After people left, Lin Chuxia went to the warehouse of the vegetable station, where Wang Cheng was working.
On arrival, she quickly found Wang Cheng himself, handed him the cooked food, and gave him the same story she had told to Li Jian.
Wang Cheng wasn’t too cunning; introduced by Li Jian, he always thought that Lin Chuxia and Li Jian were close relatives, so he accepted the cooked food without question.
“Li Jian is really lucky to have a sister like you, those buns taste amazing, and the cold dishes are delicious too. We can’t make it taste like that at home even with the same ingredients!”
“Isn’t that something, Brother Wang do you have a pen? I can write it down for you. Let your sister-in-law try making it according to my instructions, it should taste about the same,” Lin Chuxia replied generously.
Wang Cheng laughed, “That’s great news, wait here, I’ll get you a pen.”
They worked at the vegetable station where there was never a shortage of vegetables. It was frustrating when the dishes didn’t turn out tasty.
Lin Chuxia waited outside for him, next to a storage shed piled with broken handcarts; it seemed a few more had been added recently.
Wang Cheng was quick, grabbing a pen and paper.
Hearing his footsteps, Lin Chuxia naturally withdrew her gaze and took the pen and paper with a smile, starting to write down the seasonings needed for the cold dishes and some precautions.
There was no technical content or difficulty; bad tasting homemade cold dishes were usually due to insufficient seasoning.
“Wow, you even put sugar in the cold dish? And this one, we’ve never used MSG in our cooking.”
“These are flavor enhancers, you can put a little. Try this method and have your sister-in-law give it a shot. If you’re unclear about anything, feel free to ask me, or having her come to my shop to taste might work too. Sometimes cooking is like that, you always feel something’s missing, but after a few tries, you’ll figure it out.”
Wang Cheng agreed readily; he was straightforward and liked Lin Chuxia’s forthrightness.
Seeing how Lin Chuxia was looking at the handcarts in the storage earlier, he could not help but ask, “Do you need another handcart, sis?”
“No,” Lin Chuxia laughed, “Just thought it’s a pity seeing so many handcarts all piled up here. It’s so hard to buy a bike in the market now. My husband and his brother at home have only one bike. If Brother Wang hadn’t sold me a handcart, it would be difficult for me to get around and do things. Without connections like I have with you, others would only have to shamelessly borrow from their neighbors.”
“Exactly, those are public properties, nobody dares to mess with them. Each vehicle is accounted for, so even if they rot here, we can’t let the accounts go messy. If you ask me, they should have gotten rid of these ages ago. The vegetable station hasn’t made a profit this year; might as well sell some assets and make some money,” Wang Cheng added.
“You’re speaking wisely, Brother Wang. Recycling waste, bringing income to the vegetable station and satisfying needs. But I think the leaders will see this one day soon. When the day comes that the station wants to handle these scraps, remember your sister here. You know I run a Bun Shop, one handcart is enough and two aren’t too many either.”
“No problem, as soon as there’s a hint from the leaders, your Brother Wang will reserve a good one for you.”
Wang Cheng didn’t really take this seriously.
Honestly, if Lin Chuxia was here today for the handcarts, seeing the face of Li Jian, and for the cooked food and recipes he provided, he could also arrange one for her, but that would likely end their relationship.
With a bag of cooked food and a recipe, one lip touching another, asking him to do something against the rules, Wang Cheng was straightforward but not a fool.
Of course, Lin Chuxia was aware of these subtleties. After handling her business, she rode her bicycle back to the Bun Shop with an empty bag.
Su Wensong had been waiting in the Bun Shop; seeing Lin Chuxia returning as the shop had just cleared out, he came over, “How did it go?”
Knowing that Lin Chuxia went to borrow money, bringing just some cooked food for borrowing, he wondered how much she could borrow.
“Come over here.”
Dragging Lin Chuxia to the backyard, he glanced around to make sure no one was around, then pulled something out of his pocket and stuffed it into her hand.
“This was given to me by Granny, I’m not sure if it’s worth anything, but see if you can find a way to deal with it. Whatever money it can fetch, it can fetch, it might just tide us over.”
Lin Chuxia looked at the small cloth bundle in her hand, puzzled, “What?”
Opening the cloth bundle, she saw a very fine jade bracelet lying inside and immediately burst into laughter.
“Are you giving me your entire dowry? If I’m not mistaken, this is what Granny Su meant to give to your future wife, right?”
A hint of discomfort flashed across Su Wensong’s face, and his ears turned slightly red, “What future wife? I’m not planning to get married yet. Our shop is short on cash, so let’s deal with this for now. It’s not convenient for me to sell it, and you have more connections than I do, so I’ll leave it to you.”
Lin Chuxia directly pulled his hand, placing the bracelet in his palm, “This is a good piece, you keep it well, give it to your future child’s mother. Don’t worry about the money, it’s already taken care of.”
Su Wensong hadn’t noticed her mention of a child’s mother and stared at her with wide eyes, “It’s taken care of? You’ve got the loan for the house?”
“Almost, just waiting on the news.”
Although Li Jian verbally agreed, going to the bank with the documents to proceed would probably take another couple of days.
She wasn’t in a rush.
If her suggestion for expanding the food station’s sales channels was accepted, Li Jian would naturally come to her, which would be much less awkward than accompanying her to the bank.
……
Lin Chuxia was right, and things even moved faster than she expected; the next afternoon, Li Jian arrived at the shop with a briefcase.
With no outsiders in the shop, Lin Chuxia joked with a smile, “Oh, Brother Li, you look radiant. Did you get a promotion?”
Li Jian just smiled, not denying it, and lifted his chin, “Didn’t you want me to be your guarantor? Let’s go before the bank closes.”
Lin Chuxia raised her eyebrows, was this affirming her guess?
She believed that as long as Li Jian proposed the reform plan as she suggested, it would definitely work. Even if there were some flaws, wouldn’t Station Chief Yang give him some face after eating the delicacies he provided? But she never expected things to go so smoothly.
It seemed that Li Jian was quite capable after all, no wonder he was able to become a bureau chief in her past life.
Lin Chuxia didn’t delay, took the already prepared documents, and went to the bank with Li Jian.
With the documents complete, the proceedings were swift. Within half an hour, 3,000 yuan was handed over to her at the counter.
Lin Chuxia put the money into her purse, while Li Jian muttered, looking pained, “Why do I feel like this is the money for selling myself.”
Lin Chuxia laughed, walking out and said, “How could that be? Brother Li, you are worth much more than that. Come on, I’ll treat you tonight, you pick the place.”
Li Jian waved a hand, “Forget it, I’m afraid one meal with you might cost me half my life.”
Lin Chuxia smiled slyly, “How about Brother Li treats me then? You should treat to a meal to celebrate your promotion, right?”
This hit the mark, and Li Jian laughed somewhat proudly…