Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 809 Eating in the Cafeteria

He'd been staying at his aunt's house in the county for most of this time. Even the move and this address were found by his step-aunt calling the village. He managed to find them, which took some effort. He also took advantage of the fact that there were relatively fewer scammers these days, and since the three of them were penniless and nobody wanted to bother with them.

The old man said, "From now on, call ahead before you go. This place isn't connected to the county; there are all sorts of people here. If you suffer a loss, you won't have anywhere to seek justice."

The old lady said, "Did you see the plane just now? It landed over there, it was huge."

Xiao Fu glanced towards the airport and said, "I didn't notice, I was too busy looking at the road signs. This place is huge, I feel like I've walked more than ten miles."

The old woman asked in surprise, "Is it really that far from the train station to here?"

The old man said, "I'll go back and look at the map. I've never been this far before." Rural kids aren't afraid of walking, but he said he was tired, so it must really be quite a distance.

After passing the school and turning in, there's a vegetable garden and bungalows on your right. There are two small two-story buildings. There's a street corner on this road, and that's all Xiaowei and his friends' territory.

Xiao Fu thought they lived in these bungalows. Seeing his parents still walking further in, he asked, "Where are we? Inside? It's all high-rise buildings inside, right? Holy crap, these buildings are so tall, so incredibly tall!"

The two boys who came with him stared wide-eyed at the building, saying, "This must be dozens of stories high! City people are really rich."

The other one said, "It's a government unit, or maybe a big factory." Both kids were from the county and usually played with Xiaofu. When they heard Xiaofu say his family had moved to the provincial capital, they insisted on coming to see him, saying Xiaofu was bragging. Kids like kids are willing to take these trivial things seriously, so the three of them made a bet: if it was true, the two kids would pay for the round-trip tickets and meals.

The old man glanced at Xiao Fu and said, "Aren't you envious of this building?"

Xiao Fu pouted and said, "What's with the anger? They won't even give you a penny."

The old man pointed around: "From where you came in, this road, this building, this row of buildings, and that courtyard inside, see? They all belong to your brother Xiaowei, to him personally. That courtyard is your second uncle's house."

The old lady held her son's hand and said, "Really, Xiao Fu, this building was all built with your brother Xiao Wei's own money. Why don't you listen to your mother, stay here and don't run around anymore, run errands for your brother Xiao Wei, and be obedient?"

Xiao Fu looked up at the building again, shook her head, and said, "Forget it, I don't believe it. How much would that cost? To fool my baby?"

Xia Maosheng was walking with his parents into the factory when they saw the old man and his family coming over. He stopped and asked, "Grandpa, have you eaten yet?"

The old man said, "No, we weren't planning on going to the cafeteria. Are you eating there too?"

Xia Maosheng said with a smile, "I just arrived, and my sister is too busy to take care of everything. My mom doesn't know how to use the gas, so we'll have to make do in the cafeteria for a few days."

The two families walked together toward the factory. Xiao Fu hesitated for a moment and asked his step-aunt, "Mom, where are we going?"

The old woman continued, "As for food, there's a canteen in this factory. This factory belongs to your brother Xiaowei, and this building is the office. This is Brother Xia, and there's also Brother Chen. Your brother Xiaowei partners with them, don't you remember?"

Xia Maosheng turned to look at Xiao Fu and said, "When did you arrive? Why didn't you come with the car yesterday?"

Xiao Fu chuckled awkwardly, "I was in the county yesterday. Um, Brother Xiaxia, is this building really yours?"

Xia Maosheng said, "Yes, your brother organized the construction. The top floor is your brother's office. Want to go up and take a look? It's almost finished. The furniture will be delivered in the next couple of days, and you can go up and see it next time you come. They're installing the elevator these days."

Xiao Fu was a little surprised and asked, "How much would it cost to build this building? Where would the money come from?"

Xia Maosheng said, "This round alone cost over ten million, I think it was around thirteen million. What happened?"

The two boys who came with Xiao Fu had their eyes sparkling, and Xiao Fu couldn't stop smiling. "Over ten million?"

Xia Maosheng said, "What's wrong? Don't you know your brother is rich? That car he drives costs over four million. I told you to listen to your brother, but you wouldn't listen. Don't you regret it?" He laughed and slapped Xiao Fu on the head.

Xiao Fu turned to the old man and asked, "Is he serious? Xiao Wei's car costs over four million?"

The old man frowned and said, "Call me 'brother,' you're so disrespectful. Xiao Wei is such a big boss, isn't it normal for him to buy a car for four million? Do you even think you can handle it?"

Upon entering the cafeteria, a room full of people lined up to get their meals. The night shift workers hadn't gotten up yet; there were only two shifts, morning and evening. Everyone held their lunchboxes and waited in line. After getting their food, some went back to their dormitories, while those who were about to start work ate in the central dining area.

Breakfast consisted of porridge, egg drop soup, steamed buns, pickled vegetables, and salted duck eggs. They initially considered making fried dough sticks, but then thought it would be too much trouble. The two families lined up at the back, and the group of young girls were embarrassed to be asked to move to the front, but the old man and Mr. Xia refused; the older generation is very particular about etiquette.

The food service was semi-self-service, and the line was quickly filled. Xia Maosheng said to Xiao Fu, "The steamed buns are meat-filled, and the mantou are fatty. Take whatever you want, eat your fill, but don't waste food."

These days, everyone is short of food, and these are just teenagers who should be eating a lot. The group hesitated for a moment, but the old man said, "Take some first, and come back for more if you're not full. There's no limit to how much you can eat. Hurry up, there are people waiting in line behind you."

Everyone took their food and sat down at the central table to eat. The large meat buns were juicy and flavorful; honestly, you can't find anything like this outside these days. Even if you make them at home, you have to add at least half vegetables. But here, steamed buns are the most popular, and not many people eat them each day.

In the rural areas of that era, the diet consisted mainly of coarse grains year-round: sorghum, cornmeal, corn noodles, buckwheat noodles, and wheat flour. Rice and wheat flour were rarely seen. Therefore, the snow-white steamed buns were the most attractive to these girls. As for dumplings, Xiaowei meant well but made things worse; they were too oily, and eating two would make them feel greasy and cause diarrhea. Steamed buns were much more filling. The girls would only occasionally grab one to satisfy their cravings.

The two families sat together, slowly drinking porridge and eating rice, cracking open a salted duck egg and eating a meat bun. This is something they would never normally do at home. They eat like this every day, but...

Xia's father said, "These steamed buns are so big. Back in our canteen, they cost 80 cents each without food coupons, and 45 cents with food coupons. More than half of them were vegetables. You guys are really generous."

Xia Maosheng said, "Xiaowei said to make sure the workers eat well so they have the energy to work. We're counting on them to help us make money."

The old man nodded and said, "That makes sense, but you three brothers are really generous, no wonder you've become rich."

Xiao Fu asked in surprise, "Are all these people eating for free? Don't they want any money?"

(End of this chapter)