Siheyuan, Me and the Yu Sisters

After lunch, Zhang Renkang brought Qin Jingru to the department store. Qin Jingru had never seen such a magnificent six-story shopping mall before. As soon as she entered, she was dazzled by the dazzling array of goods. Zhang Renkang brought her to the men's clothing area on the first floor, and found the place for Zhongshan suits. To the surprise of the waiter, she bought two gray Zhongshan suits according to her body shape, two white shirts made of Dacron, and a pair of gray leather shoes made in Shanghai. After paying more than 40 yuan and the corresponding cloth coupons, Zhang Renkang brought Qin Jingru to the women's clothing area and selected a red floral Soviet-style "Bragi" dress for Qin Jingru to try on. Seeing Zhang Renkang's large and small packages, several salesmen in the women's clothing area also understood that this young man had consumption power, and kept praising him.

"Girl, your partner is really willing to spend money on you"

"Little girl, try this, this skirt suits you"

Qin Jingru was so shy that she didn't know what to say, but she felt happy in her heart. At Zhang Renkang's suggestion, Qin Jingru put on a red floral blouse with a pair of orange leather shoes, which made her look youthful and energetic. All the salesmen were jealous. Zhang Renkang took a look and thought it was good. He was willing to invest heavily. After all, for Zhang Renkang, money was not money now. He was worried about how to spend it in the future.

After Zhang Renkang paid 19.80 yuan and the corresponding cloth coupons, he took Qin Jingru to the second floor.

(I remember my grandfather said that in 1968, the first floor of the Beijing department store sold clothes, bicycles, home appliances, etc., the second floor sold watches and other small valuables, and the third floor seemed to sell food, cotton textiles, etc.)

Qin Jingru held the blouse and leather shoes in her arms, smiling sweetly in her heart. She was almost completely devoted to Zhang Renkang now. With this comparison, Qin Jingru was determined to kill Zhang Renkang. What she was holding was equal to her family's income for two years. How could Qin Jingru bear to go back to the village to farm?

Zhang Renkang came to the watch section. He had a fake watch at home to give him a sense of time, but it was sometimes inconvenient to not know the time when he went out. Since Li Huaide had given him a watch ticket, Zhang Renkang planned to buy one for himself. After all, he had obtained the ticket in a legitimate way, and as a section-level cadre, it was not too much for him to wear a watch and ride a bicycle.

When he came to the watch counter, there was not much to choose from these days, only Shanghai and Seagull. Zhang Renkang handed over the watch ticket and asked the salesperson to take out a Shanghai watch. He put it on and gestured a few times, thinking it was a good time to ask

"Comrade, how much is this watch?"

The salesperson smiled and said

"120 Yuan, Comrade"

The smartest thing Zhang Renkang did was to give the ticket to the salesperson first. In addition, he and Qin Jingru had a lot of things, which undoubtedly told the salesperson that they were not ordinary people. Otherwise, you don’t think the salesperson would pay attention to you. After all, not many people can afford watches. There are many people who come to ask the price and want to try them on every day. They have long been impatient.

Zhang Renkang took out 12 big black ten bills and handed them to the salesperson. After getting the bills and the watch box, he left the department store with Qin Jingru. On the way back, Qin Jingru was thinking, how much money does Zhang Renkang have? He spent more than 200 yuan today, not only buying watches, but also bicycles and radios. This family condition is definitely unmatched in the surrounding villages.

After seeing Qin Jingru off, Zhang Renkang rode his bicycle towards the steel rolling mill. Now Zhang Renkang had no plan to do anything to Qin Jingru. His attitude towards and investment in Qin Jingru were just casual moves. He didn't care even if there would be no gain in the end.

If there is really no suitable one next year and Qin Jingru is not married, Zhang Renkang does not mind marrying her. After all, Qin Jingru can be regarded as an obedient and indecisive woman in this drama. The most important thing is that she follows her husband, has no ulterior motives and will not change her mind. As for other things, he has not really thought about it. Zhang Renkang did plan to stop attracting women before Lou Xiaoe left.

At 3 pm, in the dining hall of a canteen in a steel mill

Zhang Renkang followed Liu Liang and walked over. Looking at the ten chefs of each canteen and the dozen people from the canteen standing in front of him, Liu Liang stepped forward and said

"Everyone, you all heard this morning that Comrade Zhang Renkang has outstanding abilities and has been appointed by the factory leaders as the deputy director of our canteen department. Please applaud and welcome him."

As he spoke, he led the applause. Everyone in the first canteen started to applaud enthusiastically. The ten chefs and squad leaders from the other five canteens also had to follow suit.

Liu Liang cleared his throat again and said

"As you know, I am old and will retire next year. Sometimes I am really unable to do my job. Therefore, except for the first canteen, all other canteens have been criticized by leaders and workers many times. What is the reason?"

“I think you should think about this carefully.”

"Now that Deputy Director Zhang has taken office, a thorough rectification will be carried out... Deputy Director Zhang will lead the charge, and I fully support it. Anyone who disobeys will be severely punished."

"I don't want the situation where leaders and workers have so many complaints about us to happen again. Now, please let Deputy Director Zhang speak."

After saying that, Liu Liang stepped back and motioned Zhang Renkang to step forward.

Zhang Renkang said with a smile

"You are all veterans of the canteen. Our canteen provides nutritious and delicious meals for workers, ensuring that they are well fed, well fed and satisfied, so that they can devote themselves to work. Seriously speaking, we are the biggest guarantee for production."

"Before, workers complained frequently due to material problems and other minor issues. Now, the material supply in the factory has been greatly alleviated. After negotiating with the leadership, we now provide about 1,000 kilograms of various meats to canteens two to six each, excluding canteen one. This is enough to provide meat and vegetables three times a week."

"Can you guys ensure that the workers have good food?"

After hearing what Zhang Renkang said, not only did the twenty or so people below talk about it, but Liu Liang was also confused. He didn't know about the supplies, so how could Zhang Renkang be so sure? At this time, Wang Dahai, the "level six chef" and team leader of the second canteen (the first and second canteens are team leaders, which means they can be more independent, and the other four are squad leaders, and they still need to report to Liu Liang every day) asked

"Deputy Director Zhang, is what you said true? Can our purchasing department have so much meat?"

Liu Liang also quickly asked

"Renkang, this is no joke, is it true?"

Zhang Renkang said with a smile

"It will be delivered to the kitchen tomorrow morning, don't worry, Director Li has just informed you."

Seeing Zhang Renkang mention Li Huaide, Liu Liang was half-believing and half-doubting. He knew that Li Huaide valued Zhang Renkang, but the relationship between Zhang Renkang and Li Huaide was too close, right? He didn't even know about this.

Seeing Zhang Renkang's guarantee, everyone was skeptical. Wang Dahai said

"Deputy Director Zhang, if this really happened, we would definitely ensure that the workers would have enough to eat. We just didn't have much to do before, and a chef couldn't cook anything with just a few ingredients."

Zhang Renkang nodded and continued,

"I still believe in your abilities. Now look up and take a good look at the hygiene and layout of the First Canteen. Then go to the kitchen and take a look. The recent big pot dishes are not made by me. They are made by Chef Li and a few kitchen helpers. Why is the First Canteen so well-received by the workers?"