Chapter 5: Full

“I said I don’t need you to take responsibility. Or is it that you want me to be responsible for you?”

In Su Xiaoyin’s memory, men of this era should not have such a mindset.

Her words left Yuan Songzhi speechless.

The girl herself did not care, so if he kept dwelling on it, it would instead seem awkward.

But how could there be a girl who did not care about this?

“No, I am only worried it will affect your future marriage prospects.”

“Rest assured, if such a matter can affect my feelings with someone, then it only proves that person and I are not on the same path.”

Clearly, this person did not even exist. But when spoken from Su Xiaoyin’s mouth, it was as if there really was someone who would marry her.

Hearing this, Yuan Songzhi felt slightly pierced in his ears.

He did not speak again. He only decided in his heart—before Su Xiaoyin married, he would not seek another partner.

As long as she wished, he would always be ready to take responsibility for her.

Su Xiaoyin still had no idea that the other party had already made up his mind to act as her love guardian. While they spoke, they had already arrived at the state-owned restaurant.

Lunchtime had already passed, and there were not many people left inside.

Standing at the entrance, the first thing they saw was a slogan on the wall: “Develop the economy, secure supply.” Beneath the slogan hung a blackboard listing today’s offerings.

There were not many varieties—braised pork, stir-fried pork with green peppers, stir-fried shredded potatoes, baby bok choy, egg soup…

Su Xiaoyin could not help but swallow her saliva.

The two of them walked inside. The server did not even raise her head, sitting on a chair and carefully knitting yarn.

“No dishes left, come earlier next time.”

“What do you want to eat?” Yuan Songzhi ignored the server and instead asked Su Xiaoyin.

“Can’t you understand human speech…” The server lifted her eyes, the impatient expression on her face freezing in place. “Ma… Manager.”

She spoke while hurriedly hiding the yarn behind her.

“Are there still dishes?” Yuan Songzhi asked.

Clearly, he still had that same gentle expression, and even his tone had not changed, yet that server was so frightened her face turned ashen.

Unexpectedly, Yuan Songzhi actually held quite some authority in this state-owned restaurant.

In this era, those who could work in state-owned restaurants or supply and marketing cooperatives usually had some connections. To be able to subdue them must have taken some effort.

“There are, there are.” That server smiled obsequiously and asked, “Manager, what would you like to eat?”

Yuan Songzhi looked toward Su Xiaoyin.

Su Xiaoyin grinned, revealing a sweet dimple at the corner of her lips. “Can we order one of each? I can eat a lot.”

She was only thinking that but she had already swallowed her saliva.

Right now, she could eat an entire cow.

The server furrowed her brows, looking at her as though at a country bumpkin. “Comrade, wasting is a crime. You can first order two dishes, and if it is not enough, order again.”

Su Xiaoyin ignored her, only gazing expectantly at Yuan Songzhi.

The corner of Yuan Songzhi’s mouth lifted in an almost unnoticeable curve. He pulled out a stack of ration coupons, counted them properly, and handed them to the server. “Bring one of each.”

That server took the ration coupons, and as she walked away, she secretly glared at Su Xiaoyin.

Su Xiaoyin only felt baffled.

Even if at this time restaurants did not have performance quotas, they did not need to drive away customers. They were not eating for free.

“Will she cause trouble?” If she tampered with their dishes, that would be disgusting.

“She will not, she would not dare.” After leading Su Xiaoyin to sit at a seat, Yuan Songzhi told her the reason.

It turned out that the reason they wanted to drive customers away was, first, because the meal time had passed and they were unwilling to work, and second, the dishes indeed were not much left.

Those remaining dishes were prepared for themselves.

To ensure the freshness of the ingredients, at closing time, those unsold dishes could be taken by these staff members at a low price.

Those dishes were all piled up in the back kitchen. Whether they were sold out or not, when they were sold out, was all decided by them.

This matter did not conform to regulations, so naturally, they could not leave too many dishes. Just now, when Su Xiaoyin ordered so many at once, she obviously took away their benefit, so no wonder that person glared at her.

“You clearly know they are doing this, yet you do not control it?” Su Xiaoyin was not trying to meddle in his work, purely curious.

“I just came. Some matters cannot be rushed.”

Hearing the words up to this point, Su Xiaoyin understood.

“Too clear water has no fish; pressing too tightly indeed does not work well.”

Hearing these words, Yuan Songzhi froze for a moment.

“That is the reasoning.” He was deliberately closing one eye while opening the other.

Su Xiaoyin said, “But she looks very afraid of you.”

“Because I have already dealt with one person.”

That person was the nephew of the deputy chairman of the commune’s Ideology Committee.

He had brandished his uncle’s name to act arrogantly, taking advantage of procurement to embezzle, and the amount involved was not small.

Su Xiaoyin’s guess was not wrong. Most of these people did indeed have some background. That person was considered one of the most well-connected among them.

By dealing with him, Yuan Songzhi had barely managed to gain a foothold in this state-owned restaurant.

After hearing him finish, Su Xiaoyin sighed, “It seems your job is not easy to do either.”

She had originally still been considering what path she should take in the future, whether she should also find a job.

Now she completely gave up the idea. Even if she were to work, she would wait until after the reform and opening up to consider.

Yuan Songzhi was silent for a moment and said, “It can be managed.”

Everyone said his job was good in every way, yet this was the first time someone thought it was not easy to do.

With his merits, he could have gone to a better unit. Only because he thought that back in the army, he could not take care of his family, now that he had returned, he ought to take better care of them, so he chose the town’s state-owned restaurant.

