Chapter 64: Superb Culinary Skills
As soon as Deputy Factory Director Lu returned to the pharmaceutical factory, his mind gradually cleared up. He realized that Factory Director Guan must have deliberately provoked him, preventing him from clarifying the truth.
No wonder Director Guan acted like a rogue today, not a factory manager at all. It turns out he was trying to help Lin Yuanshu!
He no longer wanted Lin Yuanshu to be his subordinate; he only wanted Lin Yuanshu to disappear from this world. No matter how talented Lin Yuanshu was, her existence was a stain on his reputation. Only by completely erasing this stain could he quell the hatred in his heart.
But he can't act now, after all, so many eyes are on him, and now that Lin Yuanshu is in trouble, he is the prime suspect.
The secretary knocked on the door and entered Deputy Factory Director Lu's office, whispering, "The factory director wants to see you. He just met with the other factory directors and probably discussed the events of today's Chemical Industry Bureau meeting."
Deputy Factory Director Lu took a deep breath and said with a serious expression, "I understand."
He didn't want the factory manager to know about these things, so he deliberately sent the factory manager away, but unexpectedly, the factory manager still found out in the end.
Deputy Factory Director Lu walked into the factory director's office with a feeling of unease.
The factory director didn't offer Deputy Director Lu a seat, nor did he speak. Instead, he busied himself with his work, while Deputy Director Lu stood silently to the side.
After what seemed like an eternity, the factory manager finally spoke slowly: "Look at my memory! I get so busy that I lose track of time and didn't even notice you've arrived. You must be tired of standing!"
Deputy Factory Director Lu shook his head and said with a smile, "Not tired."
The factory manager nodded slightly and said earnestly, "It's fine as long as you're not tired. After all, I've watched you rise through the ranks step by step. But how come you've started doing some foolish things since becoming the deputy factory manager? You should know that I hate it when people ruin the reputation of the pharmaceutical factory. Everything in this world is based on mutual consent; you can't force things. You want to mold others, but you didn't expect that others would also want to mold you."
Deputy Factory Director Lu did not offer any explanation for his mistake, but hurriedly admitted, "I was wrong this time! The journey was too smooth, which made me completely let my guard down, underestimate others, and think that I could control everything. I will definitely not make the same mistake again next time."
He knew it was useless to explain to the factory manager, who only cared about the results and not the process.
The factory manager, with a stern face, said seriously, "This incident serves as a lesson for you, so that you will learn to think twice before acting in the future."
Deputy Factory Director Lu said apologetically, "I'm sorry to have troubled you."
The factory manager shook his head and said softly, "It's not a matter of worrying. Since you know you're wrong, you should try to clear up the misunderstanding with Hongguang Dye Factory and Chemical Plant and let this matter be in the past, instead of trying to figure out who is right and who is wrong. You can't produce any evidence, so the truth you're talking about is not important. Unless you can get that woman to admit her mistake herself, everything is just a dying struggle and will only make you a laughing stock in other people's eyes."
Deputy Factory Director Lu took a deep breath and said with a smile, "I will try my best to make peace with Comrade Lin Yuanshu."
Anyway, Lin Yuanshu will leave Beijing one day, so why should he bother arguing with Lin Yuanshu so much?
"Don't try, just be sure."
Deputy Factory Director Lu replied, "I understand."
At the same time, Lin Yuanshu was also in Director Qian's office, talking with Director Qian.
Factory Director Qian recounted what happened after the meeting today. He confidently stated, "I never expected Deputy Factory Director Lu to be so shameless. Not only did he not give up on smearing you, but he also tried to sow discord between us. I'm worried he won't stop there, so I've already arranged for someone to keep an eye on him. I'll receive the news as soon as he makes any unusual moves. So you don't need to worry about Deputy Factory Director Lu doing anything underhanded now. Just focus on your work."
Upon hearing this, Lin Yuanshu breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "I can finally get a good night's sleep now, and I don't have to worry about Deputy Factory Director Lu continuing to scheme against me."
She was incredibly unlucky. All she wanted was to change jobs, but she never expected to provoke a heartless person like Deputy Factory Director Lu, who was determined to force her to submit.
