The Chief Engineer's Office was one of the most powerful departments in the group pany. A pany's core is its business, and the Chief Engineer's Office manages shipbuilding. Other departments provide logistics support for shipbuilding. If the shipyard is an indepe kingdom, Gao Ming would be its prime minister.

  Ma Xiaowei was naturally a general uhis prime minister. He was a legend in the shipyard. He was ohe city's top high school exam scorer, admitted to Tsinghua Uy. He gave up the opportunity to stay in Beijing and resolutely returo the shipyard. However, trary to his expectations, the factory didn't value talented graduates and assigned him to sit idle in the researstitute. While his poraries were promoted to assistant engineer, he remained a nobody.

  Then came his reversal. Ma Xiaowei uood he had no bag, so he became a live-in son-in-w, marrying Feng Jia, the only daughter of an old party secretary. When the party secretary was still in power, Ma Xiaowei's career rocketed upward. He also gave the Feng family a grandson named Feng Xiaoxi.

  Now, not yet forty, Ma Xiaowei was the group's deputy chief engineer. Everyone predicted that in the leadership team, he would rise with Gao Ming - with Gao Ming as the top leader and himself taking the chief engineer position ay general mahat would be truly making it.

  Some underperf men in the factory liked to talk about Ma Xiaowei, saying they'd rather remain workers than be a live-in son-in-w, with children taking their wife's surname, which was shameful.

  But many young talents saw Ma Xiaowei as an idol, stantly speg about whether factory leaders had unmarried daughters they couldn't marry off.

  Ma Xiaowei had gathered a group of people around him, willingly used by him, from all walks of life. He wasn't stingy, always returning favors and providing corresponding care.

  After Gao Ming's instrus, Ma Xiaowei immediately acted. He went downstairs and got into his bck Passat. In the factory, car choices were deliberate - upper ma drove Audis, middle ma drove Volkswagens. They couldn't overstep. They shared one onality: two small red fgs on the windshield, showing their state-owerprise cadre status.

  Ma Xiaowei made a phone call to Rou Mingrui, a street hustler on Coal Port Road. Xiao Rou was somewhat reted to Ma Xiaowei, young and eic. He was effective when needed, familiar with ground-level operations. Ma Xiaowei would find him to solve social issues.

  "Xiao Rou, help me with something quickly," Ma Xiaowei always got straight to the point. "There's a Yu Mei Restaurant. Find their head chef. He's the guesthouse tonight. Remember, it's the chef who make spicy chi, a big bright red pte."

  "Direa, what a ce. I know that guy," Xiao Rou said. "I'll arra immediately. I'll deliver him before 5 pm."

  "Good, ha," Ma Xiaowei hung up and drove to the guesthouse, wanting to take this opportunity to get closer to Ou Jinhua and make an impression.

  Xiao Rou drove to Yu Mei Restaurant, got out, and shouted, "Brother Huang! Brother Huang~"

  No one responded. Only the spicuous seal on the door was visible.

  Xiao Hong came over, speaking through the gss door that the health bureau had ied at noon. Being Sunday, they couldn't process health certificates. Reopening would likely be in two or three days.

  Xiao Rou was amused: "Perfect timing to rest. Where's Old Huang? I have work to introduce. Leaders have heard about his cooking skills and specifically want to try it."

  Xiao Hong said Old Huang and the boss went to install a water heater. Xiaot the address, went there, knocked on the door, and expihe situation. Huang Peihu shook his head: "Not doing it."

  "Brother, this is a great opportunity. Direa isn't an ordinary persoing his appreciation means you've made it in this field," Xiao Rou persuaded.

  Wu Yumei, being smart, added, "Really 't go. Old Huang has h certificate. If something goes wrong with the food, we 't bear the responsibility."

  Huang Peihu also said, "I have no chef's certificate, h certificate. What am I going there for? We've already been fined 2000 yuan. If something else happens, it won't just be a fine - I might end up in jail."

  Wu Yumei said, "Yes, Old Huang was already detained for a night. We're not risking anything."

