"Oh, is that so? That's quite a good deal. Eight yuan for a meal should include both meat and vegetables."
"Wow, this is really good. If it's delicious, we won't have to cook at home for lunch anymore. We can eat together at the cafeteria."
“.”
"That can't be right!" Amidst the murmurs, a dissenting voice rang out: "It's not the cafeteria, is it? I heard it's fast food."
What fast food?
"The government pays to buy boxed meals from restaurants and hotels and sells them to us for two yuan a serving."
"Impossible! I clearly heard 'cafeteria,' you must have misheard!"
"You're a few years older than me, so even if you misunderstood, it's you who misunderstood!"
“.”
"Stop arguing! You all heard it from the neighborhood office, right? Let's go to the neighborhood office and find out for sure whether it's fast food or a canteen!" Finally, someone in the crowd couldn't stand it anymore and grabbed the two of them, heading towards the neighborhood office.
Not wanting to be left behind, the onlookers followed suit in an orderly fashion, and so the large group of people headed straight towards the street office.
When other people on the road saw the group, they curiously gathered around to ask what had happened. After hearing the story, one by one, they all joined the group. The group, which originally consisted of more than twenty people, had expanded to more than fifty people by the time they reached the entrance of the street office, more than doubling in size.
Such a large group of people made quite a commotion. The street office staff, who were sitting in their office, rushed over upon hearing the noise and were taken aback by the sheer number of people. They quickly asked, "What's going on? What happened?"
"Xiao Gao, you've come at the right time!" Someone immediately stepped forward, grabbed Xiao Gao's wrist, and asked loudly, "Tell everyone, is that two-yuan lunch a cafeteria or fast food?"
Two-dollar lunch?
This document was only issued yesterday, and the subdistrict office hasn't even started making arrangements yet. How come everyone outside already knows about it?
Xiao Gao wanted to answer everyone's questions, but the specifics hadn't been finalized yet, and if he blurted it out now, he'd definitely get a scolding.
"Well, we haven't received any specific notification yet. I heard it officially starts on October 1st. Maybe an announcement will be released in a couple of days. Everyone, just wait a couple more days!"
Although Xiao Gao was being evasive, everyone was familiar with the way the street office operated. The fact that they didn't directly deny it meant they admitted it. The two-yuan lunch would be launched on October 1st, but it was unclear whether it would be a canteen model or a fast food model.
Everyone tried their best to subtly probe for the answer, but Xiao Gao knew he couldn't outsmart these old foxes, so he only answered, "You'll know when the announcement comes out."
Although they couldn't get any information out of Xiao Gao, the imminent battle had stopped, so they had achieved half of their goal. The group left, grumbling and pushing each other.
Smiling as he watched everyone leave, Xiao Gao vaguely heard someone say something.
"Fast food is harmful, this is impossible, it must be the cafeteria! If it really is fast food, I will not only refuse to eat it, I will also file a complaint!"
Um.
Xiao Gao returned to his office and looked at the document he had just opened. At the end of the document, there was this passage.
[The Nanyuan residential community will launch a two-yuan fast food service, provided by Xu's Fast Food Restaurant, with street office staff responsible for organizing the receipt and distribution; the Nanshe area will launch a two-yuan canteen service for one month, with all costs for the first month borne by the government.]
My neighborhood committee is responsible for the Nanyuan residential area, and I'm having a bit of a headache.
——————
The paper mill in the southeast corner of Qianhai Town.
Uncle Hu, the gatekeeper of the paper mill, brought a radio with him today. He sat in the guardhouse listening to opera, singing along happily.
Sizzle—Zzzzz—Hiss!
A strange sound rang out, so loud that it even drowned out the sound from the radio, startling Uncle Hu. He quickly poked his head out of the guardhouse and looked around.
It wasn't dark yet, there were no taxis on the road, no construction crews nearby, and no large machinery in sight.
So where did this sound come from?
Uncle Hu, puzzled for a moment after not finding the source of the sound, was about to pull his head back when the sound came again.
This time, Uncle Hu keenly pinpointed the source of the sound—inside the abandoned factory!
A thief broke in?
Although the factory was completely empty, and even the wooden doors and windows were rotten and decayed, it was my duty as a gatekeeper.
Thump—thump—thump—
Leaning on his cane, Uncle Hu walked towards the factory at a leisurely pace, carefully examining each room through the windows.
There was no one, nothing, not even a rat or a cockroach in sight.
However, during the patrol, he saw the mudflats outside the window, as well as various machines working hard on the mudflats, through the window that had long since disappeared. He suddenly slapped his head with his right hand.
I was so engrossed in the opera that I forgot the construction was underway on the mudflats. That sound I just heard must have come from the machines operating on the mudflats!
After his search yielded no results and he had come up with a plausible explanation for his actions, Uncle Hu returned to the guardhouse, leaning on his cane. He turned down the volume on the radio, strained his ears, and began to listen to the sounds coming from the factory.
But as the opera plot slowly unfolded, Uncle Hu gradually lowered his guard and became immersed in the world of opera.
"I told you to try it first, but you wouldn't! You made such a fuss! That cripple almost found out!"
"We haven't found it yet, have we? Even if we had, so what? The two of us could outrun him even with our machines!"
"You're really something, racing a cripple. Hurry up, bring the power lines over there."
Buzz—buzz buzz—
After a short, sharp sound, there was a steady, continuous low hum from the rapidly turning gears.
"alright!"
End of this chapter
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