Now, she has no choice but to stay at the Hongguang Dye Chemical Plant, and Deputy Director Lu has also lost face. In a sense, they have both suffered losses and neither achieved their goal.
Factory Director Qian said earnestly, "As long as you are willing to stay at Hongguang Dye Chemical Plant, I will definitely protect you and prevent any accidents from happening to you. The workers at the chemical plant will not be led by the nose by Deputy Factory Director Lu."
Life is about knowing when to play dumb!
Lin Yuanshu blinked, revealing a look of lingering fear, and deliberately exaggeratedly said, "After this incident, I realized how good Hongguang Dye Chemical Plant is. The leaders of other factories are too terrifying. They would push me to my death at the slightest disagreement. Even if you kick me out, I will not leave Hongguang Dye Chemical Plant."
Factory Director Qian laughed heartily and said, "You don't need to be so afraid. This kind of leader is a minority. But rest assured, Hongguang Dye Chemical Plant will not let down anyone who has made contributions."
Lin Yuanshu smiled and nodded.
On the other hand, in order to buy seafood smoothly, Zhou Ma took Li Xiaohua to the largest state-run vegetable market in Beijing early in the morning. You can buy things here that you can't buy anywhere else.
Li Xiaohua really went all out for her friend Zhou Ma, braving the strong winds in the dead of winter. Luckily, her cotton-padded coat was quite effective, otherwise she would definitely have gotten sick after going out.
The two arrived at the state-run vegetable market. With the Lunar New Year approaching, the market was bustling with activity. The counters were crowded with middle-aged women holding up their grocery ration books, while the sales clerks shouted, "Don't cut in line!"
Li Xiaohua breathed on her hands and stomped her feet. "I thought we were pretty early, but we're still late. There are so many people in line ahead of us."
Aunt Zhou sighed helplessly: "Alas! There's nothing we can do about it. In Beijing, ribbonfish is a rare commodity in winter. Not only is it subject to purchase limits based on the food ration book, but even queuing up early in the morning doesn't guarantee you'll be able to buy any. You can queue here while I go ahead and check the price of ribbonfish."
“Okay.” Li Xiaohua readily agreed. She was not as familiar with Beijing as Zhou Ma was, after all, Zhou Ma had lived in Beijing for so many years.
Zhou Ma went there happily, but came back cursing.
She lowered her voice and said, "The narrowest ribbonfish costs 15 cents a pound, the two-finger-wide ones cost 20 cents a pound, and the narrower 'flat ribbonfish' costs 26 cents a pound. This is simply robbery. It wasn't this expensive last year."
Li Xiaohua suggested, "Why don't we go buy clams and cockles? I heard from Sister Wei that these two things are quite cheap."
Zhou's mother wasn't very familiar with these two things because she had never eaten them before, but she could ask about the price.
"good."
After asking the price, Zhou's mother said angrily, "If only my daughter-in-law were like your daughter-in-law, she wouldn't be allergic to the cheap seafood, but she has to be allergic to such expensive seafood."
Clams are a little cheaper than ribbonfish, at one cent per pound, but cockles are two cents per pound, which is more expensive than ribbonfish. She felt that buying these two things was not worthwhile, since the shells take up weight, and she might as well buy ribbonfish instead.
Li Xiaohua advised, "Why don't we just leave it at that? Seafood is so expensive; it's a waste to feed it to your daughter-in-law."
Now that we're all here, and it's just one step away, how could Aunt Zhou give up? Her gaze fell on the counter, and she said thoughtfully, "Do you think seaweed counts as seafood?"
Vegetables should be a little cheaper than fish and meat.
"This shouldn't... count, right..." Li Xiaohua said uncertainly.
Aunt Zhou pursed her lips, her face serious, and said, "They both have the character 'sea' in them, and they both come from the sea, so they should count, right?"
Li Xiaohua said speechlessly, "You're just fooling yourself."
Although Zhou's mother was reluctant to admit it, she felt that Sister Hua was right. In the end, she still went and bought two catties of the cheapest ribbonfish. It wasn't that she didn't want to buy more, but that each person was limited to two catties.
The plan to buy kelp also fell through, because kelp was actually more expensive than ribbonfish.
