Siheyuan: A master brewer starts with a jar of bone-strengthening wine!

Good heavens!

I knew this guy was no ordinary person!

Did you see it with your own eyes? It really can become invisible! Go back to the office and calm down!

Just as I rushed into the building, Liu Yumei, the office errand girl, came running in: "Director Liu, are you there?"

"Yes, I'm here." Liu Dong leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs.

"Finally found her!" Liu Yumei breathed a sigh of relief. "We searched the entire stairwell but couldn't find her..."

"Oh—" Liu Dong blinked, "I just went downstairs to the infirmary for a quick check-up, to get my blood pressure and heart rate checked. You know, as the director of the foreign exchange earnings office, I also manage the keys to the factory's infirmary!"

Liu Yumei rolled her eyes: "I just passed by the infirmary, the door was open, but I didn't see anyone."

Hey……

Liu Dong's face stiffened: Why is this girl so honest?

Then I looked at her blank stare and her perfectly straight bangs—oh my, she really is a stubborn person to the end.

"Ahem, let me add something," he quickly corrected himself, "I went to the infirmary downstairs first, and on my way out my stomach suddenly started growling, so I quickly went into the men's restroom and squatted there for a while—and wouldn't you know it, Lu Jizheng was just coming upstairs at that moment, and we passed each other! I can't exactly say I was squatting in the outhouse, can I?"

"Oh..." Liu Yumei finally nodded, showing an "I understand" expression.

Liu Dong then asked, "What do you want?"

"That's what Director Yang instructed!" She straightened her back. "This afternoon, the whole factory will hold an awards ceremony. We'll pin a big red flower on your chest to properly commend your hard-won contributions to generating foreign exchange, securing orders, and capturing market share for the factory lately!"

"The factory manager specifically instructed: 'You must wear the factory-issued work clothes, not Zhongshan suits—those are for meetings. We're workers, we need to look like we're doing the work!'"

Liu Dong chuckled: "Okay, go ahead and get busy."

He had heard about this before.

Director Yang had privately hinted at it to him a couple of days ago, but they hadn't quite set a date. Now it's settled—this afternoon!

He glanced down at his neatly ironed Zhongshan suit: Alright, I'll change into a blue work uniform when I get home later, and I'll have to tighten the hood.

He strolled to the window and looked outside—

A platform about half a person's height has been erected in the old square behind the administration building where movies are shown.

Several workers were hanging red cloth and pulling down banners, the ink still wet on them:

Warmest congratulations to Comrade Liu Dong for winning the title of Factory-wide Foreign Exchange Earning Pioneer!

Hey, this atmosphere is just perfect!

In the steel rolling mill workshop, Jia Dongxu burst in like a cannonball: "Master! Master!! Something terrible has happened!!!"

The sound was so loud that dust fell from the roof.

The fitters, welders, and foundry workers all turned around—what's the rush? Even the workshop foreman, Yi Zhonghai, raised his eyebrows.

"What are you yelling about?" Yi Zhonghai said sternly, his tone as cold as an iron ingot.

Jia Dongxu, still catching his breath, exclaimed, "I just passed by the back of the administration building and saw a stage set up and banners hanging... saying it was an awards ceremony for Liu Dong!!!"

"Huh?" Yi Zhonghai was taken aback. "Are we really going to give him an award?"

"Jia Dongxu!" Yi Zhonghai glared at him. "That's not right! Comrade Liu Dong is our factory's benchmark, our role model, our beacon! How can you say 'something big has happened'? You should say—'Good news has arrived'!"

He kept making exaggerated facial expressions as he spoke.

Jia Dongxu finally came to his senses and slapped his forehead: "Right, right, right! I misspoke! It's fantastic! Our institute has produced a truly outstanding role model, Comrade Liu Dong will soon be wearing a red flower!"

Only then did everyone turn their attention back to swinging wrenches and adjusting the lathe.

Yi Zhonghai's face was even darker than a cooled steel ingot.

