Wait, what did Director Gao say just now? He mentioned the exhibition in the capital… Who from the factory would go to the capital?

Wen Jiajia’s breathing quickened. She would love to go to the capital!

_

The workday was so fulfilling that it felt like she had just started. Glancing up, she saw the sun shining brightly, and the green leaves outside were almost glowing. It was already nearly noon.

At lunchtime, she dined with Sha Yue and others at a state-owned restaurant.

“Do you miss your Xiaomei when you’re at work? I missed my child so much while working that I almost cried,” Sha Yue said.

Wen Jiajia was taken aback, then shook her head. “I haven’t really thought about it. I’ve been so busy all morning that now, when you mention it, I do think about her a little.”

Lin Yunfei commented, “Your daughter is so lovable. Every time I see her, I can’t help but think about her for days. I want to have a daughter in the future, one who looks like me.”

Hao Qingying smiled and said, “Well, you first need to find a man. I’m not sure about the character of the man you went on a blind date with some time ago, but he seemed quite decent.”

_

Lin Yunfei held her chopsticks and sighed, “That’s true. But she looked down on me and didn’t contact me later. How can I get close to her? Is there really no way to have a baby without a man in this world?”

Sha Yue laughed so hard that she nearly spit out her food. “What are you talking about? How could that be possible?”

Wen Jiajia thought to herself: Don’t be mistaken. If she remembered correctly, test tube fertilization became available in 1978, but it wasn’t until 1988 that the first test tube baby was born in China.

As they continued chatting, the topic shifted in an unknown direction.

Lan Lan put the last dish of hot and sour pork intestines on the table and said, “Eat quickly. How can you still be talking with so many dishes in front of you?”

Wen Jiajia smiled and said, “It’s been a long time since I last tasted Master He’s cooking. Now that I smell it, I feel like his cooking has improved a lot.”

Lan Lan smiled and said, “To be honest, Chef He has been focused on improving himself recently. You should come by during this time. He’s trying out new dishes.”

Wen Jiajia was surprised. “Is there a competition?”

Hao Qingying replied, “What kind of competition could there be? Don’t you know that Wuyuanlou^[1]refers to a building or structure. is going to reopen? They need to recruit chefs, so Master He must be busy with that.”

Wen Jiajia took a piece of pig intestine with her chopsticks, ate it, and said, “I’ve been at home and haven’t been to the city for the past few months. How would I know? But what kind of place is Wuyuanlou? I haven’t heard of it.”

Hao Qingying, whose family had been chefs for three generations, explained, “Wuyuanlou was a restaurant before the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It is said to date back to the time of the emperors. When the court was still in power, the emperor visited Wuyuanlou when he traveled south of the Yangtze River and praised it as the best restaurant in the world. Even after the emperor’s death, the court’s downfall, and the establishment of the new country, the restaurant remained open until more than ten years ago. Recently, for some reason, they’re preparing to reopen.”

“In the years when Wuyuanlou was open, it had all the best chefs from Linhe. My father could only work as a kitchen helper there. All the chefs aspired to work at Wuyuanlou.”

It was like how students yearn for college. Chefs who came from there were seen as having leapt over the dragon gate.

Wen Jiajia said, “No wonder. That place must be a pilgrimage site for chefs in our city. But since it’s a new restaurant… I wonder if the quality will be the same as before.”

After all, a good chef is crucial for a restaurant. Without a culinary master in charge, no matter how famous the restaurant was in the past, it would just be a paper tiger.

Hao Qingying added, “Wuyuanlou wouldn’t make such a mistake. They said they’ve called back some of their former chefs. Even my dad has been approached. But he’s already a well-known chef at the Linhe Hotel. Why would he change jobs?”

She then whispered, “But my uncle is considering it. His cooking skills are better than my dad’s. He passed the second-level exam a few years ago and is currently preparing for the first-level exam. They want to invite him to be the head chef.”

Wen Jiajia was shocked. Chefs are divided into five levels: Levels 5, 4, and 3 are junior chefs; Levels 2 and 1 are intermediate and senior chefs, respectively. The first level is a grandmaster level, akin to founding a culinary school or preparing state banquets in the capital. This shows how skilled Hao Qingying’s uncle, a second-level chef, must be.

She looked at Hao Qingying with envy, imagining that, as the niece of a second-level chef, she must have enjoyed her uncle’s cooking.

Lan Lan, who was nearby cleaning the table, overheard and immediately asked, “Qingying, do you know when the restaurant will reopen?”

Sha Yue asked, “Why, do you want to go eat there?”

Lan Lan puffed out her chest and said, “Of course! The restaurant closed shortly after I was born. Who wouldn’t want to eat at Wuyuanlou?”

She then turned to Lin Yunfei and asked, “Do you want to go?”

Lin Yunfei said, “I’ve been thinking about it. I heard that their squirrel fish, sauce recipes, fried eel paste, and green snail shrimp are all century-old signature dishes. But I don’t have much money.” Though she said that, Lin Yunfei was not as obsessed with food as Wen Jiajia.

Wen Jiajia was tempted by the list of dishes and ate one bite after another.

