Su Yu looked troubled, pursing her lips and remaining silent.

Secretary Song opened one eye. "What, you're reluctant to part with it?"

"No, no, no, Secretary Song has asked, how could I be reluctant? I'll go order right now. You can eat whatever you want."

"Hmm." Secretary Song kept her eyes closed.

Su Yu got up and awkwardly went to order food.

After a while, Secretary Song heard Su Yu's voice coming from her side, "Do you have any Fuqiang flour dumplings? What, no? How about white flour dumplings? Oh, this Ying'er is fine, that'll do."

Secretary Song smirked.

Then Su Yu said, "Do you have braised fish? What? Winter fish is in short supply? Oh, okay, then forget about that."

Secretary Song frowned.

Su Yu then asked, "Do you have braised pork? Oh, yes, we have that. Okay, this is it."

Secretary Song finally relaxed her brows.

Soon, Su Yu started ordering other dishes. "Do you have braised pork hock? What, no, someone else ordered it? Oh, okay, then we won't have that. Do you have mutton soup? It's the middle of winter. Oh, no mutton soup, but mutton bone soup is fine then. Why is your supply so limited? Never mind, it's a special time now, I won't argue with you. That's all. Let's bring the dishes first."

Secretary Song's brows furrowed instantly, his young face showing strong dissatisfaction. He stood up and walked towards the window. "It's New Year's Day, and your supplies are so scarce?"

The waiter said, "It's a busy holiday, and other people booked early. We're doing this for your own good, to save you face!"

Su Yu pulled Secretary Song aside, "Secretary Song, forget it. It's our fault for not booking earlier. Let's just eat less, I'll treat you to more next time." Then she waved to the waiter, telling them to prepare the food earlier to avoid the peak hours.

Secretary Song looked displeased. "Bring Zhu here and ask him. How is the state-run restaurant providing food? If we can't even get a decent meal, what about the common people who can't afford anything?"

Su Yu advised, "Secretary Song, let it go. Supply is scarce everywhere now, and people are eager to buy more grain. Who would be willing to eat out?"

The two sat at the table, and Secretary Song kept tapping her fingers on the table, clearly very unhappy.

"Every time we came here before, there was always food. Why is it that when it's just the two of us eating, there's no food left?"

Su Yu quickly admitted her mistake, "It's my fault, I didn't order in advance. But Secretary Song, actually, there are enough dumplings and meat for us. Many families don't eat meat even once a month. If it weren't for inviting you to dinner, Secretary Song, I wouldn't have been able to afford it. I'm really benefiting from your generosity, Secretary Song."

Secretary Song: "..."

Since there weren't many people around, the food was quickly served. Su Yu hurriedly invited him to eat. "Secretary Song, please eat more. By the way, are you feeling better? Can you eat?"

"Alright, you can eat now!" Secretary Song said, her eyes lowered. She didn't look happy at all.

If it were Secretary Zhou or his colleagues, they would have been nervous and anxious long ago.

Su Yu pretended not to notice anything amiss and grinned shamelessly, "That's good, Secretary Song. I've been so worried about you. You're so busy with so many things. If you hadn't recovered from your illness, it would have caused so much trouble. When I saw you at the Municipal Party Committee yesterday, you were coughing so badly. It was really worrying to see you like that."

Hearing Su Yu's flattery, Secretary Song finally felt a little better. Even though she knew the young woman was just being coaxing and didn't mean anything by it, it still made her feel happy.

That's the highest level of flattery—knowing it's fake, yet making it seem real.

Secretary Song glanced at Su Yu. It was such a waste to keep such a talented person in a textile factory.

Sigh, if she behaved better and tried to please him, maybe he would have put in the effort to get her into the municipal party committee sooner.

Secretary Song was shaking his head and sighing when Su Yu used serving chopsticks to put braised pork in his bowl.

"Secretary Song, why aren't you eating?"

"No fish, no appetite." Secretary Song expressed his dissatisfaction without hesitation.

Su Yu pretended not to notice and changed the subject, "Secretary Song, why do you like eating fish so much? And you insist on eating braised fish."

Secretary Song took a bite of the dumpling and felt that the taste was far inferior to that of high-gluten flour.

But seeing Su Yu eating so heartily, he simply followed suit and ate heartily too. He felt cheated because this woman always ate so much!

After taking a few bites, he slowly said, "...My life wasn't as easy as yours. I served as a soldier in the base area. When there was no meat to eat in the base area, we would catch fish together and then hand them over to the soldiers who were being supported."

Don't you eat it yourselves?

"The supplies were insufficient at that time, how could they be enough? Those soldiers were all injured and malnourished."

"Later, a high-ranking officer came to visit us at the unit, and the cooks made him a braised fish. It was the first time we'd ever seen braised fish, and it smelled incredibly delicious..." Secretary Song said with a lingering sense of nostalgia. "But the officer didn't touch it at all and even got angry. He said it was too extravagant. I happened to be on guard duty in the yard at the time, so the officer gave me the fish to share. That was the first time I'd ever eaten it, and the taste... I'll never forget it."

Su Yu looked at Secretary Song with a touched expression, "Secretary Song, I never imagined you were so... How old were you back then?" She never expected that such a ruthless Secretary Song was actually an old revolutionary.

"Six years old, I guess," Secretary Song said with a hint of pride.

"So sensible at six years old, that's amazing."

Secretary Song said quietly, "Serving the country and the people is what I should do. I was born in a revolutionary base area, so I must have this awareness."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!