Recognition?

Ugh... I feel like vomiting blood!

This has absolutely nothing to do with him.

The problem is—he has to make a public apology today!

Liu Dong immediately reported the mess he made last night to the neighborhood committee.

Director Zhang stormed into the factory that morning and dragged Yi Zhonghai, Jia Dongxu, Xu Damao, and He Yuzhu into a small conference room for questioning.

Yi Zhonghai dared not confront the issue directly, insisting that he had "misremembered" and thought the street office did not have tickets, and that he was not deliberately obstructing the public from getting things done.

He absolutely refused to accept the label of "being a member of the masses"; he only agreed to admit that he had "short-circuited his brain."

Seeing that his attitude was acceptable, Director Zhang gave him a way out and led him directly into Director Yang's office.

After several rounds of discussions, a final decision was made: Yi Zhonghai, representing the three "veterans" of the institute, would make a public self-criticism at the afternoon meeting.

He was wondering what kind of meeting was being held today.

As a result, in the morning he was thinking about his self-criticism, and in the afternoon he was presenting flowers and applauding Liu Dong?

Liu Dong was receiving an award on stage, while he was reading a self-criticism offstage?

……real or fake?

At that moment, Yi Zhonghai wished he could dig a hole on the spot and bury himself, never to show his face again.

But there was no other way—his livelihood, status, and privileged position all depended on this one kneel.

At exactly two o'clock, the bell rang.

Eight hundred employees crowded the square, and people were even squatting on the walls.

On stage, Luo Zhenxuan gripped the microphone, his voice booming like a gong: "Comrades! Today we solemnly commend a young man who has created miracles—he ventured abroad single-handedly, exchanging one ton of rubber for three tons of gold; he rescued people in distress, curing high fevers with his acupuncture; he has the factory in his heart and the world in his eyes..."

Finally, he raised his arm and said, "Let us give a warm round of applause to our steel rolling mill's foreign exchange hero—Comrade Liu Dong!" Liu Dong, with a bright red silk flower pinned to his chest, strode to the front of the stage.

Factory Director Yang then went up on stage as well.

Luo Zhenxuan cleared his throat and said in a loud voice, "Comrades! Comrade Liu Dong from our Zhang Steel Plant, relying solely on his skillful hands and abilities, managed to earn 22,220 US dollars in foreign exchange! Not only did he achieve his annual target beautifully, but he also multiplied it tenfold!"

"Let's give Comrade Liu Dong a resounding round of applause!"

Whoosh—la la la!

The workers below were clapping so enthusiastically that their palms turned red.

Factory Director Yang took the microphone, his tone shifting to a calm and forceful one: "Next, I have two more important announcements to make!"

"The first thing—" He paused, his eyes shining, "because of Liu Dong's merit in generating foreign exchange, the higher authorities specially approved more than 54,000 foreign exchange certificates as a reward! But what did he do? Without saying a word, he took out the entire 50,000 yuan and donated it all to the Beijing Municipal Veterans Affairs Office, not keeping a single penny for himself, giving it all to the families of martyrs!"

"Now, every family member of a martyr in the city has received a subsidy personally delivered by Comrade Liu Dong!"

"This story brought tears to my eyes, and it deserves the thumbs up of the entire nation!"

"Let's give him another round of applause!"

Splash!

The applause was so loud that dust fell from the roof.

Who would have thought? This young man really gave away all his money, leaving not a single penny for himself; it all ended up in the hands of the martyr's orphan and his elderly mother.

"The second thing!" Director Yang unfolded a sheet of gold-embossed red paper and read aloud, "Comrade Liu Dong, using his family's traditional Chinese medicine skills, cured a foreign expert's stubborn illness free of charge, earning the foreigner's thumbs-up and praise for the miraculous doctors of our Dragon Country! This not only warmed people's hearts and enhanced our national prestige, but also helped us open our doors to make friends. His contribution is immense!"