The story of the construction site canteen

Mr. Xi has been "chatting" with the Wang family for more than a month, and he has told the chairman more than twenty stories. Obviously, the chairman had never heard these folk "gossips" before, and he listened with great interest every time. Mrs. Wang was naturally very satisfied, and it seemed that Mr. Xi had passed the "interview".

On this day, Mr. Xi sat down by the chairman's bed, ready to start talking, but the chairman suddenly asked a question: "In your opinion, who is smarter, the boss or the workers?"

In fact, apart from specific people and things, it is difficult to answer such a general question. Saying that the boss is smart is not what Mr. Xi wishes; saying that the workers are smart, the chairman will definitely not be happy. Mr. Xi pondered for a moment and said, "Chairman, let me tell you a story first, and then I will answer your question."

The chairman nodded, and Mr. Xi began to tell the story:

To make money as a boss, one needs people to work for him. To work, they need to eat well, and to eat well, they need good food, so the cook is very important. However, it's easier to be a chef in a big restaurant where you have all kinds of ingredients like lobster, abalone, bird's nest, salmon, scallops, sea cucumber, and shark fin. The most challenging is to be the "cook" in the construction site canteen, where you can't spend the boss's money recklessly, yet you have to make the workers not curse, it's difficult!

There was a man named Lao Qin who cooked in the canteen of a construction company's site. One day, fifty or sixty people arrived at a new construction site, and the canteen was also temporarily built, with nothing available. How to deal with this lunch? Lao Qin thought for a while, bought several bags of white flour and a leg of pork, preparing to make steamed buns.

There was another worker in the canteen, named Xiao Liuzi, who was only nineteen years old and got along well with Lao Qin. When Lao Qin called him "rascal," Xiao Liuzi would still grin.

At that moment, Lao Qin was kneading the dough, and Xiao Liuzi was mixing the filling, and the two started making steamed buns. As they were making them, about halfway through, Xiao Liuzi suddenly stopped, his face turning pale, and said, "Oh no, it's bad!" Lao Qin asked what was wrong, and Xiao Liuzi trembled and said, "I... I forgot to add salt to the filling!"

Lao Qin was always cheerful, but today, upon hearing Xiao Liuzi's words, he was anxious and almost fell. His eyes widened like copper bells, and he scolded Xiao Liuzi, poking his head with his finger: "Rascal, rascal, you've caused a real disaster. Think about it, half of the buns are already made, there's no way to mix the filling again and break open each bun to change the filling. What do you say we do?"

How could Xiao Liuzi forget to add salt to the filling? Xiao Liuzi's family was from a rural area in Henan. His father was disabled, his mother was sick, and there was a younger sister in elementary school. The whole family depended on him to work outside to earn some money to support the family. Just now, Xiao Liuzi was so preoccupied with his family affairs that he lost his focus and caused this big trouble. What to do? Pack up and leave!

Xiao Liuzi was so scared that he was at a loss, standing there in a daze. Lao Qin took out his pipe and puffed on it a few times, then said to Xiao Liuzi, "Rascal, there's no other way, add salt and mix the rest of the filling well!" Xiao Liuzi knew there was no other way, so he finished the remaining half of the buns, at least half of the people wouldn't curse. After he finished mixing the rest of the filling, Lao Qin tasted it with the tip of his tongue, and the saltiness was just right, so Xiao Liuzi, with tears in his eyes, started making the buns.

Xiao Liuzi had just made one when Lao Qin suddenly shouted, "Stop!"

Lao Qin took the newly made bun, put it into a small steamer, then reached out both hands, scooped two handfuls of salt from the salt container, and threw it into the filling. Xiao Liuzi, who was watching, was stunned: adding so much salt, wouldn't the buns be too salty to eat?

Unexpectedly, Lao Qin didn't stop there. He added several more handfuls of salt to the filling and mixed it vigorously.

Xiao Liuzi, watching, was trembling: "Uncle, this..."

Strangely, at this moment, Lao Qin laughed and said, "Rascal, your uncle has eaten a shoulder pole today, and he's made up his mind. I'll take care of your trouble, but remember, don't say a word later!"

When the buns were cooked, the workers rushed to eat them, but in less than half a minute, the canteen was like a pot that had exploded, with curses and shouts ringing out. A tall worker stormed into the canteen, pointing at Lao Qin's nose and shouting, "Lao Qin, how did you make these buns? They're too bland, can't eat them!"

Then, a short worker came in, yelling at Xiao Liuzi, "Xiao Liuzi, the buns are too salty, can't eat them!"

In this way, half of the people said the buns were too bland, and the other half said they were too salty, and the canteen was in an uproar.

At this time, Boss Liu was busy in the temporary office on the construction site. Hearing the noise, he came over.

Boss Liu had everything else good about him, but he had one flaw: he was self-righteous and simple-minded. After entering the canteen, he loudly asked, "What's going on?"

The tall worker said, "The buns are too bland, can't eat them."

The short worker said, "The buns are too salty, can't eat them."

Boss Liu was confused and stared at Lao Qin, asking, "What's going on?"

At this time, Lao Qin slowly took off his apron, threw it on the ground, and said, "Boss, we can't do this job. Some people complain about it being too bland, and some complain about it being too salty. Who should we listen to?" He picked up a bun: "Boss, you taste it!"

Boss Liu took the bun, broke it in half, looked at the oily cabbage and pork filling, took a bite from the left side, tasted it, took a bite from the right side, and tasted it. His face immediately showed a satisfied smile: "The saltiness is just right, the taste is good!" He stuffed the remaining bun into his mouth and shouted at the workers, "Such good buns, and you still complain about them being salty or bland? Hurry up and eat, there's a lot of work in the afternoon!" After that, he turned around and left.

The workers shook their heads and sighed, and left the canteen in groups of threes and twos.

Xiao Liuzi felt like he was stepping on clouds, not knowing what was going on. Lao Qin picked up his pipe and puffed on it a few times.

After a while, Lao Qin told Xiao Liuzi the secret: "Did you forget about the bun in the small steamer?" Then he said with a smile, "I had no choice but to do this to solve your problem, and I had to wrong the brothers on the construction site. Come on, rascal, let's use the remaining flour to make noodles, and tonight, make your specialty, braised noodles, to make it up to the brothers!"

Xiao Liuzi listened and crisply responded, "Okay—"

After Mr. Xi finished telling the story, he looked at the chairman and didn't say anything. The chairman smiled and said, "I understand what you mean. You're saying that the boss is stupid, and the workers are smart. That old Qin used a smart way to help Xiao Liuzi solve a problem that is difficult for ordinary people, while that Boss Liu has no judgment at all, right?"

Mr. Xi just smiled and didn't speak.

The chairman said, "I'll also tell you a story—one where the boss is smarter than the workers. It's my personal experience."

Mr. Xi said with a smile, "Chairman, if you tell me a story, I can't afford the 500 yuan per hour chat fee!"

Both of them laughed...