"Sister Hua, you've come all this way to the state-run market, aren't you going to buy some ribbonfish to take home?" Zhou Ma asked in confusion.
Li Xiaohua replied seriously, "It's all because my daughter-in-law is being pretentious. I said a few words to her, and she took the child and went back to her parents' home. My son hasn't been eating at home for the past few days. He went to his father-in-law's house to coax his wife. My son isn't here, so buying ribbonfish is useless. This stuff doesn't stay fresh for long."
Upon hearing this, Zhou's mother said in a low voice, "Whether your son is here or not doesn't affect your ability to buy ribbonfish to eat at home."
Li Xiaohua shook her head and refused, saying, "How can I eat such a rare thing by myself? Of course, I have to wait for my son to come back before I can eat it. I usually just eat whatever I want, as long as I don't starve to death."
Zhou Ma: "..."
If it were her, she would definitely find a way to get her two sons away so she could enjoy the meal with her lover.
When Lin Yuanshu returned home from get off work, he was quite surprised to see Zhou Ma cooking in the communal kitchen.
Because Zhou Ma usually doesn't go to the communal kitchen, she feels there are too many people and she's afraid that someone might steal her vegetables and seasonings. She prefers to have a simple kitchen and cook in the hallway.
Hearing Lin Yuanshu talking to the neighbor, Aunt Zhou quickly left the kitchen and greeted Lin Yuanshu with a smile, "You're back so early! Take a rest, dinner will be ready soon. Are you hungry? Would you like some pastries?"
Lin Yuanshu decisively refused, saying, "I'm not hungry. Since we're about to eat, I won't eat anything else."
"Okay," said Aunt Zhou with a smile.
Looking at Zhou Ma's smile, Lin Yuanshu felt uneasy. Before doing anything bad, Zhou Ma would always ask her how she was doing. She wondered what kind of trick Zhou Ma was up to today.
She went into the living room, poured herself some water, and asked Sister-in-law Xue, "Why aren't you cooking? What happy occasion happened today? Mom seems to be in a good mood."
Sister-in-law Xue shook her head blankly and said in confusion, "I don't know. I didn't slack off at home. I cooked lunch myself. Mom went out to buy groceries with Aunt Li from across the street early this morning. I don't know what she bought. She was being mysterious and wouldn't let me see. She just took it to the kitchen to prepare it herself."
Lin Yuanshu stroked her chin. She suspected that Zhou Ma had bought seafood. Given Zhou Ma's personality, she wouldn't hesitate to take action now that she had discovered such a weakness in her.
After everyone had arrived, Lin Yuanshu volunteered to help serve the dishes in the kitchen. There was a dish of stewed cabbage with vermicelli and a dish of fried vegetable balls. There was no trace of seafood in the dish, and there was no fishy smell of seafood in the communal kitchen.
I never thought I would make a mistake.
After the dishes were served, Zhou Dafu and the others picked up their chopsticks and began to enjoy their meal.
Zhou Ma glanced at Lin Yuanshu nervously, but seeing him earnestly eating the cabbage stew with vermicelli, she smiled and said, "Second daughter-in-law, what do you think of today's meal?"
To prevent Lin Yuanshu from discovering that there was fish in the dish, she first pan-fried the ribbonfish until it was half-cooked, then added water to make soup, and added cabbage and vermicelli to make a dish of stewed cabbage and vermicelli.
Then take the ribbonfish out, discard the bones, crush the fish meat, add sweet potato starch and cabbage leaves, and fry it into small balls.
She only cooked half of it today; the other half of the ribbonfish was left outside Sister Hua's window to freeze.
The reason she didn't keep it at her own home was because she was afraid Lin Yuanshu would find out. Sister Hua's house was safer, and her daughter-in-law wouldn't be home for the next few days, so no one would know she bought seafood.
Looking at Zhou Ma's nervous expression, Lin Yuanshu gave a playful smile and said softly, "Something's strange."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ma swallowed hard, feeling incredibly guilty. She retorted loudly, "What's strange about it? The food is all fresh, prepared the same way as before. How could it be strange!"
Lin Yuanshu raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, "It tastes really good."
