The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 549 Promise (Part 8)

Qin Huai spent the whole day showing concern for Xu Tuqiang, and when Xu Tuqiang finally left the Yunzhong Canteen, he walked away with his head held high, carrying six large bags of locust flower steamed buns.

Although the side quest was completed, Qin Huai still planned to pretend to make potato dumplings for a few days.

Wang Gensheng is easy to fool, but not so easy to fool, because Grandpa Wang is very serious and very responsible.

Since Qin Huai asked Wang Gensheng to help him taste the potato dumplings, given Wang Gensheng's personality, he definitely wanted to hear that Qin Huai's potato dumplings were decent. It wasn't something Qin Huai could just make up and tell Wang Gensheng that the potato dumplings were already pretty good, that he had graduated, and that he didn't need to practice anymore.

Wang Gensheng has a scale in his heart.

Qin Huai now only hopes to find a reliable recipe for potato dumplings from Wang Gensheng's memory. Although Qin Huai doesn't particularly like this snack, he doesn't mind finding a couple of potato dumpling recipes for the sake of Grandpa Wang's health.

Those who find good ones will be exiled to the frontier and never allowed to return to the capital.

After finishing his workday, Qin Huai returned home, ate a banana as usual, and then opened the game panel to select [Wang Gensheng's memory].

There's no need to hesitate. Wang Gensheng's memories are definitely related to Xu Nuo. His and Shi Dadan's memories are practically a TV series that can be watched together. Just watch it.

Click on Qin Huai.

[Loading memories—]
"Xiao Wang, I heard you're not going home for Chinese New Year this year."

As soon as Qin Huai entered his memory, he found himself in an office. The office was in a very standard last century style: simple, clean, old, and small. The air was filled with the smell of ink, and the whole office seemed to have been filtered with a unique color filter from the last century, making it look less vibrant.

Each desk was piled high with thick stacks of documents and papers, reports and newspapers were everywhere, and there were even abacuses, more than one.

Wang Gensheng's desk was piled high with various documents and reports, with an abacus on top. Qin Huai glanced around and saw the only calculator on what should have been the leader's desk.

As for why Qin Huai could determine that this desk belonged to the leader, it was because the desk was the cleanest and had the fewest items. The document was not weighed down by an abacus but by a lunchbox. There was also a very new-looking enamel mug on the desk, and a kettle was also on the side of the desk.

Wearing a thin cotton coat with nine patches, the black fabric faded and worn from washing, with a shirt underneath and short sleeves tucked in, it seemed like he was wearing whatever he had, bulging out of his entire wardrobe. He looked shabby and poor, and not very warm. Wang Gensheng looked up blankly and briefly shifted his attention from his unfinished work to his colleague who was peeking out and chatting with him.

"Yes, I'm not going home."

It's clear that this is Wang Gensheng's first year at work. He's not only not very familiar with his colleagues, but he's also not good at socializing. He's very formal and even seems a little guilty when he chats at work.

Clearly, he's never done fishing before.

Wang Gensheng's colleague, who was obviously used to his dullness, said with great interest: "Xiao Wang, it's right that you didn't go back this year. I don't know if you've heard, but our factory manager brought in 12 pigs from the meat processing plant! Usually, we only give out some flawed cloth and pretty floral cloth as welfare during the New Year. If you want to exchange for something, you have to do it privately. What we have in Suzhou is no shortage of cloth. It's really hard to exchange for something good."

"This year is different. I heard the factory is doing well, and everyone can get three catties of meat! Three catties, the kind that doesn't require meat coupons. I heard they also give out white sugar, not to mention soap, matches, and the like, which they give out every year."

When it comes to employee benefits, Wang Gensheng has no choice but to slack off, even if he doesn't want to.

Wang Gensheng opened his eyes wide and asked very seriously, "Three catties of meat, no meat coupons, then do I need money?"

Colleagues laughed, "We already said it's a New Year's benefit, how could we possibly ask for money? Our cotton mill is one of the top factories in Suzhou, and our New Year's benefits are always the best. You have no idea how envious the silk weaving factory next door is."

"I just don't know if the factory manager can get some coal from the coal mine or power plant this year. It's hard to get firewood in the city. Even though it's the south, it's really cold in winter without fire. Getting some coal would be a luxury during the New Year."

"How much cotton did you stuff in your cotton coat? You're a college graduate, and you've been receiving cadre salaries and subsidies since you came in. You should have cotton coupons. What, you didn't manage to get any cotton? If you didn't get any, you can use your cotton coupons and pay a little extra to exchange with someone in the factory. You need to stuff some more cotton in your coat, otherwise you'll suffer when it gets really cold around the New Year."

Wang Gensheng lowered his head slightly: "I...I'm wearing a lot of clothes."

