Chapter 7: Don't Eat Too Ugly

  "It's fatty."

  The middle-aged man known as Xiao Kezhang finally noticed Ning Mo. He stood up, walked to Ning Mo's table, and smiled at Miao Lei and Yu Haitao, which was a greeting. When his eyes passed over Qin Hai's face, Xiao Kezhang paused for a moment, perhaps recalling whether he had met Qin Hai before. After confirming that he did not know this person, he shifted his gaze back to Ning Mo.

  "Fatty, what is your dad doing at home?"

  "What else can he do? Raise flowers, play chess. That's right, if I'm at home, he'll scold me."

  "This old fellow!" Xiao Ke Chang scolded Ning Mo's father in a familiar tone, then said: "What, fatty, have you stolen and sold the factory's materials again?"

  "Xiao Kechang, how can you say such things about us?" Ning Mo said with a hint of grievance.

  "You didn't embezzle funds, so where did you get the money for your lavish spending?" Xiao Kezhang said.

  Ning Mo said, "We are self-sufficient. Haitao, Kui Zi and I picked up the discarded steel in the workshop, made some hoes and shovels, sold them to Lao Biao, and earned some money to invite our brothers to dinner."

  "He pointed at Qin Hai with his hand: 'He's called Qin Hai, a graduate of an agricultural machinery technical school, and has already reported to our factory.'"

  Qin Hai quickly stood up and said to Xiao Ke Zhang: "Director Xiao? Sorry, I didn't recognize you earlier. I just reported for duty at the factory today. The cafeteria had no food left, so Ning Mo and the others invited me out to eat."

  Xiao Kelong nodded at Qin Hai and extended his hand, Qin Hai hastily shook hands with him. After shaking hands, Xiao Kelong said: "My name is Xiao Dongping, I am the deputy director of the supply and sales department in the factory, and I am familiar with their dads."

  "Oh, Xiao Kezhang, I'll have to trouble you again in the future." Qin Hai said politely.

  "Xiao Ke Long, come and join us at our table for dinner." Ning Mo extended his invitation once again.

  Xiao Dongping waved his hand and said, "You young people eat, I won't join in the fun. I just came back from Hongze, I'll just have a casual meal here and take a rest."

  Hongze is the capital of Anhui Province, about 60 kilometers away from Pingyuan. Xiao Dongping is the deputy director of the Supply and Marketing Department, and it's a common thing for him to go to Hongze on business trips. Judging from the time, he should have just gotten off the long-distance bus from Hongze and come to the For The People restaurant to eat and rest.

  "Xiao Kechang, you just sit down." Ning Mo and Xiao Dongping seemed to have a good relationship, pulling his hand, he let him sit down.

  Xiao Dongping struggled twice, but couldn't open Ning Mo's bear paw, and had to concede: "Okay okay, I'll go get the stuff."

  "I'll go help you carry it." Ning Mo stood up, picked up the snakeskin bag that belonged to Xiao Dongping and threw it at his feet. "What's in this thing? It's so heavy?"

  "Rotary tiller blades." Xiao Dongping said with a tone of annoyance.

  "Do you still want your stir-fried peanuts and rice?" asked the waitress named Xiaofang, following behind Xiao Dongping.

  "No need, tell your dad to add half a catty of loose wine for our table." Ning Mo instructed, and from his tone, it seemed that Xiaofang was indeed the daughter of Boss Kong.

  "Ah...... I'm eating with you guys, how can I let you pay? This meal is on me." Xiao Dongping said modestly.

  Ning Mo chuckled and said, "Xiao Kezhang, don't pretend anymore. Although we're poor, the little extra money we earn is our own. Your monthly salary is controlled by your wife, so how can you afford to treat us to dinner? Every time you go out drinking, you just bring a few dried tofu to drink with, and you can't even bear to stir-fry some meat dishes. Do you think we don't know? If you use money to treat us to dinner, you'll have to kneel on the washboard when you get home."

  Xiao Dongping's old face turned a bit red, obviously being hit by Ning Mo. He loves drinking, but as Ning Mo said, his salary is tightly controlled by his wife, not a penny left for himself. This time he went to the provincial city on business, saved a few cents on transportation costs, and finally had the opportunity to come to the restaurant to buy some loose wine and satisfy his craving. Every time he secretly drinks alone, he takes risks, and when he returns home, he can't avoid being scolded by his wife.

  "Fatty, Xiao Qin has just started working at our factory, why are you saying these things in front of him?" Xiao Dongping whispered to Ning Mo, then smiled and explained to Qin Hai: "Xiao Qin, don't listen to Xiao Mo's nonsense, my wife is just concerned about my health, she doesn't let me drink too much..."

  "Uh-huh, understood." Qin Hai secretly smiled to himself, "Madam Xiao is indeed virtuous and wise. At Elder Xiao's age, one must pay attention to nourishing their body. However, since Elder Xiao has been working hard on his trip, it's also necessary for him to drink a little wine to relax his muscles and tendons, so he can sleep well when he returns."

  "Exactly, exactly." Xiao Dongping hastily nodded, wanting to resolve this awkwardness as soon as possible.

