novellhall Chapter 21 Minister Sun expressed his satisfaction with the meal.
Chapter 21 Minister Sun expressed his satisfaction with the meal.
Five minutes later, Joan cut the two pies out and put them on a plate.
"Director He, please try some."
He Hua picked up the pie and took a bite, completely disregarding how hot the freshly baked pie was.
"Mmm~ Mmm~ Delicious, delicious, it smells so good!"
"I noticed there wasn't much meat in our cafeteria, so I didn't dare put any in. Instead, I put half an egg in for you."
Joan stood to the side and said with a smile.
"That meat should be left for Minister Sun and the others; you were right not to put it in."
He Hua's breath was steaming as he spoke.
"Your pie is really good! It tastes much better than the chive pancakes you buy at the state-run restaurant."
"Okay! Qiao An, I'm leaving lunch in your hands. You have to make me proud!"
"Don't worry, I will do my best." Joan bowed.
He Hua didn't have time to look at her at all.
The two pies were gone in the blink of an eye.
Looking around to make sure no one was watching, Joan took an apple out of her pocket.
"Director He, please have this apple. The chives have a strong flavor, so it'll cleanse your palate."
He Hua stared wide-eyed at the apple in Qiao An's hand, then swallowed hard.
"This is inappropriate. It was all bought with public funds. How can I eat it?"
Qiao An smiled and took out 1.8 yuan. "This is the money left over from buying groceries. Please keep it."
"Besides, this apple wasn't paid for with public funds; it was given to me by my cousin, so you can eat it without worry."
Upon hearing this, He Hua immediately realized that Qiao An was a very shrewd and resourceful person.
But she waved her hand, saying that life was tough for everyone these days, and that she should keep the apples for the children to eat at home.
"Director He, aren't you going to a meeting with the leaders later? It wouldn't look good if people smelled the chives, so please don't be shy with me."
He Hua lowered his head and breathed out, and he could indeed smell the leeks.
There are no toothbrushes in the office. If the boss smells this, he'll definitely have second thoughts.
Good grief, the boss hasn't even had a bite of the chive pancake yet, and she's already eating it. What's going on here?
"Okay, I'll take the apple. Joan, you stay here and work hard. I'll definitely save any permanent positions for you in the future."
"With your words, I'll do anything you ask. Director He, please go ahead and get busy. I'll start preparing lunch now."
It was almost 10 o'clock when He Hua put away the apple and left the cafeteria.
They started getting busy in the kitchen.
There were four leaders who received special treatment today.
Minister Sun, Minister Su's secretary, Director Jiang, and Deputy Director Li.
They arrived for lunch at 11:30, and the others arrived at 12:30.
Besides Qin Feng, there are 12 other people in the police station.
In other words, Joan has to prepare all the food within two and a half hours.
Thankfully, the kitchen has two stoves, otherwise we really wouldn't be able to keep up.
Qiao An sorted the vegetables and put them away. After a moment's thought, she had already decided what to cook.
Sun Weiguo came to Jinshui Town today for an inspection. In the past year, the case-solving rate in Wanzhou County has been very low, and he was scolded several times in the provincial capital.
The purpose of this trip to various towns is to give the grassroots a wake-up call, to stop them from wasting their time, and to set them a deadline: the case-solving rate must increase by 15% before the Lunar New Year.
Otherwise, they will all be punished.
Jiang Yushun, the director of the Jinshui Town Police Station, felt incredibly frustrated during the meeting; he was practically being verbally abused by Sun Weiguo.
Who doesn't want to solve a case?
However, due to limited technology and personnel, many cases remained unsolved.
Improving the crime-solving rate before the end of the year is harder than climbing to heaven.
He accompanied Sun Weiguo to the canteen.
Seeing the cafeteria sign made him even more uneasy.
Qin Feng is so stubborn; she won't even listen to him, the director. Minister Sun was already in a bad mood today.
When they see the food later, their expression will probably be even more unpleasant.
He Hua also thought, with the police station's lousy food, is it even worth eating at different times?
