Master Ma cleared his throat: “What nonsense are you talking about? Who said I went to take on an apprentice? I just saw that the young guy was eager to learn. Anyway, since Ma Zi in our shop is getting transferred, I thought I’d ask if he’d be willing to come over.”
In reality, Zhou Yuanchao was more than happy to agree. Like Xu Shuang, he worked as a chef at the commune restaurant. His master wasn’t a proper mentor—just an old man in the village who used to help cook for village banquets.
Zhou Yuanchao picked up a few skills from the old man, but they were limited. Still, he had already done quite well for himself. Even though he was illiterate, he attended the commune’s literacy class and gradually learned to read a few recipes and cook by following them.
Even for this certification exam, Zhou Yuanchao felt deeply wronged. His master had never taken an exam and didn’t know how it worked. Zhou ended up spending ten yuan to consult a chef in the county. But that guy didn’t explain things clearly and just told him to “play it safe.”
Play it safe—so safe he failed.
Zhou Yuanchao’s story sounded pitiful, but Master Ma felt like he’d struck gold.
No proper master? Even better!
He rubbed his hands together, feeling like his luck had finally turned. One useless apprentice gone, and now a promising Level 3 candidate had landed right in front of him.
Master Ma calculated it all in his head: “I’m not like you guys. My apprentice has already been trained, and I’ll be retiring in a few years. If I don’t bring up a new apprentice quickly, what will I do?”
Master Ma was the oldest of the three head chefs, and he was nearing retirement.
The reason he had been eager to push Ma Yongjun forward was exactly that—once he retired, there would be a vacancy in the kitchen. Judging from Old Chen’s attitude, it seemed likely that his apprentice, Xu Shuang, would be promoted to fill it.
Old Chen had seniority, and his apprentice had the skills. It was basically a done deal.
As for Master Ma’s job, he intended to pass it to his youngest son—which was a common path in the culinary world.
The usual process was: pass the skills to the apprentice, then let the apprentice train your son.
Master Ma’s youngest son was still very young, a child born late in life. He was only thirteen or fourteen, so he’d have to wait another couple of years. By the time he was old enough, he’d be ready to take over, and there’d be a senior apprentice around to guide him.
Perfect.
Master Ma had originally arranged his life down to the last detail. Who would’ve expected to end up stuck with that big idiot, Ma Yongjun?
Master Ma sighed, “Ai, Old Chen, my fate is bitter.”
He pulled Chen Dong aside into a corner to pour out his grievances, roundabout and repetitive.
The core message was: My apprentice, Ma Yongjun, is a big dumbass, and my cousin is just as brainless. I truly don’t know what those two are up to. If you’re angry, go ahead and vent, but I’m just an unlucky bystander who got dragged into this…
After his long tirade, Chen Dong still wore the same smiling face.
Master Ma couldn’t take it anymore: “Old Chen, look at you, why are you so petty? Like some old woman. We’ve known each other for years— even if my brain were full of crap, I’d never try to match you with Ma Dalian.”
That cousin of his was naturally mean-spirited and stupid to boot. At home, she was constantly used by her daughters-in-law as a pawn—one moment attacking this person, the next oppressing that one. Never mind the family property, just by intelligence alone, she wasn’t even in the same league.
Master Ma: “You tell me what to do. It’s my fault I didn’t keep a close eye on things and let that brat Yongjun set his sights on you. However you want to handle this, just say the word. If necessary, I’ll make Ma Yongjun go wash dishes.”
Chen Dong: “Old Ma, listen to yourself. That’s your apprentice, after all. Making him wash dishes is a bit too harsh… Just transfer him to another restaurant. Young people need some toughening up.”
Master Ma: “…Fine, I’ll handle it.”
He accepted his bad luck—after all, who told him to take on an apprentice?
But Master Ma also understood why Chen Dong had gone through such a long and roundabout way to get him to step in. Chen Dong was cautious by nature. Back when things were the most chaotic a couple of years ago, he had almost been implicated. But he pulled a stunt and got away with it—he just lay down on the ground and said he was about to die.
No one knew how he managed it, but it looked so real—his face had gone pale and bluish like a ghost. His house was completely empty, and he lay inside wrapped in a ragged quilt. Who dared to mess with him?
The old man looked like he was about to die any second. You couldn’t even say when he might suddenly croak. If anyone went after him, their reputation would be ruined. How would they keep living in Nanshao?
On top of that, Chen Dong’s superior vouched for him, saying he had really donated everything and didn’t have a single cent left. He even had to get an advance on his wages just to eat at the restaurant. The most valuable thing in his home was a photo of him with a high-ranking official, which he had hung in the most prominent spot.
And with all that bluffing, Chen Dong actually made it through unscathed.
Master Ma thought back to how he had cried all night thinking Chen Dong was really dying—it still made him angry.
Chen Dong had muddled through for half a year, and when things finally calmed down in Nanshao, he came back and quietly resumed his job as a chef. He kept a low profile, sometimes even putting up with small slights just to avoid conflict.
Sigh, not an easy life.
It’s not the people in power you fear—it’s the petty ones. When pushed too far, petty people will do anything without hesitation.
Master Ma accepted his fate and went to deal with Ma Yongjun. He planned to quietly transfer him to another restaurant as a prep cook.
As for cutting off the master-apprentice relationship—there was no need to announce it. Just treat him as the senior apprentice, and go on accepting new ones. Just muddle through until retirement, and all this nonsense would have nothing to do with him.
Chen Dong had dealt with the immediate problem and was feeling quite at ease, humming a tune as he ate a meal cooked by his apprentice.
