Chapter 53: Working at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Aunt Huifang
After Liu Xinghe arrived at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, she went to find Director Zhao, canceled Zhou Xiaomei's previous leave, and got her own work permit.
Director Zhao's wife, Aunt Qiu Hong, was also there. After she finished her work, she came over warmly, took Liu Xinghe's hand and took her to the canteen behind the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, chatting as they walked.
On the way, Liu Xinghe asked a small question in her mind.
"Auntie, do you think I can pay half of the food expenses first? I may have to go home to eat in the evening."
She also thought about going back to the space at night to open a small stove for herself. It would be a waste if she didn't eat in the canteen after paying a month's fee.
Aunt Qiu Hong nodded: "Yes, of course you can pay per meal. The meal fee is up to you. It is not mandatory. But it is a one-time payment of 10 yuan."
"Oh? Aunt, is there any other explanation?" Liu Xinghe asked humbly.
"Yes, let me tell you in detail."
Aunt Qiu Hong enthusiastically popularized the ins and outs of the meal fee in the cafeteria:
"We use special meal tickets to get meals in the cafeteria. One meal ticket is one meal ticket, and one meal ticket is 10 cents. So you can buy them one by one, but if you pay 10 yuan at a time, the cafeteria will give you 5 more meal tickets, which means you can get 105 meal tickets at once, which is equivalent to earning 50 cents back. And the meal ticket will not expire, so compared to buying meal tickets one by one, I would rather pay 10 yuan at once, and use the rest later. Who wouldn't want to make 50 cents for free? Don't you think so?"
Liu Xinghe nodded firmly, with an expression of 80% approval, 80% relief, and 10% gratitude: "Auntie, you are right, it is true, it is a good thing that you are here, otherwise I would have missed 5 meal tickets and lost 50 cents. Thank you so much, Auntie."
"Haha, you're welcome." Aunt Qiu Hong was delighted to see that Liu Xinghe agreed with her words, and continued, "When you go to have a meal, just give a ticket to the cafeteria window, and you can choose three dishes and one soup, two vegetarian dishes and one meat. Rice is included. If you don't have enough, you can get more rice and rice for free. If you are thick-skinned, you can get more vegetables."
At this point, Aunt Qiu Hong leaned close to her ear and whispered in a low voice, "Aunt, I have a little sister who works in the cafeteria. I'll introduce her to you later. With her here, we can have more meat when we serve the dishes, and adding more rice and vegetables is not a problem. She likes sweet-mouthed girls just like me."
Liu Xinghe's eyes sparkled, "Hey, thank you, aunt, it's great to have you around, so I don't have to worry about anything."
"It's a small matter." Aunt Qiu Hong waved her hand generously and walked forward with Liu Xinghe: "Come on, I'll take you to the place where you can exchange meal tickets."
"Okay."
After arriving at the place, Liu Xinghe took out ten yuan and handed it to the cashier of the cafeteria. She exchanged 105 meal tickets and put them in her bag. Aunt Qiu Hong couldn't wait to pull her around to the cafeteria not far ahead.
"Did you bring your lunch box?" At the door, Aunt Qiu Hong stopped and asked Liu Xinghe.
"I did, auntie." Liu Xinghe took out a brand new large aluminum lunch box from the bag she was carrying.
"Okay, just bring it." Aunt Qiu Hong was relieved and said, "I'll wink at you later, or I'll pinch your hand, and you'll give me the lunch box."
"Okay." Liu Xinghe didn't ask any more questions and immediately agreed with trust.
Aunt Qiu Hong liked the feeling of others trusting her, and happily pulled Liu Xinghe to the kitchen to change clothes. There happened to be a chubby-faced auntie changing into work clothes. When she saw Aunt Qiu Hong coming in, she immediately came over warmly.
Aunt Qiu Hong gently led Liu Xinghe to the front, and Liu Xinghe took the initiative to greet and introduce himself with a smile on his face.
"Good morning, auntie. I'm Liu Xinghe, a new employee who joined our supply and marketing cooperative family today. I'm very happy to meet you today."
The auntie in front of her smiled and nodded casually: "Hello, hello, you are quite cute." Auntie
Qiu Hong immediately smiled and said: "Huifang, this is the girl I told you about, my partner, Liu Xinghe. Today is her first day at work. You must take care of her in the future."
"Oh, I was wondering why you ran so fast today. It turns out that you went to pick up this cute little sister. This child is so good-looking, with thick eyebrows and big eyes. She is very likable." Liu Huifang patted her chest and said to Liu Xinghe: "In the future, just come to auntie's window to get your meals. I promise to give you enough."
"Then I'd like to thank you first, Auntie. Just now Auntie Qiu Hong has been praising you for your sincerity and enthusiasm, and your generosity. Now I see that you are indeed the best person, just like Auntie Qiu Hong."
Liu Xinghe said with a sincere smile, making the two aunties laugh.
Liu Huifang couldn't stop laughing: "Haha, Qiu Hong, you are right. It's really fun to be with this child. I'm in a better mood."
"Then you should prepare meat for us in advance at noon. I heard from Master Huang that he wants to make braised pork with soybeans today."
Auntie Qiu Hong squeezed Liu Xinghe's hand. Liu Xinghe opened the bag, and Auntie Qiu Hong immediately took out the box in her bag, and took out two lunch boxes from her bag with the other hand, and handed them to Liu Huifang together.
"Leave it to me, don't worry, I will pack it out for you first and put more meat in it."
Liu Huifang looked at the three lunch boxes in front of her and took all three lunch boxes without hesitation. This was not the first time she had done this. She was familiar with it and asked considerately:
"Today's vegetarian dishes include lettuce, bamboo shoots, stir-fried radish and stir-fried lotus root. Which two vegetarian dishes do you want? I will pack them for you together."
Aunt Qiu Hong skillfully took out two meal tickets and handed them over: "My lunch box has lettuce and bamboo shoots, and Lao Zhao's lunch box has radish and lotus root."
"Which ones do you want, Xinghe girl?" Liu Huifang looked at Liu Xinghe.
Liu Xinghe also quickly took out a meal ticket and handed it over, saying without hesitation: "Then please help me pick bamboo shoots and vine vegetables."
"Okay, I'll remember it. I'll put it in the old place and come to get it when the time comes." Liu Huifang nodded and put away the notebook.
"Okay, it's getting late, let's go and get busy, Huifang." Aunt Qiu Hong looked at the time and didn't plan to stay after finishing her work. She pulled Liu Xinghe and prepared to go out.
"Thank you, Aunt Huifang, Auntie, we'll leave first."
Liu Xinghe thanked her, saw Aunt Huifang waved with a smile, and followed Aunt Qiu Hong to his work.
When they got to the counter, Aunt Qiu Hong briefly explained the work process and content, and Liu Xinghe started to work. She was the one who received the first person who came to buy cloth. The work was simple and easy to get started, and Liu Xinghe completed the first transaction easily.
Aunt Qiu Hong, who was sitting next to her sewing shoe soles, saw that she was doing it very well. She was very skilled in pulling the cloth and
measuring the soles. The whole process was done in one go. The cloth was cut very straight without any stuttering. She looked like an old hand who had been doing this for a long time. The more she watched, the happier she was. She was so happy that she said she had not seen the wrong person. She patted the seat next to her and said, "Xinghe, come and sit down. Let's sit down and chat and drink some water when no one is around."
"Okay."
Liu Xinghe sat down next to Aunt Qiu Hong, took out a water bottle and drank water, and chatted with her about the soles she was sewing.