The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 550 Promise (Part 9)

Wang Gensheng finished his meal very carefully, not wasting a single grain of rice. He even drank the last bit of oil with a bowl of hot water.

After finishing his meal, Wang Gensheng took his lunchbox and went back to his dormitory alone. By the time he arrived at the canteen, it was almost dark. After finishing his meal, it was completely dark outside, and there were no streetlights on the road, so he had to feel his way back in the dark. Fortunately, his dormitory was not far from the cotton mill, only a 10-minute walk away.

When Wang Gensheng arrived at the dormitory, the door was open and the lights were on inside. Qin Huai's first thought was that a thief had broken in. He remembered that Wang Gensheng's colleague had said that Wang Gensheng lived in a single dormitory without a roommate, but Wang Gensheng seemed very calm and pushed the door open and entered.

The dormitory is small. It's called a single dormitory, but it's really just a small single room with a small single bed, a table, and a cabinet. There's no other furniture, not even a chair, and no private bathroom.

Compared to Shi Dadan's dormitory, Wang Gensheng's dormitory was much more shabby, visibly poor. There was no enamel mug on the desk, a corner of the broken window glass was patched up with paper, there was no thermos in the dormitory, only a small coal stove and a dilapidated kettle full of holes, and the bed had only a flat little pillow and a thin quilt, so poor that even a thief would have to leave a penny before leaving.

The only thing in this dormitory that has anything to do with modern technology is probably the overhead light, which is dim and glaring.

The person in Wang Gensheng's dormitory was none other than Xu Nuo, whom he had just met in the canteen. When Wang Gensheng pushed open the door, Xu Nuo was squatting on the ground lighting coal briquettes, her hands covered in soot. Seeing that Wang Gensheng had returned, Xu Nuo did not get up and continued to squat by the fire.

"Isn't your room facing south? How come it's as cold as an icebox? I have to bring my own coal briquettes every time I come here. Doesn't the cotton mill issue coal briquette coupons? You should keep some for yourself and buy some. Is the city really that cold? How can you withstand the cold so well?"

Wang Gensheng said, "I used to, but now it's too cold to cook sweet potatoes with a coal stove, so I haven't cooked them. I haven't bought any more coal briquettes since I ran out."

Xu Nuo: "...There's a stingy guy in your cotton mill named Wang. People call him Old Stingy Wang. I think that nickname shouldn't be given to him, it should be given to you."

Xu Nuo plopped down on Wang Gensheng's bed without any hesitation: "You don't even have a chair here."

"You can just sit on the bed." Wang Gensheng walked to the cabinet, took out the lock from his pocket and opened the cabinet. Qin Huai glanced into the cabinet, which was empty except for a few clothes.

Wang Gensheng took out the coupons he had collected and handed them to Xu Nuo: "These are the sugar coupons, cloth coupons, meat coupons, and industrial coupons I've collected over this period of time. I want to exchange them all for national grain coupons."

Xu Nuo took the receipts and began counting them, asking as she did so, "Is your family running out of food again?"

“Last month my mother wrote to me, telling me not to send anything home and to eat something nice for the New Year. I was originally keeping these coupons for my own use, but today I heard that the factory will be giving out things for the New Year. I can’t use so many by myself, so I’ll exchange them for grain coupons and send them back.”

Xu Nuo was speechless. After counting the receipts, he put them in his left pocket, then took out the national grain coupons from his right pocket, counted a few, and handed them to Wang Gensheng: "Sometimes I really want to tell my dad what kind of life you're living, and ask him to give you some extra benefits so that the college students in the cotton mill don't accidentally starve to death in their dorms one day."

"But I've also heard that they're giving out a lot of things for Chinese New Year this year. If nothing unexpected happens, they should be distributed on the morning of New Year's Eve. They're going to slaughter a pig, and the meat will be distributed on the spot. It's just that you don't cook in this dorm. Otherwise, you could play the victim and ask the cafeteria for a bowl of pig's blood."

"By the way, the pot you used to cook sweet potatoes broke before and you didn't buy a new one. Your finance department has a 5-day holiday for the Spring Festival. How are you going to eat during these 5 days? Are you going to splurge and eat out? It's not easy to get a seat at a state-run restaurant during the Spring Festival."

Wang Gensheng said, "I've inquired, and the canteen will serve food during the Spring Festival."

“Some workshops need to rush to finish work during the Spring Festival, with shift work. Although our finance department is on holiday, it is impossible to finish all the work before the Spring Festival. If you volunteer to work overtime, you not only have a chance to be selected as a model worker, but you can also eat in the canteen for free.”

“I’ve already told the section chief that I won’t take a holiday and I’m willing to work overtime.”

Promise:…

Xu Nuo's gaze towards Wang Gensheng had turned into one of accusations: "What kind of alien are you? You're working overtime for free just to get two free meals. If word got out, people would think our cotton mill is mistreating college students, leaving them so hungry they can't even afford food."

While speechless, Xu Nuo silently took out a grain coupon from his right pocket and stuffed it into Wang Gensheng's hand: "Consider it my overtime pay for you on behalf of my dad."

