Chapter 355 - 355: Employees’ Welfare
Shen Qiuhua looked at the stinky tofu dish Su Binglan made and asked, “Is it that delicious?
Su Binglan nodded, “Of course, it’s good. Mother, this is good stuff. Quickly have a taste.”
Even though Shen Qiuhua thought it was stinky, she still believed her daughter’s words. She took the wooden chopsticks and picked up a piece of tofu. She was still a little hesitant as she looked at her daughter.
Su Binglan had an encouraging look on her face. “Mother, why would I lie to You? I said it’s delicious, and I wouldn’t. Quickly try it.”
Shen Qiuhua thought about it and agreed. After all, her daughter would never lie to her. That was why the dish would taste delicious. She no longer hesitated and put the stinky tofu into her mouth.
She was astounded as she chewed on the stinky tofu and took in its aroma. “It’s truly delicious. Indeed, it’s fragrant too!”
Shen Qiuhua gulped and took the plate from her daughter to eat more. She quickly devoured five to six pieces.
“Is this how it’s supposed to taste, Binglan? Could you help me add more chili?” She wanted more. Even a few small pieces of stinky tofu were not enough for her.
She could not wait to continue eating as she spoke.
Su Binglan said smilingly, “It’s delicious, isn’t it, Mother?”
Shen Qiuhua kept nodding. “Indeed, it is. I didn’t expect it to taste so good!” She could not care less about anything else and wanted to eat a few more pieces first.
Immediately after, Su Binglan deep-fried a few more pieces of stinky tofu for her mother then added some soy sauce and vegetables for her to eat. Shen Qiuhua ate with a wide smile.
Su Binglan looked at her and said, “Mother, don’t you want to save space for dinner tonight?”
“This is so delicious that I can’t help it.” Shen Qiuhua had never eaten anything like this before. It tasted different from all other food. It was even more different from the taste of regular tofu.
“Binglan, you did have a way to salvage the spoiled tofu after all. I didn’t know you could use spoiled tofu like this. It tastes so good.” Shen Qiuhua had eaten many delicacies with her daughter, but she thought the stinky tofu was unique.
The workers were surprised and wondered what the stinky tofu dish tasted like. Just looking at Shen Qiuhua eating made them feel hungry, sparking their appetite. However, the workers dared not say they wanted to try some, too, because they knew they were at work.
Su Binglan used up all the spoiled tofu and wrapped them in small bags. There were six pieces of stinky tofu in each bag.
“Everyone can take two stinky tofu bags,” she said to the workers, “One for yourselves and the other for home. It’s a benefit of working at the factory. Since the morning shift workers aren’t here, you’ll be responsible for bringing their share to them.”
Su Binglan’s words covered everyone. When the workers heard this, they suspected they were hallucinating. After all, they had just received their pay and a pound of tofu each a few days ago, yet Su Binglan was giving them things again.
Although the dish tasted strange, Su Binglan said it was delicious while her mother enjoyed it a lot, so the workers thought it would be worth a try.
Shen Qiuhua waved. “This stinky tofu is extremely delicious. Everyone, come and try it. You’ll know how delicious it is once you try it.”
Everyone stopped doing what they were doing when they heard Shen Qiuhua’s words and came over to take a piece of stinky tofu. Although it smelled strange, the workers still tried it.
Their eyes widened when they ate it as everyone revealed expressions of disbelief.
“I didn’t expect it to be this delicious.”
“It’s so good!”
Everyone was full of praise as they ate the stinky tofu with grateful expressions. The treatment they received as tofu factory workers were too good, especially because they got to eat delicacies like these from time to time.
Some could not resist and ate two pieces at once. Fortunately, Su Binglan had put aside two portions for each worker, so 12 pieces of stinky tofu remained. Of course, there was a portion for them to bring home.
Some workers ate a piece and thought it was too delicious, but they did not want to eat more.
“Miss Su, can we bring both our servings home?
Some were reluctant to eat, thinking one piece was enough for them. Instead, they wanted to bring the rest home for their family members to try— especially those with many children. They were reluctant to eat any and only wanted to give their share to their children.
The more conservative workers’ families were in poorer conditions, so they could not afford much good food for their children. Now that they had something good to eat, they wanted to share it with their children.
They felt their children would be happier eating the stinky tofu. Some even wanted to bring the delicacy back to their mothers.
They felt that their mothers had suffered and things were not easy for them. Their mothers could not bear to see their children starve but always found ways to keep them fed.
Therefore, whenever these workers had access to good food, they first thought of going home and giving it to their mothers. They knew their mothers would be thrilled to eat something delicious for once.
Su Binglan looked at everyone’s expressions and understood how they felt. She said, “Of course you can! Each of you will get two servings. They’ll be yours to do as you see fit, so you can bring them home and eat them as you wish.”
“Yes, Miss Su. I was just wondering.”
Su Binglan was worried some workers might be unable to try the stinky tofu if they brought it home, so she suggested they had at least one piece before going home.
However, she did not object to those who wanted to bring the delicacy home to share with their families. Either way, she was happy as long as her workers were happy.
Su Binglan initially made the stinky tofu for her employees to try as a benefit of being a worker at the factory. She wanted to make her employees happy.
“Thank you, Miss Su.”
“Thank you, Miss Su. You’re such a good person.” “Miss Su, everyone else is envious of us.”
“Yes, some are still asking if the factory is hiring.”
Su Binglan smiled and explained patiently, “1 won’t be hiring for now. If I do, I’ll tell them publicly.”
Shen Qiuhua finally reacted and said, “Since my daughter said so, you guys can believe it. I’m glad the spoiled tofu didn’t go to waste. At least, Binglan made it into something delicious that everyone could taste.
She asked, “Since this dish is so delicious, can we sell it, Binglan?”
Shen Qiuhua knew many people would buy stinky tofu if they were to sell it because it was delicious. If that were the case, the Su family would not have trouble selling it.
However, the delicacy smelled strange, so they had to tell everyone how delicious it was before people could look past it. The Su family would have to carefully think about how to sell it.
“You have the right idea, Mother. We can sell it,” Su Binglan said, “It seems like we can make one more tofu product in the future, and that is stinky tofu. However, this is only delicious after deep-frying.
“We can always make the finished product and sell it. We can hire many more people to sell the Su family’s stinky tofu in various towns..”