Jiang Manyun's Great Success
Jiang Manyun asked Chef Zheng to help prepare a feast, and then pulled the five people aside to ask about some things in Heilongjiang Province.
Yu Changhai and the others knew that Jiang Manyun's mother was from Heilongjiang Province, so they didn't think much of it and readily took their seats since they were offered a free meal.
Jiang Manyun has always had a huge capacity for alcohol, and it seems like everyone becomes friends over drinks.
He then mentioned that his mother had left home when she was young, and that she missed her hometown so much every night that she couldn't sleep. He even shed a few tears halfway through his story.
She really missed her mother, so her parents came to see her once when she got married.
It's been several years, and this is the only time we've met.
Tears streamed down her face; she didn't need to act at all.
Wang Qiang sighed, "Well, who can argue with that? Your mother even taught you about the local cuisine, but you probably just couldn't get used to it."
He judges others by his own standards.
Jiang Manyun quickly followed up, saying, "Who says it isn't? But what can we do?"
In fact, Jiang Manyun's mother has a big appetite and eats everything with relish, as long as there is meat, she is not picky about food.
But if you're just playing the victim, whatever you say goes.
She then added, "I also have something I'd like to ask you to do."
The five men knew what was going on and weren't surprised. Chen Jianping, being the most senior, spoke up: "Little sister, we brothers will definitely help you if we can."
If I can't help, then so be it.
There's no need to spell it out; we're all grown up, we understand.
Jiang Manyun then mentioned that he wanted some local specialties from Heilongjiang Province.
“I heard from my mother that there is a kind of red sausage that she used to be able to buy occasionally. I wonder if you gentlemen could bring me some.”
As he spoke, he took out some money and tried to give it to Chen Jianping.
Chen Jianping hadn't expected things to be so simple; he thought she wanted to get a job at the sugar factory by cooking for them.
They can't make that decision.
Why bother accepting money for such a small amount of red sausage from a fellow townsman living away from home? He tried to refuse it.
Jiang Manyun stuffed them one by one, but he didn't take any. He said, "No, keep them. I want quite a few more: sand noodles, old ham, and oh yeah, what's that called? Chocolate liqueur candies."
"Brothers, I need a lot of things, and I know the rules. This is a token of my appreciation for your hard work. Please accept it, please accept it quickly."
She was very generous, stacking up several one-yuan bills thickly and stuffing them into Chen Jianping's hand.
The group was tempted; wasn't this the kind of money they usually earned? Sure enough, Chen Jianping accepted it this time.
Just by counting on your fingers, you can tell there are at least ten pieces. Of course, this is to be divided among several other people, but it's still quite a lot.
After Jiang Manyun saw that the money had been handed over, he said, "Brother, I heard you guys say that those liqueur candies were really good last time. Could you give me a few boxes of the best ones?"
Chen Jianping frowned: "Those you want to export?"
He wanted to refuse, but the money in his hand was sticky and he couldn't throw it away.
Jiang Manyun wiped his eyes and said, "I want to take it back to my mother in a grand manner. I've been away from home for several years. It wouldn't be right to take a defective product back with me."
Chen Jianping gritted his teeth: "Sigh, really, if it weren't for the deep bond between you two mother and daughter, I wouldn't have brought it for you!"
Seeing that the leader had agreed, the remaining four stepped forward to play the good cop, praising Jiang Manyun as a filial daughter and saying that her mother was truly a good mother.
Nothing much happened after that.
After Jiang Manyun had everyone half-drunk, he pretended to be curious and inquired about some things related to liqueur candies.
How does it taste? What is rum? I've never heard of it before. How is alcohol encased in sugar? Do all foreigners look like monsters? Won't the syrup burn when it's poured into the chocolate while it's still very hot? How much does it cost?
A few technical questions were occasionally interspersed in the casual conversation. After some probing, none of the five people suspected anything, and they answered whatever came to mind.
However, they don't really understand the technical aspects either.
When Jiang Manyun returned, Wang Shuitao was still researching the flavors of the liqueur-filled candies.
Since we can't get the chocolate, we can always make something of the flavor of the starchy shell and the type of alcohol inside.
The inspiration naturally comes from modern cocktails.
She had never tried it, but with the internet so developed these days, there are naturally many people posting videos of people showing off their bartending skills.
Vodka, rum, brandy, paired with tomato juice, lemon juice, pineapple juice, and coconut juice.
Forget calling it chocolate-filled candy, just call it Tequila Sunrise Candy or Bloody Mary Candy.
There's also Godfather Candy.
She heard about it when she watched a marketing account using Xiaozhuang and Xiaomei to explain the movie Godfather. The movie was released in 1972 and became an instant hit, leading to the creation of a cocktail named after Godfather.
The Godfather Part II should be released next year, so I can take advantage of its popularity.
As for whether foreign wines are available, I can only say that changing the sugar will definitely result in a different taste, so please understand.
She will definitely try her best to make the outer packaging incredibly cool, so that it will attract attention as soon as they take it out of their pockets.
Chinese-style wines are also a must; jasmine, osmanthus, plum, cherry, and orange are all commonly used for making wine.
There's also tea and wine.
I just don't know how to combine them to make them taste better. I need to try them one by one. Maybe I can even make a multi-flavor combination pack.
The pen tip rustles across the paper, recording each inspiration.
