In the end, the banquet surprisingly ended with a game of guessing what flavor the potato chips tasted like.
This is also a strange development.
The foreign delegation leader was a middle-aged man in his thirties named Evan. He walked up to Wang Shuo and asked, "Have you found a new channel? Which company makes potato chips? They have so many flavors!"
Wang Shuo smiled but didn't speak, looking at the leader of Haicheng Food Factory, signaling him to answer.
Wang Deqing was excited to hear the high-ranking leader call his name: "Mr. Ivan, all these potato chips were developed by our food factory. They come in tomato, cucumber, honey, lemon, sea salt pepper, sea salt shrimp, seaweed, and cheese flavors."
He paused slightly, then said with some pride, "Moreover, our technicians said that potato chips are a very versatile snack that can be paired with many flavors. I estimate that in the short time we were at the banquet, the technicians have already developed several new flavors."
Evan didn't react much to his last sentence at first, but tried to match the taste he mentioned with the potato chips he had just tasted. Indeed, once he said it, the tastes all had names and were no longer vague.
As the translator translated his last sentence, he feigned cheerfulness and said, "Everyone says that the Chinese nation is a very intelligent nation. I didn't believe it before, thinking it was an exaggeration. But today I understand what it truly means!"
"Then, Mr. Ivan, when can we discuss cooperation?" Wang Shuo was pleased to hear the praise, but at the same time, he did not forget the ultimate purpose of holding this dinner.
“Tomorrow,” Evan definitely had to give an answer. In fact, regardless of whether these potato chips were available today, the cooperation was already scheduled for tomorrow. They just wanted to use the potato chips to dampen the morale of the Chinese side. Of course, the result was obvious. The Chinese have that kind of tenacity. No matter what the conditions, they can withstand the pressure and find the right opportunity to deliver a fatal blow.
“We’ve been out for quite a while now, and everyone’s really homesick,” Evan added, using this as a convenient excuse for the problems they’ve been dealing with over potato chips.
Wang Shuo nodded in understanding: "We can understand, especially us Chinese. It's hard to leave our homeland. Every time we travel far away, we bring a handful of land from our hometown so that we have something to hold onto when we miss home."
Haicheng Food Factory
"Zhan Chunlan, you're amazing! You were able to guess from just one sentence that it was because of the potato variety. If it weren't for you, we would never have been able to fry the potatoes they wanted with the original ones." Qin Shengli exclaimed excitedly as he circled around Zhan Chunlan. Although she was only a year older than him, her work experience and abilities far surpassed his. While he wouldn't consider her his mentor, she was at least his senior sister.
"I only heard about it from others, otherwise how would I know that potatoes abroad are different from those in China?" Zhan Chunlan didn't take credit for it, as it really wasn't something she came up with on her own.
"You're really amazing. I could only vaguely think that they like to use olive oil and might need to switch to a different oil for frying. You not only thought of the oil, but you also managed to find potatoes at the Agricultural Technology Institute."
"Alright, you're both very capable!" Section Chief Xie had been standing at the door for a while, and the two of them were so busy praising each other that she figured they wouldn't notice her if she didn't speak up: "If the banquet goes well this time, the factory will probably reward our technical department again, and you'll definitely get your share."
"It's not just the two of us; all our colleagues in the technical department have been working overtime these past few days to help us with the experiment. If we succeed this time, it will definitely be thanks to everyone in our technical department," Zhan Chunlan said modestly.
"That's right, that's right." Qin Shengli wasn't very talkative, and always followed behind Zhan Chunlan as an echo.
Previously, Zhan Chunlan was the only young person in the technical department, and her superiors were all experienced workers. They could occasionally adjust the flavor of the products, but when it came to developing new products, they could never come up with anything. So, Zhan Chunlan had to do it all by herself. Since Qin Shengli joined the team, the two of them have worked together. They are both young and think in sync, so they have worked together quite well and developed many new products.
Seeing their energetic appearance, Xie Zengrou shook her head with amusement, turned around and went into her office, but a thought kept running through her mind: "Sure enough, there still needs to be young people in the department. Sigh~ Without realizing it, have I already gone from being a veteran to a rising star?"
After get off work, Zhan Chunlan and Qin Shengli walked out together. They were both quite excited today. The news had just reached the food factory, saying that their potato chips had shocked a group of foreigners. With so many flavors, they thought they were imported potato chips, but it turned out that they were all developed by their own food factory. They said they agreed to the cooperation for the next day on the spot.
"Chunlan!" Just as they were getting into the discussion, they suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Brother Wenfeng, you're off work so early today?" Zhan Chunlan turned around and saw Wang Wenfeng standing at the factory gate waiting for her, with a bicycle parked behind him.
"Hmm." Wang Wenfeng's voice sounded a little strange as he naturally took the bag from her and put it in the basket on the front of his bicycle. "I got off work a little early today, so I thought I'd come pick you up."
Qin Shengli silently asked, "Your boyfriend?"
Just then, Wang Wenfeng turned his head and saw him winking at Zhan Chunlan, which made him frown.
"Haha~" Zhan Chunlan couldn't help but laugh when she saw his expression frozen on his face. "Let me introduce you. This is my boyfriend, Wang Wenfeng, a doctor at the People's Hospital."
"This is Qin Shengli, the technician in our office. I've mentioned him to you before."
Wang Wenfeng nodded: "Yes, you mentioned it before. Your foot was injured by him before."
"Uh~" Qin Shengli's expression became even more stiff. Was this a good impression?
Qin Shengli quickly said goodbye and ran away, his face showing a mix of excitement at learning about his colleague's romantic gossip and embarrassment at losing face.
On the bicycle, Zhan Chunlan gripped Wang Wenfeng's clothes tightly with one hand and poked his back with the other: "What's wrong with you today? Are you in a bad mood?"
"No!" Wang Wenfeng's voice was muffled, and anyone could sense his emotions.
"Tell me, what happened? Did you get upset at the hospital?"
"No!"
"Oh, you're so certain, it seems you really don't have it. So what's wrong?"
"I'm fine!"
"Hmm, it seems something really has happened," Zhan Chunlan nodded seriously. "Is it because of me?"
"No."
Zhan Chunlan suddenly leaned closer and whispered, "Are you jealous?"
Then, she saw a pair of ears turn from white to red in an instant, and felt like smoke was coming out of her head. Just as she was admiring it, there was a sudden stop, and Zhan Chunlan's face slammed heavily into Wang Wenfeng's back.
"Are you alright?" Wang Wenfeng stopped the car and turned around anxiously to look at her.
"Did you do that on purpose?" Zhan Chunlan covered her face, wincing in pain.
"No." There was a hint of embarrassment in her voice. "I'm home."
Zhan Chunlan didn't get out of the car; she sat in the back seat and looked at him intently: "Were you jealous just now?"
Wow~ I finally saw his face! His clean and fair face turned red instantly. She secretly glanced at his ears, and um, they were red too. Was he really that funny?
"No," Wang Wenfeng denied again.
"No, is this all you're going to say today?" Zhan Chunlan found it somewhat amusing. In just a short while, he had said "no" several times. Seeing that he was about to speak again, she quickly interrupted him, as she didn't want to hear "no" again.
"You know, he's my colleague in the office, a year younger than me. Don't let his childlike appearance fool you, he's already married."
Upon hearing that he was already married, Wang Wenfeng's expression immediately improved.
"Tch~ He still won't admit it." Zhan Chunlan had gained a new understanding of how stubborn men can be.
What Wang Wenfeng was really thinking was: everyone younger than her is already married, so what about us...?
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