manager really agrees to return to the flour mill, then he can confidently hand over the management of the rear to him, while he himself can take advantage of this golden opportunity to accelerate expansion.

"I don't know." Yu Dawei pursed his lips, leaned back against the wall, his right foot pressed against the front of his back, and fell into deep thought. "He rejected me very calmly just now, but I could tell that he was actually struggling and hesitating inside."

"But he did only hesitate for a moment." Yu Dawei glanced upstairs. "Anyway, whether we succeed or fail, we've achieved our initial goal. Now, let's see how those veteran employees react."

"Hehe." Duan Dahai grinned upon hearing this. "Just now, several former employees who had grievances against me came over to apologize to me, and they seemed quite sincere, not like they were putting on an act."

"Well, it's good that it works. After that, we'll give everyone a proper brainwashing session to help them adapt to your work rhythm as quickly as possible. Everything will be fine then." Yu Dawei put down his foot and walked outside. "I'll go to the main gate and see. It seems there are still a lot of people queuing up. Those at the back probably won't get any."

"I'm going too!" Boss Liang quickly followed. "Our factory sold a lot today. Many of the small business owners I've promoted to came and placed orders and paid for them. I wish we could have an anniversary sale every day."

"You're overthinking it. Doing this once or twice a year is fine. If you do it frequently, it's no different from a big price reduction."

Duan Dahai watched the two leave, then turned his head to look upstairs again, his eyes filled with worry.

To be fair, he still hopes that the veterans in the industry will mentor him. The factory's current success is also due to the opportunities presented by the times and innovation.

There are many things that Duan Dahai hasn't really figured out about the truly professional aspects.

He gritted his teeth, hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to follow his heart. He walked upstairs, wanting to have another good talk with the old factory director!

Upstairs, in the office next to Duan Dahai's usual office.

Just as Director Yu was about to leave, no longer wanting to eat the noodles, the red lacquered wooden door was suddenly pushed open, and a little girl in a pink dress walked in.

The girl looked to be around ten years old, with two braids and wearing a pink dress, which naturally contained a cotton-padded jacket and trousers underneath.

The little girl held a steaming bowl of noodles with gravy in both hands. The white noodles were at the bottom, and the gravy was on top. The gravy, with its granular texture, released a mouthwatering aroma as it rose from the steam.

"Grandpa Factory Manager, have some noodles." The little girl said in a clear voice as she walked over with a white porcelain bowl of noodles.

"Oh dear, how could these guys make a child do all the work!" Factory Director Yu said resentfully, quickly stepping forward to take the two large bowls of noodles and chopsticks. "This is outrageous!"

"No, it's not the factory manager, my mom asked me to bring it over. She's busy cooking noodles and can't come here, so I helped her bring it." The little girl has a very cheerful personality and isn't shy.

She glanced furtively at the factory manager's noodles and instinctively swallowed hard.

"You haven't eaten, have you? Here, have some."

This little trick of the other party naturally did not escape the notice of Director Yu, who squatted down and handed the noodles to the little girl.

"No, no, no, Mom said this is for you, I can't eat it." The little girl shook her head very sensibly. "Mom also said that I'll have something to eat at noon."

After the little girl finished speaking, she turned around and ran outside.

Factory Director Yu smiled as he watched the little girl run away, but didn't say anything more. Children in the countryside mature early and know from a very young age not to take other people's things without permission.

He then looked down at the noodles in the bowl.

The broth is made from mustard tubers; there's nothing else but mustard tubers chopped into small pieces.

Every household in the village pickles vegetables in winter, and mustard tubers are the most common pickled vegetable, both now and in the 1960s and 70s.

Back when the flour mill was first established, the workers in the factory most often ate noodles made with mustard tuber sauce.

Scenes from the past resurfaced in Director Yu's memory: his brothers who had worked alongside him in the factory, some of whom now had large families, while others had passed away.

"Grandpa Factory Manager!"

Just as Director Yu was lost in thought, the little girl returned again, pushed the door open a crack, and revealed her round little face.

"What's wrong?" Director Yu looked at the girl with a smile, a little girl who was about the same age as his own granddaughter.

"My mom told me to thank you!"

"Thank me?" Factory Director Yu was taken aback.

"Uh-huh!"

"Why are you thanking me?" Director Yu asked, his face full of curiosity.

“Hmm…” The little girl stood at the door and thought hard for a while, seemingly not remembering everything. “Anyway, my mother always says that if it weren’t for Grandpa Factory Manager’s help back then, Xiaoxiao would not have been able to grow up, let alone go to school.”

Factory Director Yu paused for a moment, then looked at the little girl nervously and asked, "What is your full name...?"

"Xiaoxiao, Mo Xiaoxiao, it's my dad's." As the little girl answered, she subconsciously glanced at the bowl of noodles in the factory manager's hand, then quickly looked away and ran off, saying, "Thank you, Grandpa, goodbye Grandpa."