Wang Gensheng accepted it without the slightest hesitation.

"Is there anything else you want to change?" Xu Nuo asked.

Wang Gensheng shook his head and said, "These are all the tickets I've saved, but I want to ask, will you accept the gifts given out on New Year's Eve?"

Xu Nuo almost shouted, not controlling her voice properly, "You didn't leave anything behind? Didn't you just say you were exchanging these receipts with me because you were giving out gifts for the New Year?"

“I won’t exchange everything. You can have all the pork. If there are any biscuits, pastries, or candies, I’ll keep them and send them home after the New Year. My older brother and sister-in-law are both temporary workers and don’t get any New Year’s benefits. The factory where my dad works gives out the same things every year for the New Year.”

"I still have some fabric. Could you help me exchange it for some defective fabric? I want to save up more to send back home in the spring to make new clothes for my family. My dad hasn't had a new dress made in 15 years."

Xu Nuo nodded helplessly: "Alright, alright, I'll replace some more for you. The defective cloth is easy to replace, and you don't need to replace the pork with someone else. I'll buy it all for you at market price. Three catties of meat is just enough to make a plate of braised pork."

“Okay, that’s settled. You can leave work early on the 30th, and I’ll wait for you at your dorm at 4 pm. Anyway, you’ll be working overtime for free during the New Year, so no one in your department will say anything if you leave early. You’re the only one doing all the work in the finance department. If you ask me, it’s not a big deal if you take your department head’s thermos back.”

Xu Nuo got up to leave, and Wang Gensheng saw him to the door, saying thank you.

"No need to thank me, it's all business."

“I know you didn’t make any money off me,” Wang Gensheng said. “You’re taking risks when you help me exchange banknotes, and you might even have to put money out of my pocket. I know that.”

Xu Nuo didn't say anything, just smiled and left.

The man who made the promise left, but the coal briquettes remained. Wang Gensheng used the remaining coal briquettes in the stove to boil a kettle of water, then mixed the hot water with cold water to wash the clothes he had accumulated over the past few days, before going to sleep.

The coal briquettes burned in the coal stove for several hours before burning out. Qin Huai couldn't feel any temperature in Wang Gensheng's memory, but judging from Wang Gensheng's smooth sleep, the room, which was originally as cold as an icebox, should have become quite warm after burning coal briquettes for several hours.

On the second day, Qin Huai learned the current date—the 2th of the twelfth lunar month—while Wang Gensheng was at work.

There are three days left until Lunar New Year's Eve.

For the next few days, Qin Huai followed Wang Gensheng to work.

Well, it was really boring.

The younger version of Wang Gensheng was a very boring person, with no hobbies, no material pursuits, and even less so spiritual pursuits. Wang Gensheng had a very narrow social circle, usually only interacting with a few people in his department.

Qin Huai overheard the conversation between the other two people in the department and learned that the cotton mill had more than one finance department. Wang Gensheng's department, including his, had a total of four ordinary accountants and one department head, all of whom were slackers with connections and did not do any work.

Wang Gensheng did the work of five people, so even though there wasn't much work in the department, he had a lot of life. He worked all day long, except for eating, and had no time for anything else or socializing.

Wang Gensheng's diligent and hardworking approach was not without its rewards. Although his department was full of people with connections, those with connections had their advantages and could always get the best benefits when it came to distributing welfare.

Furthermore, since everyone in the department relied on Wang Gensheng for their work, the other staff only received a token amount of benefits, with the rest going to Wang Gensheng. Xu Nuo jokingly suggested that it was feasible for Wang Gensheng to simply take the section chief's thermos, and after several days of assessment, Qin Huai believed that the section chief wouldn't mind.

Of course, a law-abiding beast that pursues fairness and justice wouldn't stoop to such petty theft. At most, Wang Gensheng would take the newspaper from the section chief's desk every afternoon, read it, and then return it.

This mundane and monotonous life of a corporate slave continued until the morning of New Year's Eve. Even the most hardworking corporate slaves would temporarily put down their unfinished reports and happily line up to receive their New Year's benefits when faced with such an important event.

The cotton mill offers very generous New Year's benefits.

每人3斤猪肉、1个罐头、8块肥皂、两斤散称糖果、半斤糕点、12盒火柴、煤票、2根牙刷、1条毛巾、2匹瑕疵布、10张洗澡票、2张电影票、6个鸡蛋还有一些零零碎碎的小玩意。

Wang Gensheng's colleagues in the same department stuffed all sorts of cheap things into his hands, like bath tickets and slightly worn-out rags. The department head was the most generous, giving him canned food and loose candy, showing how much the department really needed willing laborers to do the work.

After collecting his belongings, Wang Gensheng did not go home immediately. Instead, he returned to his office and worked until 3:40 p.m. before finally returning home laden with bags and packages.

Anyone who sees this would have to exclaim that they are truly a chosen one, a diligent and hardworking employee.

When Wang Gensheng arrived home, Xu Nuo was already waiting for him in the dormitory.

Coal briquettes are burning in the coal stove.

