Chapter 53 Performance Review

Chapter 53 Employee of the Month Selection

Xie Xinyi and Zhang Xin had been arguing for days about how Zhang Xin and Gu Ying should interact, but they still hadn’t reached a satisfactory conclusion.

To avoid letting it affect her mood, Xie Xinyi decided it was better to focus on her work instead.

She arrived on time each morning to participate in new product development with her team, so busy her feet hardly touched the ground, often feeling overwhelmed.

Since the authority for development had been delegated, Cui Mama and Xiao Jiang had become incredibly enthusiastic, as if they'd been given a shot of adrenaline.

In just a few days, they had come up with twenty ideas, and this morning, they eagerly pulled her aside to taste the first trial product they had made the night before.

In the freezing weather of minus five degrees Celsius (23°F), Xiao Jiang and Cui Mama watched intently as she took a bite of the freezing-cold, rock-hard ice pop.

“So? Any suggestions for improvement?”

They didn’t ask how it tasted but rather if there was anything to improve—clearly, neither of them was very confident in their new creation.

But honestly, aside from its somewhat ugly appearance and ordinary shape, it wasn’t as bad as one might expect.

The flavor, in particular, was a light sweetness with lemon tartness—refreshing, sweet and sour, perfect for summer.

“It’s great, no improvements needed.”

Xie Xinyi gave her honest opinion. “However, you should still have Old Liu take a look.”

Her tongue might be sensitive, but that didn’t mean it aligned with market preferences.

Whether the new product could be mass-produced ultimately depended on the old master's say.

Hearing this, Xiao Jiang and Cui Mama went to find Old Liu. Before leaving, Cui Mama said to Ms. Liu, “I’ll be right back. If anyone comes, Ms. Liu, please cover for me first.”

Anyone? Who was coming?

Xie Xinyi walked over to Ms. Liu, who was knitting in the corner. “Who's coming, according to the team leader?”

“New temporary workers hired by the factory.” Ms. Liu stopped her knitting. “Old Liu got us five.”

“Five temporary workers!”

That many!

It seemed the restrictions had indeed loosened quite a bit; otherwise, they wouldn’t be hiring so many temporary workers so boldly.

“Old Liu is worried we'll be swamped with work next summer. The Yuanxiao Team next door got even more—ten in total. I heard the Non-Staple Foods Workshop reserved fifteen.”

Ms. Liu shared the news she had gathered from various workshops that morning.

“How many did they hire altogether?”

Even the Non-Staple Foods Workshop had taken so many.

Ms. Liu raised her hand from the knitting and secretively showed a number with her fingers.

Xie Xinyi widened her sparkling eyes.

“So many…”

Just as she was exclaiming about the quantity, the voice of an HR clerk came from the doorway.

"Ice Pop Team, we're hiring!"

Ms. Liu put down her knitting and stood up to greet them, and Xie Xinyi followed her out.

"Oh, Xiao Xie is here too."

The clerk dropping off the temps happened to be the same one who had brought Xie Xinyi to the team last time. He recognized her at a glance and greeted her cheerfully, "Getting used to things around here?"

"Quite well," Xie Xinyi replied politely.

As the saying goes, you don’t slap a smiling face. Regardless of how sincere the other person's words were, at least they had made the effort in front of so many people. As the one being flattered, Xie Xinyi naturally wouldn’t embarrass them.

"You must be busy every day, yet you still come personally to drop people off."

She chatted with him, keeping it polite but not overly familiar. Only then did the clerk remember he still had actual business to attend to and quickly pointed to the people behind him, running through their names one by one to Ms. Liu.

"Bai Mei, Zhang Pandi, Liang Shiying, Guo Lishu, Luo Qianqian. The list is here. Please sign it."

Ms. Liu took the pen, and Xie Xinyi followed the clerk’s words, looking up at the five people standing at the door.

They were all girls around her age, each smiling cheerfully, though it was hard to tell if they would be easy to get along with.