My colleague only expressed his concern briefly, and then continued to happily imagine the New Year's bonus: "Three catties of meat. If my wife's machine factory also gives out a catty of meat, and with the meat coupons we've saved up this year... we'll have a great New Year. We'll have to cook a plate of braised pork for the New Year's Eve dinner, and my three little rascals can eat as much as they want."

Wang Gensheng didn't say anything, he just kept his head down and did the accounting. When his colleagues saw that Wang Gensheng had gone back to work, they didn't bother him anymore. Instead, they got up and went to another colleague who was further away to discuss what else they could give as New Year's gifts.

Wang Gensheng's work was very monotonous, so Qin Huai went over to listen to the conversation between the people chatting. As they talked, the two of them turned the topic to Wang Gensheng.

"Xiao Wang's salary isn't low, is it? I see him eating pickled vegetables with rice every day, and sometimes even pickled vegetables with cornbread. He's living a harder life than Lao Lu."

"Who is Lao Lu?"

“My mother is sick and needs to take medicine every month. There are six children in the family. Director Xu made an exception and allowed him to receive an advance of up to six months’ salary for one of them.”

"It can't be that bad, Lao Lu is the one who's having the hardest time in our factory."

"At least Old Lu can eat boiled cabbage every day."

"Xiao Wang is so young and still hasn't found a girlfriend, why is it so difficult?"

“I might know a little about this,” the colleague said, glancing furtively at Wang Gensheng before lowering his voice and covering his mouth with his hand, like a secret agent making an underground rendezvous. “It’s probably because of Xu Nuo.”

"Director Xu's youngest son?"

"Correct!"

"What does it have to do with him? I heard he's just a spoiled brat who stays at home all day without working and eats at state-run restaurants every day. Even if Director Xu's family has mountains of gold and silver, they can't afford to let him squander like that."

Do you know Xu Mo from the racing team?

"I know him. He's a distant relative of Director Xu. He has a huge appetite, but he's not very bright. The canteen staff always give him extra scoops of food. I heard he's good at farming. He grows the whole plot of land behind the canteen, and the vegetables there are really lush and green."

"That scoundrel Xu Nuo even cheated his own relatives. Xu Mo earned such a high salary and money in the car team, but after covering his own food and clothing, Xu Nuo swindled all the rest away. When someone kindly reminded Xu Mo, he just naively said that Xu Nuo was saving the money for him. It's no use trying to persuade him."

"But what does this have to do with Xiao Wang?"

A colleague quietly pointed at Wang Gensheng: "I've seen it several times. Xu Nuo went to Wang's dormitory to find him, and every time he left, he had something in his pocket. The factory arranged a single dormitory for Wang, which was a good thing. I guess Xu Nuo was after him, and he swindled all his money and cash."

"Huh? Even college students like Xiao Wang get scammed? Why isn't Director Xu doing anything about it?"

"How can we manage him? I heard that Director Xu's mother protects Xu Nuo like he's her own eyes, and his wife also dotes on this youngest son. You can't hit him or scold him, so you can't control him at all."

"Alas, a doting mother spoils her son." Qin Huai: ...

For some reason, Qin Huai suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for Xu Nuo. He simply didn't work, enjoyed good food, and had some culinary skills; he didn't deserve this punishment.

It's unbelievable that their reputation has become so tarnished.

If those two from the finance department chatted any longer, they could turn Xu Nuo into a villain in a period drama.

After discussing the promise, the two went on to talk about other factory gossip.

A family wanted a son but ended up having five daughters. The wicked mother-in-law tried to sell her granddaughters, but her daughter-in-law found out and beat her up. In the end, the incident was criticized by name because of its bad influence.

Last month, the canteen manager was anonymously reported for stealing flour and eggs. The reason given was that someone smelled the aroma of egg noodles that his family ate every few days, and the aroma alone told them that they were made from pure flour.

A fight broke out at a state-run restaurant yesterday, in which a restaurant employee fought off five people with his bare hands, achieving a remarkable victory.

Qin Huai listened to the gossip with great interest, only realizing at the end of the workday that the two had been slacking off the whole time and hadn't worked a single minute. Compared to them, Zhao Cheng'an and Tan Weian were both dedicated to their jobs and could be considered model workers.

Of course, the real model workers are still diligently working at their desks.

"Xiao Wang, come eat at the cafeteria after work! If you're late, they'll give you less food when you get it." His colleague, holding a lunchbox, warmly invited Wang Gensheng to eat together. "The New Year is coming in a few days, the food will be good. There's definitely meat in the cafeteria today!"

"Maybe there will even be slices of meat!"

Wang Gensheng, without looking up, was calculating on his abacus and said, "Brother Zhang, Brother Li, I'll go as soon as I'm done calculating."

The two left laughing, saying as they went, "It's so good that Xiao Wang is here. We don't have to do any work at all. Are you coming to work tomorrow?"

