Chapter 21: State-Owned Restaurant

“Mm, alright. If I can’t adjust, I probably won’t even last a month, and I’ll leave on my own. I’m not the type to settle! My household registration can wait, but the money must be given to you first.”

Song Jinxi naturally wouldn’t refuse and directly accepted it. However, she still said to the team leader, “Uncle Song is the witness. I’ve accepted your money, and if you leave in a month, I will naturally return it to you.”

Captain Song looked at the two of them, handling things like little adults, and smiled.

“You two little brats, are you done discussing? You’re really sharp for your age. To be honest, if you were 16 or 17 years old, I wouldn’t intervene and would actually support you living separately, as long as you could afford it. But you’re still too young.”

After talking with the captain for a while longer, the two headed straight to the state-owned restaurant. At the entrance, someone was already waiting to open the door. Just as Song Jinxi and Tang Tiantian arrived, the door opened.

Once inside, Song Jinxi immediately saw the sign listing the meals available today.

Braised pork: 2 yuan per serving, plus one jin of meat tickets

Poached fish: 1.5 servings, half jin of meat tickets

Vinegar stir-fried cabbage: 0.5 yuan per serving

Stir-fried shredded potatoes: 0.5 yuan per serving

Vegetarian dumplings: 0.2 yuan per serving, plus two liang of grain tickets

Steamed buns: 0.5 yuan each

White rice: 0.5 yuan per serving, two liang of grain tickets

Meat buns: 0.2 yuan each, one and a half liang of meat tickets

For Song Jinxi, these prices were nothing—quite cheap. But for people in this era, where most earned only 20-30 yuan, it wasn’t considered cheap, especially for those who had to save every penny. Furthermore, the meals required meat and grain tickets. To buy fatty meat, one had to go to a place that sold meat tickets and use them to buy oil to make at home—wasn’t that more appealing?

Song Jinxi walked up to the counter and said, “Hello, I’d like two servings of braised pork, two servings of poached fish, 10 meat buns, and two steamed buns to go, this is the box. Then, one more serving of braised pork, one serving of stir-fried shredded potatoes, and a bowl of rice to eat here.”

The server glanced over and saw a neatly dressed young girl, initially planning to mock her, but realizing there was no chance to do so. She still spoke gruffly, “Can you even eat all of this? Wasting food is shameful and subject to criticism. And you’re taking so much meat home. We only have ten servings of meat available a day.”

Song Jinxi wasn’t upset and instead smiled sweetly, “Pretty sister, I’m really hungry, I can eat all of it. Also, the food I’m taking home is for others. Otherwise, wouldn’t that be wasteful? I didn’t know there was a limit, and if there is, I won’t buy so much!”

Hearing this, the server smiled, showing her teeth, glanced around, and then looked at the first person who had entered before them. She lowered her voice and said, “Who said that? It’s just that usually, no one buys this much. I just asked. Since you’re taking it for others, it’s fine. But when the next person comes, it’ll be very noticeable. I’ll just tell them you’re getting shredded potatoes. Remember that.”

Sure enough, flattery always works! Compliment her, keep complimenting, sometimes even when closing your eyes, just praise her. If I don’t feel embarrassed, the embarrassment is on them!

“Thank you, sister, you’re so kind and beautiful!” Song Jinxi flattered without holding back.

“I’m probably the same age as your mother, so call me sister. It’s 7.2 yuan in total, plus five liang of meat tickets and two liang of grain tickets. Alright, find a spot to wait. When they call your number, just go to the counter to pick up your order.” She said as she used a tongs to grab the receipt and flung it towards the back kitchen. The receipt slid along a string into the kitchen, leaving Song Jinxi staring in awe!