1994: Starting with unpaid leave

Helping out when someone is in trouble is no problem.

But the problem is, people always have to learn to help themselves.

The principle is to provide emergency relief, not long-term support.

Dong Jianguo wholeheartedly agreed.

If these women really want to get sales jobs, they need to demonstrate their true value.

Or to put it bluntly, they need to demonstrate their suitability for this line of work.

Therefore, Dong Jianguo planned to put some pressure on them first.

Sure enough, upon hearing that only one of the four would be hired, the other three women, except for Gao Cailing, appeared somewhat nervous.

However, the group didn't say anything more and left Dong Jianguo's courtyard with the box of braised eggs.

Seeing a motionless high-pitched bell, Dong Jianguo couldn't help but feel curious:

"What's up?"

"Director Dong, I wanted to ask if it's okay if I don't go to those convenience stores in the neighborhoods you mentioned to do sales?"

"Where do you want to sell it?" Dong Jianguo asked curiously.

"Hecheng University, Hecheng Vocational School... I tried the braised eggs the factory gave out before, and I think our factory's braised egg products might be more suitable for students in schools who have some pocket money..."

"My younger brother studies at Hecheng University. He told me that students usually eat at the school cafeteria, and if they get hungry after returning to their dorm at night, they usually eat instant noodles..."

"If instant noodles could be served with braised eggs... they would probably sell quite well."

Dong Jianguo thought for a moment and nodded: "You can give it a try."

"I'm just giving you an initial idea. As for what to do next, you can decide for yourself."

"You used to work in sales at a textile factory, so you have plenty of experience in this area. Just rely on your intuition; you don't need to tell me everything."

"OK."

Gao Cailing nodded before leaving with the box in her arms.

As soon as I stepped outside, I saw three people standing guard at the entrance of Dong Jianguo's house.

Seeing her come out and turn to leave as if nothing had happened, Wang Guiying couldn't help but call out to her:

"Hey, what were you saying to Tung Chee-kwok inside?"

"Do I even need to talk to you?" Gao Cailing said indifferently, then picked up the box of braised eggs and walked away on her own.

Watching her retreating figure, Wang Guiying couldn't help but spit on the ground: "Hmph, you slut, still trying to show off!"

Shi Huilan tugged at her sleeve: "Sister Guiying, I don't think Gao Cailing is a bad person."

"That's not necessarily true. There's no one easy to deal with in our sales department! Those sluts will do anything to get more orders!"

Wang Guiying was still angry about Gao Cailing's comment about the high commission rate, and couldn't help but mutter a few words about her behind her back:

"Let me tell you, this kind of charisma is innate. Look at us, we don't even know how to start a conversation with Dong Jianguo. But look at him, he just opened his mouth in the courtyard and he's already on Dong Jianguo's side!"

"I think Gao Cailing is no ordinary person."

Hearing her analysis, the other two nodded thoughtfully.

"Is there anything else?"

Dong Jianguo, who was pushing his bicycle out, was puzzled to see the three people gathered in front of his door.

"Oh, we're nothing, just chatting for a bit, discussing how to proceed with our work. Where are you headed, Jianguo?"

"The factory." Seeing that nothing else was wrong, Dong Jianguo turned around and locked the courtyard gate.

As he mounted his bicycle, he suddenly remembered:

"By the way, Sister Wang, if you join the factory in the future, just call me Director Dong."

After Dong Jianguo finished speaking, he pushed off with his foot, and the front and rear wheels of the 28-inch motorcycle started spinning loudly.

For a moment, Wang Guiying's face was full of embarrassment, and she could only smile apologetically at Dong Jianguo's retreating figure.

"Ah? Oh... Okay, Factory Manager Dong, take care!"

……

In the evening, Mr. Zhong from the meat processing plant arrived at the food factory on time.

Without saying a word, he helped Dong Jianguo set up the two newly arrived machines.

"When I was making these two machines during the National Day holiday, I thought about it carefully. Although they are manual, there is still room for improvement."

"So I made some minor adjustments to the internal structure, and the air extraction efficiency should be significantly higher than the previous one..."

He explained and demonstrated at the same time, and everyone in the factory followed him and learned attentively.

There's no way around it; that's how small factories are. You never know when someone might be unavailable, so Dong Jianguo requires everyone to learn as much as they can.

Learning is not enough; you also need to be able to put it into practice.

After Zhong Gong finished explaining, everyone practiced the technique themselves. Only after Zhong Gong confirmed that there were no problems did he stop.

A square table was set up in the courtyard, and plates of hot dishes cooked by nearby restaurants were brought out, quickly filling the table.

In the center of the table, there were two bowls of chicken feet.

One bowl is pickled pepper flavored, and the other is five-spice flavored.

Xiuyun marinated the chicken feet all afternoon, and they were extremely flavorful.

The sour and spicy flavor completely overwhelmed the other dishes on the table.

As soon as Zhong Zhengtao took his seat, he was taken aback when he saw the two large bowls of chicken feet in the middle of the table:

"Director Dong, this dish..."

"I asked my wife to make it, and I plan to make this dish our factory's second product."

"I was just thinking that since you're here today, I thought I'd invite you, Mr. Zhong, to try it out and give me some feedback."

Seeing Dong Jianguo's sincerity, Zhong Zhengtao did not refuse and picked up a piece of pickled chicken feet with his chopsticks.

"hiss--"

Zhong Zhengtao's eyes widened suddenly, and his usually calm and serious face instantly showed an expression that was a mixture of astonishment and curiosity.

He instinctively covered his mouth with his other hand, making a muffled gurgling sound.

First, a mixture of sweet and sour bursts in your mouth.

Immediately following was an indescribable spiciness.

No, to be precise, it's still a sour and spicy flavor...

After finally swallowing it, he opened his mouth to inhale, letting fresh air help relieve the numbing and spicy sensation in his mouth.

Strange taste.

That was his first impression.

But what's even stranger is that after the numbing and spicy sensation in his mouth subsided slightly, he unconsciously took another bite.

"This...is so strange..."

"I've never eaten anything so strange before..."

Seeing that no one else had started eating, Dong Jianguo smiled at everyone:

"Don't just stand there, everyone! Let's try out Xiuyun's new product!"

"Yueyue, don't eat this. Try the five-spice flavor instead!"

As Dong Jianguo spoke, he stuffed a dark brown chicken foot into his goddaughter's hand.

Hearing him speak, Erzhuzi and Zhao Hongmei each picked up a chicken foot and started eating.

Although everyone has their own interpretation of Hamlet, both Erzhuzi and Zhao Hongmei hissed as soon as the chicken feet entered their mouths, just like Zhong Gong.

For a moment, hissing and gasping sounds filled the dining table.

Little Yueyue, on the other hand, was enjoying the spiced chicken foot that her godfather had given her, eating it with great relish without even looking up.

After everyone had finally finished their first cigarette, Zhou Xiuyun, feeling a little uneasy, cautiously looked at everyone:

"What do you all think of my work? Please feel free to give me any feedback so I can make further improvements..."

Seeing that no one spoke, Dong Jianguo smiled and directly addressed Zhong Zhengtao: "Engineer Zhong, you've been in the food industry the longest, what do you think of this snack?"

Zhong Zhengtao licked his lips, his face serious:

"I think my sister-in-law is a genius!"