Not wanting to stare at them too long on their first meeting, Xie Xinyi looked back at Ms. Liu and the clerk as they wrapped things up.

"...Alright, the paperwork is done. I’ll head back to the office to check in now."

After the signing, the clerk bid them farewell with a smile. On his way out, he ran into Monitor Cui, who had just returned from pitching the new product with Old Liu.

"Old Cui, I’ve delivered the people. The list is with Sister Liu."

The clerk explained as he walked, but Cui Jun grunted curtly.

Who got on his bad side this time?

Everyone was puzzled. Only Xie Xinyi guessed the reason and was about to approach Xiao Jiang to confirm when they heard Cui Jun bark at the new temps, "Don’t just stand there. Come in and find something to do."

His voice was harsh, and his face was stormy. The newcomers, startled, quickly scrambled over to Xie Xinyi’s side.

Xie Xinyi quietly asked Xiao Jiang, who was also in low spirits, "Did Old Liu reject it?"

Having been at the factory for so long, she rarely saw Cui Mama like this.

If it weren’t for their first hard-earned attempt at creating a new product being rejected by Old Liu, Xie Xinyi couldn’t imagine what else would have made the monitor this angry.

She glanced at Cui Jun, standing silently in front of the cutting board, and Xiao Jiang, pouting miserably, and sighed deeply. The once enthusiastic pair now seemed like balloons that lost all their air.

It was understandable. As two who had never been selected for the R&D team, they had finally gotten a new shot at development. They thought their product they worked so hard on would earn the master’s approval, but instead...

"Old Liu said our new product is too ordinary and lacks creativity."

Xiao Jiang picked up the new product she had made, studied it for a good while, then took a frustrated bite.

Seeing her disappointed look, Xie Xinyi didn’t know how to comfort her.

In truth, Old Liu had a point. After all, new products need to be mass-produced.

Although the ice pop developed by Cui Mama and Xiao Jiang tasted good, its appearance was indeed nothing special.

Such a product would be fine to eat, but standing out among a crowd of uniquely shaped and delicious ice creams would be a real long shot.

Xie Xinyi didn’t understand the market, so she had the two of them go see Old Liu first.

R&D is never something that can be accomplished overnight. Even when they developed the sandwich last time with the guidance of a veteran mentor, it took many rounds of improvements to succeed.

Old Liu didn’t criticize the taste of the new product developed by Cui Mama and Xiao Jiang. He only said it was too ordinary and lacked creativity, meaning the appearance was somewhat lacking flair.

Actually, this was the easiest issue to fix.

She took the new ice pop from Xiao Jiang’s hand and examined it.

Perfectly square, plain, and unremarkable—it was exactly the kind of ice pop you might overlook in the freezer if you didn’t look closely.

Even if the taste was outstanding, it would fail the first test.

For food, especially non-essentials like ice cream, catching the customer’s eye at first glance is crucial.

Having worked in the food industry for so many years, Old Liu certainly understood the importance of appearance.

That’s why he flat-out rejected Xiao Jiang’s new product and gave them suggestions for improvement.

Lacking creativity? They could focus on enhancing the appearance of the new product.

Xie Xinyi handed the ice pop back to Xiao Jiang and was about to think back to popular ice pop designs from the future when Xiao Jiang, lost in her "disappointment," zoned out and failed to catch it.

With a "smack," the ice pop fell to the ground and shattered into a messy scatter...

"Oops, sorry, sorry! I wasn’t paying attention."

Xiao Jiang came to her senses, apologizing as she bent down to pick it up, but Xie Xinyi stopped her.

"Wait!"

She called out to Xiao Jiang and gestured for her to step back. "Look, have you ever seen chunks of ice pop like these before?"

Xiao Jiang followed her gaze to the dark concrete floor, where the ice pop had shattered into scattered pieces of various sizes and shapes.

Unlike the intact ice pop earlier, the broken pieces had a random, broken look.

