Chapter 35: New Long March Blitzkrieg

  Su Cheng carried two packs of peony cigarettes, greeting people while walking into the cafeteria of the oil field headquarters.

  Arrived at the back kitchen, saw Fan Da chef who was preparing ingredients.

  Like others who cook big pot rice, other chefs have raised themselves to be white and chubby with big breasts and bellies. But Chef Fan is a robust figure with a body like a black iron tower standing in the crowd, revealing his strong arm muscles.

  Su Cheng couldn't help but sigh every time she saw him: what a waste of protein.

  Fan Dachuan turned around and saw Su Cheng too. He greeted warmly: "Ah, Su Ke has arrived! I was just thinking of you."

  "They all call me Little Su now. Is there good news?" Su Cheng smiled. Ever since he found out that the oil field cafeteria could get beef, he had been running over here non-stop.

  Fan Dachuan silently pulled him to a corner of the back kitchen, lifted up the outer cover cloth and said: "Take a look, I've been saving it especially for you."

  "This guy... must weigh about 3 pounds, right?" Su Cheng gazed at the cutting board where a red and white marbled, fat-streaked beef presented a marble-like pattern.

  "Four catties and two taels. As you said, the intercostal meat between the 10th and 7th ribs of the beef spine, I divided it into two pieces, both choosing the tenderest parts."

  "Ox eye meat! And two blocks!" Su Cheng suddenly felt a sense of happiness. A 5-pound ox eye meat, even in 21st century China, is extremely hard to come by. If you're lucky enough to get one that's 2.5 pounds, you should thank heaven and earth.

  And what's more, such a good location with large pieces of steak is extremely expensive. $30 per pound is not considered expensive at all, some black-hearted restaurants, under the guise of selling to foreigners, can raise the price to 600 yuan for 100 grams, equivalent to $1,000 per kilogram, absolutely unaffordable for foreigners.

  Now, in front of Su Cheng were two pieces of limited edition 5-pound ribeye steak, and it was during the beef shortage in 1987, how could he not be moved to tears.

  Su Cheng wiped the corners of his mouth, wiping away the hot tears that had flowed out, and smiled: "Master Fan, you are simply a heavenly chef descended to earth. Give me both pieces of beef."

  "It's specially left for you." Fan Dachef said as he wrapped it up for him.

  Su Cheng immediately took out the money and, by the way, stuffed two packs of peony cigarettes into Fan Dacheng's pocket, saying: "This time I came in a hurry, next time I'll make up for it, this meat is really good."

  "Want some more next time?"

  "If there is, then it must be." Su Cheng said without hesitation.

  Fan Da chef smiled and pointed at the cigarette in his pocket, saying: "Next time you want one, just put it away."

  Su Cheng was taken aback and laughed: "Look at what you're saying, carrying this piece of meat is so tiring, taking two packs of cigarettes is nothing..."

  "Bring meat to Su Ke, no hard work." Fan Dachef wiped his hand on the apron and patted Su Cheng's shoulder, saying: "Your story, our logistics masters have all heard about it. Tsinghua University students come to our oil field, from oil workers to today, how difficult is it? If you want to eat a piece of beef and can't buy it at a fair price, let others know, are we still human?"

  He waved his hand to stop Su Cheng's words and continued: "Do you know where this piece of meat came from? It was our young Master Zhou, who rushed to get it at 3 am in Dalian and brought it back with ice packs all the way. Is this hard work worth two packs of cigarettes? Yes! But we are willing to do this hard work, it's a kind intention from our logistics master!"

  Su Cheng looked up and saw that the chefs in the kitchen were all holding their snow-white cleavers and chef's knives, nodding at him.

  Fan Dachuan put two large pieces of beef in a basket and handed it to Su Cheng, saying: "We cooks won't extract oil, operate machinery, or design oil extraction machines, but we are still petroleum people. Doing well in logistics and letting you have no worries is our duty. Brothers, isn't that right?"

  "Yes!" The chefs thundered, with flashing knives and bloody shadows in mid-air.

  Su Cheng held a basket and said, "Alas, what can I say?"

  "No need to say anything, just keep being the oil extractor, be the petroleum man, we've got the beef! Chef Fan patted his chest and said: 'If one day you can make our Victory Oil Field surpass Daqing, surpass American and British companies, it won't be in vain for these cows to contribute their meat.'"

  Su Cheng's eyes were fixed on the two 8-jin heavy steaks, his heart feeling heavy.

  That's the simple and down-to-earth oilman!

  I suppose 50 years ago Chairman Mao was also eating braised pork with the people's blessings.

  A happy life is always the same.

  Under Su Cheng's insistence, he bought these steaks at a flat price and spent 42 yuan. The price is the same as ordinary beef.

  On the way back and forth, there are constantly people greeting Su Cheng.

  At this time, he also guessed that it was Secretary Lin's words that had leaked out.

  In the following days, more people came to visit Su City on their own initiative.

  Most of them were workers, some said a few words, and some just threw down gifts and left. At first, Su Cheng was startled, thinking that he had encountered another boss with a strong personality...

  But in fact, it is the heart's desire of the workers.

  After comparing with the treatment of university students in other oil fields, the workers' sympathy burst out instantly.

  They don't care whether Su City has a Secretary Lin or not, nor do they care whether Su City has gained experience and achievements. In their eyes, university students from the same period are sitting in offices, while those from previous periods have become officials and made fortunes. Graduates from key universities are all high-ranking officials, but Su City, a graduate of Peking University, is still struggling at the grassroots level... Finally, after being promoted, he managed to stand out by building toilets and shower rooms for workers, and now, not long after, he has designed a world-class oil extractor...

  Workers have no power, so they want to use a loud call to warm up Suzhou's heart.

  Especially those workers who work on the front line, when they are taking a comfortable hot bath, they will always think of Su City and talk about it with people around them, and it's easy to form a group effect.

  The joyful atmosphere was pushed to the climax by the news from the loudspeaker at the end of the year: The Party Committee of the Command Post and the Communist Youth League Committee of the Victory Oilfield decided to award Comrades Su Cheng, Wang Yun... and others the honorary title of "1987 Victory Oilfield New Long March Shock Troops".

  At the same time, Bao Rong handed over the certificate of honor to Su Cheng with a smile and said: "When we arrive in Beijing, we must maintain our posture. We will work together to strive for national honors."

  ……