Starting from 1950

Zhou Zheng picked up a small piece of eggshell and rubbed it between his fingertips: "This stuff is rock hard. How are the soldiers supposed to eat it if we mix it into fried noodles? Won't they cut their throats?"

Su Yang couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Of course, you grind it into powder and eat it!"

The main function of an eggshell is the inner membrane, but the outer shell is not entirely useless.

After all, even in nature, many oviparous creatures' offspring will eat the eggshell after hatching.

"Ahem!"

Zhou Zheng coughed a few times, somewhat embarrassed, and then picked up the medical books that contained records of eggshells and pine needles, turning to the corresponding pages according to the instructions written on the paper.

After reading it once, I saw that it was indeed as Su Yang had said, that the effects of eggshells and pine needles were recorded on it.

He put down the book, his expression turning serious.

"Su Yang, it's good that you have ideas, and I support you. However, this matter is too big. I'm just a small factory manager, and I can only offer my opinions to my superiors. As for whether they will adopt them, I have no idea."

"Factory manager, I didn't say to follow this directly," Su Yang said frankly. "Let's first produce a small batch of finished products according to this formula, and then try to get them sent to the front lines for verification."

He paused, then added, "Think about it, if this recipe works, even if it only helps a soldier see a few more steps at night and reduces his pain, that would be good! Besides, eggshells are things that ordinary people don't want, and pine needles are everywhere in the mountains outside the city, so it won't increase the cost of the fried noodles."

The more Su Yang explained, the brighter Zhou Zheng's eyes became. Gradually, he also felt that this method was feasible, and couldn't help but slap his thigh, "Great! Su Yang, I approve this! You are fully responsible for this small-scale experiment! If you need any support, just contact the relevant departments for cooperation, and I'll give you the necessary approvals!"

"Yes! I guarantee I'll complete the mission!" Su Yang chuckled and straightened his back.

......

With the matter settled, Su Yang quickly took action.

With a wave of his hand, Zhou Zheng granted a special grant of 100 million yuan for the experiment.

Su Yang first organized the children in the family compound who were now idle. The task was simple: to go from street to street in the entire Tiexi District to collect eggshells. They were paid by weight, 10 yuan for every 1 qian (a unit of weight). He would reward the children with 500 yuan as a reward for their hard work if they collected a jin (a unit of weight).

The children in the entire residential compound sprang into action, and many began to regret not having saved the eggshells earlier.

After searching the house without finding any, the children eagerly began collecting the eggshells.

Eggshells are actually very light; it takes about seventy or eighty eggshells to make up one pound. So it's not easy for these kids to earn enough hard-earned money.

Dried carrots can be bought directly from the farmers market.

Pine needles can be found directly in the wild; you can gather a large bagful in no time.

After the raw materials are collected, they need to undergo preliminary processing. They need to be washed, the pine needles need to be dried, and the dried carrots need to be chopped and dried to remove any remaining moisture. Finally, all the raw materials are ground into powder.

As the saying goes, knowing is easy, but getting started is hard. By the time Su Yang had completed all the preparations and personally cooked 10 jin of fried noodles, it was already the third day after the start of the business.

......

Stir-fried noodles workshop number one.

"Come on, everyone! Have a taste!" Su Yang poured the steaming hot fried noodles into a large bowl and smiled at everyone.

His busy schedule these past few days has been noticed by the entire factory. Knowing that the new dough was ready for production today, all the middle and senior managers in the factory came to join in the fun, wanting to see if Su Yang could make a name for himself this time.

Zhang Zhenguo volunteered to be the first test subject. He didn't mind the heat and reached into the basin to grab a small handful and put it in his mouth.

"Hmm~! The taste is not bad!" His eyes lit up. He took a sip of water from the tea mug that had been prepared in advance, swished the flour down, and said with a smile.

The second one was Wang Cui. She grabbed a small handful with her fingers, put it in her mouth, chewed for a while, and exclaimed, "It really tastes better than the fried noodles before, and it's not as dry."

