The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 4: Cooks Don't Steal
Ma Yushan smiled and said, "I'll just taste it, and take a few slices back home for my children to eat. At least it's meat. You haven't got a family yet, so you don't understand these things. When you have children, you'll know what's delicious. You have to give priority to the children first."

Liu Hua picked up two slices and gave them to Ma Yushan: "It can be considered as me adding some nutrition to my brothers and sisters."

Team leader Ma did not refuse. Knowing Liu Hua's background, he knew that the supplies Liu Hua could get were definitely more abundant than his own, so he would not be short of a few.

In fact, Liu Hua only went home a few times a month to have a bite to eat, and he was already lucky enough to have some shredded pork. In the past three years, life as a cadre has been difficult.

After washing the lunch box, Xu Damao found a place to take a nap. Liu Hua and Ma Yushan took the lunch boxes back to the office, chatting as they walked.

"Xiao Liu'er, I see that your drawings have improved today. I've also seen your drawings getting better over the past month."

Liu Hua smiled and said, "Of course, practice makes perfect. If my drawings get worse and worse, doesn't that mean I'm not working hard enough?"

"There shouldn't be many left." Ma Yushan said, "Hurry up. There are only a few days left this month. Finish the drawings quickly and you will be officially hired next month."

"I estimated that it would only last for three or four days, and it would definitely not be delayed until next month."

Ma Yushan nodded: "I knew you could do it. You are a very intelligent kid. I have seen your study progress in the past six months. You are willing to use your brain. After you become a regular employee, I will personally take you to the workshop to familiarize yourself with our machines. Then I will find a reason to give you a promotion."

"No hurry." Liu Hua nodded: "I'm still young, and I'm afraid that if I'm promoted too quickly, it will attract attention. Then other people in our department will have opinions, which will be detrimental to our internal unity."

"You are so young, but you have a lot on your mind. You think very comprehensively." Ma Yushan nodded: "You should have a good rest. You have been drawing for the whole morning. Your mind must be as confused as paste. I will go to the workshop to take a look."

"Why don't you go to the workshop and have a look? You are addicted to chess."

Ma Yushan pointed at Liu Hua and said, "I call this changing my mind. It is based on my many years of work experience. Young man, you should learn from it."

"No." Liu Hua shook his head deliberately like a wave drum and said jokingly, "I am the successor of socialism and a promising young man. How can I learn your slick work attitude?"

"Nonsense, I'm taking a lunch break, right?"

After helping Team Leader Ma put the lunch box on his desk, Liu Hua leaned back in his chair, drank two sips of water, and smoked a cigarette. He felt a little sleepy. He had been drawing the blueprints for the whole morning, and his brain was really like a paste. He had to take a nap, otherwise he would not have energy in the afternoon.

He didn't know how long he had slept in a daze. It was Ma Yushan knocking on the table that woke him up. Rubbing his eyes, Liu Hua took a towel and went to the bathroom to wash his face with cold water. Only then did he come to his senses.

"Team leader, how was the performance this afternoon?"

Ma Yushan said uncomfortably, "Yang Laoer from the second workshop has no moral principles. We played three games. I didn't beat him in the first game, but he didn't lose to me in the second game. In the third game, I wanted to regret my move, but he wouldn't let me."

The office suddenly became quiet. Suddenly, Zhang Xiaoli, the only female technician, realized something: "So we played three games of chess at noon, and you, the team leader, didn't win any of them."

The office, which had been quiet just now, suddenly erupted into thunderous laughter. Ma Yushan said awkwardly, "What do you kids know? Playing chess is like fighting a war. Victory and defeat are common in the military."

"But for you, the chess game is not a matter of victory or defeat." Zhang Xiaoli said jokingly, "Your failure in chess is an eternal theme." Ma Yushan began to change the subject: "Okay, okay, we still have to go to work. Xiaoli, go to the third workshop and discuss the schedule for machine tool maintenance this week with their director."

Zhang Xiaoli picked up the documents on the table and walked out of the office. In order to avoid being caught in the crossfire, the other people picked up their tool kits and went to the workshop.

Liu Hua was preparing to draw a blueprint when he suddenly thought of something and asked in confusion, "Team Leader, there is something I don't understand."

"If you don't understand anything, just ask. Are you still playing tricks?"

Liu Hua said in confusion: "I drew the process drawing of the parts, right? Shouldn't this be handled by the process group office? Our office is responsible for the equipment. If I am given a permanent position because of this, others will be dissatisfied."

"You are just an intern, the only intern in the technical department of the whole factory. Who can be upset if you get promoted after making some achievements?" Ma Yushan said with a smile, "I have already informed the process department about this matter. They are also very busy. Please help me. You are eager to help others. Draw the drawings well. I will transfer you to the next level. A salary of more than 30 yuan is not good enough."

"Oh, I see."

Ma Yushan patted Liu Hua on the head and said, "Just be happy, kid. Several leaders are worried about your promotion. If you really get promoted, you have to treat us to a meal."

"Of course I am. I am not a fool. I know the ways of the world."

After drawing drawings for a whole day, I saw that there were only a few drawings left to be backed up, so I tidied up my desk and locked the drawings in the filing cabinet. These tasks cannot be neglected. If I make a mistake, I will be in big trouble.

When he walked out of the factory gate, he saw Sha Zhu walking in front of him, shaking with a lunch box in his hand.

Liu Hua took a few quick steps forward and greeted him, "Brother Zhuzi, have you taken over the kitchen again?"

"Don't say that." Sha Zhu hurriedly explained, "This is the meal for the middle shift. I packed a portion and brought it back for Yu Shui to eat. I paid for it."

"I was just joking. Why are you so nervous? If you have done nothing wrong, you should be fine."

Sha Zhu also smiled and said, "I do some bad things occasionally. The leader cooks for me, so I sometimes follow suit."

"I know." Liu Hua smiled and said, "As the old saying goes, if the cook doesn't steal, the crops won't be harvested."

"That's right." Sha Zhu said proudly, "That's what I mean. This is our old tradition."

Liu Hua said angrily: "Brother Zhuzi, didn't your master explain to you what this sentence means?"

"What do you mean? Doesn't it mean that if the cooks don't steal vegetables, the crops won't grow?"

Liu Hua sighed, shook his head and said, "What this means is that cooks generally don't steal things, unless the crops are ripe and there is really no other way, then they will steal. You have completely misunderstood the meaning. If everyone is like you, then all cooks will become petty thieves, right?"

(End of this chapter)