The pushover offended a top-tier boss

She had been craving that taste for a long time; no matter how delicious the restaurants outside were, they could never replicate the flavor of home cooking.

Mother Ye, no longer paying attention to her, turned to her husband and instructed, "Old Ye, hurry up and cook some more noodles! Make a lot!"

Mr. Ye responded and jogged into the kitchen.

Mother Ye rubbed her hands together, wiped them on her apron, and tried to make her voice sound calm: "Please sit down, leaders. Hehe, make yourself at home. My home is simple, please don't mind—"

Zhou Huaijin sat down in a chair and looked around. The shop's decor had changed a bit; the walls had been repainted, the tables and chairs had been replaced, and a display case had been added in the corner, displaying local specialties from Nanjing.

"The noodles are here!"

Mr. Ye came out of the kitchen carrying a large soup basin filled with freshly cooked, steaming hot hand-pulled noodles.

Several kinds of sauces for mixing noodles were laid out on the table.

The table was laden with green beans and pork, diced eggplant, pork belly sauce, tomato and egg sauce, a small dish of minced garlic, a small bowl of sesame paste, as well as finely shredded cucumber, blanched mung bean sprouts, soybeans, and green beans.

Five people sat down around the table, each holding a large bowl.

This art style looks really strange no matter how you look at it.

An old, folding round table was covered with a faded checkered tablecloth.

The person sitting next to me wore a dark gray shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms. He had a serious expression and upright posture.

Ye Zhenzhen usually loved to sit under the tree by the door and eat noodles, basking in the sun while watching the cats and dogs outside, and sometimes even seeing a few sparrows hopping on the steps. But today? With a district party secretary on her left and a county head on her right, she felt like a slice of meat under a microscope.

"Oh, please have some, sir." She solicitously scooped a few spoonfuls of braised food into Zhou Huaijin's bowl and stirred it with chopsticks.

Mr. Ye sat down beside him, rubbed his hands together, and said somewhat embarrassedly, "It's just a simple home-cooked meal, nothing fancy, please don't mind, gentlemen."

"You're too kind, it's delicious." Yang Guanyu had already eaten more than half a bowl, his chopsticks still moving, his tone sincere, not just being polite.

Zhou Huaijin nodded as well: "It tastes very good."

After saying that, he added another sentence.

"The dumplings that Auntie brought for Zhenzhen last time tasted really good."

Yang Guanyu's gaze paused slightly, and he suddenly remembered the colleague Ye Zhenzhen had mentioned that day. He understood in his heart, but his face remained expressionless.

"Auntie, how's business lately?" Zhou Huaijin asked casually.

"Everything's fine, everything's fine!" Mother Ye's tension had subsided considerably, and her face was full of smiles. "There are more tourists lately, all thanks to County Chief Yang. The government even replaced our signs for free a while ago, and they look so nice. County Chief Yang also recommended our shop to tourists, so we've been so busy that we've hired two more employees."

"County Chief Yang is truly a good official; all the people of Nan Jing remember your kindness."

Yang Guanyu bowed slightly, his smile gentle and humble: "You flatter me, it's nothing."

Zhou Huaijin nodded: "Serving the people is what he should do."

"If you encounter any problems in the future, you can directly report them to County Chief Yang."

"Oh dear, we're just an old folks with nothing to do," Ye's mother said apologetically, then turned to look at her daughter and sighed, "We're just worried about Zhenzhen. Oh dear, this girl has been single ever since her breakup."

"Mom!" Ye Zhenzhen almost choked on her noodles. "Why are you saying this?!"

She wanted to bury her face in the bowl. The two people next to her, one was eating noodles with his head down and the other was drinking water from his cup, their faces expressionless.

"Isn't this because I was worried about you?" Mother Ye said matter-of-factly, turning to the two men with a smile.

"If either of you leaders has a suitable, outstanding young person around you, you could actually keep an eye out for Zhenzhen. She's not young anymore, she's twenty-seven, if you delay any longer—"

"Aunt."

Zhou Huaijin put down his chopsticks and glanced at Ye Zhenzhen's reddened ear tips.

"You don't need to worry about her. Maybe one day, Zhenzhen will bring her boyfriend home to you."

Ye Zhenzhen lowered her head even further.

Mother Ye was taken aback for a moment, then smiled even more broadly: "That's wonderful, that's wonderful! I'll have to prepare a few more dishes then."

Ye Zhenzhen cried out in her heart: Mom, can you please stop talking!