Xie Xinyi carefully picked up the small ice fragments, and the girl in red who’d just arrived squatted down to help. "Let me help you."

"Thank you."

Xie Xinyi gave her a polite smile, then tossed a piece into some water and turned back to Xiao Jiang to explain further.

"If your dad wants an ice-cold beer in the summer, wouldn’t this be more convenient? You could even give a piece to your nephew with a sweet tooth or add some to your sister-in-law’s favorite soda..."

She elaborated on the uses of small ice pop pieces, trying to make her idea as vivid as possible for Xiao Jiang.

The girl who had helped pick up the ice chips chimed in, "This way, we wouldn’t need to draw well water to cool drinks down, and everyone could share."

Her comment caught the attention of Cui Mama, who was upstairs, who hurried down, took one look at the ice pieces on the counter, and immediately understood. "This is a great idea."

With that, he dragged Xiao Jiang off to work on developing a new ice pop. As Xie Xinyi cleared the dishes, she joked with Ms. Liu, "Has Monitor Cui been under some kind of pressure lately?"

He never used to care much about R&D.

"Who knows?" Ms. Liu was putting away her needles. "I’m completely clueless about this stuff. This honorable and tough job is better left to you young folks."

"Sis, you can’t say that."

Xie Xinyi was about to joke with Ms. Liu, saying she’d keep her company, but before she could speak, the girl in red cut in from behind them.

"The Chairman taught us to stand united to overcome hardships together. We must not engage in defeatism or selfishness—they won’t get us far."

Ms. Liu: "..."

She was just working normally—why was someone suddenly giving her a lesson on political awareness?

Puzzled, she looked at the girl, and Xie Xinyi turned to look as well.

It was the same person again.

She studied the girl carefully—a socially fearless person with a heart-shaped face, arching brows, and a small mouth.

Seeing Xie Xinyi and Ms. Liu looking at her, the girl showed no embarrassment about her earlier remarks. Instead, she confidently introduced herself.

"Hello, my name is Zhang Pandi. I’m a temporary worker who just joined this year."

"Ni... nice to meet you."

Xie Xinyi and Ms. Liu spoke in unison, surprised that one of the new recruits was such a character.

Her boldness made them a bit awkward, and after a brief greeting, they didn’t plan to continue the conversation.

Just then, Big Chen emerged from the storage room, and Ms. Liu seized the opportunity to ask him about his progress on the new product.

"...Yeah, almost... almost done."

And it really was almost done.

As the team’s pillar, Big Chen’s task from Cui Mama was naturally a bigger challenge than others’.

To show everyone that no one in the Ice Pop Team was idle, Cui Jun insisted that Big Chen create an eye-catching and one-of-a-kind new product in a short time.

Big Chen wasn’t as concerned about others’ opinions as Cui Mama was. His motivation for working on the new product was mainly to test his skills.

Since his injury, everyone had been cutting him slack, not assigning him much work. Plus, with Xie Xinyi’s help in taking care of those parasites sucking him dry, he no longer had to worry about them. His mind and body felt much more relaxed.

But after too much time off, he started feeling restless.

He wasn’t the type to stay idle—having something to do was far better than resting.

Especially since it had been so long since he’d made ice pops, his hands were so antsy he couldn’t even sleep well.

Fortunately, Cui Mama understood him well. Once he’d fully recovered, she immediately assigned him this tough assignment.

Big Chen was pumped. Finally, he had a chance to get back to work, and he was determined to nail it.

He took the new product he’d developed from the molding machine and let Ms. Liu and Xie Xinyi try it first.

Ice pops in three different colors were evenly packed in a box. The pink one was probably strawberry. Xie Xinyi took a bite—sweet and delicious.

The other two were chocolate and milk flavors. Ms. Liu had never seen three flavors packed together like this before and took a bite as well.

"Tastes great, and the design is innovative."

Big Chen beamed goofily. "Wait, there’s more."

Then he personally demonstrated the two exclusive ways to eat this ice cream to the two of them.

