Siheyuan: The Era of Struggle

Chapter 330 He Jianghai's Invitation

The person who was speaking was Liu Lan. He Yuanchao's impression of her was neither good nor bad. To put it bluntly, she was just an acquaintance who worked at the same factory.

If this happened in private and without anyone around, He Yuanchao would definitely avoid suspicion and keep his distance when seeing such an enthusiastic Liu Lan, but now in the cafeteria, there were many people watching, and he couldn't let the female comrade's words fall on the ground.

"Oh, I was on duty at the factory last night."

He Yuanchao responded to Liu Lan with a smile and took the lunch box handed to him by Ma Hua.

Seeing that He Yuanchao had no intention of talking anymore, Liu Lan rolled her eyes and found a topic to talk to Ma Hua with a smile: "Don't you want to ask He Yuzhu to be your master? Now is a good opportunity."

Ma Hua was confused when he heard this. He glanced at Liu Lan who was laughing, then turned his head to look at He Yuanchao who was holding the lunch box in one hand and waiting for steamed buns. It took him a long time to react to where this good opportunity was.

Seeing that she had achieved her goal, Liu Lan did not take the candy. She smiled and pointed at He Yuanchao outside the food window and introduced him to Ma Hua:
"This is Director He Yuanchao of our factory's security department..."

"Not the director, but the deputy director."

He Yuanchao knew that Liu Lan was complimenting him, but in the cafeteria where there were many people and gossips, he quickly interrupted her and corrected her.

"Aren't all the chiefs and deputy chiefs directors?"

Liu Lan gave He Yuanchao a charming look and continued her topic, "Ma Hua, let me tell you, this is He Yuzhu's uncle. You will have something to do. If Director He nods, you will definitely become his disciple."

After hearing this, Ma Hua immediately raised his head and looked at He Yuanchao with burning eyes. He even forgot to hand over the four steamed buns in his hand.

"He...He...Director He, I...I really want to...really want to learn cooking from Master He. Can...can you...can you help me?"

After saying this with great effort, Ma Hua, with a red face, immediately lowered his head and stood behind the food window like a child waiting to be criticized by the teacher.

Liu Lan was the one who started the conversation. She didn't want to miss the chance to talk more with He Yuanchao, so she took the opportunity to make a joke:

"Ma Hua, how can you be so tactless? You want to become my disciple with just words! You should at least show some practical actions to show your support!"

As soon as Liu Lan finished speaking, Ma Hua stared at the four steamed buns made of two grains of flour in his hand, and finally some ideas came into his confused head.

Isn't it just a matter of showing it through action? That's not that difficult, Ma Hua thought to himself, and his hands and feet were not idle.

He held a steamed bun made of two pieces of flour in one hand and grabbed a clean rag on the table with the other, then walked from behind the food window into the cafeteria dining room.

Finding a dining table against the wall, Ma Hua put the small bowl of steamed buns on the table without saying a word, and then began to wipe the table and chairs quickly.

Looking at Ma Hua who was busy in the dining room, Liu Lan felt a little amused. She really didn't expect that this young man would express his love with such practical actions.

"Okay! Why do you care so much! I've already shown you the way. If you don't walk properly, you can't blame others. I'd better mind my own business!"

Liu Lan thought about it, glanced at He Yuanchao who was staring at Ma Hua working, and said with a smile: "Director He, Ma Hua has just taken over the factory. He is young and naive. You should not take him seriously..."

"The young man is very hardworking. I think he is good."

He Yuanchao felt that something was wrong with Liu Lan today. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he shook the lunch box in his hand and said, "I worked the entire night shift last night and I'm so hungry. You guys are busy, I'll go eat first."

After saying that, He Yuanchao walked towards the table that Ma Hua had cleaned without looking back.

Looking at He Yuanchao's back, Liu Lan gritted her teeth in anger. She stomped her feet and cursed in her heart: "What a blockhead! All those seductive glances I threw at him were in vain. There's a blind man standing in front of him with his eyes closed." Ma Hua was so stupid that he didn't even realize that he was being used by Liu Lan.

Seeing He Yuanchao walk over and sit down beside him, he immediately stopped what he was doing, became uneasy, and even his mouth, which usually spoke fluently, began to stutter again.

"He…He…Director He, I…I want you to talk to Master He about my apprenticeship, please!"

He Yuanchao put down the steamed bun that was brought to his mouth, turned his head to look at Ma Hua whose face was flushed, and said with a smile: "Ma Hua, right? I remember it. Don't worry, I will tell He Yuzhu about it."

After saying this, He Yuanchao picked up the steamed bun and took a bite. Seeing Ma Hua standing there, staring at him motionlessly, he asked vaguely with some confusion, "What, do you have something else to do?"

Ma Hua didn't expect He Yuanchao to agree so readily. He was a little slow to react for a moment. When he heard the question again, he came to his senses.

"It's okay, it's okay, Mr. He, just take your time eating."

After saying this with his head down, Ma Hua felt that he was too embarrassed today and was too embarrassed to stay with He Yuanchao. He turned around and quickly went back to the cafeteria kitchen.

He Yuanchao smiled when he saw this, and ignored Ma Hua who went into the kitchen and was loudly teased by Liu Lan. He lowered his head and continued to deal with the breakfast in front of him.

After breakfast, seeing that it was still early to go to work, He Yuanchao strolled to several security rooms and finally returned to his office on time.

After simply tidying up the room, He Yuanchao looked at the time, washed his hands, walked to the desk and picked up the phone on the table.

He reported last night's case to Liang Weimin and Mo Dacheng respectively, which took about forty to fifty minutes in total. He took out a cigarette, lit it and took a puff. Just as he was hesitating whether to call his wife, the phone he had just put down suddenly rang.

After picking up the phone, He Yuanchao learned that it was the director of the East City Branch, He Jianghai, who wanted him to go to the branch himself. He couldn't help feeling confused.

"I'm not familiar with He Jianghai. What does he want from me? Is it because of last night's case..."

After thinking for a while without any clue, He Yuanchao didn't waste any more time. After reporting to the Security Office, he got up, put on his coat and left the office. He just took this opportunity to go to the police station to see his wife.

The Red Star Steel Rolling Mill is outside Dongzhimen, not too far from the Chengdong Branch. It takes about an hour to walk there, or less than 20 minutes to ride a bike there.

After He Yuanchao rode his bike to the Chengdong Branch, he first went to the Household Registration Section to meet Zhang Min and told her about the temporary overtime work last night.

Nowadays, the nature of the work of public security and factory security is similar. Zhang Min himself is engaged in this field and can understand the various emergencies faced by professions such as public security and security.

Apart from quietly checking whether He Yuanchao was injured, she didn't say much, let alone ask why he suddenly had to work overtime.

The two of them whispered a few words at the door of the Household Registration Section and stayed together for a while. When Zhang Min found out that it was Director He Jianghai who asked He Yuanchao to come, she immediately pushed her man to the Director's office.

The police station was not the place for flirting, and He Yuanchao was reluctant to do anything excessive. He was thick-skinned and it didn't matter if others saw him, but the key point was that he was afraid that his wife could not stand the teasing of others.

Even though Zhang Min was born in a wealthy family and likes to read some Russian novels when she has nothing to do, her thoughts are still quite conservative.

After saying goodbye to Zhang Min, He Yuanchao put away his playful expression and soon arrived outside He Jianghai's office.

After simply tidying up his clothes, He Yuanchao raised his hand and knocked on the door three times, neither lightly nor heavily.

(End of this chapter)