Factory Director Yu, who was squatting on the spot, had a complicated expression and didn't react for a long time.

Mo Xiaoxiao, Mo Xiaoxiao... Mo Hanzhong.

What an ancient name...

The youngest technician in the factory had been with me all along, his dark, thin face always bearing a bright smile.

In an accident, the factory's youngest and most capable technician got caught in a machine and eventually died from excessive bleeding.

At the time, the responsibility was determined to be due to the technician's improper operation, and no compensation was given from above.

At that time, Mo Hanzhong's wife had just given birth to a baby weighing less than five pounds. Even with good nutrition, the baby might not survive, let alone a family that was already somewhat poor.

Finally, risking punishment, he wrote a report on the matter and bypassed his superiors, submitting it to higher-ups. The matter eventually came to a conclusion, and compensation was given to Mo Hanzhong's family.

He didn't know what happened after that, but with that money, raising a normal child wouldn't be a problem at all, and there wasn't much else he could do.

Then one year, he heard that the little one in the Mo family was doing well and had never been sick or injured.

He was quite happy at the time.

Even today, seeing the son of an old friend again seems to touch a soft spot in his heart.

He squatted there without moving, but his hands unconsciously started stirring the noodles.

Back then, most people in the factory ate their meals squatting down like this. It was convenient because they didn't have to look for stools everywhere, and they were also used to eating squatting down.

With each bite of noodles, the flavor of mustard greens fills the mouth and taste buds.

For a moment, he felt as if he had returned to the scene more than ten years ago, when everyone was squatting under the window eating noodles together.

Back then, Old Liu wasn't as old as he looks today, Old Zhang still had that big mouth and long tongue, Old Wang insisted on eating only when he was far away from people, and there was also Little Mo...

He smiled and gave him a thumbs up: "Hehe, following the factory manager, you can always eat the best noodles."

"Factory manager, when we have more money in the future, we must buy more equipment so that everyone can eat the white flour from our factory and enjoy such chewy noodles."

What was his answer back then?

Alas, I'm getting old, I can't remember anymore.

In his memory, the bowl of noodles in his hand had been completely eaten, leaving only a little soup and a few small pieces of mustard greens floating on top.

He placed the bowl on the table, silently walked down from the second floor, and quietly left the flour mill.

He didn't notice that Duan Dahai slipped out from a corner by the door, watching the other person leave with a complicated expression.

He didn't know what was wrong with the old factory director, but he could sense that he seemed very sad.

As for asking him to return to the flour mill, he sighed and thought it best to forget about it; a forced relationship won't be happy.

"Sigh..." Duan Dahai withdrew his gaze, tried to raise the corners of his mouth, and then turned around to continue with his own business.

……

"Don't worry, factory manager, I will definitely do my best."

"I don't expect to make it a huge success, but I'll definitely keep the factory alive."

……

"brush!"

Director Yu suddenly stood up in his grain depot office! His fists clenched, his cloudy eyes suddenly flashed with a sharp light, and his whole body trembled with excitement as if he had been electrocuted.

He remembered!
I remember what that line was!

So that's what he's been subconsciously holding onto all these years!
He tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and tears slowly streamed down his cheeks...

"What's wrong with you, Lao Yu?" The grain depot manager across the way looked at Yu Guofeng, who was behaving strangely at this moment, with a blank expression.

"I quit."

Director Yu opened his eyes, casually uttered a sentence, and turned to walk outside, heading straight for the old flour mill.

He started walking quickly, then faster, until finally he was jogging.

In my mind, some dead memories began to slowly awaken.

He heard many of his deceased companions speaking again in his voice.

"Such good flour, factory manager, those who buy it should be secretly happy."

……

"Old Yu, you said how wonderful it would be if our compatriots in the south could eat flour from our factory."

……

"Factory manager, I believe in you. With you here, our factory will never fall, never... That's what I, Xiao Mo, say!"

----

At noon, next to Duan Dahai's office.

Yu Dawei, Duan Dahai, and Boss Liang were squatting around a cardboard box, eating noodles.

The main problem is that the chairs are all next door, and it's too much trouble to move them. The important customers have all left, but there are still many individual customers outside, and I'll have to keep busy in a while.

"Squeak~" Just then, the office door was pushed open.

An elderly man with half-white hair and disordered breathing stood at the doorway. His gaze was no longer cloudy, but fixed on the noodles with gravy in the hands of the three people.

It was as if he could see his old friends squatting in the factory, waiting for him to have his meal.

"Factory manager, would you like a bowl?" Yu Dawei stood up, holding a bowl.

He stared blankly at Director Yu, who was staring at the noodles they were eating.

I thought to myself, maybe he's hungry.

“Give me a bowl!”

(End of this chapter)