"When it melts a little, you can also stir it up like this."

He stirred the three-flavor ice cream in his hand, and in no time, the three distinct colors blended together. "Eating it this way gives it a whole different taste."

He let Xie Xinyi and Ms. Liu taste it.

The sweetness of strawberry mixed with chocolate's bitterness, all balanced by the fragrance of milk.

Gotta admit, it was quite special.

Ms. Liu couldn't help but scoop another bite to taste, and Xie Xinyi also gave Big Chen a thumbs-up in admiration.

"Hey, I just whipped this up. Whether it'll work out still depends on Old Liu's opinion."

Big Chen scratched the back of his head sheepishly. After Ms. Liu took another taste, he picked up the new product to get Old Liu's opinion.

"Still, the two of us have it easy," Ms. Liu said, savoring the taste as she returned to her seat. "No pressure, just enjoying ourselves."

Unlike Big Chen, Cui Mama, and the others, who were not only running off their feet with work but also worried about Old Liu rejecting their new products.

Not long ago, the Sweet Rice Ball Team was filled with soft sobs and loud complaints. Even the carefree Xiao Jiang almost cried her eyes out this morning.

Ms. Liu couldn't understand why everyone was so stressed out. She simply focused on enjoying being tasters with Xie Xinyi.

As for year-end awards or bonuses, neither of them gave it a thought, especially Xie Xinyi.

Considering she had only been at the factory for two years, she hadn't contributed much, so there was no chance she'd be considered for an award.

She never thought she'd be chosen anyway. After all, there were always people more talented and experienced, like Big Chen, who had both skill and years of dedication. How could she possibly compare?

She never thought about it, but without her knowing, someone was fighting to include her in the year-end Outstanding Employee list.

"Old Liu, I know you value talent, but you also have to consider what's fair to us judges."

In the factory manager's office, the head of the personnel department slammed the list on the table, dead set against Xie Xinyi being named an Outstanding Employee.

"Director Ou is right. Xie Xinyi has only been here for two years. There are plenty of people in the factory with more ideas and skills, many of whom have contributed for years. Choosing her would be hard for people to swallow."

The head of the research department also spoke up against it, siding with Director Ou on Old Liu's insistence on nominating Xie Xinyi.

Absolutely not!

Yuan Kang, however, felt the matter didn't have to be so cut and dried. "This year, there are two additional slots for Outstanding Employees. Excluding those who've won in previous years, adding Xie Xinyi wouldn't be a problem, since..."

"Since what?" Director Ou grew even angrier at his words. "The extra slots are meant to motivate employees, not to play favorites."

She pushed up her black-framed glasses and, without waiting for Yuan Kang to rebut, stated firmly, "I am absolutely against anyone getting special treatment. When my son joined this factory, I was the last to know."

She hadn’t helped him, nor had she even heard any rumors.

Director Ou brought this up intentionally to remind Liu Yinsheng that being the factory's master technician didn’t mean he could do as he pleased.

At the very least, he wouldn’t get past her.

With Director Ou's stance clear, Yuan Kang didn’t push it further. He glanced at Fang Mingan, sitting in his chair, signaling him to mediate.

Fang Mingan: "..."

He would've been glad to help, but there were not enough reasons to justify his intervention. He couldn’t argue that Xie Xinyi deserved to be an Outstanding Employee just because she had joined the R&D team twice and assisted Old Liu.

That would be a long shot.

Moreover, as the factory manager, he couldn’t be the one to bend the rules. Fairness, transparency, and integrity were the guiding principles of their factory. Director Ou was right—he couldn’t show favoritism to anyone.

However, not showing favoritism didn’t mean he couldn’t look at this objectively. He asked Yuan Kang, "What are the criteria for selecting Outstanding Employees?"

"Those who have contributed to the factory or demonstrated exceptional performance."

Yuan Kang listed the criteria one by one, right off the top of his head. "...Treat the factory like their own home, no being late, no leaving early, and no illegal activities..."

