The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 814 - 813 Attracting Business and Investment

It was almost nine o’clock in the evening when Pei Wenping finally got off work and went home. She ate the meal and soup that Shen Mingzhu had specially left for her, her face full of satisfaction and happiness.

"The food at home always smells better; the cafeteria dishes at the factory are getting worse by the day."

"Didn’t they just get a new chef this year?"

Pei Wenping gave her a look and said, "Talking about this always feels like complaining, but the current taste and quality of the cafeteria, compared to when you managed it, is far from comparable."

"The previous collective meals have been changed to a meal subsidy. Not to mention breakfast, but for lunch and dinner, each meal averages sixty cents per person. You can barely get a meat and a vegetable dish at the regular counter. It sounds okay, but if you see it, you’d know the vegetables are utterly devoid of any oil, and the meat isn’t anything good either."

"If you want to eat well, you have to pay extra to eat at a single stove, and the minimum extra cost per meal is one yuan and eighty cents. Those of us in management can afford it, but ordinary workers only earn five to six yuan a day. Asking them to pay an extra yuan for a meal, isn’t that demanding too much from them?"

"Frankly, the cafeteria restructuring has indeed reduced costs and increased efficiency for the factory, but it has also built up quite a bit of resentment among the employees. Every change has its pros and cons."

After listening to Pei Wenping’s complaints, Shen Mingzhu objectively analyzed, "This isn’t entirely due to the cafeteria’s restructuring. The cafeteria subcontractors bear a large part of the blame."

Pei Wenping said, "We shouldn’t have outsourced the cafeteria in the first place."

Shen Mingzhu realistically stated, "Outsourcing the cafeteria also has its benefits. The subcontractors have their advantages in procurement and operation, and the factory can reduce its operational pressure. It’s a win-win for both parties."

"The reason we ended up in the current situation is that we didn’t set up comprehensive and strict food standards and systems from the beginning. You might want to bring this up with Du Juan when you have time."

Pei Wenping swallowed the food in her mouth and smirked, "She’s too busy to care about such trivial matters now."

Speaking of this made Shen Mingzhu remember something important, "Has the factory been very busy lately? Why do you have to work overtime every day?"

Pei Wenping looked at her somewhat puzzled, "Don’t you know? Didn’t Du Juan tell you?"

Shen Mingzhu shook her head, "We haven’t seen each other for a while. Now that she manages the factory, I don’t want to interfere too much."

Pei Wenping put down her chopsticks and talked about Du Juan’s efforts in attracting investments.

"I thought she had discussed it with you. These past few days, I’ve been busy organizing operational data and accounts, as Luo Sen’s people want to review them."

Seeing Shen Mingzhu deep in thought, Pei Wenping added, "Du Juan is quite capable on her own; she managed to connect with Luo Sen’s investment group. A few days ago, people from Luo Sen visited the factory for an inspection, and they seemed quite satisfied."

"If we really secure investment from Luo Sen, our factory might just take off."

As the economy opened up, local governments also responded to calls to attract investment.

Many state-owned factories on the verge of bankruptcy were revitalized and improved with foreign capital injections.

Therefore, Pei Wenping supported and agreed with Du Juan’s efforts to attract investment for the food factory.

However, Shen Mingzhu’s attitude towards this was completely opposite.

Having traveled from the future, she knew all too well that the entry of these foreign capitals was a conspiracy and invasion.

Many national brands and lights of domestic products were harvested and dismembered by these so-called foreign investments, ultimately disappearing into the flow of history.

"Big sister, I have something to tell you." ƒгeewёbnovel.com

Seeing Shen Mingzhu’s expression suddenly turn serious, Pei Wenping became serious as well, "What is it? Tell me."

"Don’t give any operational data and financial information about the food factory and its subsidiaries to any external institutions or individuals without my personal authorization," Shen Mingzhu said.

Pei Wenping wasn’t foolish, she keenly sensed something from Shen Mingzhu’s tone.

"Do you not have a favorable view of Luo Sen investing in our food factory?"

"It’s not that I’m unfavorable towards Luo Sen, I’m rejecting all external funding, sister, that’s my attitude and bottom line."

"Why is that?"

"I’ll explain the reasons in detail later, but you must ensure the finance department is well-guarded on your end."

Pei Wenping nodded. "That won’t be difficult, although Du Juan is very keen on the investment from Luo Sen and has also put in a lot of effort, I’m afraid..."

"I’ll talk to her personally."

Seeing Shen Mingzhu was unhappy, Pei Wenping tactfully refrained from saying more.

Shen Mingzhu was indeed very unhappy. Although she had entrusted Du Juan with full management of the food factory and given her the highest authority, introducing external funding was a major issue that directly affected her interests as the founder and major shareholder. Du Juan should have at least informed her beforehand.

Whether you call it prejudice or not, Shen Mingzhu had no fondness whatsoever for the flood of foreign capital entering the country.

The next day, Shen Mingzhu went directly to the food factory.

When she arrived, Du Juan was in a meeting, so Shen Mingzhu took a tour of the factory, with particular attention to the employee cafeteria that Pei Wenping had vehemently criticized.

The employee cafeteria was located in the northeast corner of the factory area, with four floors, and an indoor usable area exceeding 3,000 square meters, completed at the end of last year.

Over the past two years, the number of staff had continuously increased. The old cafeteria had been expanded several times and still could not meet the demand, so they simply established a public cafeteria under the name of Shenji.

Apart from serving the food factory’s employees, the cafeteria was also open to the public, including workers from nearby factories and residents.

The first to third floors of the cafeteria had general counters offering canteen-style meals, while the fourth floor sold stir-fried dishes.

It was still early for lunch, but the kitchen of the cafeteria was already bustling.

The chef responsible for cooking stood on a meter-high stool with one foot, and his other foot rested on the edge of the stove, swinging a large spatula continuously stirring in the pot.

Shen Mingzhu walked over to the pot, stood on tiptoes, and looked inside. The pot contained sauerkraut with pork and glass noodles.

It was hard to tell whether it was a problem with the cooking method or the ingredients themselves, but rather than emitting any appetizing aroma, the pot gave off a suffocating, nauseatingly sour stench.

To the unknowing, it might seem as though pig feed was being boiled in the pot.

Once the dish in the pot was cooked, the chef began to add seasonings, and finally poured three to five spoonfuls of cooking oil, giving it a stir before taking it off the stove.

Shen Mingzhu finally understood why Pei Wenping loathed the cafeteria’s food - it was essentially just boiling the ingredients in water and then adding a bit of oil.

In the sixties and seventies, during times of severe scarcity in rural areas, this method of cooking was used to save oil.

But now in the mid-nineties, they had moved past the era of oil and grain shortages. Continuing to use this method was nothing short of unscrupulous.

After Shen Mingzhu left the cafeteria and returned to the office, Du Juan had just finished her meeting.

Seeing her, Du Juan was quite surprised. "Why didn’t you call ahead before coming to the factory? I could have scheduled the meeting for the afternoon to spare you the wait."