Chapter 38 Papaya Ham Chicken

A few hundred kilometers away in Guangzhou.

Qin Yue put his gray-blue coat on the machine beside him, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and then carried the toolbox into the machine tool.

During this time, he has been familiarizing himself with the new machinery at the Mingrui Machine Tool Factory in Guangzhou.

Mingrui is a famous machine tool factory in Guangzhou with sophisticated processes and trendy management methods.

The one in front of us is a new machine tool that their factory is going to import from Mingrui Machine Tool Factory.

After two weeks of running-in, Qin Yue has mastered all the essentials of machinery. Even when Mingrui Machine Tool Factory encounters debugging problems, they will ask him for help.

He lay under the lathe and used the tools skillfully. After about half an hour, he got out from under the machine:

"alright."

"Qin Yue, you are really good! Cool guy!"

One of Mingrui's colleagues gave Qin Yue a thumbs up.

"That's right! Ever since Qin Yue came, I've seen Old Ren's smile never fall, and he doesn't frown anymore. Hey, Qin Yue, why don't you just stay in our factory? Our factory is not one of those state-owned factories that guarantees a profit regardless of the weather. It emphasizes more work, more pay. If you stay here, you can expect to make this much every month!"

Another colleague smiled and touched Qin Yue's shoulder, making a "five" sign to him.

Qin Yue smiled and clapped his hands together:

"You are just trying to trick me into working for you!"

"Oh, that's really not the case! Do you want to come over? If you do, come over and I'll talk to the factory manager for you!"

"Do you need to tell the factory manager? If Qin Yue really wanted to do that, Jia Yin would have told him long ago! If things go wrong, this factory will be..."

The excited conversation was interrupted when the two saw the "factory flower" Lu Jiayin coming in from outside. They looked at each other knowingly and walked to the machine tool and started working.

Qin Yue didn't notice anyone coming in.

He had just come out of the lathe and his palms were covered in oil, so he planned to go outside to wash them under the tap.

Before I turned around, I heard the clear voice of the girl behind me:

"Qin Yue, you haven't eaten yet, right? I made a stew of five-fingered peaches and dragon bones. Let's eat together."

Qin Yue frowned and said without turning his head:

"No, I'll go to the cafeteria later."

Having said that, he was about to go outside.

But before he had taken a few steps, he was stopped by the girl.

The girl looked at him with her big, dark eyes, and shyly handed him a piece of silk:

"You can use it to wipe your hands."

"No, I'll just go wash my hands."

After Qin Yue finished speaking, he walked past Lu Jiayin and went straight out.

"Qin Yue! Qin Yue..."

Lu Jiayin called out from behind, but Qin Yueren was tall and had long legs, and he walked very fast, so she couldn't catch up.

Lu Jiayin stamped her feet in anger, and when she turned around, she saw the two people huddled together, laughing mischievously.

"What are you laughing at? Be careful or my dad will deduct your wages!"

Lu Jiayin felt annoyed and walked out of the door reluctantly.

The two behind him couldn't help but say:

"It's always like this... we get a cold shoulder and then they blame us..."

"But you know what, this is the first time I've seen a man who doesn't fall for Jiayin's tricks!"

"That's not the way to say it. Although Lu Jiayin is the daughter of the factory director, she is a little too willful. If I were to be treated like that, I wouldn't be able to handle it."

"You are saying that grapes are sour because you can't eat them!"

While the two were joking with each other, Qin Yue was walking hurriedly ahead.

He walked to the cafeteria, got a meal, followed the crowd to find a place to sit, and ate slowly among the crowd.

He has been here for half a month and has gotten used to the life there.

The only difference is that when I eat, I always think of the food Xia Tang cooks.

Not only when he was eating, but also when he was walking, resting, and sleeping, as long as he was free, he couldn't help thinking of her.

I wonder what the weather is like in Yuncheng now, whether Xia Tang’s snack bar is running smoothly, and whether she has encountered any problems.

He called the herbal medicine factory twice, and each time Chen Minzhi said that Xia Tang was doing well and told him not to worry.

He took it to heart, but the worry in his heart could not be relieved.

For lunch, we had stir-fried pork with Chinese cabbage and eggplant with minced meat.

Qin Yue had no idea of ​​the taste of the food he was eating. After swallowing it all in a hurry, he raised his head and looked out of the cafeteria window again. He saw the bright sunlight and the clear blue sky.

It's a nice day today.

I wonder if it’s the same with Xia Tang?

Qin Yue lowered his head, finished the last bite of rice, picked up the lunch box and went outside to rinse with water.

After flushing, he did not go back to the dormitory for a nap, but went into the warehouse again.

This warehouse houses two new machine tools that are about to be shipped back to the machinery factory.

Now that the machinery has been debugged, it is just waiting to be loaded onto the freight train tomorrow morning.

Qin Yue himself did not go back, as there were still many parts on the machine tool, as well as some other instruments brought back from the machinery factory.

Qin Yue followed Mingrui's freight truck and went back by road.

Thinking of this, he looked up at the sky again.

If two more days like this pass, he will be able to see her!

*

It’s obviously the same sun, but the sun in Yuncheng is whiter than the sun in Guangzhou.

The pale sun seemed unable to bring warmth to the ground, but the popularity of Tang Kee Snack Shop was not affected at all by the cooler weather.

In the past few days, Xia Tang has removed chrysanthemum rice noodles from the shelves and added two new dishes: sour papaya boiled fish and papaya ham chicken.