It looks like they're getting special treatment, but everyone is actually eating the same thing.
Thinking about this, Jiang Yushun felt bitter.
We'll be at the cafeteria entrance soon.
Sun Weiguo suddenly paused. "Hmm?"
"It smells pretty good."
Jiang Yushun tilted his head back and sniffed.
God!
What is this? It smells so good!
In the moment of stunned silence, Sun Weiguo's secretary had already pushed open the cafeteria door.
The fragrance that had seeped out from under the door earlier was relatively mild.
The stench hitting them almost made them faint.
Jiang Yushun strode into the cafeteria to see what was going on.
He Hua, who was following behind them, hurriedly ran over, afraid that Qiao An would say the wrong thing.
"Director Jiang, Minister Sun, this is Xiao Qiao, our new helper in the canteen. Sister Qin had a stomachache and went to the health center today, so Xiao Qiao helped prepare the meal."
"If there's anything I did wrong, please don't mind, Minister Sun."
Following the aroma, Sun Weiguo's gaze fell on the table.
A plate of stuffed pancakes, and a plate of scallion pancakes.
Stir-fried eggs with tomatoes, braised eggplant, and stewed potatoes with green beans.
There was also a plate of washed apples in the corner.
There weren't many dishes, but the aroma was incredibly strong.
Jiang Yushun glanced at the food and licked his lips.
Putting everything else aside, the color of this dish is far superior to that of Qin Feng's.
Every time Jiang Yushun ate in the canteen, he felt like a pig rooting for leftovers in a stone trough.
Jiang Yushun gave He Hua a satisfied look, then gestured for Sun Weiguo to take a seat.
Just as He Hua was about to pull Qiao An away, Sun Weiguo spoke up.
"If Xiao Qiao leaves, won't the comrades in the office be left without food?"
"We're not talking about work, let Xiao Qiao go to the kitchen and cook for the comrades."
He Hua leaned close to Qiao An and whispered, "Close the kitchen door and just focus on cooking."
Qiao An returned to the kitchen and began cooking for the other people at the police station.
She had a lot of scallions left, so she simply made them into scallion pancakes.
Although the meat was all given to the leaders, she had just cut off two ounces of fat.
Using lard to stew vegetables will allow everyone to taste the flavor of meat.
The kitchen only had a door and no windows, so she could hear the conversations in the cafeteria very clearly.
"Chief Jiang, I'm not trying to be mean, but out of the five towns in our county, your station has the lowest case-solving rate, dragging down our average year after year. Do you know how much pressure I'm under?"
Sun Weiguo, his mouth greasy from eating, took a moment to scold Jiang Yushun.
Jiang Yushun, who was eating a scallion pancake, suddenly felt that his mouth no longer tasted good.
Didn't we say we wouldn't talk about work?
Why are we talking about this again?
"Yes, we will definitely work hard to increase the crime-solving rate as soon as possible."
"You really need to take this seriously. We're about the same age. Do you really want to stay stuck in Jinshui Town for the rest of your life? Don't you want to try and move up in society?"
"That must be because they want to..."
"Just thinking about it isn't enough!" Sun Weiguo picked up another pie. "There are only three months left until the end of the year. Isn't there some kind of theft gang in your town recently?"
"I just looked at the data and it's been more than half a year, and they still haven't caught a petty thief. What can I say about them?"
Jiang Yushun and Deputy Director Li Qiang lost their appetite. They exchanged a bitter look and put down their chopsticks at the same time.
Sun Weiguo and his secretary ate the entire plate of chive and pork pies, so much so that they were burping from being so full.
"belch!"
"Alright, I didn't come here today... hiccup! to yell at you guys."
"I have to go to Gaozhuang Town this afternoon, so I won't keep you from your work."
After eating and drinking his fill, Sun Weiguo grabbed two apples and slowly stood up.
The secretary, being very perceptive, immediately picked up the other two apples as well.
Jiang Yushun and Li Qiang saw the person off and then returned to the cafeteria.