Song Tan's Notes

The leaders were unaware that a basketball game had led to a shift in the job search of contemporary college students towards rural areas.

At that moment, the driver, Niu, drove the car, and the three of them arrived at the entrance of Zhang Yanping's guesthouse.

After getting off the car, the lights at the entrance were bright.

He looked up and saw that although the multi-story building was built in an ordinary way, it was still very much in line with the price range.

—It doesn't look expensive!

The three of them walked through the door.

Late at night, to avoid the movement, Zhang Yanping naturally stayed here to work the night shift.

While scrolling through his phone, he frowned, which made the passing guests hurry by and even slow their breathing.

With the demand for apartments now exceeding supply, he wasn't as cautious as before. Seeing someone approach, he looked up and asked, "ID card—huh?"

He genuinely helped with the food and drinks during the Laba Festival, so he naturally had a very clear view of the leader's face.

Moreover, the other party's photo is still on the photo wall in Old Song's house. Although his position is inconspicuous, Secretary Zhu still takes the time to admire the demeanor of his grandfathers.

After a while, people started to take a closer look at each other, so recognizing each other is no longer difficult.

He opened his mouth, but the words that came out immediately turned into a mumbled honorific:
"You've arrived?"

Although he spoke politely, judging from his appearance, if the leader hadn't already met him before and even had some understanding of him, he would have frowned and become wary.

After all, the crackdown on organized crime is in full swing, yet such a powerful figure is still hiding in the countryside. It's truly a case of local officials failing to do their job!
But now...

Ugh!
To his shame, he subconsciously turned his head away to avoid being photographed by some unknown media outlet, who might then claim that he was colluding with someone in power or in the underworld.

However, in his opinion, although there's a saying that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, well, this matter...

In short, Zhang Yanping's appearance is really suitable for running a bed and breakfast in the countryside.

Otherwise, if someone strolled around the night market in the city with a lollipop in their mouth, the vendors would probably be discussing protection money.

In that brief moment, the other person's mind raced, and countless thoughts raced through their mind.

Zhang Yanping was completely unaware of this, and at this moment she was only thinking about how Secretary Zhu knew people were coming, so why didn't she make preparations in advance! At the same time, she deftly took the ID card handed over by Secretary Wang and quickly processed it.

He also asked enthusiastically:
"Have you had dinner yet? The cafeteria food is probably sold out by now, but there's a late-night snack at the cafeteria up in the mountains around 11 o'clock. I'll ask them to put in a couple more handfuls of noodles."

The driver listened silently, his expression strange.

To be honest, the other party was quite cautious in their wording and attitude.

But if you're talking about being disrespectful, just look at that stern face and listen to what he just said—what do you mean by adding two more handfuls of noodles?
Even if you're going to offer simple treatment, you can't go this far, can you?
Secretary Wang, however, had done his homework in advance, knowing that there were few people on night duty on the mountain, and that the midnight snacks for the vegetable pickers were always simple.

It's either steamed buns or pancakes, or noodles.

It's kept warm in the pot. When needed, you add some firewood to bring the soup to a boil, then quickly add the noodles.

Zhang Yanping continued to warmly welcome them, reminding them that tonight's meal would be lettuce stewed with old duck.

Although it wasn't as appetizing as pickled bamboo shoots, the duck meat was of good quality, and the bamboo shoots, stewed together, were equally fragrant.

...

In order to save time, the three of them had eaten quickly, and now they were actually quite hungry.

But the leader only smiled gently:
"We'd like to go to Zhang Hong's place later to buy some iced tofu pudding—is business good there? Are they still open so late?"

"camp!"

Zhang Yanping quickly said, "There are a lot of tourists tonight, so their business is always going. They just have to be early, because they need to rest after 10 pm."

As she spoke, she enthusiastically came out from behind the cashier: "Come on, the room is on the third floor, let me help you with your luggage..."

"no, I'm fine!"

This was the perfect opportunity for the driver to shine, so he quickly stepped forward, while secretly keeping a close eye on the guesthouse owner who seemed to be quite familiar with the leader. To be honest, if he hadn't been following them the whole time, he would have really thought there was something fishy going on between the two.

He glanced at Zhang Yanping again, wondering to himself: How can someone who looks like that have business?

Or is it that the business environment in the countryside has deteriorated to such an extent that people like this are needed to survive?

His mind was racing with thoughts. Seeing this, Zhang Yanping didn't insist on helping. She simply told him the room location, handed him the room key, and then went back to guarding the cashier.

I also noticed two or three men who had just come in; they hadn't even arrived yet, but they were already spouting nonsense.

Upon entering the house, another person was carrying a bottle of liquor that they had just bought from the convenience store.

He frowned and said in a deep voice:
"We don't care about drinking, but you're not allowed to cause trouble in your room in the middle of the night."

Upon hearing this, the men who had been chatting and boasting loudly immediately became restrained and obediently nodded in agreement:

"No drunken rages, no drunken rages, let's just have a little drink and chat..."

Goodness, this boss is so fierce. If they really go on a drunken rampage and get punched a couple of times, they'll be waiting in the hospital for compensation tomorrow.

But then again, nobody who has the leisure to stroll around here on the weekend is willing to take such a big risk just to extort an unknown amount of money!

Zhang Yanping then gave a soft "hmm" and turned back to stare at her phone.

The male protagonist in this novel is about to steal the treasure!

……

Meanwhile, Party Secretary Xiao Zhu also received the news.

She hesitated for a moment—

It's so late at night; I should step in and greet them. But...

She thought for a moment, asked Zhang Yanping a few more questions, and then, after discussing it with Song Tan, decided to go to Old Song's house and head straight to the kitchen.
"Auntie, I remember there were some crispy rice crusts left over tonight? Can I break off a piece?"

It was late at night, and before Ulan could react, she saw that she had already found her way to the stove with practiced ease.

The crispy rice crust was saved by Seventh Uncle to be served to everyone tomorrow morning, but now she just picked up a big piece and broke off. Ulan wasn't upset about the loss, she was just puzzled:

"Why are you eating this at this hour? If you're hungry, I'll get you something easier to digest."

"No no no!"

Party Secretary Xiao Zhu chuckled:

"If the leaders come, it would seem too deliberate for me to go up to them. It's too late for reception work, so I might as well take this to Aunt Zhang Hong's house to get some fermented bean curd, which will also help me get closer to them."

Ouch!

Ulan's head was spinning from all the twists and turns, so she waved her hand dismissively:

"Then hurry up, or take the whole sheet and give some to the leaders too? After all, they're in charge of us."

If it were anything else, Secretary Zhu would definitely refuse, but this crispy rice crust...

The stove is a wood-fired stove, and the rice is this year's new rice.

The rice crust that had been warming on the stove for a long time wasn't as thick and crispy as the ones sold in supermarkets. Instead, it was thin at the edges and only slightly thicker in the center. The texture wasn't entirely crispy either; it had a chewy feel from the rice grains...

If you were to coat it with slightly spicy, slightly pungent, red and white fermented bean curd...

"Ahem," said Secretary Zhu, somewhat embarrassed.

"Then I'll take them all?"

Ulan smiled:
"Take it, take it! I'll just send a message to the child's uncle later. Oh, and if the boss gets up early tomorrow, can you bring him up the mountain and pick some peaches for him?" (End of Chapter)