  Rou Mingrui said, "My dear brother, my dear sister, 't my little brother hahis for you? Just go and show up, and I'll take care of the rest."

  Wu Yumei said, "Little Rou, you might not be able to fix this. Today's health bureau iion on a Sunday is suspicious. This is targeting us. We won't help unless we find the person behind this."

  Rou Mingrui had no choice but to call a friend. In small pces, social works are plex, and through one or two es, you find anyone. He found out the reason for the health bureau's iion - it was a so-called public report, but actually just familiar people who disliked Yu Mei Restaurant and wao cause trouble.

  The name wasn't hard to find - Yin Bingsong.

  Rou Mingrui knew Yin Bingsong, a true top-tier social big shot who was untouchable.

  He could only call Ma Xiaowei and expiuation. Ma Xiaowei was frustrated. He knew what Yin Bingsong was like. Logically, they should be on the same side, but they were actually inpatible, with deep flicts.

  Ma Xiaowei thought to himself that such a small matter shouldn't be escated to Gao Ming, nor did it require direct frontation with Yin Bingsong. Helping Yu Mei Restaurant resolve this issue and responding as needed would suffice. In terms of resources, Yin Bingsong was no match for him.

  "Xiao Rou, ha like this. Brihe health bureau's fine slip. I'll take care of it. e to the guesthouse to cook a dish. It's not work, just a private gatheriween friends to show off cooking skills. 1000 yuan for transportation, and I'll help get the health certificate ahe health bureau from causing more trouble. What do you think?"

  Rou Mingrui repeated these words verbatim. Huang Peihu, who was already pnning to iate a priaturally agreed when offered such satisfactory terms.

  "But I'll bring my own pot and ingredients. I'm not used to the hotel's kit," he said.

  "Of course," Rou Mingrui was happy.

  He went back to the store, took some of the m's purchased ingredients, grabbed his iron wok and spatu, and took Huang Peihu in his bread van, arriving at the guesthouse before 5 pm.

  Ma Xiaowei hadn't met the chef. He was busy chatting with Ou Jinhua and his daughter in the sea-view vil. As the shipyard's top young talent, his demeanor and appearance were extraordinary. Ou Jinhua was quite appreciative.

  Ou's daughter also chatted with him a bit. Ma Xiaowei secretly sighed, "This is how a real man should choose a wife." He regretted marrying too early. paring a Prion-graduated, English-speakihy young dy to his fat, vulgar wife Feng Li was like paring a white deer in a green forest to a bck pig in a try pigsty.

  Feng Li weighed 130 jin when young, now 180 jin, with a face full of fat. She stantly visited beauty salons and luxury stores, was very suspicious, and often caused ses at the Chief Engineer's Office. Last time, she even scratched the face of a newly assigned female college graduate because the girl had sent Ma Xiaowei a text message about work arras.

  Ma Xiaowei had wao divorce several times, but his father-in-w's disciples were still in power. Divorce would harm his career. Having finally climbed to the deputy chief engineer position, leaving the shipyard would make him nothing. He couldn't afford to lose everything, so he could only endure.

  Colleg his thoughts, Ma Xiaowei stood up, politely excused himself, saying he would return in an hour to escort the iigatioo dinner in the East Sea Hall of the main building.

  After leaving the vil, Ma Xiaowei headed directly to the guesthouse kit, where he found Huang Peihu already ged into chef's attire. He barely looked at anyone, not out of disdain, but because he was incredibly busy and had to handle every detail.

  "Thank you, thank you, Xiao Rou, for taking care of the chef," Ma Xiaowei shook hands with Huang Peihu and then spoke to the administrative head chef. The guesthouse chef was dissatisfied with bringing in an outside cook, seeing it as disrespectful. Ma Xiaowei couldn't reveal this was Gao Ming's arra, so he could only bear it himself. After a lot of sweet talk, he finally pacified the administrative head chef.

  At 6:30 PM, guests were seated. Ma Xiaowei, as deputy chief engineer, could only sit at the end of the table. In fact, he hardly sat at all, stantly bustling about, busier than the administrative staff. The administrative director even joked, "Direa, are y to steal our jobs?"

