Shen Yanming smiled, took out a clean lunchbox, put the food he had saved for Zhang Heping into it, and then brought a set of tableware.
When it came time to get the thermos, Shen Yanming couldn't smile anymore.
If this guy weren't here, he could have brought his wife some fresh milk, but now...
Shen Yanming could only make some baby formula.
Seeing that it was almost time, Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan changed into down jackets, put on hats, scarves and gloves, and took their lunch boxes and thermos flasks before heading out.
Poor Zhang Heping was carrying a plastic bag containing ten pounds of dried fruit in his left hand, and another plastic bag containing ten pounds of dried fruit in his right hand.
One was prepared by Bi Qiaoan for Qin Yiren, and the other was kept in the car as a spare.
The three of them slowly walked down the stairs to the underground parking garage. Zhang Heping had just put two plastic bags into the trunk when he started waving his hands around.
"Hey Lao Shen, you're really heartless. This is way too heavy! Why didn't you say you'd take it off when there was electricity last night? Are you deliberately torturing me?"
Shen Yanming closed the trunk on his own, and only said as he turned to get into the car, "I forgot last night."
Zhang Heping was furious. He stretched out his hands in front of Shen Yanming and said, "Look, look, my hands are all red!"
"I, a dignified surgeon, actually carried something weighing twenty pounds up sixteen flights of stairs. If my little fans knew, they'd be heartbroken!"
Shen Yanming ignored him and only asked, "Are you leaving or not?"
"Let's go!" Zhang Heping stomped his foot angrily, but he couldn't do anything about Shen Yanming, so he could only open the car door and sit in the back seat.
Bi Qiaoan covered her mouth and chuckled. Shen Yanming glanced at her, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.
The atmosphere on the road wasn't awkward. Zhang Heping's anger subsided in just two minutes, and he started arguing with Shen Yanming again, while Bi Qiaoan watched them bicker from the side.
By 9:35, the three of them had driven to the intersection of Garden Street.
As Shen Yanming pulled the car over to the side of the road and was about to get out to look around, he heard a series of beeping sounds.
It turned out that Qin Yiren had parked her car behind the roadside trees, which explained why they didn't notice it when they drove over.
"You're here! I've been waiting here for five or six minutes," Qin Yiren said with a smile as she got out of the car.
“You’ve come really early. You’re not even forty yet, are you?” Bi Qiaoan said.
Shen Yanming didn't say anything. After getting out of the car, he took a bag of dried fruit from the trunk and handed it to Qin Yiren.
Qin Yiren took the bag and put it in the car. Then she took out a bag of grain from the trunk and said to Bi Qiaoan, "Hehe, I was just afraid that if you came early, you would have to wait for me. I would feel too bad if that happened."
Shen Yanming took it without asking what was inside, put it directly into the car, and said to Qin Yiren, "It's getting late, let's drive to work."
Qin Yiren nodded, greeted Bi Qiaoan, and got into the car.
The two cars drove into the underground parking garage one after the other. After Qin Yiren got out of the car, she realized that Shen Yanming and his group had brought a stranger with them.
"This is Yanming's friend. He's off today and got bored at home, so he came out with us. But don't worry, he's not a busybody."
"Oh, that's good. Hehe, I'm a bit of a scaredy-cat right now, sorry about that."
"It's alright, it's alright, it's normal to be careful." Bi Qiaoan nodded with a smile, and she and Qin Yiren clocked out and went into the office.
Faced with everyone's curious gazes, Shen Yanming introduced Zhang Heping's identity and then had him sit down next to him.
Because Zhang Heping is a doctor at Haishi Hospital, people found it very easy to accept him, and some even gathered around to ask how to treat their minor ailments.
Zhang Heping was very patient and told them everything he knew. For things he was unsure about, he suggested they go to the hospital for a checkup.
After everyone left, the office phone rang. Zhang Heping watched as Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan started working, then quietly took out his phone and started playing.
At noon, Shen Yanming called Zhang Heping to go to the company cafeteria together. After putting the lunchboxes in the microwave, they waited on the side.
"Don't you have a chef here?" Zhang Heping looked at the huge restaurant, where only a few people were sitting and eating, and the food serving window was empty.
"No, with food so scarce right now, where would we buy enough food to supply everyone's lunch? We've always brought our own."
"Compared to that, the hospital's benefits are pretty good, at least there's food in the cafeteria."
"Your food supplies are specially allocated by the Qinghe Alliance. Don't you think about what will happen if the doctors and nurses don't have enough to eat, or what if there are accidents during the operation? Or what if they all fall ill, and what will happen to those who are waiting to see a doctor?"
So, special units get special treatment. Aside from hospitals, research institutes and similar institutions seem to provide lunch in their cafeterias.
Zhang Heping nodded and said softly, "However, if you bring your own lunch, you can eat something better, unlike us who can only eat tofu and cabbage, which is too bland."
"That's already pretty good. It can save the family a lot of food. We can't underestimate it!"
Shen Yanming took their lunchboxes out of the microwave, left them outside for a while until they were easy to handle, and then carried them back to his office.
Seeing that Bi Qiaoan was still organizing the data, Shen Yanming said, "Qiaoan, eat first, then you can continue. You're pregnant now, you can't stand being hungry."
Bi Qiaoan clicked "save," smiled, and took the lunchbox and utensils to start eating.
Today's lunch was potato shreds over rice. Because of Zhang Heping's presence, the two of them couldn't cheat, so they could only put a few pieces of dried meat in the white rice.
Fortunately, Shen Yanming was a good cook, and even though it was just vegetarian food, the group enjoyed it immensely.
After finishing his meal, Shen Yanming took his lunchbox to the bathroom to wash it, and Zhang Heping followed to help him.
After the two returned to the office, Shen Yanming patted Ke Wenpei on the shoulder and said, "I brought all the dried fruit from home. It's in the car. Where should I unload it for you?"
"You brought it over? So fast?" Ke Wenpei was somewhat surprised.
“Well, I wasn’t planning on selling it outside anyway. It’s not good for it to just sit at home. It would be a good thing if you could sell it,” Shen Yanming said with a smile.
“But we don’t have a car!” several other colleagues said, gathering around.
They had discussed this business together, and given the current situation, it wouldn't be appropriate to move the goods to anyone's house.
Ke Wenpei thought for a moment and asked, "How about we put it in the office first?"
Shen Yanming had no objection. "If you think it's suitable, then it's fine. I don't mind."
Ke Wenpei glanced at the others and, seeing that they all nodded, said to Shen Yanming, "Just leave it in the office. If we need to go out to promote it, we can just take it from here."
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