Fish cooked with sour papaya. The fish used every day is long-bearded fish that Lao Zhang catches freshly from the mountain stream. The fish meat is tender and the papaya is sour and refreshing, the taste is unforgettable.

The papaya ham chicken is absolutely amazing.

The chicken used is the farmer's "strolling chicken", which is first marinated with grass fruit, salt, etc. for half an hour, then fried with seasonings until it changes color, and then add Xuancheng's local specialty - ham slices. After putting it in the pot and frying it to bring out the flavor, add sour papaya slices, chili powder, ginger and green onions and stew it until it is cooked through.

These two dishes are not local to Yuncheng, so when they were first served, they inevitably aroused diners’ suspicion.

Some customers were even curious about the name on the dish, but never dared to order it.

Xia Tang’s solution was to give each table a small bowl of papaya ham chicken or sour papaya fish on the first day of the product launch. By the second day, this problem would no longer occur.

Both dishes are stews, which are more suitable for people's taste buds in this gradually cooler autumn.

Paired with the farm-style rice wine sold at the snack bar, it is simply a perfect match.

Suddenly, Tangji Snack Bar saw more traffic.

Some residents couldn't get a seat in line, so they just waited at the door with their hot pot helmets, and then bought a helmet of fish or chicken to take home and enjoy with their family.

Buy a portion of sour papaya and fish or papaya, ham and chicken and get a bowl of rice for free. Xia Tang sells it for 60 cents and can sell two large buckets every day. Together with the income from rice noodles, his daily profit can reach 50 yuan.

Business was good and the restaurant was even busier. Xia Tang hired two more people based on the notice at the door.

One was an older sister named Lan, who lived in the back street, and the other was Zhu Cunhua, the daughter of Mr. Zhu, the boiler maker in the machinery factory. The two of them gradually adapted to the work of the snack bar and gradually made it a success.

When Chen Minzhi arrived, Xia Tang had just sold out the last bucket of boiled fish.

Seeing her come in, he smiled and called her over, handing her a bowl of papaya ham chicken.

"Here, I've reserved this for you. Just heat it up and eat it when you get home."

Chen Minzhi opened the lid, and the delicious, salty, and sour smell filled her nose, making her laugh:

"You bring me food every time I come over. If you keep doing this, I'll get fat."

"Why are you getting fat? Aren't you quite thin?"

Xia Tang looked behind Chen Minzhi.

"Where's Xiaoxiao? I haven't seen you take her out since the last time we met."

Xiaoxiao is Chen Minzhi's youngest daughter. She is only 5 years old now, which is the age when she is lovable.

She is a little timid, and Chen Minzhi once said that she would bring her here often to help her build up her courage.

Chen Minzhi pursed her lips, her expression a little stiffer than before:

"She's at home with her grandmother."

Xia Tang stopped talking.

She knew more or less about the things going on in Chen Minzhi's family.

I also know that she doesn't get along with her mother-in-law.

It looked like the mother-in-law was not willing to let Chen Minzhi bring Xiaoxiao over.

If you don’t want to bring it, then don’t bring it.

Xia Tang said nothing and dipped his hands in the cool tap water.

She was washing potatoes for next year when she heard Chen Minzhi quickly change the subject:

"By the way, did you hear? Xia Lulu got married today."

Xia Tang was surprised:

"You mentioned her marriage before, but why did she get married today?"

You know, it usually takes at least two to three months to prepare for the wedding of young people in the factory.

There are so many processes to go through, including giving gifts, getting engaged, inviting guests, buying three major items, holding a wedding banquet...

How come it ended so quickly here with Xia Lulu?

"Isn't it?"

"I heard that the man is not in a hurry, but the Xia family is pushing for the marriage. Now that Xie Minghui has been taken advantage of, he can't say no."

There was a sense of schadenfreude in Chen Minzhi's voice.

"But I just can't figure it out. What's wrong with the Xia family? First it was Xia Dong, then Xia Lulu. They were all so positive about getting married? What can they do with marriage? To make money?"

Xia Tang pursed her thin lips and couldn't help laughing at Chen Minzhi's words.

She didn't understand why Xia Lulu got married so hastily, but she felt vaguely that since her rebirth, some things were different from her previous life.

First it was Xia Dashan's paralysis, then it was Xia Dong and Li Meifeng's issue, and now it's Xia Lulu's turn...

She had also heard about what happened between Xia Lulu and Xie Minghui.

She feels that it is not as simple as love between a man and a woman, where both parties are willing.

For a cautious man like Xie Minghui, marrying her in his previous life was a decision made after careful consideration and repeated weighing of the pros and cons.

How did I end up getting involved with Xia Lulu?

You know, Xia Lulu is of no help to him at all!

Xia Tang thought to himself that what was going on here was quite interesting.

But as long as the other party doesn't provoke her, she doesn't bother to care.

Xia Lulu and Xie Minghui are two people who deserve to be punished by their own evil.

She wanted to see whether it was the lazy, gluttonous, irritable and greedy Xia Lulu who brought about Xie Minghui's death, or whether it was the cold, selfish and hypocritical Xie Minghui who had a hold on Xia Lulu's weak spot.

She transplanted a laurel tree in the yard.

She looked up and saw the moonlight shining through the shredded leaves.

Xia Tang's fair face faced the moonlight, and her bright almond-shaped eyes reflected the golden light.

In total,

This time tomorrow...she will be able to see him!