Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 927 926 Self-Criticism and Petition
Although Su Qingxiang offered his opinion on how to handle the situation, the matter did not end there. It still needed to be discussed at a meeting. So, in the following period, the two began to interview the poisoned employees to collect information on the number of people poisoned and their experiences.

During this time, Tang Zhitong called Xiao Wang and said that he had something to do at work and had to work overtime, so his family should have dinner first and not wait for him.

Su Qingxiang also called the transfer office and coordinated three trucks to come and take the employees with mobility difficulties home. They might not be able to use them, but it was better to be prepared.

Among all the poisoned employees, Gao Lide was the most severely poisoned, since he was the first to taste the food and therefore consumed more than the other employees.

After a while, the poisoning subsided somewhat. Gao Lide came out of the bathroom after taking a shower, wearing wet pants, still crying uncontrollably.

"You knew all along that potato leaves were poisonous?" Su Qingxiang asked seriously, addressing the culprit behind this mass food poisoning incident.

"Old Su, this is my fault, I wasn't paying attention. Old Gao meant well. The vegetable company hasn't been supplying vegetables for the past few days, so Chef Gao cooked a pot himself so that everyone would have something to eat. He only started stewing the rest after he ate the vegetables himself and everyone was fine. Nobody wanted this to happen." Fang Yuan's pants were still dripping wet as he stood next to Su Qingxiang, taking all the blame upon himself.

Gao Lide is a veteran of the escort department, and he has always worked diligently. It's not easy for him to earn a living while supporting his family, and Fang Yuan couldn't bear to let him take the blame.

Su Qingxiang glanced at Fang Yuan helplessly, his meaning clear: You're in dire straits yourself, why are you worrying about others?
"Director Su, Master Gao meant well but did something wrong; his intentions were good."

Nobody wants to get food poisoning, but luckily everyone ate very little and the situation isn't serious. Our bodies have a strong ability to heal themselves; a few days of rest will be enough to recover, and I should be back at work full of energy the day after tomorrow.

Tang Zhitong also tried to smooth things over, saying that it was no longer acceptable to say that they didn't know potato leaves were poisonous, after all, Gao Lide had risked his life to conduct human experiments.

"Thank goodness no one died, otherwise you wouldn't have enough heads to chop off even if you had two heads." Su Qingxiang criticized Gao Lide, feeling utterly exhausted. He was just sitting at his desk doing well today when he was suddenly summoned by a phone call.

After criticizing Gao Lide, Su Qingxiang glared at Fang Yuan, who was smiling obsequiously beside him: "Still smiling? You too!"

"I will definitely make a deep self-criticism at the meeting!" Fang Yuan said, then clutched her stomach, turned and ran away, saying as she ran, "My stomach hurts, I'll talk to you later!"

"Director Fang, go to the vegetable garden. The men's restroom is temporarily reserved for the women!" Tang Zhitong quickly called out from behind.

These days, there are no doors to squat toilets. Fang Yuan always relieved himself in the office before going to the bathhouse. If he unknowingly went into the men's room, and if there were women in the men's room, he would at least end up defecating in his pants.

"Okay, bring me some paper later!" Fang Yuan waved his hand and left the cafeteria without looking back.

“Master Gao, you also need to write a profound self-criticism. Write it now, and post it before you leave work to see if everyone forgives you.” Fang Yuan wanted to protect Gao Lide, and Su Qingxiang had no choice but to step down and not do anything about it.

"I'll write it, I'll write it, I'll write it right now!" Gao Lide, with snot and tears streaming down his face, agreed without hesitation when Su Qingxiang asked him to write a self-criticism.

Tang Zhitong breathed a sigh of relief. There was an unwritten rule in the system that if a punishment had already been imposed for the same thing, it would not be imposed a second time.

A self-criticism is a form of punishment; it only hurts one's reputation, not one's physical health, and it won't jeopardize one's job. Moreover, a self-criticism is an attitude; if the person involved has a good attitude, who would stand up and make a big deal out of it?