"Your finance department is issuing so much stuff this year?" Xu Nuo was stunned as she looked at Wang Gensheng's large and small bags. "This morning I helped Xu Mo from the team collect his stuff, and it was only a little more than half of what you have."

"Did your finance manager go rob someone? Won't the workshops complain about receiving so much?"

"The section chief and the others are good people; they gave me a lot of things." Wang Gensheng said, putting down the things and starting to count them one by one, sorting out the things he was going to give to Xu Nuo.

Xu Nuo looked at the huge pile of miscellaneous things and felt overwhelmed. She waved her hands repeatedly and said, "Stop, stop, stop. Don't worry about it. I'm in a hurry. My grandma is waiting for me to go back and cook braised pork for her."

"I just came to pick up the meat. I'll come back for the rest in a few days. Just take care of it. See those two lunchboxes on the table? Those are my parents' old lunchboxes. I'm giving them to you. If you need anything next year, just ask me to exchange them."

"Don't eat at the canteen during the Spring Festival. I'm not trying to belittle the cotton mill's canteen, but for such a large factory, the canteen chefs' skills are really bad. All they know is how to add oil, they don't know anything else. They even put lard in boiled soybeans, I don't know what they were thinking. Wouldn't it be better to use more lard to stir-fry some vegetables?"

"I was going to make you some meat dumplings, but since Shanshi is in the south, we probably don't eat dumplings for the New Year. I don't know if you know, but people in the north eat dumplings for the New Year. Chef Jing at the state-run restaurant is from the north, and he makes dumplings every year for the New Year. The dumplings in the lunchbox are ones I made for lunch today. I ran out of meat, so I just used some other fillings. You can make do with these."

"Happy New Year."

"Let me add one more thing, I think you should go home for the Spring Festival next year. The factory can help you talk to the railway, and you'll definitely be able to buy a ticket back. Since you're from out of town, you'll definitely be able to get leave to go home for the Spring Festival."

"New Year's Eve dinner tastes best when eaten with family."

"Let's go, eat it while it's hot."

Wang Gensheng stood there, somewhat stunned, and after a few seconds, he said to Xu Nuo's retreating figure, "Thank you... Happy New Year."

Xu Nuo didn't turn around, he just waved his hand.

Wang Gensheng turned his gaze to the lunchbox on the table.

Two old, but relatively new-looking, tin lunchboxes with a few minor dents.

Wang Gensheng opened the lunchbox.

One dish and one staple food.

The lunchbox containing the staple food contained half a box of fermented rice buns and half a box of dumplings. The fermented rice buns must have been bought by Xu Nuo yesterday at the state-run restaurant, because they were already cold. The small lunchbox was crammed with three fermented rice buns, which were squeezed flat by the dumplings and looked quite pitiful.

The dumplings were clearly fresh out of the pot, still steaming hot, each one plump and round, made of pure white dough, with each pleat perfectly shaped. Just by looking at their appearance, you could tell that the dumpling maker was quite skilled.

The other box of food wasn't very lavish, containing only two items: stir-fried greens and scrambled eggs, clearly made with lard.

The presentation wasn't great; the stir-fried vegetables were a little cold, but the scrambled eggs were probably still warm. Compared to Wang Gensheng's usual meals, these two boxes of food were definitely a feast.

Wang Gensheng took out his chopsticks, picked up a piece of green vegetable, ate a bite of scrambled eggs, and silently closed the lunchbox. It seemed he intended to save these two dishes for later, perfectly embodying the spirit of hard work and frugality.

After tasting the dishes, Wang Gensheng put down his chopsticks and took out a fermented rice bun from another lunchbox. The fermented rice bun, which had been squeezed flat, slowly expanded in Wang Gensheng's hands and soon returned to the shape of a standard bun.

The impoverished Wang Gensheng had never seen anything like this before. He stared at the fermented rice bun in astonishment for a long time, poking and squeezing it. After confirming that the bun could always puff up back to its original shape, he showed an amazed expression and then took a big bite.

Although Qin Huai had never eaten cold fermented rice buns, he believed that with Master Jing's skill, the fermented rice buns would still be delicious even when cold.

Wang Gensheng revealed a blissful expression.

Qin Huai also admired Wang Gensheng.

When no one is around, he does everything like a silent play, without making a sound. He doesn't even make a sound while eating, nor does he smack his lips. Now the room is so quiet that Qin Huai suspects that this memory has been muted.

Who turned off the volume? There's no sound at all.

While Qin Huai was silently complaining, Wang Gensheng had already finished a whole steamed bun made with fermented rice wine and picked up his chopsticks again to start eating dumplings.

Then, Wang Gensheng uttered his first words since promising to leave.

"Potato...potato dumplings?" Wang Gensheng picked up a dumpling that had been bitten in half, staring at the diced potato filling inside, looking bewildered.

"So... this is what dumplings are like."

"Dumplings are made by wrapping vegetables inside dough."

"Northerners are really strange. Why don't they eat noodles with vegetables? Why do they have to wrap vegetables in the dough?"

Qin Huai: ...

In the days before information was readily available, the reputation of dumplings was ruined by you highly innovative pastry chefs!
(End of this chapter)