  At this time, Mr. Kong had already stir-fried the dishes one after another, including pepper stir-fry with meat, stir-fried pig liver, braised fish pieces, stir-fried dried tofu, stir-fried hollow vegetables, and stir-fried bean curd, a total of six dishes, filling up the whole table.

  "How can there be so many dishes?" Xiao Dongping's eyes widened in surprise.

  "What's the point of treating Qin Hai to a meal if there aren't many dishes?" Ning Mo said with a hint of pride. Being able to take out 10 yuan to treat someone made him feel somewhat accomplished, as he had always been someone who valued face over money.

  Xiao Dongping cast his gaze towards Qin Hai, secretly guessing at Qin Hai's identity. In his opinion, someone who could receive such high-level hospitality must be quite extraordinary.

  Qin Hai noticed Xiao Dongping's confusion, and he smiled faintly, saying: "Ning Mo was too polite, actually I just helped them a little bit, but they insisted on being so polite. However, since Director Xiao has taken notice of me, I feel at ease."

  Xiao Dongping burst out laughing and said: "Little Qin is really good at talking, saying it like that, I guess I'm basking in your glory today."

  At this point, Boss Kong came over with a plastic jug. As soon as the lid was opened, a strong aroma of wine wafted out, intoxicating everyone. Qin Hai knew that the jug contained locally-made, bulk-produced baijiu, with an alcohol content of 40-50 degrees, made from pure grains and brewed to perfection, its flavor and aftertaste rivaling those famous wines that could advertise on CCTV's prime-time slots.

  As soon as he smelled the wine, Xiao Dongping's interest completely shifted from Qin Hai. He almost snatched the wine jug from Old Man Kong and started pouring wine for everyone.

  "I'd like to borrow Xiao Mo's first cup of wine to welcome Xiao Qin to our Qingfeng Factory."

  After pouring the good wine, Xiao Dongping didn't wait for Ning Mo, the host, to speak, and he himself picked up his wine cup and started making a toast.

  "Thank you, Xiao Kechang, thank you, Ning Mo, thanks to Haitao and Kuai Zi." Qin Hai also picked up his wine glass and toasted everyone.

  Xiao Dongping tilted his head and drained the wine in his cup, closed his eyes for a moment as if savoring the taste of the fine wine, then picked up a piece of braised pork foot with his chopsticks and put it into his mouth, chewing hard, a look of bliss on his face.

  Alas, you're also a grown man, can't you eat with some decorum?

  Qin Hai sighed in his heart, but he soon extended his contempt for Xiao Dongping to the whole table, because he found that Ning Mo and three other young people were also scrambling for the good dishes on the table like a whirlwind sweeping away clouds.

  "Qin Hai, why aren't you eating?" Ning Mo said with a mouthful of food, her voice unclear.

  "I'm eating now." Qin Hai smiled and joined everyone in devouring the food. After working for an entire afternoon, he was indeed hungry. Although the dishes on the table were not exquisite or expensive, they were all made with green and natural ingredients. Qin Hai ate until his mouth was oily, and his mood became increasingly brighter.

  Everyone ate wildly for a while, sweeping away more than half of the dishes before slowing down. Xiao Dongping frequently raised his glass to toast the young people, and repeatedly, without waiting for others to lift their cups, he had already finished drinking the wine in his cup. The amount of wine Ning Mo and others drank added up was not as much as Xiao Dongping alone.

  "Little Qin, you've come to Qingfeng Factory, I welcome you. But to be honest, you've really walked into the wrong door."

  Xiao Dongping had a good drink, his tongue got thicker, and he started to talk nonsense. He patted Qin Hai's shoulder who was sitting next to him and said with a sincere tone.

  Qin Hai didn't drink much and his mind was still clear. He smiled and asked, "What does this mean, Commander Xiao? I don't quite understand."

  Xiao Dongping said, "I know you don't understand. If you understood, you wouldn't have come to Qingfeng Factory. Let me tell you, Qingfeng Factory was the top unit in Pingyuan County... no, in the entire Beixi area a few years ago. The welfare was good, the conditions were good, and the status was good!"

  As he said this, his eyes shone with a radiant light, as if he had returned to that glorious era once again.

  "Uh-huh, I believe it." Qin Hai nodded. A county-level agricultural machinery factory with a scale of nearly 200 people and an area of one or two thousand mu can indeed be considered a top-notch enterprise. Just by looking at the fact that each single dormitory is equipped with a writing desk, you can imagine how prosperous this factory was in its heyday.

  "At that time, his family's old man was the factory director." Xiao Dongping pointed at Ning Mo and said, "Old Man Ning had a big temper, loved to scold people, trained me like he trained his grandson..."

  "Xiao Ke Zhang... the generation is not right." Qin Hai reminded with good intentions, Ning Lao's son was sitting next to him, Xiao Dongping claimed that he was trained by Ning Lao like a grandson, this generation was a bit embarrassing.

  "Qin Hai, what Xiao Kezhang said is true. My old man trained me like a grandson." Ning Mo explained gloomily, which also filled in the generation gap.

  "Hmm...alright." Qin Hai smiled helplessly, "Xiao Kezhang, you continue..."

  "What was I saying?" Qin Hai's interruption gave Xiao Dongping the opportunity to down another two cups of wine, and for a moment he forgot what he had just said.