  "We're all for the factory," Ma Xiaowei smiled apologetically. Cheg the time, cold dishes had been served for a while, and three cups of wine had been drunk. It was time for hot dishes.

  Ma Xiaowei ran to the kit personally, nodded in this dire, and Huang Peihu began cooking. His movements were skilled, ensuring quality and quantity - absolutely the explosive fvor of a street-side restaurant.

  The head chefs looked down on this street-style cooking. A five-star hotel kit could make such dishes but sidered it beh them. Their division of bor was more refined, with higher standards. Catering to a broader audience was key. Overemphasizing local characteristics was a taboo. Today's guests were from Shanghai and Southeast Asia. Serving such a spicy dish would be disruptive.

  This utation-damaging move. If Ma Xiaowei hadn't guarahe guests would love it and taken full responsibility, the kit would never have allowed it.

  The servers brought up a Great Red Robe dish. To maintain authenticity, Huang Peihu even brought his own enamel basin to serve the dish, preserving its inal fvor aails.

  Ma Xiaowei watched the VIPs' expressions. Ou Jinhua and others were casual, showing no particur rea. With so many dish choices, they wouldn't be attracted to a dish that looked entirely of red peppers, probably not even toug their chopsticks.

  But Ou's daughter clearly became happy, even showing her little tiger teeth. At this moment, Ma Xiaowei's heart stirred, feeling everything was worthwhile.

  Ah Li took a bite, then used public chopsticks to pie and pce it in front of her father, insisting Ou Jinhua try it.

  The daughter-doting Ou Jinhua could spicy food, but if his daughter said it was good, he'd say even dog shit was fragrant. He tasted it and nodded seriously, "Mm, not bad."

  Since Ou had said it was good, others had to taste it. The Southeast Asias in the iigation team also took a bite, nodding and praising, but only oe - they'd die before taking a sed.

  Locals were curious too, tasting it and finding it nothing special. They were used to delicacies and weren't impressed, but out of politeness, they gave a thumbs up, saying Ou was a gourmet.

  Ma Xiaowei uood - only Miss Ou truly loved it, but that was enough to achieve the predetermined goal.

  He looked at Gao Ming, who had a bnk expression but slightly nodded, meaning "well done."

  Then servers brought out a pte of fried ice cream, saying it ecial dish from the chef, given to the most beautiful dy at the table.

  The pte was naturally pced in front of Miss Ou. Ah Li was delighted, her expression overflowing. She finally realized this was a carefully arranged reception, bringing the Yu Mei Restaurant's chef.

  Gao Ming looked at Ma Xiaowei again, his eyes smiling. The leader assigask 1, the subordinate proactively pleted task 2 - well done.

  Ma Xiaowei was fused. He hadn't arrahis. Who gave the script? Who asked for the dish? Could it be the chef?

  The ba began its drinking battle. Unlike usual Maotai drinking, today they drank red wine, quite restrained. Ma Xiaowei didn't want to miss this opportunity to build retionships. Bad forth, he fot about the chef's matter.

  After sending the iigation team back to their aodation, it was quite te. Ma Xiaowei remembered the issue and called Rou Mingrui.

  "It's done. I brought the fine slip and gave him 1000 yua him home," Xiao Rou said.

  "Good, you worked hard. Let's have a drink sometime," Ma Xiaowei said.

  ...

  Of the 1000 yuan Rou Mingrui gave, Huang Peihu only kept 20redient costs, returning 800. Xiao Rou, being a social operator, couldn't refuse the money after some argument. He said the money would be spent iore.

  "e by often, have a drink with brother," Huang Peihu had the demeanor of a big brother, skilled at winning people over. He knew how to chat with society's characters. He wouldn't be someone who would just be ordered around. I, he had already probed the details of the shipyard's VIP reception, and even dressed in chef's whites, he went to the East Sea Hall entrance for a peek, tally seeing Ah Li. Now he uood everything.

