The next morning, Su Xiaotian and the others began their work.
The factory had reserved an office for Su Xiaotian, right next to the factory director Lei Gaocao's office.
This office was very bright and well-lit. Outside the window were several newly planted peonies.
The indoor space was spacious, about twenty-five to twenty-six square meters.
For Su Xiaotian, who was used to living in dormitories, it was indeed very spacious.
It was evident that Director Lei had put a lot of thought into furnishing this office.
The solid wood desk and chairs were not branded furniture, but they were polished very smoothly and coated with varnish.
What Su Xiaotian particularly liked was the large bookshelf behind the desk.
The design of this bookshelf was similar in scale to the decorative bookshelves found in bosses' offices in later generations.
The bookshelf was filled with various documents and books, but they didn't look new. At least, they were books and materials that someone had clearly read before.
Su Xiaotian curiously picked up some of the materials and began to flip through them.
After a brief glance, she understood that these data and materials were not for show.
Instead, they were genuinely helpful for the factory's development.
It was clear that Lei Gaocao had truly dedicated himself to the factory in recent years; he wouldn't have achieved this without great effort.
After all, some of the information had been accumulated bit by bit.
Su Xiaotian began to consider whether she should offer Lei Gaocao a higher salary.
However, this was something that needed careful consideration, and Su Xiaotian was not in a hurry to resolve it.
She didn't have much time and needed to understand the factory's overall operations.
Besides listening to reports, she would read the documents. Su Xiaotian decided to rely on reading the materials to obtain firsthand information.
After finishing the documents, she would then ask the factory leaders about any points of doubt.
Lei Gaocao had already prepared to report his work to Su Xiaotian. Unexpectedly, Su Xiaotian only asked him to arrange for all the factory's materials from recent years to be delivered.
Lei Gaocao had already prepared the documents. Upon hearing Su Xiaotian's request, he immediately arranged for two strong young men to carry several large stacks of documents to Su Xiaotian's desk.
"Little boss, if there's anything you don't understand, just ask me."
Lei Gaocao was genuinely concerned that Su Xiaotian might not understand.
After all, the young girl was still studying, and she was reportedly majoring in Chinese Language and Literature.
Most of these materials were data reports.
Su Xiaotian smiled and thanked him, "I'll take a look first. If there's anything I don't understand, I'll ask Director Lei for guidance."
Hearing Su Xiaotian say this, Lei Gaocao did not intend to disturb her further and retreated, closing the door.
Although Su Xiaotian was young, after the previous incident, Lei Gaocao dared not underestimate this decisive young girl.
Besides Lei Gaocao, the factory had two deputy directors and several middle-level leaders.
Since they had joined the factory, they had never seen Su Xiaotian, the true owner, visit the factory, so they were all feeling uneasy.
"We have been dedicated to the factory for the past two years, and the little boss is aware of it. Don't worry, as long as we haven't done anything to betray the little boss, there's nothing to fear!"
The other leaders were very convinced of Director Lei's words and nodded.
Meanwhile, Su Xiaotian sat at her desk and began to diligently study the documents that had just been delivered.
Admittedly, there were a lot of documents, but what kind of person was Su Xiaotian?
She was the most skilled at reading. Describing her as reading ten lines at a glance would not be an exaggeration.
Su Xiaotian's fingers moved continuously, flipping through various documents, never resting.
The entire morning passed by quickly as she read through the materials.
In the blink of an eye, it was noon, and Su Xiaotian had already finished nearly a third of the documents.
She estimated that by working overtime tonight, she could finish all the factory's documents in a day and a half.
She had already read about a third, giving her a general understanding of the factory. However, whether it matched her own assumptions, Su Xiaotian felt she should finish reading before making any judgments.
The factory provided three meals a day. At noon, Zhao Hongmei and Dong Yan'an arrived at Su Xiaotian's office one after another.
"Xiaotian, it's noon. Shall we go to the canteen for lunch together?" Zhao Hongmei was genuinely hungry.
She had always thought that sales were simple, but after spending the morning learning basic knowledge, she realized it was quite challenging.
However, as long as it could make money, this difficulty was nothing.
"Okay, let's go eat! We can continue after lunch." Su Xiaotian put down the half-read documents and said.
After a morning of intense reading, she was indeed tired and needed to replenish her energy.
"Xiaotian, is the food in the canteen good?" Dong Yan'an asked, "I heard from colleagues that the factory's meals are subsidized, cost less, and are still good."
"It's communal food. While it'll fill you up, it probably won't be too great," Su Xiaotian said, standing up, stretching her arms, and twisting her stiff waist.
In reality, for most people, having meat to eat was already very good.
Their definition of "eating well" was quite different from Su Xiaotian's idea of delicious food with appealing colors and aromas.
The three girls, holding their lunchboxes, excitedly headed to the canteen. For lunch, there were three dishes: stir-fried celery with pork, sweet and sour shredded cabbage, and scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
For staple food, there was a choice between steamed buns and rice.
"I'm treating today. What dishes do you want?"
Su Xiaotian looked at the three dishes. They were typical large-pot dishes, rich in oil and soy sauce, a far cry from what her grandmother made.
However, the factory's meal standards certainly couldn't be compared to her own home.
"Adults don't make choices, I want them all!" Zhao Hongmei said with a beaming smile.
She also encouraged Dong Yan'an to choose everything.
"Alright, let's have all three dishes for lunch today."
Su Xiaotian then asked what staple food they wanted.
The three of them chose rice.
When they took out their money to pay, they realized the food prices were indeed very cheap.
Having all three dishes plus rice cost only forty cents.
It was said that the prices for lunch and dinner were similar, and one yuan was the maximum daily food expense.
If one wanted to save money and forgo the meat dishes, they could eat their fill for just twenty-five cents.
If twenty-five cents was still considered expensive, they could opt for just the sweet and sour shredded cabbage with steamed buns or rice, which would only cost thirteen cents.
For the entire day, one could eat their fill for as little as fifty cents.
However, the factory workers' wages were quite good. Coupled with the income from family members engaged in sales, the monthly income was very good, so most people chose two dishes.
Su Xiaotian was quite satisfied with this.
The three girls carried their lunchboxes and found a table to sit down. The three girls were unfamiliar faces and were very beautiful, causing the workers who had never seen them before to cast glances in their direction.
Feeling the gaze of everyone, the three girls felt a bit uncomfortable eating.
No matter who it was, being stared at while eating would be uncomfortable, wouldn't it?
Su Xiaotian even considered whether she should just take her food and leave.
Even eating in her office would be more comfortable than eating here.
The other two girls also felt a bit embarrassed by the stares.
Just as the three of them were about to get up and leave the canteen to eat in their office, Lei Gaocao arrived with his meal.
Lei Gaocao also felt the workers' stares but couldn't say anything, so he walked over.
"Little boss, is it convenient for me to sit at your table and eat?"
Since Lei Gaocao had asked, Su Xiaotian felt it would be impolite to leave and could only agree with a smile.
The surrounding workers clearly heard Lei Gaocao's address and only then realized that this seemingly delicate young girl was their benefactor.