"Section Chief Tang, the comrades on the night shift still need to eat. I... could you help me cook a meal?" Gao Lide took out a pen and paper and asked Tang Zhitong before putting pen to paper.

“Master Gao cares about the staff of the escort department. Okay, I’ll help you with this.” Tang Zhitong said this to Gao Lide, but actually he was speaking to Su Qingxiang.

"Xiao Tang, everyone's been busy all day. Tell the chef in the kitchen to prepare a nutritious meal for everyone. You'll oversee the process. I'll keep an eye on him while he writes his self-criticism," Su Qingxiang suddenly said from the side.

"Okay, Director Su. I'll go deliver some paper to Director Fang first." Tang Zhitong readily agreed. It seemed that this meant they would be compensated with a free dinner without food coupons. Tang Zhitong didn't bother to find out where the food would come from; Su Qingxiang would definitely reconcile accounts with Fang Yuan later.

Tang Zhitong offered to deliver paper to Fang Yuan, partly because of Fang Yuan's earlier instructions, and partly because he remembered a loophole and needed to check the accounts with him.

"Brother Yuan, if anyone from the Municipal Bureau asks me if I know potato leaves are poisonous, don't say I spat it out. Just say I haven't been to work these past few days." Outside the door, Tang Zhitong saw Fang Yuan squatting in the vegetable garden waiting for him. He handed him the newspaper and began patching the bug.

Tang Zhitong had just figured out that Gao Lide had asked her to cook. Many people in the city bureau knew that she was good at cooking, since she had been in charge of cooking when she was working on the farm.

Many people in the municipal bureau knew that they had participated in compiling the "Barefoot Doctor's Handbook," after all, they had even cooperated with the propaganda department to take photos and give interviews.

Logically speaking, someone from the municipal bureau might ask: Since Xiao Tang knows how to detoxify, he must know that potato leaves are poisonous. As a member of the escort team, why didn't he anticipate and issue a warning in advance?
"Okay, I understand." Fang Yuan nodded after hearing this. He was actually annoyed, annoyed that he hadn't listened to Tang Zhitong. But he couldn't mention this in front of Su Qingxiang and the city bureau leaders. If he did, not only would he be implicated in the oversight, but he would also drag Tang Zhitong down with him.

"Fang Yuan won't listen to advice. As a medical worker, why don't you report this to the Municipal Bureau? Let the Municipal Bureau stop Fang Yuan?" Fang Yuan could imagine the faces of some people even while squatting on the ground.

"Brother Yuan, I'll head back now. Director Su asked the cafeteria to prepare a nutritious meal, so I need to go back and keep an eye on it." Tang Zhitong breathed a sigh of relief when Fang Yuan agreed, fearing that he might not listen to advice and would insist on taking the blame himself, which would definitely result in a more severe punishment.

"Hiss... Okay, I'll go over there in a bit." Fang Yuan tore off a small piece of the newspaper he had crumpled up several times and put it under his buttocks, wiping as he did so while frowning.

"Hehe, okay." Seeing this scene, Tang Zhitong laughed out loud, and at the same time remembered a saying: Even the gentlest toilet paper in the world does not understand the pain of a soldier suffering from diarrhea.

The cafeteria didn't have many vegetables; if it did, Gao Lide wouldn't have used potato leaves.

In order to ensure that the employees could have nutritious meals, Tang Zhitong first went to the logistics department and asked them to help carry a basket of small potatoes into the kitchen.

Besides Gao Lide, there were two pastry chefs and two kitchen helpers in the canteen. One kitchen helper was washing potatoes, and the others were all sent by Tang Zhitong to make staple food: "In addition to cornbread, cook two large pots of corn porridge. The porridge should be thick. Stir it while cooking so it doesn't burn."

Su Qingxiang asked Tang Zhitong to prepare a nutritious meal, but what other food was available at the moment? They could only make do with corn porridge, which was a type of liquid food and was gentle on the stomachs of the soldiers suffering from diarrhea.

