Working hard
Seeing the redness on the man's earlobes spreading towards his face, Wang Shuitao felt a surge of heat.
He just wouldn't admit defeat, stammering, "If you want me to let go, then show me what's in your drawer."
She thought she had come up with a brilliant idea in a moment of inspiration, but in reality, she had no idea what she was talking nonsense about.
Only after speaking did I realize that I had violated their privacy. I wished I could bite my tongue, and my hand slumped down as if it could no longer be held up.
Meng Songying, on the other hand, felt no offense at all. She only thought that Meng Songying's proud and upright appearance just now was very cute, but her current dejected appearance was extremely pitiful.
He hurriedly opened the drawer, took out the box, opened it, and held it in front of Taozi, coaxing, "Look!"
Suddenly, a box with its lid open appeared before Wang Shuitao's eyes, inside which rolled plump, translucent peaches.
His familiar, slender fingers picked up a pearl and placed it between her lips.
She met the gaze of the finger's owner, then lowered her eyelashes and carefully rolled the candy, no bigger than a fingernail, into her mouth.
The saliva left from being bitten still lingered on the lower lip, easily sticking to the candy.
After the candy disappeared, only a slight sting remained.
Wang Shuitao paid no attention to anything else, her gaze fixed on the fingers that had fallen limply to their owner's side.
[Did you touch it? Did you touch it? I don't think so. Damn it, I should have picked it up with my hand before putting it in my mouth. I must have lost my mind just now.]
Thoughts flashed through Wang Shuitao's mind like bullet comments.
Meng Songying should have given her the whole box as she had done last time, but for some inexplicable reason, she put the box back in the drawer and said, "We'll eat it tomorrow."
Wang Shuitao breathed a sigh of relief, and since she didn't say anything, she probably didn't run into her.
She put her worries aside and took two big sips of the candy.
The sweet scent of peaches made her squint her eyes contentedly.
Meng Songying finally curled up that finger under the table. The damp touch seemed to still linger, but it felt like it had been burned by a red-hot iron.
When they left the office, neither of them showed any unusual expression, and they went straight to the factory director, Sun Ming.
Both of them were highly proactive, and naturally, they had to report back before they decided to start researching liqueur-filled candies.
Of course, this wasn't a decision Sun Ming could make alone; the leadership team held a small meeting.
Lured by the foreign exchange, several leaders, including Wu Dong, had no objections. They only realized how glorious it was to earn money from foreigners after hearing the driver from Heilongjiang Province boast about it.
Meng Songying was responsible for solving the technical problems.
The sugar factory had never been involved before, and everything had to be started from scratch. Making the starch shell and filling the liquor were both difficult challenges that needed to be overcome.
The others wouldn't just sit idly by either; Sun Ming had to swallow his pride and ask his superiors for raw materials.
Wu Dong was responsible for building relationships with the drivers at the dinner table and figuring out how to buy some liqueur-filled candies to sell to the foreigners.
Previously, the leaders had also been itching to have the drivers bring one back on their way down.
However, Zhang Jianping, who was the most clear-headed at the time, said that the batch that earned foreign exchange was different from the batch sold domestically.
For domestic sales, it's easy to get them; they're sold locally in Heilongjiang Province, and they'll bring them back next time. But since they're earning foreign exchange, they can only get defective products.
The leaders didn't mind trying something new, as long as it was a genuine product sold locally.
That won't work now. It would be best to bring back both the genuine and defective products from the export market and take a look.
Wu Dong patted his chest and said he guaranteed to complete the mission.
Then, the task was assigned to Wang Shuitao. In front of everyone in the factory office, he said openly, "Little Wang, you are a thoughtful person. Ah, the capable should do more. This matter is entrusted to you."
Wang Shuitao stood tall and proud to the side, her chin slightly raised: "Of course, it's my duty to work for the benefit of the factory."
She slightly emphasized the pronunciation of "welfare," as if she couldn't understand Wu Dong's suddenly darkened face, and gracefully walked out the door.
After Wu Dong slammed the door into his office again, Old Wang muttered under his breath, "That Director Wu is really something. He used to be so capable, but now all he does is sit in his office making tea."
The others, though silent, also deeply agreed.
With no hope of promotion, Wu Dong adopted a policy of shirking responsibility, but he couldn't just do no work and steal credit from his subordinates.
The resentment had been brewing for a long time.
Wang Shuitao didn't back down in front of Wu Dong, and after they came out, she was thinking about how to get along with the drivers.