Su Yang knew that the reason he could stir-fry noodles so well was mostly due to the culinary expertise on the board; if someone else had cooked them, it might not have been as good.

He quickly changed the subject, saying, "As long as the fried noodles are edible, the main concern is nutrition."

Zhou Zheng also took a small bite, and after smacking his lips for a while, he was about to speak when he saw his secretary, Li Yan, come in with a serious expression.

All the cadres felt a chill run down their spines when they saw this.

"Factory Manager, Deputy Director Yue, who's in charge of logistics from Andong, is here!"

"Let's go!" Zhou Zheng's expression changed slightly, and he walked out quickly. Li Yan followed closely behind.

The other cadres looked at each other, all with a bad feeling.

Su Yang also frowned.

The Deputy Director Yue that Secretary Li mentioned was the military officer who visited the flour factory a few days ago.

He had previously stated that once Limin Flour Factory completed its task of producing 10 jin of fried noodles, it could return to normal production and would not be assigned any more urgent tasks in the coming month.

But only five days later, this person has come again. Could it be that he has some urgent mission this time?

"I have something to do in my department, so I'll be leaving now."

"I have to go back and keep an eye on production in the factory."

The cadres lost interest in figuring out the new fried noodles and left one after another.

While feeling uneasy, Su Yang had an idea.

This Deputy Director Yue is in charge of logistics; maybe we can get him to promote the new fried noodles on a small scale within the military.

Thinking of this, Su Yang quickly walked out of the workshop and headed towards the office building.

.....

"Son of a bitch!"

As soon as I arrived at the office building, I heard Zhou Zheng's roar from upstairs.

Su Yang's expression changed. Had Zhou Zheng clashed with Deputy Director Yue?

He quickened his pace upstairs and arrived at the door of the factory director's office.

The door was open, and a young soldier stood in the doorway; he was the same soldier Su Yang had seen before.

"Our commander is talking to Director Zhou. You can go in later," the soldier told Su Yang.

Su Yang nodded and stood with him outside the door, craning his neck to look inside.

Inside the office, the two did not appear to be having a conflict.

Yue Jinlong sat in the reception chair, smoking with a frown, while Zhou Zheng paced back and forth.

"Old Zhou, you just need to know about this. We're gathering evidence and preparing to have our diplomatic team question us internationally. Right now, the most important thing is that the food shortage at the front is getting bigger and bigger. You logistics units still need to keep working hard," Yue Jinlong said solemnly.

Zhou Zheng gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, taking several deep breaths to make his voice as normal as possible, "Rest assured, our Limin Flour Factory will do everything in our power! We will absolutely not let down the logistics leaders, and we certainly won't let down the soldiers on the front lines!"

Yue Jinlong gave him a complicated look, then said, "There's another matter. The headquarters believes the enemy will continue bombing our supply lines. If we continue using trains, they might... they might include the railways near Shenzhou in their bombing range. Plus, they destroyed hundreds of our trucks this time, so..."

"Zhi Si suggested that, in the future, each unit in Shenzhou should transport its own fried noodles to Andong, breaking them down into smaller batches to prevent them from being too large a target and being wiped out by the other side again."

"I understand!" Zhou Zheng nodded emphatically.

"Take care, for victory!" Yue Jinlong stood up and saluted.

"For victory!" Zhou Zheng retorted.

The two said no more. Yue Jinlong strode out of the office and nodded to Su Yang at the door, clearly impressed by him from last time.

"Goodbye, Commander!" Su Yang greeted him upon seeing this.

Yue Jinlong waved his hand and led the soldier on guard away quickly.

"Li Yan! Have Wu Xinxue make an announcement over the loudspeaker! Notify all factory cadres that a meeting will be held in the conference room in 10 minutes!"

Zhou Zheng came out of the office with a dark face and shouted to the next room.