She also comforted herself that, although she wouldn’t be having dishes like squirrel mandarin fish, Master He’s spicy and sour pork intestines were still quite good.

Unfortunately, since she was breastfeeding, she couldn’t eat too much of such heavy, spicy food.

After dinner, she went back to the hospital with Lin Yunfei and asked her about the exhibition.

“Oh, that! It was just proposed last week. It’s not related to our department, so I don’t know much about it. But it is indeed going to the capital. I heard that the factory director is personally handling it and will lead the team. I wonder if your department will join them.”

She was quite envious. After all, it was the capital. Who wouldn’t want to go there?

Let’s not discuss whether there’s time for it. They didn’t even know how much the fare would be from here to the capital, but if they went with the team, the factory would cover travel and food expenses—a public-funded trip.

Lin Yunfei immediately said, “If you go to the capital, you must bring me a roast duck.”

Wen Jiajia spread her hands. “I’m not sure if I will go.”

“If you do go, you have to bring it!”

Wen Jiajia quickly agreed, but when she returned to the office, she suddenly remembered that it was such a hot day and she didn’t have any ice packs. What would she do with the roast duck?

Wen Jiajia spent the afternoon sorting documents. Having been away from the factory for several months, she was unfamiliar with the current situation and had to understand it by reviewing the documents.

She needed to learn about production, shipment volumes, R&D progress, and other matters from the previous months.

The mental work was also physically demanding. Due to incomplete information, she had to run up and down the stairs several times to collect records from the workshop. By the evening, she was so hungry that she felt anxious.

After Wen Jiajia wrote down the last string of numbers, she quickly opened the drawer and took out some cookies to eat.

“Oh, I’ve been feeling so hungry lately.”

The sun was setting, and the swallows were returning to their nests. Before settling in for the night, one of them landed on the windowsill to rest, making a series of chirping sounds.

Wen Jiajia sprinkled some biscuit crumbs on the sill, leaned against the window, and listened for a while. Her heart gradually relaxed.

When it was time to get off work, she immediately closed the door and went downstairs.

She retrieved the books and exercise books she had brought in the morning, thinking she would have time to review them, but found she had no time at all.

Remembering that the cousin was coming to the city today, Wen Jiajia didn’t stop to buy vegetables at the market.

As she passed by a supply and marketing cooperative, she saw steaming, freshly baked tofu and immediately bought four pieces. Her family liked tofu, whether it was fried or boiled.

She also spotted some dried tofu and decided to buy four more pieces.

Although there were no meat coupons at home, they had plenty of soy product coupons.

Wen Jiajia was now able to ride her bike with ease and made it home in less than half an hour.

Wei Dai was taking advantage of the sunset to play with their daughter in the yard, pointing out flowers, plants, and vegetables while teaching her to speak.

Wen Jiajia rang the doorbell, “Ding-ling-ding-ling.” The little girl turned her head and looked at her intently. Her mouth pouted, and after a second or two, she cried loudly and opened her arms, asking Wen Jiajia to pick her up.

Wen Jiajia didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The girl had been laughing outside the wall, but now she looked so aggrieved, as if she had been gone for days.

“Okay, okay! I’ll hug you after I wash my hands.”

Wen Jiajia had no choice but to stop and wash her hands and face. The road was dusty, and combined with the hot weather and sweat, her face might be dirtier than her hands.

She also took off her coat before picking up the chubby girl.

Xiaomei was five months old and felt too heavy to hold for long. However, she enjoyed being held and played with outside, always moving her hands and feet around.

Wen Jiajia picked her up, and she clung to Wen Jiajia’s neck with her chubby arms, burying her face in the crook of Wen Jiajia’s neck and crying loudly.

Wei Dai patted her bottom, saying, “Bad Xiaomei, you don’t need your daddy anymore now that mommy is here.”

Xiaomei responded by raising her bottom even higher. Wen Jiajia was speechless. She comforted and kissed the girl until she was calm.

Probably reassured that her mother wouldn’t leave, Xiaomei then returned to her father’s arms.

It was no surprise; Mom could never hold her for long. She would have to be put on the bed or sit on a chair, while Dad could carry her around the yard.

Children who recognize people are very smart and remember who can take them to play.

Her cousin was cooking in the kitchen, preparing stir-fried meat with wild rice stems. She commented on the tofu Wen Jiajia brought, “Pickle the tofu with salt and eat it tomorrow. It will be cool at night, so it won’t spoil.”

The two sisters were doing their homework in the room. They had homework every day, sometimes assigned by the teacher, but more often not.

Since they were first graders, teachers aimed to give them a happy childhood. However, Wen Jiajia was strict. She gave them exercise books regularly and required them to complete a page daily, even if they had no assigned homework.

Last year, it was one page. Now, in the second half of first grade, they had to write two pages every day—one page of math problems and one page of calligraphy practice.

Wen Jiajia had even found calligraphy practice sheets for them, believing firmly that calligraphy should be practiced from an early age.

When she leaned over to check, she saw both sisters practicing calligraphy. After observing for a while, she gave them some pointers: “You need to write more heavily here. Look, your character ‘日’ isn’t quite right.”

She sat with them until they finished the page before going out to eat.