Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 636

Without further ado, pots and pans clattered in the kitchen, and before long, He Yuzhu had prepared a table full of delicious food.

He happily picked up Anna and gently placed her on his lap. Looking at his sweet and adorable daughter, He Yuzhu said with a loving expression:

"My dear daughter, look at this table full of delicious food, all of which I made for you myself! Try it and see if you like it. If you want to eat it again, I can make it for you anytime."

Anna blinked her big, bright eyes and replied sweetly:

"Thank you, daddy!"

After saying that, she couldn't wait to pick up her chopsticks, take a bite of food, and chew it carefully.

Anna would exclaim with genuine admiration after tasting each dish, and she was especially full of praise for He Yuzhu's culinary skills.

The words of praise were like the warm sunshine of spring, making He Yuzhu feel warm and happy, and his smile became even brighter.

After the family finished enjoying their cozy lunch and rested for a while, He Yuzhu got up and went into his wife Elena's room.

Du Weifang was left standing alone, letting out a helpless hum.

There's nothing we can do; they're a happy family of three.

She had no choice but to turn around and go back to her room, facing the empty bed alone, to spend the long night.

For the next three days, He Yuzhu stayed by his wife and daughter's side, enjoying the happiness of family life.

However, life will eventually return to normal.

Seeing that his daughter had reached school age, He Yuzhu inquired around and finally found a well-regarded kindergarten for Anna in the vicinity, and successfully enrolled her in the school.

This gave him some free time to properly manage the family business.

First, He Yuzhu dug out his treasured braised meat recipe, carefully selected ingredients, and diligently simmered various delicious braised meat products.

Because of the unique flavor and rich taste of his braised meat, it quickly became famous in the local area.

Gradually, his capable henchmen helped him control five or six bustling streets, and his business flourished.

Seeing that the time was ripe, He Yuzhu made a decisive move, renting several spacious and bright storefronts in this area and opening several shops named "He's Braised Meat Shop".

Thanks to his excellent skills and good reputation, these shops are packed with customers every day, and business is booming. He Yuzhu's career can be described as thriving.

At the same time, he not only successfully registered Heji Company, but also successfully started Yuzhu Company.

Elena questioned, "Can your taste really appeal to the people here?"

After pondering for a moment, He Yuzhu replied:

"It seems that some adjustments are still needed. Let's just keep doing it this way for now. Next, I will spend some time studying in depth the production process of roast chicken, roast goose, and roast duck."

As is well known, in the bustling Hong Kong area, people have a special fondness for roast goose, and all kinds of roast goose restaurants are lined up everywhere.

He Yuzhu himself has tasted the roast goose here and has to admit that its unique flavor is truly unforgettable.

However, as with anything, the beginning is always the hardest. At first, the braised meat business was not doing well.

Due to the differences in food culture between the North and the South, the tastes of Southerners differ from those of Northerners, so the flavor of this braised meat does not seem to suit the local tastes.

Fortunately, a considerable number of northerners still live here, and the series of promotional offers launched at the beginning of the business allowed the business to barely get by.

When recruiting employees for his braised meat shop, He Yuzhu specifically chose former gangsters or their relatives.

The reason is simple: although these people may have operated in the gray area in the past, they are often more obedient to orders and have a certain amount of experience in the underworld.

Of course, He Yuzhu recruited them not to try to get involved in organized crime-related industries, but to have a group of loyal, reliable, and obedient subordinates, and to gradually guide them to transform into qualified industrial workers.

In addition, in order to better meet customer needs and improve product quality, He Yuzhu also ingeniously set up suggestion boxes in each store and specially arranged for store staff to actively solicit opinions and suggestions from locals, and then collect and organize them in a unified manner.

He then uses this feedback to make targeted improvements and optimizations to the taste of the braised meat.

In just a few days, He Yuzhu successfully adjusted the flavor of the braised meat shop to the perfect level, attracting more and more customers, and the business of the braised meat shop became more and more prosperous.

Although the daily profits weren't particularly high, they were enough to make his gang of thugs feel grateful.

After all, with the improvement in business, the family's income did indeed see a significant increase.

Seeing that the braised meat shop was gradually getting on track, He Yuzhu immediately set about his second important task—establishing a training school.

In fact, He Yuzhu was already well-prepared to open a training school, as he had accumulated a lot of relevant experience beforehand.

However, they have not yet been able to purchase the ideal industrial building as the school site.

However, this did not stump He Yuzhu. With his connections and resources, he quickly rented an entire house in the area he controlled and rapidly purchased a batch of lathes and various production equipment.

