Mentioning Lin Chuxia, a touch of tenderness flashed through Qin Yang’s eyes, “I will.”
Minister Wang is an experienced man, he could easily see the change in Qin Yang, and laughingly pointed it out, “You young man, hurry back. Don’t bother with the Liu Family’s matters.”
“Yes!”
As Qin Yang left the office, Xu Qiang’s expression turned somewhat unsightly.
“This soldier under you is getting too big for his boots.”
After all, he was the Secretary of the Party branch, and he had lowered his stance considerably. It was fine if Qin Yang did not appreciate it, but he even turned the tables on him.
Minister Wang just smiled, “What’s this about getting too big for his boots? Qin Yang is just stating a fact. Think about it from another angle, Mr. Xu, you should be thankful to him. If someone brought up this issue, have you considered the consequences? In my opinion, your daughter Sijin really mishandled this situation; trying to smooth things over is fine, but that’s not the way to do it.”
Xu Qiang knew that his daughter was at fault, “Alright, I know Minister Wang, you’re protecting your own. Consider this an IOU from me, I’ll buy you a drink another day.”
“It’s no issue owing me, just think about how you’re going to handle things with the union.”
Qin Yang that lad, when he says his heart is big, it’s big, but when it comes down to the facts, he can be quite the stickler.
…
After leaving Minister Wang’s office, Qin Yang immediately headed towards the dormitory, but he had only got halfway there when he bumped into Zhang Dawei who was looking for him.
“Mr. Qin, Mr. Bai sent me to ask you to come over for a bit.”
Qin Yang frowned slightly, glancing in the direction of the dormitory.
His wife was still waiting for him in the dorm.
Seeing where his gaze fell, Zhang Dawei instantly got it and chuckled, “Mr. Qin, your sister-in-law really is a beauty. No wonder you guys are always looking forward to seeing your wives. If I had such a pretty wife, I wouldn’t even go to work.”
Qin Yang gave him a cool glance, noticing his leering look, and raised his foot for a kick…
Lin Chuxia finished tidying up, but Qin Yang hadn’t returned yet.
By now the sky was getting dark; something must have held him up.
People were already going in twos and threes outside, holding their meal containers and walking in one direction—probably heading for the canteen.
She timed her arrival just right; today happened to be Qin Yang’s birthday.
Seeing his reaction, she realized he wasn’t even aware it was his birthday, so he probably had missed out on eating longevity noodles too.
She changed into a neat jacket and wrote Qin Yang a note before heading out.
On her way, she encountered two comrades holding meal containers and confirmed the direction to the canteen.
The canteen had just started serving meals, with queues at every window.
Lin Chuxia looked over their meals; there were many windows at the canteen, resulting in each window selling the same fare.
Today’s menu was stir-fried pork slices with cauliflower and tofu stewed with bok choy, with the staple being duohe flour steamed buns and rice.
Although there were pork slices in the cauliflower, they were just a few thin slices, and having two or three pieces in each serving was considered good.
Knowing that conditions were tough around here, she didn’t expect the food to be so poor, no wonder everyone liked the beef sauce she made.
“Comrade, are you here to get food? If you’re getting food, go join the queue at the back.”
A man who looked like a master chef saw Lin Chuxia lingering in front of the window for a long time and took the initiative to speak.
Those who came to their canteen were either workers or workers’ families.
Lin Chuxia, tall and beautiful, wearing a neat little jacket, looked sharp and capable.
When she entered the canteen, she caught the attention of many; a woman this eye-catching, if she were a worker or a worker’s family member, they would definitely remember her, so since they didn’t, it meant this was her first time here.
Lin Chuxia looked at the person who had asked the question. This master chef’s hat was different from the one worn by the chefs serving food at the window, and judging by his demeanor, he was clearly a manager.
She smiled and nodded, “I was planning to get some food. Chef, do you do stir-fry here?”
“Sure, as long as we have the ingredients in the kitchen, you can order whatever dishes you’d like,” Master Chen replied.
It was apparent that she wasn’t short on cash, and the master chefs in the cafeteria were more than willing to accommodate someone like that.
Lin Chuxia took a couple of steps forward, getting a bit closer, “Then what ingredients do you have in the kitchen? Can I take a look? I don’t mean to hide it from you, Chef, but I came here especially today to celebrate my man’s birthday. I want to cook him a few special dishes to celebrate.”
As she spoke, Lin Chuxia stuffed a pack of cigarettes in his direction.
Master Chen glanced down at the pack, and exclaimed inwardly—Daqianmen cigarettes, which were considered high-end in the Northwest.
His face grew even more enthusiastic, “The kitchen’s all done for now, it’s no trouble if you want to have a look.”
Lin Chuxia followed the master chef into the kitchen, where Master Liu, who liked to chat, asked whether it was her first time there and whose family member she was. Lin Chuxia casually chatted with him.
Upon reaching the kitchen, she saw a variety of ingredients, and with the weather turning cool recently, they even had a good stock of fresh meat.
Lin Chuxia pointed at the meats and asked, “Can I order several dishes?”
“Of course, we were planning to use these for making stir-fry dishes anyway.”
……
Qin Yang finished his work before mealtime and hurried back to his dormitory, only to find it pitch-dark.
“Lin Chuxia…”
He called out but got no response. He entered the room but didn’t see anyone. However, he did notice a note on the table, written by Lin Chuxia.
Once he made out the content of the note, his eyes and brows instantly relaxed, and he turned and headed back out the door.
Seeing Zhang Dawei, who was about to go to the cafeteria with a food container, he said, “Hold off on going to the cafeteria for now, go get some people for me first.”
Qin Yang listed all the people from their group, thought for a moment, and then added, “Tell Mr. Bai to bring his wife and child along, too.”
Zhang Dawei’s eyes lit up, “Is Mr. Qin planning to hold a welcome feast for sister-in-law?”
Qin Yang lifted his chin proudly, “Something like that. Today’s my birthday, and my wife is throwing a birthday celebration for me, inviting everyone to join the fun.”
“Sister-in-law is really good to you.”
With a face full of envy, Zhang Dawei hurriedly went off to call people.
If Mrs. Qin is good to Mr. Qin, they too could bask in the reflected glory.
When Qin Yang found Lin Chuxia in the cafeteria’s back kitchen, she was busy kneading dough, getting ready to personally make longevity noodles for him.
The dough was already well-kneaded, and she could start making noodles as soon as the water boiled.
Master Chen, upon seeing Qin Yang, praised Lin Chuxia without stop. A beautiful woman who could cook was not common, let alone one who was also great at handling affairs.
Qin Yang was somewhat bemused; his wife was incredibly capable to have made her way into the cafeteria’s back kitchen so quickly.
Wasn’t the back kitchen off-limits to outsiders?
Lin Chuxia smiled and gestured to him, whispering, “I gave Master Chen 5 yuan, and now I can do as I please in the entire kitchen.”
Looking at her sly fox-like expression, Qin Yang really felt like pinching her face.
“Did you call everyone? The food is almost ready. Do you want to have the longevity noodles now or save them for last?”
“Let’s have them now,” Qin Yang replied without any hesitation.
The others hadn’t arrived yet, and he could enjoy his wife’s culinary skills all to himself.
Lin Chuxia didn’t know what he was thinking and assumed he was just hungry, so she efficiently made a bowl of hand-pulled noodles.