They are rich, have status, and are influential.
He's a local from Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, where things are much more prosperous than in this county town.
She thought of the famous six degrees of separation theory—that any two people in the world can be connected by simply leaving an intermediary.
So perhaps we should start with Jiang Manyun, after all, she has a mother from Heilongjiang Province.
At least there are always some common topics, so there's no fear of awkward silences.
Jiang Manyun has also been at the sugar factory these past few days. Xiao Lou has squeezed out a bed for her so that she can cook for the drivers.
However, it won't be as lavish as the first meal.
The next day, when Wang Shuitao went to find her, she saw Jiang Manyun chatting enthusiastically with the five people, so she paused and did not go forward.
Only after watching them walk away did I fall into deep thought.
Today, Yu Changhai and his group of five planned to wander around the area and decided not to eat at the factory, which also gave Jiang Manyun some free time.
She was used to working, and when she didn't move, she always felt like she was growing lazy tendons, so she decided to go to the state-run restaurant to find Chef Zheng.
We agreed on it yesterday.
Chef Zheng was eager to learn new skills, and as a chef, he was never afraid to learn a lot of dishes.
He promised that the two of them would exchange menus, one recipe for another, until either of them decided to end the exchange.
I even managed to sneak a bite of the food at Jiang Manyun's banquet, and I was blown away by how delicious it was—it was definitely better than anything I could make myself.
Besides, she doesn't have any secret recipes. She just relies on the fact that Heilongjiang Province is far away and she knows a little bit of the local home-cooked food, so she can exchange recipes with Chef Zheng.
She readily agreed as soon as Chef Zheng mentioned it.
It was quite a coincidence that Yu Changhai and his group were also looking for Chef Zheng. These chefs who did side jobs must know where the black market was.
There's a 70% chance they're familiar with the leaders there.
Having the same destination and being from the same hometown, the group chatted briefly and went together.
When Chef Zheng heard about Yu Changhai and his group's purpose, he initially rambled on and refused to say.
Knowing that they had also brought a bag of dried mushrooms and pine nuts, Hazelnut immediately changed her attitude when she arrived.
Not only did he take all the stuff, but after telling them he would be right back, he also personally led the five of them out.
Jiang Manyun was quite comfortable sitting in the shop, with a cup of hot water to drink.
Zhang Fengzhi, the younger girl among the waitresses, came up to her: "Hey, what brings you here?"
She was a little curious, thinking that this person was with those five men, so why didn't they walk together?
Jiang Manyun smiled at her and said, "Master Zheng and I have come to learn each other's skills."
Zhang Fengzhi's expression immediately changed, and she sharply questioned, "Chef Zheng is the best cook in our county. What can you teach him?"
The aunt, who was watching the show from the sidelines, rushed over and pulled Zhang Fengzhi to a corner.
"What are you doing? You've ruined Chef Zheng's plans! What are you going to do now? Huh? Who's in charge of this state-run restaurant? You?"
She knew that Zhang Fengzhi was unhappy because she wanted to learn but was rejected when she asked to become an apprentice some time ago.
But this woman didn't formally become an apprentice; didn't they say they were learning from each other?
To say that Fengzhi is wishful thinking is an overstatement. Chef Zheng has sons and daughters; would he really pass on his skills to her?
For no reason at all, I'm just dreaming.
After scolding Zhang Fengzhi, seeing that she only had a long face and didn't go over to bully the woman anymore, the aunt didn't say anything more.
Jiang Manyun was baffled, but since he was on someone else's turf, he decided to put up with it for the time being.
When Chef Zheng returned, he explained and made a dish of braised pork with preserved mustard greens. After I also made sweet and sour pork, my anger subsided by half.
Knowing that she was allowed to take both dishes with her, her anger completely dissipated.
However, when he got back and met Wang Shuitao who was waiting for him, he still complained a few times.
After realizing what was happening, he said, "Hey, look at me, I've been rambling on and on. Peach, what do you want?"
Wang Shuitao didn't understand why the girl was suddenly throwing a tantrum, so she got down to business: "I have a favor to ask you."
She gestured for Jiang Manyun to come closer.
"...Please ask around for me...and when the time comes, just say...this is the money, please keep it safe."
Jiang Manyun, clutching a stack of banknotes, readily agreed. She didn't think it was a difficult matter; it wasn't illegal or criminal, so what was there to worry about?
Let's see what she does.
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