One person reacted, then a second, then a third, and slowly a group of people hugged each other, shouting and crying.
Li Gangtie stroked his buzz cut, somewhat puzzled as to why they were so slow to react, but seeing everyone's agitated state, he didn't bring it up again.
What he didn't know was that the misunderstanding stemmed from the misuse of the phrase "barely satisfactory".
This word means barely satisfactory, but it is often misused to mean unsatisfactory. So at first, people thought it meant that the performance was poor and the result was unsatisfactory.
It wasn't until they understood the second half of the sentence, "Officially join the company and keep up the good work," that they became excited, feeling that their efforts this month had not been in vain, that they had received recognition, and that they had obtained their dream job.
Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan were more reserved. They didn't cheer with everyone, but they held hands tightly, looked at each other, and smiled knowingly.
After everyone had vented their frustrations, Li Gangtie smiled and said, "Don't think that you can do whatever you want just because you've been promoted. You should know that there will be assessments every quarter from now on, and the results will determine your treatment. So, there is no end to progress."
Seeing everyone nod, Li Gangtie continued, "Everyone has worked hard this month. The guard team has decided to give you a short holiday so you can all go back and rest and recharge. You will officially report for duty on May 5th."
"Yes, sir!" This time, everyone stood up, saluted, their movements perfectly synchronized, and their voices were incredibly loud.
Li Gangtie nodded in satisfaction. "Alright, continue eating. If you're still hungry, you can get more at the window. This is a one-time free meal, so don't miss out."
You can go back after you finish eating. Remember not to be late on the morning of the 5th, or there will be a penalty.
"Okay, Captain Li!" This time everyone was less tense and serious, and even their replies were a little playful. They teased, "Captain, you haven't eaten yet, have you? Why don't you have some free food? It's a rare opportunity, don't miss it!"
Before Li Gangtie could speak, the people around him burst into laughter. He didn't seem to mind, raising an eyebrow and saying, "Since you're so filial, I'll trouble you to get me some food, with meat!"
"Alright, I'll be right there!" The young man dashed off in a flash.
The cafeteria staff had already noticed this, so they didn't ask any questions and served Li Gangtie two dishes according to his usual tastes. The portions were generous, and he would be full without any problem.
After the young man placed the food in front of Li Gangtie, everyone couldn't help but sigh. It turns out that even a master chef can cook according to the person's taste. The difference between a shaky hand and a steady hand is quite significant.
At least Captain Li's green pepper and pork slices were mostly pork slices with very few green peppers, making them envious.
So, one of the bolder ones said, "Captain, let me taste the food for you," and then stretched out his wolf claws.
Before Li Gangtie could react, he watched helplessly as the other person used chopsticks to snatch away one-fifth of his slice of meat.
Feeling sorry for them, he quickly reached out and shooed away the others who were eager to try their food, saying, "If you want some, get it yourself. Don't keep staring at what's in other people's bowls. That's not nice of you."
But his words had no effect whatsoever. The people around him ignored him, immediately picked up their chopsticks, and devoured all the slices of meat.
Li Gangtie knew they were still excited, so he wasn't angry and happily joined in their merriment. The meal lasted until 2 PM before they finally parted ways.
Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan had already finished eating, but seeing everyone playing and having fun together, they felt embarrassed to leave first.
Only when the canteen staff urged them did everyone quickly clean up the remaining soup and rice in their bowls, help tidy up the table, and then leave the guard team.
After Shen Bi and the other man returned to the parking lot with the rest of the group, they heard the goose quacking loudly before they even got into the car.
Bi Qiaoan thought that the goose was getting impatient because it had been waiting for too long, so she quickly took out a few cherries from her space and fed them to the goose to calm it down.
Shen Yanming, however, felt that the goose was uncomfortable because the car was too hot and the air was not circulating, and it wanted to escape from the space as soon as possible.
So after getting on the bus, he opened all the windows to let the wind through.
The two drove towards Qingyu Residential Area. The warm breeze felt incredibly refreshing, and even the goose squinted its eyes contentedly.
Before long, we arrived at the entrance of the residential area.
The access control system was restored, and the security guards were nowhere to be seen. Shen Yanming simply scanned the gate with his car, and the access control system opened.
Chen Shunwei, who was drinking water from a teacup in the security room, spilled tea all over his pants when he heard the license plate number announced by the voice system.
He didn't even bother to wipe himself clean, stumbling out of the security room. Seeing the familiar car, he almost burst into tears, "Mr. Shen, you're finally back!"
Shen Yanming parked the car to the side, got out with a smile, and greeted Chen Shunwei, "Long time no see, how are you?"
"Okay, okay!" Chen Shunwei stammered, feeling himself stuttering. He asked excitedly, "Where did you go? Why didn't you come back? I almost thought something had happened to you!"
Shen Yanming thought about how he hadn't informed everyone when he went to report to the guard team, and said apologetically, "Qiao An and I were transferred to the guard team. We went to Su City to provide support the day after the earthquake and only returned today. I'm sorry to have made you worry."
"It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright. I understand the urgency of the situation." Chen Shunwei said, patting his chest. "I didn't expect you guys to actually go to Suzhou. You're truly amazing."
Shen Yanming waved his hand, "Don't say that, we're just going to help out with a small favor."
The truly remarkable ones were the well-trained rangers who fully utilized their professional skills to quickly and accurately help the disaster victims escape their predicaments, and then to excavate supplies, carry out post-disaster reconstruction, and so on.
We new hires are basically just there for show; our role is very limited.
Chen Shunwei didn't understand any of this; all he knew was that anyone who went to the front lines of rescue was a hero.
Thinking of something, his expression changed, and he said, "Mr. Shen, you should contact your friends as soon as possible. It seems that none of them know that you went to Suzhou."
Although they haven't said it outright, I sense they've been very irritable lately; they're probably worried something has happened to you.
Shen Yanming nodded. "Thank you for the reminder. I'll contact them when I get back."
Unfortunately, when he first received the notification, he was worried that the guard team wouldn't want to make the news public, so before reporting for duty, he only told Zhang Heping and the others about the function of the smart bracelet, without mentioning that he was going to Suzhou.
Later, during the rescue in Suzhou, both of them turned off their smart bracelets so as not to interfere with the signals of the trapped people.
There was no electricity or cell phone signal there, so even the only thing that could be used for communication was useless.
On the way, Shen Yanming considered calling everyone to let them know he was safe, but then he thought that a voice call was not as good as a face-to-face meeting, so he held back.
Hearing Chen Shunwei say this now, he really wanted to fly to his buddy and say, "I'm fine, nothing's wrong!"
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