  Basically, he was summoned by the factory's big shots to cook a dish, just a guest chef. But Huang Peihu wouldn't let this opportunity go to waste. He wouldn't just be used; he'd use others too.

  After returning, he tore off the seals from the store door and stove, reopening for business, and casually spread word to create a mysterious atmosphere and sense of prestige.

  Fragraneeds more than just an alley. In this era of i marketing, but you 't ck fuals. Without a solid base, even if hyped, it would cool down quickly.

  In fact, it wasn't just Yu Mei Restaurant promoting itself. Other forces were involved too. Xiang Bing's Weibo post got over 100,000 views. Not because the writing was great, but because her photography skills were excellent. She could perfectly capture the smoky, fly-restaurant atmosphere and the oily, spicy dishes through her lens. With "A Bite of a" Season One being hugely popur, her post went viral.

  But Weibo was for nationwide users. Outsiders wouldn't travel far to taste the Great Red Robe. So it just gained a reputation. What really worked was word of mouth within the shipyard.

  Ma Xiaowei bringing an outside chef to eain the iigation team, making the big boss eat with a mouth full of oil, giving a thumbs up and saying "OK", even wanting to pae to take back to Singapore for family to taste - ese cuisine is global number one, Jiang Tail's cuisine is top-notch, and the shipyard area's food pletely won over fs. The simple masses love such stories, and this wasn't baseless - it was verified by multiple sources.

  Rumors spread that Yu Mei Restaurant's chef was a martial arts master who had saved those people at the i cafe, also supported by on-site photos.

  Another rumor cimed Yu Mei Restaurant ged its menu. A Great Red Robe dish riced at 99.9 yuan, using free-range, greeified local chis. Only ten were avaible daily - e te, and you'd miss out.

  People are always like this. When something's freely avaible, no one cares. But mention it's limited, and they'll rush to get it. In the following days, Yu Mei Restaurant's business would boom - but that's aory.

  The day was Monday. In the m, Huang Peihu didn't go to get a health certificate. He didn't even have an ID, so naturally couldn't get the certificate. He made lunch, packed it in a thermal box, and delivered it to the middle school, chatting with the gate guard about yesterday's experience.

  The gate guard's eyes were sharp. He suddenly asked, "Do you know Old Xiang?"

  Factory people all knew each other. This ce with s. Yi Leng holy admitted he'd known the elder Xiang's daughter for many years and wao take care of the child.

  "You must have some untold story," the gate guard said. "Don't worry, I'll keep your secret."

  Yi Leng expressed his thanks, left the thermal box, gave the guard a cigarette, and the.

  Just after he left, Ah Li arrived. The gate guard said, "You really came to apply? I asked the principal this m. He said your fn uy qualification is reized in our try."

  Ah Li was delightedly surprised: "Really? That's great!"

  The gate guard picked up the phone, called the principal's office, and the Ah Li in.

  Ah Li wasn't actually there to apply, just passing by. She didn't expect this ued surprise. She found the principal and introduced herself. The principal was a serious middle-aged intellectual who asked about her qualifications.

  "I didn't bring my degree certificate," Ah Li shrugged. "I only have my passport with me."

  She took out a red-covered Singapore passport. The principal looked and said, "Introduce yourself in English."

  Ah Li's English had no Singaporean at, a very standard Ameri at. Though the principal wasn't an English major, he had basic disment skills. Hearing her, he was secretly pleased. Her English was good, but her fn status was more important - now the school could cim to have a fn teacher.

  The principal said, "Not bad. However, our school has ablishment quota. You only be a substitute teacher, teag children English. What do you think?"

  "Substitute teacher means what reviously called a civil teacher?" Ah Li was delighted. "That's great, it's my honor!"

  The principal smiled bitterly. Several young teachers had been waiting for establishment and had tn because substitute teacher treatment was low with no future. This well-dressed Singaporean girl was so excited about a substitute teacher position. This didn't necessarily show her noble character, only that her family was wealthy and she was worry-free. For substitute teachers, this was just life experience, but for other young teachers, this was real life.

  [--------------------------------------------]

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