The people in the factory office fell silent, slowed their pace, and showed even greater respect for the young girl Wang Shuitao than for Director Wu Dong.
Jiang Manyun had just arrived when he saw this scene and was hesitant to go in and disturb them.
After writing the last character, Wang Shuitao closed the pen cap and looked down at the person whose gaze was falling on her.
She went outside and said, "Sister Manyun, you're back."
Jiang Manyun snapped out of his daze, leaned close to her ear, and told her everything.
The image of her serious and meticulous work from just moments ago faded from Wang Shuitao's persona, and she happily bounced around, holding Jiang Manyun's hands.
"Sister Manyun, you're amazing! How can someone be so incredible!"
Jiang Manyun was so embarrassed he wanted to crawl into a hole.
She's always been confident, but she's not as good as Peach makes her out to be.
Wang Shuitao didn't keep Jiang Manyun any longer, but gave her all the extra money she had brought back as a reward for her hard work.
Wang Shuitao didn't miss her night school class tonight; she rushed to the cafeteria and ate her meal in a whirlwind.
She hurriedly ran back to the dormitory to fetch water and wash her clothes, as it was hot and she had to change them every day.
If I hadn't washed them yesterday, I wouldn't have anything to wear tomorrow.
Use soap to carefully scrub the collar, rinse with water, rinse again, wring it dry, shake it out, and then hang it by the bed.
The wet clothes dripped water, while the orange-red sunset was already approaching the horizon.
But it doesn't matter, the water on the ground dried up quickly, leaving only a mark. At this temperature, clothes washed in the evening can be worn tomorrow morning.
As for the underwear that couldn't be hung out, Wang Shuitao diligently washed and dried it in her room the night before, right after she changed out of it.
In the early morning, that place gets sunlight and doesn't have that musty, watery smell from drying out.
Walking hand in hand with her classmates, Wang Shuitao would always turn her head halfway and then abruptly turn it back.
Fortunately, the road wasn't far, and it didn't get stuck in her neck.
Today's class was still a general education class. A new student joined the class, Zhang Pingkang from the glass factory.
The people from the sugar factory turned to look at Wang Shuitao, only to see her supporting her cheek with one hand and scribbling something on the table with the other.
A female classmate leaned over to take a look and then gestured, saying that it was pointed at the top and round at the bottom—wasn't that a peach?
What a child! He just draws for his own amusement. No wonder he doesn't make a move on the blind dates that didn't work out.
Wang Shuitao looked up and met her gaze blankly. Although her fingers left no marks on the wooden table, she still wiped them clean.
Did no one notice she was drawing a heart? That's so embarrassing.
As for Zhang Pingkang, she had completely forgotten him; he was a complete stranger she had never met.
She wasn't as well remembered as the other people in the factory who paid attention to her.
Zhang Pingkang slowly walked down, also wearing a white shirt, and coughed twice as he sat down.
Those around her couldn't help but ask a few questions, but no one paid much attention to the teacher who was simply reading from the textbook on the podium.
Wang Shuitao raised her hand and then lowered it again, restraining herself from the urge to cover her nose; that would be too impolite.
But the habits formed over those three years couldn't be broken, mainly because of the psychological discomfort. All I could do was hang my head, widen my eyes, and secretly hold my breath.
In the end, all I could do was press my nose against my arm to try and filter out some bacteria or germs.
Fortunately, Zhang Pingkang's cough was just to maintain his image of being sickly, and he stopped coughing after sitting down; otherwise, Wang Shuitao would have suffocated there.
Since the breaks between academic classes were usually quite long, Zhang Pingkang chatted with the people from the sugar factory who were nearby.
She mentioned that she has an older brother who works at a sugar factory, so he's practically family.
His speech was different from the rough and loud voices of other men today; it was gentle.
It was only when he entered his teenage years and began looking for a partner that he discovered that many women actually preferred men who were more gentle and weak.
Just as men may feel that vulnerable women need more help, they may even neglect their own wives and children.
If a man is physically unaffected in terms of height, appearance, and job, then being sickly will make women feel extra tenderness towards him.
She would even treat him to a meal when other men were going to treat her.
But when it comes to marriage, these women become unhappy.
They all spoke with conviction, saying they needed to consider the child's health.
He even had to resort to finding someone with a rural household registration, but fortunately his older brother found him Wang Shuitao as a target.
However, this woman had endless things to say to the chief engineer of the sugar factory, and right now she didn't even open her mouth.
The same goes for everyone else; he's been secretly watching Wang Shuitao for ages, and not a single one of them has tried to set her up.
This meant that even after finishing his night school classes, he could only follow behind the eight people at the sugar factory.
With such a weak body, he sat on such a hard stool and stayed up so late, making such a great sacrifice.
I should at least say something today, otherwise it would be a waste of time.
In the distance, Meng Songying saw a number of people gradually emerging from the dim light.
Not long after the sugar factory workers left the classroom, they turned on the lights, and Wang Shuitao, as always, was surrounded by the crowd.
His pupils contracted sharply as he locked his gaze on the man following behind him.
I saw Zhang Pingkang in the workshop last time.
He was the blind date that the matchmaker had introduced to me last time.
How did this person end up here?
Meng Songying didn't find it surprising; it was just that Taozi had finally gotten to know Zhang Pingkang.
Would she prefer a man who pursues her so passionately?
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