After the meal, the elderly couple felt bad, thinking that serving only a bowl of noodles was too inadequate for their leader.

They insisted on giving the two leaders some local specialties made by their own family. Ye's mother took out a few pieces of cured meat, wrapped them in plastic wrap, packed a bag of salted duck eggs she had pickled herself, and took out a bag of dried hazel mushrooms and a handful of dried green beans from the cupboard.

As she packed the items into the bag, she muttered, "Oh dear, these things were originally meant for you to take back, but I'll give them to the boss first."

She looked down at the plastic bag in her hand.

"Ugh, these bags are so ugly." She rummaged through drawers and cabinets and found several red gift bags left over from packing New Year's goods.

"Especially Secretary Zhou, such a high-ranking leader, what kind of image does he project carrying a plastic bag?"

Ye Zhenzhen stood by watching her mother busy herself, and finally couldn't help but say, "Mom, no need—"

"You child, you don't know how to handle things," Ye's mother scolded her. "If you pull some strings for the boss, and his family likes to eat it, you'll have done a good job."

Ye Zhenzhen was speechless. Her family did like the food, but there was no need to go to such lengths...

"Oh dear, this bag isn't very nice either. Zhenzhen, can you help Mom find it?" Mother Ye busied herself with various tasks.

"Really, you don't need to." She took the red gift bag from her mother. "County Chief Yang can pack it himself. Our leaders can just use plastic bags."

"I'll give it to him when I leave, don't bother with this."

She came out carrying the red gift bag and handed it to Yang Guanyu with a smile: "Senior, these are some local specialties that my parents made themselves. They're not worth much. If you don't mind, you can take them home and try them."

After saying that, he added another sentence.

"Of course, this isn't a bribe, it's a gift for you."

Yang Guanyu was also amused.

"Great, it's perfect that the leader is here to witness this."

Zhou Huaijin stood to the side, his hands empty, holding nothing.

His face darkened again for some reason.

Then, as if remembering something, Ye Zhenzhen asked Yang Guanyu, "By the way, senior, I'd like to plant some vegetables in the yard. Do you know where I can buy seeds?"

"What kind of seeds do you want?" Yang Guanyu asked her. "I'll go to the seed station and get them for you."

"Watermelons, cucumbers, tomatoes, and rapeseed—that's about it for now. I couldn't grow too many." Ye Zhenzhen thought for a moment, then smiled happily, "Thank you, senior!"

Ye Zhenzhen turned her head and saw Zhou Huaijin's indifferent face, and her heart skipped a beat.

Is he angry?

Why is he angry again?

"Boss, are you going upstairs for a lunch break?" she asked softly.

Her unspoken message was, "I'm going upstairs to rest; you can leave now."

Zhou Huaijin didn't say anything, but he had already taken a step.

Ye Zhenzhen: ? ? ?

How come the top leader can't even understand this simple thing?

The Ye couple stood at the top of the stairs, their hearts pounding with anxiety.

"Oh dear, have you tidied upstairs yet?" Mrs. Ye asked in a low voice, tugging at Mr. Ye's sleeve.

Mr. Ye looked bewildered: "How was I supposed to know the leader was going upstairs...?"

"I told you to change your sheets a long time ago, but you wouldn't listen. It's so unhygienic for a high-ranking leader like Secretary Zhou..."

They're overthinking it.

Zhou Huaijin walked through the small living room, pushed open the wooden door with the faded "Fu" character pasted on it, and headed straight for their daughter's room without any hesitation.

As soon as he entered, he pinned the person against the door.

With emotions that had been suppressed and restrained all day, I finally couldn't bear it any longer.

"Ah—no, not here—" Ye Zhenzhen's voice was extremely low as she nervously looked around, "They'll hear us..."

Zhou Huaijin lowered his head, his lips almost touching her earlobe: "Ye Zhenzhen, I think you're getting more and more impressive. You didn't listen to a word I told you to keep your distance last time."

"Am I your boss, or is he your boss? Don't you know who you should be giving gifts to?"

Ye Zhenzhen blinked, finally realizing what was happening.

So he was jealous.

"Oh, I asked someone for a favor, so I gave them a small gift."

Ye Zhenzhen tugged at his sleeve and explained softly.

"My mom said she wanted to make one for you too, but I stopped her."

"Ordering another one would be too much trouble... Besides, you're family, he's the guest."

Zhou Huaijin paused for a moment.

One of our own. A guest.

Hmph, as long as she knows it in her heart.

He loosened his grip on her wrist a little.

Suddenly I felt much better.