The potatoes weren't very big, so Tang Zhitong and the kitchen helper each used a shoe brush to scrub off the dirt on the surface, and that was it for cleaning.

"Go outside and help out." After washing the potatoes, Tang Zhitong sent the kitchen helper out, lit the stove, stuffed in a few firewood sticks, and cut the small potatoes into quarters, preparing to stew them later.

Although it was called a canteen, the condiments were very limited. Tang Zhitong only saw soy sauce, vinegar, soybean paste, salt, a bunch of scallions, a handful of star anise, and two portions of oil.

There was more soybean oil, and only a small amount of animal fat at the bottom of the bowl.

"It must have been tough on Chef Gao." Looking at the limited seasonings, Tang Zhitong sighed. It would be such a pity if this hardworking chef, who diligently served the staff of the transport department with limited ingredients, were fired because of this food poisoning. Tang Zhitong was very restrained in using seasonings when stewing potatoes. He scooped out a small half spoonful of lard to heat the pot, and after putting the potatoes in, he added a dollop of oyster sauce and four spoonfuls of the broth from cooking pig's head meat.

Add two spoonfuls of soy sauce for color, sprinkle with salt, bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes, and a pot of soft and tender potatoes is ready to serve.

"Section Chief Tang, has the department issued its decision on how to handle Master Gao?" Tang Zhitong had just started stewing the potatoes when a pastry chef came over with a cigarette, trying to strike up a conversation and inquire about the situation.

"Thank you, I've quit." Tang Zhitong waved his hand dismissively, without responding to his question.

"Sigh, Chef Gao is so confused. I warned him a long time ago that potato leaves are not to be eaten, not to be eaten. Even I, a pastry chef, know this, but he just wouldn't believe me. If I hadn't stopped the canteen staff from eating them these past two days, the canteen would have turned into a toilet today."

The pastry chef had just witnessed Gao Lide leave looking dejected. Now, seeing that Tang Zhitong wasn't responding to Gao Lide's story, he assumed he wouldn't be coming back, so he started embellishing the story and boasting about his own achievements.

Everyone in the escort department knows that Tang Zhitong is Fang Yuan's favorite and holds the reins of the department's finances. Since Fang Yuan is currently unwell, he wants to get closer to Tang Zhitong to improve his image.

"Hmm, so you've done something good?" Tang Zhitong was a little annoyed. If he knew about pastry making, why should the chef know? He was still just a half-baked chef.

Moreover, the municipal bureau hasn't given any opinion on how to handle this yet; they've only posted a notice. For a colleague of many years to jump out and kick someone when they're down is really despicable.

"I wouldn't presume to say I've done anything wrong, but if I were in charge of the kitchen, I would never put anything poisonous into anyone's mouth!" The man immediately made this promise when he saw that Tang Zhitong wasn't angry.

"Hmm, your idea is good, but we still need to pay attention to unity. Only by uniting can we build up our fighting strength." Gao Lide hadn't left yet, but the tea in front of him had already gone cold. Tang Zhitong really didn't want to deal with this guy who was like Gao Lide falling into a pit and then shoveling two shovelfuls of dirt on him.

You won't say a word about where the vegetables came from! Gao Lide certainly made a mistake, but wasn't he just trying to ensure the staff at the transport depot had vegetables to eat? In any case, his intentions were good.

"Yes, yes, unity, unity. Section Chief Tang, you go ahead with your work, I'll go check on the stove." Hearing Tang Zhitong point him out, the pastry chef was sweating profusely and hurriedly took his leave.

No sooner had the first man left than the second arrived. Instead of offering cigarettes, the second man cut to the chase and said, "Section Chief Tang, my two other colleagues and I have been discussing writing a petition to plead for Master Gao's release. We'd like to ask for everyone's signatures. Do you think it would be alright to post it?"

"Sure, why not? We should listen to the voices of the employees." This time, Tang Zhitong smiled, showing that he genuinely wanted to help Gao Lide.

