Rebirth: Starting from the Cafeteria

Chapter 28 Old Friend (Happy New Year's Eve!)

"Haha, whatever you say is what it is. What's your name, little master? I hope you can take care of me in the future."

The people who were having dinner were all farm workers. They usually spoke without any taboos, but they couldn't be too presumptuous in front of Master Sun.

Someone looked at Du Shaojie with a smile and greeted him politely.

Du Shaojie introduced himself with a smile, then ignored these people and followed Master Sun into a compartment.

The compartment is a bit like a private room in later times, where farm leaders receive important guests. It was idle today, so Master Sun asked Du Shaojie to sit here and eat.

The food came quickly, two bowls of sorghum rice, a serving of stewed potatoes, and a serving of stir-fried cabbage.

"Xiao Du, the food here is not so good, you just have to make do with it."

Master Sun hadn't eaten either, so he started eating after he sat down.

Du Shaojie sighed secretly but did not show it. Instead, he ate voraciously, mainly because he was hungry.

After dinner, he followed Master Sun to his dormitory.

The dormitory was not bad. He had a single room. Although there was no water supply or kitchen, it was still a private space of his own. The stove was outside the door. In this month, there was no need to burn the fire wall during the day, but it still had to be burned at night, otherwise it would be too cold to sleep.

Master Sun took him to the dormitory and left. He came back in the afternoon to take him to the site office to report.

Then, the two of them made the handover, and Master Sun took the bus back to the city in a very good mood.

"You are the new Master Xiao Du, right? My name is Li Guixiang, and her name is Qin Xiaomei. If you have any work in the future, just call us two."

There are only three people in the cafeteria kitchen including Du Shaojie. Li Guixiang is about 30 years old and looks pretty, but her skin is very dark.

Qin Xiaomei is a middle-aged woman in her forties. She is big and strong, and her thighs are thicker than Li Guixiang's waist.

Du Shaojie then introduced himself and asked the two women to prepare dinner. The dishes for dinner included stewed radish cubes, hot and sour potato shreds, and the staple food was cornmeal steamed bread and porridge.

Li Guixiang and Qin Xiaomei were responsible for washing and cutting vegetables, and steaming steamed cornbreads, while Du Shaojie was responsible for making side dishes, preparing condiments, and cooking.

The three of them worked together quite smoothly. Du Shaojie then started to heat up the pots, stewing the radish cubes in one pot and preparing to stir-fry the spicy and sour potato shreds in another pot.

Qin Xiaomei steamed the steamed buns while Li Guixiang cooked cornmeal porridge, and it was time to eat.

Afterwards, Li Guixiang was responsible for cleaning the kitchen, Qin Xiaomei was responsible for serving meals, and Du Shaojie was left with nothing to do.

However, today was his first day at the farm, so he stepped forward to take over Qin Xiaomei's position. As a newcomer, Du Shaojie needed to show himself in front of others so that he could quickly integrate into the new unit.

Farmers and workers came to eat in groups of three or four. Soon, the government officials who were working on the farm also came in in a loose line.

"Hey, Lao Chen, look who's the guy serving food today?"

Zhai Yucheng stood in the team and slowly moved forward, with Chen Jizhou behind him.

Suddenly, he saw the busy figure, and after a closer look, it was Du Shaojie. So he turned around and said something to Chen Jizhou with a smile.

"It's really him!"

Chen Jizhou was very familiar with Du Shaojie. He had not noticed him before because he was absent-minded, but now after hearing what his old friend said, he recognized him at a glance.

The team continued to move forward, and it was Zhai Yucheng and Chen Jizhou's turn to get their meals.

"Chief Engineer Zhai? Old Director? How have you been?"

Seeing the two of them, Du Shaojie couldn't help but smile in surprise.

He had taken a special look before, but because they were standing in the middle of the team, he couldn't see clearly. As a result, he was busy and didn't pay attention to it. "Don't shout nonsense, Lao Chen and I are now off-duty labor training, it's not appropriate to call us in the previous position. I say, there is no meat today? These old guys are almost bored."

Although Zhai Yucheng was a former chief engineer, he did not have the slightest nerdish air. The only thing that made him look like a nerd was his bald head, which made him look very stylish.

He held out his rice bowl, Du Shaojie served him food, and Zhai Yucheng made way while cursing. The meals for these people were fixed, for example, tonight's meal was two steamed buns, a bowl of porridge, and two dishes for each person.

There is definitely less oil and water in the food, and I don’t eat meat often, but I won’t starve to death.

The farm is an output-oriented unit that grows crops, vegetables, raises pigs and cattle, and most of the harvest is handed over.

The little subsidy given by the bureau can only maintain such meals.

Chen Jizhou was very tall, taller than Du Shaojie, with a handsome face. In the words of later generations, he was a handsome old man. However, he looked older than his actual age and was usually serious.

"Xiao Du, I didn't expect you to follow in our footsteps. We'll talk when we have time, you go ahead and get busy."

Carrying his own meal, Chen Jizhou left quickly.

In fact, at his level, he can figure out some things without asking.

While serving his food, Du Shaojie greeted everyone with a smile and quickly won the favor of most people.

When everyone sat down to eat, they unexpectedly discovered that today's two dishes were quite delicious and much better than Old Sun's cooking skills.

"Lao Chen, this dish, especially the spicy and sour potato shreds, perfectly blends all the flavors together. It's very fragrant and goes really well with rice!"

Zhai Yucheng and Chen Jizhou sat together, talking while eating.

Chen Jizhou nodded. He felt the same way. He thought that this young man Du Shaojie had finally gotten the hang of it. His cooking skills were a world of difference compared to before.

The taste of these two dishes today is really good.

"Yes, people always mature. Not only has Xiao Du's cooking skills improved rapidly, but you've also noticed that he has become much more cheerful and is good at getting along with others."

The change in personality is what Chen Jizhou values ​​most.

Du Shaojie used to have a very dull personality and hardly communicated with others, so he definitely had a hard time getting along at work.

Afterwards, the two finished their meal, washed their bowls, and left the cafeteria.

After Du Shaojie finished his work, he went straight back to the dormitory, flipped through the [Popular Recipes] that Liao Yongxin gave him, and then went to bed early.

Although it was his first time on the job today and he was not familiar with the current environment, he could still get good overall reviews even if he cooked the dish "Spicy and Sour Potato Shreds" with his eyes closed.

This time, the reward surprised him a little. He received four bottles of Erguotou.

Erguotou is not a good wine, but in this remote place, these bottles of wine will definitely attract many people.

The next day.

Du Shaojie didn't get up too early. Since he didn't need to make breakfast, he could sleep a little longer.

Like everyone else, he took his rice bowl to the canteen and filled his stomach hastily. Then he thought about what to cook for lunch, and first looked at the family's assets. After looking at them, he couldn't help but shook his head repeatedly.

There was little fine grain, but there was enough coarse grain. But the problem was that there was a shortage of everything else, including oil, meat, and even seasoning.

There were still some green radishes, yellow radishes, potatoes, cabbages, and green onions in storage, which could barely get them through the lean period. There was almost no side dishes, and they could only eat some tofu skin for one meal. They were poorer than his family.

So he went to the field office and found Director Zhao.

(End of this chapter)