And so, a training school specializing in training lathe operators opened for business smoothly after intensive preparations!

When Du Weifang learned that He Yuzhu planned to provide free training, her eyes widened in surprise, and she asked:

"What did you just say? You want to provide free training?"

Seeing Du Weifang's astonishment, He Yuzhu smiled and nodded, patiently explaining:

"That's right, we do provide training services to trainees free of charge. But at the same time, we also need to sign a contract with them. The contract stipulates that if these trainees are willing to join our factory after the training is completed, then all their previous training fees will be waived. Of course, they need to work in the factory continuously for at least one year."

Hearing this, Du Weifang was still somewhat incredulous and pressed for more information:

"So, as long as they work in the factory for a year, we won't charge them a single penny for training?"

He Yuzhu nodded again in affirmation and replied:

"Exactly! In this way, we can not only attract a sufficient number of trainees for free, but also continuously train a large number of qualified professional and technical workers!"

“The way you’re doing things, the initial investment required is quite substantial!” Du Weifang said with concern.

Another person responded:

"The key problem is that there are far too few skilled workers at present."

It should be noted that this was only 61 years ago, and only a little over ten years since Hong Kong was liberated.

In today's society, the proportion of illiterate people is very high, making it extremely difficult to find a group of industrial workers who meet the required standards.

In particular, the kind of lathe operator that He Yuzhu hoped for, who could skillfully operate a lathe, was extremely rare in society.

As is well known, Hong Kong's economic boom began in the 1970s and reached its peak in the 1980s and 1990s.

However, He Yuzhu's timing for coming here seems a bit too early. According to his original plan, he should have waited until about 70 years ago to take action.

Because at that time, both the social security situation and the business environment in Hong Kong will be more ideal.

However, things are unpredictable, and unexpectedly, he was sent here to make this trip in the 60s.

Since he was already there, He Yuzhu decided to make the best of it and didn't intend to miss this opportunity. He already had plans in mind to purchase several industrial buildings and start a large-scale machinery factory.

This would allow Daniel to take on the role of person in charge, thereby laying a solid foundation for the company's long-term development in Hong Kong.

He was born in 1935. If he had to wait until 1984 to start his company, he would already be fifty years old! He Yuzhu was unwilling to wait like that.

"So, in your opinion, what is the appropriate size of this workforce?" the other party asked.

"The first training session had about fifty or sixty people. We selected a group of the better ones to serve as mentors, and then they became the training instructors."

He Yuzhu spoke eloquently.

In fact, he already owned his own printing factory and had produced a considerable amount of training materials. Now, he had more than enough training materials, but what he lacked was training instructors.

However, since it's just getting started, he has to take on the role of training instructor himself for the time being.

Therefore, he planned to first lead a training course and then select several trusted confidants from it.

After all, there wasn't enough manpower available, so many things had to be done personally.

"Alright, I'll take care of it right away."

This recruitment is limited to sixty positions, and the best candidates should have a junior high school education or above. In addition to providing free training, room and board will also be provided.

The entire training period lasts approximately one to two months. After the training, the trainees will enter the factory and become lathe operators.

Anyone who works diligently in this position for a full year will have all previous training expenses waived.

For the next full year, a portion of the employees' salaries would be deducted each month as training expenses.

However, don't worry, once a year has passed, all the fees deducted before will be refunded in full.

Before long, the meticulously crafted flyer was handed to the dozens of gangsters.

Their reactions to the flyer varied. Some signed up on the spot without hesitation, while others, who were not well-educated, quickly contacted their relatives and friends to sign up.

Keep in mind that at that time in Hong Kong, the average worker's monthly salary was only around 200 Hong Kong dollars.

However, He Yuzhu solemnly promised that from now on, the minimum wage for lathe operators here will start at 300 yuan!

Furthermore, the specific salary amount will fluctuate depending on the different positions and individual skills. Such a salary is definitely considered high in the local area.

Sure enough, in just one day, the number of people who came to sign up was as high as two or three hundred.

Faced with such a large number of applicants, He Yuzhu immediately organized an interview and carefully selected 60 people from them.

He patiently explained to the others who were not selected:

"Don't worry, we will start the second training course in a month. You are welcome to participate again then."

And just like that, everyone was finally calmed down.

However, even with a break, He Yuzhu remained incredibly busy.

Because he is currently the only instructor, he has to personally teach both the basic operation of the lathe and the complex parts machining process.

Despite his leg injury not yet fully healed, Daniel still added a single bed to the classroom and lay on it to listen attentively to the lecture.