But precisely because this was a small place, this kind of good job was even more coveted.

He, an unknown young man, suddenly occupying such a good position, would naturally cause dissatisfaction.

Thus, he had swiftly and decisively dismissed that troublemaker.

The people in the restaurant all thought he was a calf unafraid of tigers, offending leaders without realizing it. But at the same time, they also feared he might take them as the next target, so they were very afraid.

They were both unconvinced, just waiting for the leaders to spare time to deal with him, yet also could only obediently follow his instructions.

However, no one knew that when choosing whom to deal with, he had put in careful thought.

This job of Yuan Songzhi was arranged for him by the chairman of the Ideology Committee. Those two were like gods fighting, so even if he did not move against that troublemaker, the deputy chairman would not look more favorably upon him.

Moreover, that deputy chairman was not a man without ambition, and he naturally did not care for that arrogant nephew.

Facts proved his guess was not wrong. After so many days had passed, not only had the other side not caused him trouble, but they even faintly showed intent to be on friendly terms with him.

Only Yuan Songzhi wanted to do his own work well, with no intention of being involved in those disputes, so he was destined to disappoint the other party.

The cooks in the state-owned restaurant worked quite swiftly, and before long, the dishes were served on the table.

Su Xiaoyin had originally thought that the cooks in a small town could at most feed her fill, but unexpectedly, their cooking was surprisingly good.

She first tasted each dish, only then beginning to eat heartily.

Clearly, Yuan Songzhi had not taken seriously her earlier words about being able to eat a lot. Seeing her now, his surprised expression was nearly impossible to hide.

Even while eating, Su Xiaoyin could still spare time to joke with him.

“Regret saying you want to marry me now? You cannot afford to feed me.”

Yuan Songzhi froze, yet did not explain, only smiling as he moved the dishes closer toward her.

“Eat slowly, no need to rush, do not choke.” As he spoke, he also fetched another bowl, filled it with soup, and placed it beside her, leaving the restaurant staff all stunned.

They had not expected there really would be a young girl who could eat that much.

They had not expected the always cold-faced manager could be so considerate toward a girl.

The gazes of others, Su Xiaoyin paid no attention to. She had a satisfying meal, completely content.

“Is there anything else you want to eat?”

Hearing Yuan Songzhi’s words, Su Xiaoyin raised her eyebrows.

She had clearly seen it. The other party only kept staring at her, and he hardly moved his chopsticks.

“Almost enough. If you still want to eat, I’ll wait for you.”

Yuan Songzhi lifted the teacup and took a sip, concealing his smile. “No need. I am already full.”

“Just by looking at me, you are full?” Su Xiaoyin spoke quickly.

“Cough.”

Seeing the tips of his ears flush red, Su Xiaoyin finally realized that what she had just said was rather frivolous for this era.

“Then let’s head back first. When we return, we still have a tough battle to fight.”

Yuan Songzhi made no comment.

The bicycle was parked right in front of the restaurant. When coming, since he intended to take Su Xiaoyin to see a doctor, and had already resolved that he would take responsibility, carrying her along did not make him think much of it.

Now that she had rejected him, riding on the same bicycle again seemed somewhat strange.

But Su Xiaoyin seemed completely unaware. She walked up to the bicycle, waiting naturally for Yuan Songzhi to unlock it and take her along.

“What do you think of the flavor of those dishes just now?”

Su Xiaoyin really had not paid much attention to such details, and she had no idea of the conflict in his heart, nor did she notice that he was only making conversation for the sake of it.

When it came to food, she was instantly drawn into the topic.

She merely assumed that this was something the restaurant manager should care about, so after thinking for a moment, she answered seriously.

“Overall, it was still very good. It’s just that the caramelization of the braised pork was a bit overdone, the shredded meat was a bit tough, the vegetables had too much water, and the soup had a bit too much MSG.”

She carefully recalled again. “Mm… other than that, there shouldn’t be much else.”

Seeing that he was ready to leave, Su Xiaoyin sat on the back seat of the bicycle. She noticed Yuan Songzhi’s arm exerting strength as he held the handlebars, and the muscles in his forearm were slightly tensed.

The bicycle steadied with ease.

“How do you know so much?”

Normally, Yuan Songzhi did not interact much with the Lin family, so his understanding of Su Xiaoyin was not deep, but he still knew a bit of the Lin family’s nature.

Even if they could occasionally eat braised pork, it was impossible for Su Xiaoyin to gain such a level of knowledge about caramelization.

Su Xiaoyin had already prepared an excuse in her heart.

The original owner’s mother had been brought back by Father Su from outside. No one knew her origins, only that it was said her family had all starved to death during the famine.

Some people did not believe it, thinking that Mother Su was a wife Father Su had bought from the city. They gossiped vividly, but without evidence, they could only use Mother Su’s appearance, demeanor, and manners being different from the rural people as their argument.

Yet the Su family themselves did not care about these things, so the rumors about them never stopped until the Su family’s accident.

As the saying goes, “the dead cannot testify,” and this gave Su Xiaoyin the perfect opportunity.

Su Xiaoyin put on a look of sorrow. “My mother taught me many things when she was still alive.”

Feeling he had spoken wrongly, Yuan Songzhi muttered an apology, then got on the bicycle and carried Su Xiaoyin toward the brigade.

As soon as the two of them left, the two servers of the state-owned restaurant craned their necks.

“The manager is really generous, spending so many coupons for that girl.”

“What’s so great about it? Did you hear what she said? She actually said that Master Qin’s cooking wasn’t good.”

The two exchanged glances.

“Let’s go tell Master Qin.”