Zhou Ma was amused and annoyed. She had thought her little trick had been discovered, but it turned out to be a misunderstanding. Lin Yuanshu was the same; he always spoke with heavy breathing. She wondered who taught him that, which made her worry about him too.
Others might not be able to taste the ribbonfish, but Zhou Xiangyang, as a chef, could tell at a glance. He was about to explain, "It's delicious because..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zhou's mother shoved a steamed bun into Zhou Xiangyang's mouth, cursing, "Can't even you shut up while eating? Sometimes we can talk after we finish eating..."
She almost forgot there was a chef at home. No, she had to find a way to shut Zhou Xiangyang up and prevent him from telling anyone about this.
Zhou Xiangyang ate his steamed bun, completely bewildered. His family didn't have any rules about not talking while eating or sleeping! Why was he suddenly forbidden from speaking during meals when they were just talking a moment ago?
Lin Yuanshu gave an utterly speechless smile. Although she couldn't taste any seafood in the dish, she knew from Zhou Ma's behavior that there must have been seafood in it, but she didn't know what kind of seafood it was.
It has to be said that Zhou's mother is quite capable; she can cook delicious food while making sure that the seafood is completely invisible to the woman. The only drawback might be that she acts a little fake in front of her.
If only we didn't use this method on her!
Why do I have a problem with her?
After the meal, the eldest brother and Sister-in-law Xue were responsible for washing the dishes, while Lin Yuanshu was responsible for clearing the table.
"We're out of soy sauce at home, so come with me to buy some," Zhou's mother said loudly as she pulled Zhou Xiangyang's arm and led him outside.
These words were meant for Lin Yuanshu.
Zhou Xiangyang looked bewildered and said, "Mom, it's snowing so heavily outside and it's so cold. Can't we just buy soy sauce tomorrow?"
"No, I want to buy soy sauce today," Zhou Ma said firmly.
Seeing Zhou Xiangyang's pitiful appearance, Lin Yuanshu quickly stopped Zhou's mother's crazy actions, "Mom, we can buy the soy sauce tomorrow. Xiangyang can go downstairs with you to digest your food."
She, the one being schemed against, still actively provides opportunities for those who schemed against her; truly, no one is more considerate than her.
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Ma, not wanting to brave the wind and snow to buy soy sauce, agreed, "That will do."
Watching Zhou Ma and Zhou Xiangyang leave, the eldest brother frowned and said, "When did Mom and Xiangyang become so close?"
I always thought he was the one who was valued by his parents. After all, he was the eldest son and naturally superior to Zhou Xiangyang. Most of the family property after the division of the family property belonged to him. If Zhou Xiangyang hadn't met a more assertive wife, he would still be being ignored by his parents!
Sister-in-law Xue lowered her voice and said, "I guess Mom wants to talk to my younger brother about his second wife. I can't think of anything else they have to talk about."
The elder brother nodded thoughtfully and instructed, "You're usually idle at home with nothing to do, so keep an eye on your younger brother's behavior. Don't let him try to please Mom and Dad behind my back. This isn't just for me, but also for our child."
He felt that as long as Lin Yuanshu was around, the family would eventually split up, and his parents, who favored him, would give him more money.
His wife may not have a good relationship with his parents, but he can't. So whenever his wife and mother have a conflict, he will only side with his mother, because this is the best way to get the benefits.
Unlike Lin Yuanshu and his younger brother, he was not filial to his parents and did not talk back to them. Doing so would only make his parents feel disheartened and cause them to become more and more estranged from him.
"I understand," Sister-in-law Xue readily agreed. She was willing to do anything for her child.
Zhou's mother led Zhou Xiangyang downstairs. She glanced around and saw that since it was night and snowing outside, there was no one else downstairs.
"You can't tell your wife that there's seafood in the food," Zhou's mother said sternly.
Zhou Xiangyang frowned and asked, "Why? It's not a big deal, why can't we tell anyone?"
Zhou's mother said in a serious tone, "Because I bought the seafood behind your dad's back. Your dad thought seafood was too expensive and couldn't afford it, but I wanted to eat it, so I used my salary to buy seafood. If you tell your wife, she will definitely tell your dad. When your dad finds out, he will definitely argue with me. Do you want to see disharmony in the family? Do you want me to argue with your dad all the time?"