Fang Yuan bears leadership responsibility for the recent food poisoning incident at the transportation department, while Gao Lide, as the head chef, bears direct responsibility.

Fang Yuan will be punished, and Gao Lide will definitely be punished as well. Moreover, Gao Lide's punishment will be more direct. This is why Su Qingxiang stared at Gao Lide writing a self-criticism after hearing that Fang Yuan was willing to take all the responsibility.

If the canteen takes the lead and gets the poisoned employees at the transport station to sign a letter of understanding, it would be similar to a letter of leniency, which could directly reduce the severity of the punishment imposed by Fang Yuan. Tang Zhitong would be happy to see this happen.

"Okay, let's hurry up and write it down, and try to post it before dinner." After receiving Tang Zhitong's affirmation, he turned to leave.

"Wait a minute, haven't you had stewed potato leaves these past few days?" Tang Zhitong called out to him, intending to verify what the pastry chef had just said.

"I ate, just like everyone else. But there weren't enough potato leaves stewed yesterday. Chef Gao felt sorry for us and said that since we had worked all day, he prioritized serving us the food. We in the kitchen had some pickled vegetables." The pastry chef paused for a moment, then told the truth.

"Okay, I understand." Tang Zhitong nodded, realizing that the person earlier had lied.

“He…” The pastry chef had just seen his colleague go into the kitchen. He pointed to the door and hesitated for a couple of seconds before saying, “He didn’t have good intentions. He saw the newspaper a couple of days ago and wanted to use wet starch to cook for everyone. Chef Gao didn’t agree and scolded him.”

"Okay, I understand. You can go ahead and get busy." Tang Zhitong nodded with a smile. The cafeteria isn't a monolithic place after all!

As for the wet starch he mentioned, Tang Zhitong knew that such a thing existed, but it was different from the wet starch he understood.

The term appeared in the article "Infinite Potential for Comprehensive Utilization" on page 7 of the second-rate daily newspaper on July 6.

The article states that, according to experiments in Hechi County, Guangxi, 100 jin (50 kg) of wheat straw can produce 60 to 70 jin (30-35 kg) of wet starch; this starch, when mixed with some flour and rice flour, can be made into steamed buns, twisted rolls, pancakes, and noodles, with the same quality as those made from wheat flour.

Whether they are exactly the same, the chef certainly knows; the only question is whether the person writing the article would eat it.

When it was time to eat, the employees came in in twos and threes to get their food, and Tang Zhitong took on the role of a food server who didn't shake his hands.

There are free food and drinks, and the atmosphere in the cafeteria is great.

Tang Zhitong watched from the side. The atropine had taken effect, and very few people were clutching their stomachs or running to the toilet after sitting down anymore. This was a good sign, and it also showed that people were tough these days.

"Section Chief Tang, your cooking skills are as solid as ever, it smells delicious." Someone shouted to Tang Zhitong from behind the line before even starting to get their food.

"There's a saying that even a clever cook can't cook without rice. The fact that everyone enjoyed the food is also because Chef Gao prepared plenty of seasonings." Tang Zhitong didn't want the food poisoning incident to escalate, so every word he spoke subtly implied Gao Lide's role and contribution.

With Tang Zhitong's guidance, more employees participated in the discussion about the food poisoning incident. Some said that Gao Lide's self-criticism was profound, while others said that the canteen's petition was well written.

"Master Gao meant well," was the phrase Tang Zhitong heard most often when serving food.

With this sentence, the direction of events can probably be determined.

At this point, not only was Gao Lide mentioned, but someone also brought up someone else's "past debt": So-and-so suggested that everyone drink golden juice at noon.

"Isn't it inappropriate to talk about this while eating?" Some people couldn't stand it and suddenly felt nauseous looking at the golden, free corn porridge in their bowls.

"Yes, yes, please don't mention it anymore. I was only thinking about everyone's health, wasn't I?" The person who suggested giving everyone the golden juice stood up, bowed to the people around the hall, and made everyone laugh. For a moment, the cafeteria was filled with a happy atmosphere.

(End of this chapter)