"We're definitely coming; the two of us aren't as senior as the section chief and Brother Jiang. But I'll probably just clock in tomorrow and leave; I have to go to the grain store to grab some high-quality flour."

The two left work happily, leaving Wang Gensheng to work overtime alone. About half an hour later, Wang Gensheng finished all his work and slowly walked towards the canteen with his lunchbox, meal tickets, and a small bottle of pickled vegetables.

There weren't many people left at the cotton mill at this time. With the Lunar New Year approaching, the canteen served good food, and many families were getting their meals from the canteen to take home so their loved ones could also enjoy some meat.

When Wang Gensheng went to the cafeteria to get food, there were only a few people left. Qin Huai spotted Shi Dadan, who was still Xu Mo, at a glance.

There were three lunch boxes in front of Shi Dadan: two containing rice and one containing vegetables. The rice in one of the lunch boxes was all gone, leaving only the remaining grains of rice, and most of the vegetables had also been eaten.

Qin Huai leaned over to take a look at the dishes and found them to be quite good: stir-fried cabbage with lard, boiled soybeans, and stir-fried celery with meat—the meat was sliced, not shredded. The soybeans had oil droplets on them, which didn't seem to have come from other vegetables; it was likely that a lot of oil had been added to them originally.

Wang Gensheng walked to the food window, where the lady serving the food smiled and filled his box with rice, saying, "Accountant Wang, it's almost Chinese New Year, and your finance department is still working so hard until this late. If I hadn't been thinking about you not coming to eat, I would have already taken the food."

Wang Gensheng said, "I am a bit busy."

The older woman gave him a knowing look, glanced at the pickled vegetable jar in Wang Gensheng's hand, and knew that he was making pickled vegetable rice porridge again today. She said, "There's some celery stir-fried with meat left today. I just told our director. He said that the New Year is coming in a few days, and no matter how difficult things are, we should eat something good. Give me the lunchbox."

"Sister Ma... this isn't appropriate," Wang Gensheng said, a little embarrassed.

"What's wrong with that?" Sister Ma snatched the lunchbox away. "Since you came, Accountant Wang, there haven't been any mistakes with the wages. What's wrong with eating some celery stir-fried with meat? Today, the deputy factory director and the others were entertaining the leaders, and they had some leftover scrambled eggs. I'll secretly put two pieces on your plate."

Sister Ma gave Wang Gensheng a look, took the lunchbox inside, and soon the white rice in the lunchbox turned into celery and pork rice, with scrambled eggs also added to the celery.

Wang Gensheng, somewhat bewildered, took the lunchbox, hesitated for a moment, said thank you, found a secluded corner to sit down, and began to eat heartily.

From beginning to end, Wang Gensheng never opened the jar of pickled vegetables he was holding.

Who would eat pickled vegetables when there are fresh vegetables to eat?

Qin Huai realized that Wang Gensheng had always been a quiet, reserved person in his youth. He wasn't exactly introverted or withdrawn; he simply didn't like to talk. If no one paid attention to him, he would quietly do his own thing, whether it was eating or working.

Compared to his younger days, Wang Gensheng is now considered very lively, cheerful, and articulate.

Qin Huai paced aimlessly in the cafeteria. Because of the distance, he couldn't go into the kitchen to see what was going on inside, so he could only watch Wang Gensheng and Shi Dadan eat from the outside.

As Shi Dadan was finishing his meal, Xu Nuo arrived.

The moment Shi Dadan saw Xu Nuo, he put down his lunchbox and started rummaging through his pockets. He pulled out a thick wad of cash and two bars of soap, and very conscientiously handed them to Xu Nuo, saying, "Xu Nuo, I'm going to another city tomorrow and the day after and won't be back. Our team leader told me to collect my New Year's benefits, this month's subsidies, and cash today. They're all here."

"I asked the team leader, and he said that when the factory distributes meat, someone can collect it on my behalf. You can just go and collect it for me and sign for it."

"Okay." Xu Nuo took the money without hesitation, didn't count it, took out a biscuit from her pocket and handed it to Shi Dadan, who happily stuffed it into his mouth.

The cotton mill worker who witnessed the entire transaction shook his head helplessly and sighed to the person next to him, "What a fool, he was cheated out of so much money with just a biscuit."

"A sin!"

Qin Huai: ...

He seemed to know how Xu Nuo had become so infamous.

You two really know how to make deals without hiding anything.

Wang Gensheng, holding a lunchbox, looked towards Xu Nuo. As Xu Nuo stood up, she turned her head and glanced at Wang Gensheng, meeting his gaze.

There was no particular reaction, just a simple exchange of glances, but Qin Huai felt that Wang Gensheng seemed to have given Xu Nuo a secret signal.

Shi Dadan remained oblivious and continued eating.

Xu promised to leave the cafeteria.

(End of this chapter)