As long as Master Ma kept Yongjun under control, Chen Dong planned to build a small gate in his backyard. Once the main entrance was shut, the front and back yards wouldn’t be connected anymore.
Freedom!
Xu Shuang made a few dishes, and Chen Dong even got a bit of alcohol from Master Su. The group had food and drink to celebrate Xu Shuang passing his exam.
After the meal, they went to pick up the sewing machine and bring it to the passenger station. Xu Shuang rode with the shipment, while Wang Ying rode a bicycle home with Grandma Xu.
When the sewing machine arrived at the village team, the Wang household was immediately swarmed with people.
Wow, what a fine thing! Plenty of folks had never seen one before. Young girls and daughters-in-law gathered around to look, and the old ladies surrounded Grandma Xu like she was royalty, showering her with endless compliments.
Even though Grandma Xu had already let it slip that they were going to buy a sewing machine, seeing it in person triggered a whole new level of envy.
Life really was good for the Xu family.
With a sewing machine as a foundation, they were now at the forefront of the entire village.
Once the machine was home, Grandma Xu said it should be kept in the young couple’s house, but Wang Ying quickly refused—so many people coming and going, she couldn’t handle the pressure!
This rare item was bound to attract people wanting to borrow it or asking Grandma Xu for favors. Wang Ying didn’t know many people and wasn’t sure who Grandma Xu was close to, so it was better to keep the machine in Grandma Xu’s room.
Grandma Xu couldn’t insist, so she agreed.
The crowd all swarmed into Grandma Xu’s two rooms, and Wang Ying happily flopped onto the heated brick bed. It wasn’t until she got back that she realized how nice home really was.
No matter how fancy the guesthouse was, it could never match the comfort of home.
Xu Shuang had drunk a bit at noon, and since there wasn’t much to do, he lay down next to Wang Ying.
The young couple lay face to face. Wang Ying suddenly reached out and pinched Xu Shuang’s cheeks, smiling, “You look like you’ve gained some weight.”
And it was true. Xu Shuang had always looked good, but he was very tall. That made him look a bit thin by her standards, even if that was acceptable for the time.
But in the half year since they married, Xu Shuang had clearly put on some healthy weight, making him look even better.
Wang Ying pinched her own cheek: “I’ve gotten chubbier too.”
She had changed a lot—once dry and skinny, she now had fair, glowing skin and a healthy, slender figure.
Wang Ying figured it must be thanks to her “golden finger”—a somewhat useless cheat ability, but excellent at adjusting the body and enhancing health.
Xu Shuang looked into her bright, watery eyes and felt his throat go dry. Maybe it was the alcohol from earlier. Strong liquor wasn’t easy to come by in the countryside.
Wang Ying chattered on: “Since Master asked you to go to the city, I have to go too. Help me think—how can I get transferred to the city?”
Cooks could move up by taking certification exams. But she was a doctor—there wasn’t a certification path for her.
It just felt much harder for her to transfer than for Xu Shuang.
Xu Shuang pulled her into his arms: “What’s the big deal? Worst-case scenario, we just buy a job. I’ll get you into the clinic of a state-owned factory.”
Xu Shuang: “As long as we get you into the right type of unit, you’ll be able to prove yourself with your own skills.”
Wang Ying: “That’s true.”
She had been thinking only of hospitals, but hospitals in those days only hired properly trained graduates from medical schools and nursing colleges. She was just a high school graduate with no formal training—a backdoor candidate. Getting in would be tough.
But she had overlooked something—state-owned factories had their own clinics!
Back then, state-run factories practically handled all aspects of a worker’s life, from birth to death. Nurseries, clinics, security departments—they had everything.
Wang Ying thought more and more that it was actually fine—not getting into a hospital was fine, even being in a medical room at a factory would do.
Xu Shuang, on the other hand, was silent for a moment before saying, “As long as you think it’s okay, I’ll ask my master to keep an eye out.”
Getting a job with a specific goal like that wasn’t easy—it had to be prepared well in advance.
Wang Ying, carefree as always, said, “Why would I be unwilling? I’m totally willing.”
Xu Shuang: “……”
Of course Wang Ying was willing. Her personality had always been somewhat laid-back. In her previous life, she spent the first thirty years grinding—grinding her way through medical school, completing her residency training. She was so busy grinding that she had no time for travel, nor any other time-consuming hobbies. The only thing she could do during breaks was explore different foods.
And just when all the grinding paid off and her career was on track—bam, the apocalypse came.
Wang Ying struggled on for several more years. If it hadn’t been for her medical skills, she would’ve long washed her neck and waited to die.
All that effort was exhausting, and the burden of responsibility was suffocating.
So when she crossed over to this new life, she had already decided on her way of living.
That was—to live lazily.
She planned to be a plain and unremarkable little doctor. When the college entrance exam was reinstated, she’d take it and get into a medical university, and then…
She planned to study all the way up and eventually become a university professor.
Wang Ying declared solemnly, “Comrade Xu Shuang, don’t look down on the factory’s medical office. I think this job suits me very well.”
Few responsibilities, plenty of time to slack off. Perfect.
Seeing that Wang Ying was genuinely willing and not just putting on a brave front, Xu Shuang finally felt at ease. “That’s good, then.”
Wang Ying’s alcohol kicked in slowly, and her eyes gradually became dazed. The two of them simply took an afternoon nap.
…
The sensation caused by the sewing machine was still ongoing. Wu Guihua’s children’s performance team was also gradually taking shape. Even the sent-down youth who had gone to the countryside were getting used to the atmosphere and intensity of the labor—some were even starting to find humor in their hardship and began writing scripts for Wu Guihua.
Amidst this atmosphere, the hottest time of the year finally arrived, ushering in the harvest season.
