Rebirth: Starting from the Cafeteria

Chapter 17 Chinese New Year

"Let Liao Yongxin scold if he wants, and let him feed everyone sweet potato porridge every day. The employees will naturally find trouble with him if they can't stand it. Don't get involved in this matter, and don't come to me to complain. Go ahead."

After listening to this, Director Wu glared at Dai Tong with some dissatisfaction.

It is true that Liao Yongxin is a troublemaker, but he has a long history and superb skills, and there are people protecting him behind the scenes, so it is best not to provoke him.

But Dai Tong didn't have such a keen eye. He didn't have good relationships with the masses and had no other abilities, so he just knew how to tell tales.

He is simply a hopeless person.

He casually said something and waved his hand to send the other person away.

You know what, Director Wu’s judgment of the problem was quite accurate. Liao Yongxin only vented his anger this time and was back to normal by dinner time.

Liao Yongxin is also a shrewd person. It’s okay for him to lose his temper, but if he really offends all the employees who eat in the cafeteria, wouldn’t he be making things difficult for himself?
In the blink of an eye, it is New Year’s Eve.

The employees in the unit were in no mood to work that day. Many offices (sections) let the ducks go after noon and no one was seen.

The cafeteria prepared a few more dishes for lunch, including braised pork, fried meatballs, beef stew and three kinds of stir-fried dishes.

Many employees living in the staff quarters brought their rice bowls to get food, adding two dishes to the New Year’s Eve dinner, which was delicious and saved trouble.

After finishing the busy work at noon, everyone in the cafeteria left.

No meals are served in the evening. Although they say it is not a holiday, in fact, I only worked half a day.

When Du Shaojie returned home, Wang Yuxiu and Xiaomei were preparing the ingredients for dinner. They bought some pork, frozen tofu, a large yellow croaker and some vegetables.

The variety of vegetables provided during the Spring Festival is richer, including celery and green peppers. However, these vegetables are frozen, especially the green peppers, which taste a bit bitter after being frozen.

But everyone is used to it, but we can’t even eat this during the Chinese New Year.

Du Shaojie quickly defrosted the egret chicken, spare ribs and large yellow croaker. Tonight there was chicken, fish, meat and vegetables, which was a great feast for the family.

To be honest, the Chinese people's obsession with the New Year has been passed down from generation to generation. No matter how hard life is, the New Year's Eve dinner is rarely too shabby, as if to make up for all the hardships suffered throughout the year.

"Brother, there are a lot of people in the department store today. My mother and I spent a long time trying to buy a bag of glutinous rice sticks and a bag of fruit candy."

The supply in the Spring Festival market is also more abundant than usual, but even if the supply is based on tickets, some popular commodities still have to be "grabbed".

Wang Yuxiu was in poor health and Xiaomei was too young, so the two of them couldn't buy much.

Du Shaojie slapped his forehead. His mind had been full of cooking these days and he hadn't even thought of getting some melon seeds and peanuts.

"Mom, you guys get ready first. I'm going out for a while and will be back soon."

It was probably too late to go shopping now, so Du Shaojie rode his bike to the street with a lucky mentality.

Fortunately, he bought roasted melon seeds and peanuts at the grocery store. He also weighed some fried soybeans. The whole process took less than an hour.

Du Shaojie, Wang Yuxiu and Du Xiaomei were busy in the kitchen, while Du Xiaoya was playing with a spinning top outside in the yard.

at dusk.

There were sporadic sounds of firecrackers outside, and Du Shaojie was stunned for a moment.

"Didn't they say that we are not allowed to set off firecrackers?"

"There are so many things that are forbidden, but some people still do it secretly. The crackdown is not strict. The key is that firecrackers are not available. Those who have the means get them from other places."

Wang Yuxiu explained with a smile, and Du Shaojie said no more.

The family who set off firecrackers were obviously preparing to eat, so he began to heat up the pan and prepare the ingredients that needed to be fried, including diced chicken, meatballs, spare ribs and large yellow croaker.

He used part of the chicken to make soup and sliced ​​out some of the meat to make Kung Pao Chicken.

Meatballs can be made into fried meatballs, fried ribs can be braised, and then stewed with frozen tofu and cabbage, which also tastes good. The big yellow croaker is not made into sweet and sour flavors. It is a "dry-fried fish" in the evening, which is very satisfying to eat.

Wang Yuxiu had been busy all day and felt a little exhausted, so she went back to her room to rest for a while.

Du Xiaomei helps her brother in the kitchen. Although the girl is young, she is very capable and works more efficiently than Wang Yuxiu.

"Brother, there are so many delicious dishes today, my eyes are full."

This year's New Year's Eve dinner is more sumptuous than in previous years. Du Xiaomei knows very well that this is all thanks to her eldest brother.

In her mind, her eldest brother plays the dual roles of "brother" and "father", and every positive change in the family is enough to make her feel proud.

"It's not enough to just look at it, you have to eat it later. Xiaomei, bring the cold dishes into the house first."

Du Shaojie smiled slightly, and then the dishes were placed on the table one by one.

There are cold shredded vegetables, roasted spare ribs, dry-fried yellow croaker, fried meatballs, Kung Pao chicken, stir-fried pork slices with celery, stir-fried bacon with green peppers, stir-fried vegetables, and finally a pot of fragrant chicken soup. The staple food is a pot of rice.

Looking at the table full of dishes and then at her son, Wang Yuxiu felt that all the hard work she had endured over the years was worth it.

Next, Wang Yuxiu said a few auspicious words, and the family started eating.

Du Shaojie gave the two chicken legs to Xiaomei and Xiaoya respectively, and the chicken feet and wings to Wang Yuxiu.

At this moment, he felt a great sense of satisfaction. The dishes that he once disdained were now considered delicacies that were hard to find in normal times.

Life is all about the mundane things, like firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar.

The meal took about two hours. Xiaomei and Xiaoya touched their round bellies and laughed happily.

It is definitely impossible to finish so many dishes. According to Wang Yuxiu, it is better to leave some food for the New Year’s Eve dinner.

In particular, a whole fish should be saved for the first day of the Lunar New Year, which symbolizes "abundance every year."

Then the whole family worked together to clean up the house.

Du Xiaomei suggested playing poker, and the family of four sat together and played the game of Poker, having a lot of fun.

New Year's Day.

Du Shaojie came to the unit as usual.

Breakfast will not be served today, but lunch and dinner still need to be prepared, after all, it is a normal working day today.

"On New Year's Day, not many people are eating in the cafeteria. Just prepare one dish and steam a few steamed buns for lunch. In addition, Xiao Tang will be the head chef today, Yan Weimin and Dai Jianguo will help, and the others can move freely."

Liao Yongxin arranged lunch and then slipped away with his hands behind his back.

Dai Tong had no say in what was happening in the kitchen. Looking at the deserted canteen, he left immediately, thinking that out of sight, out of mind.

Du Shaojie first went to the old director's house to pay New Year's greetings. The family building and the office building were in the same large courtyard and were not separated by a wall, which was very convenient.

The old director is not very old, less than fifty years old, and is currently sidelined.

Du Shaojie only met the old director's family, while he himself was still at the Laolonghe Farm and did not come back for the New Year.

After sitting for a while, Du Shaojie stood up and said goodbye.

He doesn't have any close colleagues at work and he never interacted with anyone before.

After thinking about it, Du Shaojie decided to go to the homes of Wang Bin, the head of the General Affairs Section, and Jiang Xianfa, the deputy head of the Section. Although he still didn't meet them in person, he had fulfilled his duties with courtesy after all.

(End of this chapter)