Zhou Xiangyang shook his head, his expression extremely serious. "I don't want to, but I can tell my wife not to tell my dad about this."
Zhou Ma lost her temper immediately and cursed, "I told you not to tell anyone, so don't tell anyone! Why are you talking so much? If you dare to tell anyone about this, you'll be sorry!"
A flicker of fear crossed Zhou Xiangyang's eyes, and he quickly replied, "I won't tell anyone else about this."
Hearing this, Zhou's mother felt a little better. She patted Zhou Xiangyang's head and said with great relief, "Being a good boy is what makes my good son. We are blood relatives. I would never harm you, so don't ask so many questions. Just be a good boy."
Even though Zhou Ma was smiling, Zhou Xiangyang felt that Zhou Ma was even more terrifying than when she wasn't smiling. He just wanted to escape from Zhou Ma's side because he felt that he would suffocate if he stayed with her any longer.
After Zhou Xiangyang agreed, Zhou's mother no longer cared whether he stayed or left.
Zhou Xiangyang returned to her room with a displeased expression. Afraid that Lin Yuanshu would notice her unhappiness, she kept her head down the whole time.
Seeing Zhou Xiangyang return to his room, Lin Yuanshu subconsciously asked, "What did Mom talk to you about?"
"He told me not to tell you about the ribbonfish in the dish," Zhou Xiangyang said truthfully.
Although he told his mother that he wouldn't tell outsiders, his wife wasn't an outsider. It wasn't that he told her voluntarily; his wife asked him, and that's when he told her.
Zhou Xiangyang's honesty caught Lin Yuanshu off guard. However, upon reflection, she realized that since they had met, Zhou Xiangyang had never intended to hide anything from her.
On the other hand, she wanted to eat yellow croaker more than ribbonfish, but unfortunately yellow croaker was only available during the Spring Festival. As for seafood like swimming crabs and shrimp, forget about it, they were simply unavailable unless you went to a coastal city to buy them.
Immediately, Lin Yuanshu walked over to Zhou Xiangyang's side and noticed that Zhou Xiangyang's mood was off. She looked at Zhou Xiangyang with concern and asked anxiously, "What happened? Did Mom scold you again?"
Zhou Xiangyang shook his head, hugged Lin Yuanshu tightly, and whispered, "He didn't scold me, he just suddenly felt a little sad for some reason."
Lin Yuanshu frowned, unsure how to comfort him. After all, it was quite difficult to deal with someone who was sad for no reason. She suggested, "How about we do something fun?"
Zhou Xiangyang was stunned for a moment, then his face turned bright red. He was a little nervous, but also a little expectant. He stammered, "I... ah... now..."
I'm not sad at all now.
Lin Yuanshu said confidently, "Of course, it's now."
She released Zhou Xiangyang, took out a chess set from the drawer of the table, and said with a smile, "Do you know how to play chess? I just bought this chess set today. We can try to distract ourselves, maybe that will make you feel less sad."
Zhou Xiangyang breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a pang of regret. He replied, "I will."
Afterwards, Lin Yuanshu started playing chess with Zhou Xiangyang. She imagined it would be an evenly matched game, but in reality it was a battle of novices. If the two of them went downstairs to play chess with those old men, they would be defeated in no time.
The next morning, Zhou Ma tentatively asked, "Second daughter-in-law, how are you feeling?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Yuanshu couldn't help but sigh. "Mom, how did you know I wasn't feeling well? I don't know why, but last night I felt weak, nauseous, and vomited terribly. I felt terrible all night."
Zhou's mother suppressed a laugh, pretending to know nothing. "I don't know! I just noticed you looked a little pale, so I was asking how you were feeling!"
"I suspect it's the food from last night that gave me an upset stomach," Lin Yuanshu said deliberately.
Zhou's mother lowered her head guiltily and advised, "You're overthinking it. We're all fine, and only you are. It must be due to something else, like a stomachache or something. Hurry up and eat, you have to go to work after you finish eating!"
Although Zhou Xiangyang didn't understand why his wife was lying to his mother, he didn't expose her and remained silent as usual.
Lin Yuanshu raised an eyebrow; her mother-in-law was truly both stupid and vicious.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com