Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

The promotion of wild vegetable steamed bread in the steel rolling mill was very successful.

On the first day of the promotion, wild vegetable steamed bread only accounted for half of all staple foods.

Today is the sixth day of the promotion, and wild vegetable steamed bread has accounted for 80% of all staple foods.

Because of the addition of a large amount of wild vegetables, although the daily food supply of the steel mill has become less, the workers did not go hungry. Instead, they ate more fully than last year.

Faced with such a result, Director Yang was very dissatisfied.

All the necessary means have been used, but nothing has stopped Wang Dong from promoting wild vegetables in the steel mill. Perhaps this is just timing and luck.

More importantly, this matter received support and praise from my superiors, and I also received a lot of praise.

As the proposer and promoter of wild vegetable steamed bread, Wang Dong was not liked by Director Yang, but he had to put on a smile and agree to all the rewards proposed by Deputy Director Li.

Otherwise, once the news spread that Wang Dong had made great contributions to the steel mill but did not receive the due rewards, he, as the director of the steel mill, would definitely be criticized by his superiors and leave a bad impression on them.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Wang Dong appeared in Deputy Director Li's office on time.

Seeing him staring at him with a smile on his face, Wang Dong knew without hesitation that the reward for his promotion of wild vegetable steamed bread had come out.

"Comrade Wang Dong...from today on, I will call you Deputy Director Wang..." Deputy Director Li said with a smile.

"After my repeated insistence at the factory leadership meeting, Director Yang agreed to remove the word 'acting' from your title and officially appoint you as the deputy director of the steel mill kitchen."

"And this position has been approved by the superiors, no one can change it."

"Even I, the deputy factory director, benefited greatly from this..."

"It won't be long before many factories in Beijing learn how to make wild vegetable steamed bread, thus reducing food consumption."

"You are indeed my lucky guy. You always surprise me at critical moments."

"If you hadn't suggested that I make wild vegetable steamed bread at the steel mill, I might still be collecting unplanned food everywhere, trying to find ways to feed the workers every day, not to mention receiving commendations from my superiors."

"Officially appointing you as the deputy director of the kitchen is a reward from the steel mill and the superiors. As the deputy director, I can't be too stingy."

"You are serving as the deputy kitchen director as a worker, and you are not yet a cadre. Although your rank is deputy section level, you can only receive the salary of a section officer."

"Director Yang wanted to give you a rank of Level 22, with a monthly salary of 57 yuan. After my repeated efforts, I finally gave you the highest rank of Section Officer, Level 21, with a monthly salary of 63 yuan."

"Considering that the steel mill cannot do without you for the time being, I will give you an additional 5 yuan per month, for a total of 68 yuan."

"As long as you don't make any mistakes in the next six months and make more contributions, I promise that within six months, your status will be upgraded from worker to cadre. Then your rank will be at least level 20, and it won't be a problem to strive for level 19. Your salary will also skyrocket to 70 or 80 yuan."

After saying this, without waiting for Wang Dong to respond, he took out a stack of bills that had been prepared long ago from the cabinet and placed them in front of Wang Dong.

"This is a private reward from me as the deputy director of the steel mill. It includes 20 jin of grain coupons, 10 jin of meat coupons, and 5 jin of oil coupons..."

"The supplies in the city are becoming increasingly scarce. The price of a pound of flour on the black market has exceeded two yuan. If my estimate is correct, these bills are worth at least one hundred and fifty yuan. Consider them as your hard work fee during this period."

"I have always been a person who rewards those who have made contributions."

"As long as you follow me and work hard, you will definitely get more benefits in the future." Wang Dong was very excited.

Compared with the family’s grain reserves, a monthly salary of more than 60 yuan was not a lot, but after becoming a formal cadre, at least no one in the courtyard dared to take advantage of him.

Even if the wind blows in the future, the possibility of being attacked is much lower than that of ordinary people.

Immediately expressed gratitude: "Thank you, leader..."

"I will listen to you and work hard in the future. I promise to be a good deputy kitchen director and not let you down..."

"Speaking of meritorious service, I do have something I need to consult with my superiors."

"Right now, our steel mill is the only one in the city that is picking a lot of wild vegetables in the mountains outside the city."

"When more and more factories in Beijing start to promote wild vegetable steamed bread, the wild vegetables outside the city will surely be planted out eventually."

"Without wild vegetables, we can't make wild vegetable steamed bread, and the workers will still go hungry. Please ask the leaders to prepare for this early."

Deputy Director Li's good mood due to his meritorious service disappeared in an instant.

A steel rolling mill alone consumes more than 2,000 kilograms of wild vegetables every day.

If all other factories in the city were included, the amount of wild vegetables consumed every day might be more than 20,000 kilograms.

No matter how many wild vegetables there are in the mountains around Sijiu City, they are not enough to pick.

If we don’t find a solution quickly, there will indeed be no wild vegetables available.

He frowned and analyzed: "Can we go farther away to pick wild vegetables... After we have picked all the wild vegetables around the city, we can go to the rural areas farther away to pick them."

"Anyway, we are short of everything now, the only thing we don't lack is people."

"If two hundred workers are not enough, I will transfer four hundred workers to pick wild vegetables."

Wang Dong shook his head and replied: "Leader..."

"This approach will definitely not work."

As a state-owned enterprise, Sijiucheng cannot compete with the common people for food no matter what.

If he really did this, it would cause dissatisfaction among the local commune and the people, and he would probably lose his position as deputy factory director.

Just when he racked his brains to no avail and his brows were furrowed deeper and deeper, he suddenly caught sight of Wang Dong's calm facial expression.

His eyes lit up and he asked, "Deputy Director Wang..."

"You are full of tricks..."

"You discovered this problem, and I see you're not in a hurry at all. Do you already have a solution in mind?"

"If you have any, please tell me quickly. If it can be useful, help the steel mill solve this dilemma. I can't guarantee anything else, but it should be no problem to convert your worker status to cadre status."

"Leader, you didn't lie to me?" (End of this chapter)