The latter were basic requirements; the most important were the first few points.

Contributions to the factory or exceptional performance.

And these were precisely what Xie Xinyi lacked.

Fang Mingan was stumped, unsure what to say, and could only give an awkward smile.

"Well... um... Regarding Comrade Xie Xinyi..."

He was about to continue with the criteria when Liu Yinsheng, who had been sitting off to the side, suddenly interrupted him.

"So, as long as she has contributed to the factory or demonstrated exceptional performance, Xiao Xie can be selected?"

He looked up at Director Ou.

"Yes, as Deputy Factory Manager Yuan just said, that’s been the standard for selecting Outstanding Employees over the years."

Director Ou prided herself on being impartial. If Xie Xinyi truly had the qualifications, she wouldn’t need to cause a fuss for anyone.

She reiterated her stance to Liu Yinsheng. Just as she thought he was trying to muddy the waters, Old Liu slowly pulled out a few sheets of paper covered in neat handwriting from his pocket.

"This is the original and improved formula for the sandwich ice cream." He handed the papers to Yuan Kang beside him. "Take a look."

Yuan Kang took them, skimmed through it, and asked, "Is this the new ice cream product developed not long ago?"

Before accompanying Fang Mingan to set the price, Old Liu had let him try a piece. The flavor was so good it almost blew his mind.

He had never tasted such delicious ice cream, and it looked unique too.

Despite having sampled countless products over his many years at the food factory, he was crazy about this new ice cream at first taste.

The sandwich ice cream was a success, but what did that have to do with the papers Old Liu had just handed him?

Yuan Kang was puzzled, but since he didn't know much about formulas, he passed the papers to Fang Mingan.

Fang Mingan had a background in research and was well-versed in food formulas. When Old Liu wasn’t available, he was the first person they'd call for formula-related issues at the factory.

He was familiar with about 80% of the products Guohui Food Factory had sold over the years, so reviewing a simple ice cream formula was a piece of cake for him.

Sure enough, Fang Mingan quickly scanned the document and looked up at Old Liu. "Did Xie Xinyi write this?"

Fang Mingan had seen Old Liu's handwriting—all over the place and messy. The neat handwriting on the formula sheet clearly wasn’t his.

Given that Old Liu had been pushing for Xie Xinyi’s full-time position, Fang Mingan quickly figured the formula must have been written by Xie Xinyi.

Old Liu nodded, "That's her writing."

Fang Mingan then handed the formula sheet to Director Ou.

"Her handwriting is just neat," Director Ou scanned it dismissively. "We don't pick Outstanding Employees based on penmanship."

She passed the formula sheet to the head of the research department, brushing off Old Liu’s defense entirely.

After reviewing the formula sheet, the head of the research department echoed, "The handwriting is indeed neat, and the formula improvements are quite good."

The group commented extensively on the handwriting, but only the head of the research department mentioned the formula improvements. Old Liu was at a loss with these intellectuals and simply reminded them bluntly, "Who asked you to look at the handwriting? I’m talking about the formula on this paper—all of it was proposed by Xie Xinyi."

"All of it was proposed by Xie Xinyi?"

This time, not only Director Ou but even Fang Mingan and Yuan Kang were stunned, their jaws dropped.

They looked at Old Liu, "Are you sure you’re not tricking us?"

Xie Xinyi was only in her twenties, young and had just started at the food factory, yet she could propose such excellent improvements, even down to the exact gram measurements.

Director Ou didn’t believe it, "You're the one championing her for Outstanding Employee—are you just trying to polish her image?"

"You overestimate me," Old Liu snorted coldly. "If you don’t believe me, go ask your son. He was there when Xie Xinyi was modifying the formula."

This time, Director Ou had nothing left to say.

She saw the old master’s stern face and realized he didn’t seem to be lying. So, after Fang Mingan suggested further discussion and review, she lost no time and went straight to verify the matter with her son.