Serious Peach

The large table, originally from the cafeteria, was moved to Meng Songying's office.

Ten shallow iron plates, also from the canteen, were neatly arranged on top and were used to hold large pots of food.

The container is now full of slightly yellowish starch, which Wang Shuitao cooked on a honeycomb briquette stove, also from the cafeteria.

There was also a stone bowl and a stone pestle, which, needless to say, came from the cafeteria.

After Wang Shuitao gave the cafeteria staff a thorough evaluation, the head chef sent her away as if she were a plague carrier.

The stone bowl and pestle are used to grind pollen.

Li Yuanhong somehow obtained a small bag of dried osmanthus and dried jasmine flowers, and also got a bag of tea leaves from Sun Ming.

After hearing Wang Shuitao say that green tea alone wasn't enough and that black tea would be best, I racked my brains for a long time and dug up Wu Dong's boasting from the depths of my long-forgotten memory.

They pressured him into contributing a can of black tea.

There were also oranges, pomelos, persimmons, and even chestnuts—basically everything she could think of and gather that she sent to Wang Shuitao.

The research Wang Shuitao is currently conducting on new candy flavors is actually the work done by the product development department of a company in the future.

Of course, she also often takes on marketing and market research work.

This is a completely different new section, and it has no overlap with the content that the factory office used to be responsible for.

She should be promoted to department manager or something, even though she's the only one in the entire department.

Even if the factory doesn't have this position now, it can't be made to do so much work by herself.

But under Wu Dong's suppression, no one in the factory office dared to come up and help her.

Even though the factory director and chief engineer were standing behind Wang Shuitao.

Ultimately, a local official is more powerful than a distant one.

Wu Dong was determined not to provide any support whatsoever, saying that the factory office couldn't tolerate such messy things, as they were unsightly.

They also said that since the factory director was so supportive and the office was the largest, why not go there to conduct some kind of experiment?

In reality, everyone knows that the place is used to entertain clients and superiors.

In the end, Meng Songying vacated half of the office.

Bottles and jars were neatly arranged on the wooden cabinet in the shade.

It is pre-soaked fruit wine.

However, this is not used in liqueur-filled candies; flavoring is used to adjust the taste.

This is more convenient and can also reduce taste differences caused by different batches.

The small pot on the honeycomb briquette stove is simmering white sugar, and small bubbles are already rising to the surface.

Meng Songying came over, took a look, and said, "It's ready."

Wang Shuitao then added baijiu and lemon essence to it, stirred it well, and then picked up the small pot.

Another small pot was lowered onto the top of the honeycomb briquette stove, and the sugar boiling process began again.

It was Meng Songying's tacit cooperation that allowed him to sit in front of the stove in Taozi's place to observe the temperature of the syrup.

The cooked starch has been poked into small pits. The sugar and alcohol flowed down the side of the pot and slowly fell into the pits, where they were coated by the starch with added jasmine pollen.

Until the twenty small pits on the plate were filled, and not a drop of wine and sugar remained in the pot.

Wang Shuitao then sprinkled a layer of starch on top, covering the top of the wine sugar.

There are many flavors to experiment with, but the most commonly used is tea powder, which has been refined through modern beverage production.

Wang Shuitao knows that tea, coconut flavoring, and peach aldehyde flavoring are all very compatible.

The only uncertainty now is whether the palatability can be maintained after adding baijiu (Chinese liquor).

Meng Songying sat in front of the stove. Taozi couldn't control the temperature of the syrup as well as he could, so she completely handed the task over to him.

With starch present, the windows couldn't be opened, and the fan couldn't be turned on. On such a hot day, Meng Songying's white shirt quickly became translucent.

When pressed against his skin, the firm lines of his abdomen could be seen rising and falling with his breath.

Unfortunately, Wang Shuitao was too busy with work to enjoy the view.

Stoking the stove to boil soup is a mechanical task, and Meng Songying's thoughts had already drifted back to last night.

He realized early on that he had feelings for Taozi, but he was held back by his background.

Occasionally, he would do something out of line that inadvertently revealed his feelings, which would keep him tossing and turning at night.

I wish I could have the same extraordinary adventures as Song Chuncao, the daughter of the Feng family in "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio".

If you save a giant snake, the snake will repay your kindness by spitting out a red pearl. If you swallow it, you will gain the ability to read minds.

This way, you can know what Peach is thinking, whether she is happy, indifferent, or disgusted by his actions.

Zhang Pingkang's appearance awakened Meng Songying; it was time for him to take a step forward and resolve the issue of his origins.

From a young age, his father, Dr. Meng, taught him that when pursuing a woman, he should not cause her any trouble.

Dr. Gu, the mother, would then look at her husband with a smile.

He had leverage over the Song couple, namely the "Song Jisheng" he used to threaten them into backing down that day.

This man was the eldest son of the Song couple. He had good intentions to govern the world and help the people, but he didn't even care about his family.

After his younger siblings died, he abandoned his parents and fled abroad.

This was something the Song couple had tacitly agreed to, but Song Jisheng even stole the last bit of money they had saved for themselves.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been so eager for quick success and instant benefits in dealing with Meng Songying, their only future support, and could have concealed their true colors for a while.

No one knows how the two of them did it, but everyone thought Song Jisheng was dead.

Although fleeing abroad might implicate them, they might not be in serious trouble because they were also victims.

But they managed to cover it up, which made things complicated, and they essentially sealed their own fate.

Meng Songying was hesitant to act rashly because the Song couple had taken out the jade pendant when they came to acknowledge their relatives.

Back then, Song's father broke a jade pendant in two, keeping one half for himself.

Half of it was stuffed into Meng Songying's swaddling clothes, and the other half was left in front of the Meng family's door.

It will be useful for future family reunions.

When Dr. Meng and Dr. Gu first brought the child home, they also spread the word that they wanted to find the child's parents, and even spent a lot of money to place an ad in the newspaper.

The outcome was obvious: Song's father would not show up, but would secretly rejoice at the Meng family's kindness and soft heart.

They believed their plan was already half successful.

Because of the large-scale search for the person twenty years ago, many people know about the jade pendant, and the half in Song's father's hand can really be used as solid evidence to identify relatives.

Furthermore, Meng Songying was unwilling to admit that he and the Song couple bore some resemblance.

If they don't say they're father and son, or mother and son, then it's fine if others don't think that way. But if they did say it, people would be able to tell.

He was raised with great care by his adoptive parents and learned to cherish himself. He also had pride, so how could he be dragged into the mire by the Song couple?

I don't want Dr. Meng and Dr. Gu, two martyrs, to be associated with the exploitative class like the landlords.

Many people who once studied abroad are now being implicated, while their adoptive parents, who died young, have not been identified.

But things might change once the Song couple's affair is exposed.

How could he allow their reputation to be tarnished?

Therefore, Meng Songying and the Song couple used to check and balance each other, maintaining a delicate balance.

It can be broken if you are not careful.

Now, Meng Songying is about to take action herself.

The fire heated the bottom of the pot, and boiling syrup was poured over the water. Steam billowed out, obscuring his face and his determination.

A meter away, Wang Shuitao was intently grinding tea leaves.

The pestle fell repeatedly onto the mortar, crushing the leaves and making a rhythmic sound.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump...