Chapter 66.2

November 10th was the registration day. At that time, online registration for the graduate exams was not available; it was necessary to go to the local admissions office, which was quite troublesome.

On that day, Li Xiao specifically took a day off to accompany Jiang Rou. They set off early in the morning, first dropping An An off at school, and then driving to the admissions office.

There were many people coming to register. By the time Jiang Rou and Li Xiao arrived, a long line had already formed. Not far from the line, there were vendors selling breakfast. Although Jiang Rou and Li Xiao had eaten breakfast before leaving, the smell made them a bit hungry again.

Jiang Rou asked Li Xiao to help her stand in line while she went to buy a few fried dough sticks and two salted vegetable cakes. They ate the fried dough sticks and salted vegetable cakes while waiting in line.

The cleanliness was not a concern, but the taste was indeed quite good.

After finishing his food, Li Xiao took out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe Jiang Rou’s mouth. Then he opened the thermos cup he had brought from home—poured a cup of water, and handed it to Jiang Rou after she finished eating.

Jiang Ro smiled at him: “If we finish early, let’s go watch a movie.”

It had been a long time since she had gone on a date with Li Xiao alone.

When he heard this, Li Xiao smiled and said, “Sure.”

He looked a bit excited..

Once Jiang Rou had finished her water, he drank the remainder from the cup, put the lid back on the thermos, and held it with his left hand while taking Jiang Rou’s hand with his right.

—o—o—o—

They waited until 9 a.m. before they were done. The timing was just right, so they decided to go watch a movie. There weren’t many good movies showing recently, but there was an international film, “Hulk,” that seemed quite popular.

Jiang Rou had heard of the movie but had never seen it before and wasn’t sure if it was any good. She chose this film, and when she saw the director’s name on the screen, she was somewhat surprised. She knew the director was from Huaguo and was very famous in later times, having won many international awards. ^[1]She’s talking about Ang Lee’s Hulk

However, Jiang Rou was not very interested in action-packed movies, possibly because she had seen too many sci-fi films in her time. The effects of current movies didn’t really affect her much.

So after a while, Jiang Rou couldn’t help but look around. It was Monday, and there weren’t many people at the cinema, especially not at 9 a.m.

The entire theater had only five people: an elderly couple in front and a young girl in a corner behind, eating popcorn.

Noticing Jiang Rou’s distraction, Li Xiao turned to look at her several times and gently held her hand on his lap.

Seeing that there were not many people in the cinema, Jiang Rou rested her head on his shoulder. Li Xiao adjusted his position slightly to make her more comfortable.

Jiang Rou wrapped her arm around his and, after watching for a while, asked him what time it was.

Li Xiao checked his phone, then showed her, “It’s 9:43. Only twenty minutes have passed. There’s still over an hour left.”

He couldn’t help but ask quietly, “What’s wrong? Don’t want to watch anymore? Should we go eat instead?”

Jiang Rou shook her head, “I’m not hungry.”

“Then let’s go to the amusement park.” Li Xiao suggested.

“The amusement park will probably be empty and not very fun.” Jiang Rou replied.

The real fun of an amusement park wasn’t in the rides but in the lively crowds that made the place feel vibrant.

Li Xiao frowned, trying to think of a fun place to go.

Suddenly, Jiang Rou turned her head and whispered in his ear: “How about we go to a hotel?”

“What for?” Li Xiao asked, clearly confused.

He didn’t immediately understand, but when he saw Jiang Rou’s flirtatious look, he quickly got the idea.

His lips curved into a smile, and he raised an eyebrow before pulling her close and standing up.

Jiang Rou hadn’t expected him to be so quick. She only wanted to tease him.

But Li Xiao wasn’t joking. He grabbed her hand and took her to the nearest and best hotel—booking a luxury city-view room.

They spent the entire day in the hotel without a shred of modesty.

They didn’t even get up for lunch and ordered room service instead.

It wasn’t until 4 p.m., when An An was about to finish school, that they finally got up, hurriedly dressed, and went downstairs to check out.

Jiang Rou tidied up the room a bit to make it look less disheveled.

Li Xiao smiled as he fastened the buttons on his shirt.

—o—o—o—

When they checked out, the hotel receptionists gave them odd looks, as it was unusual for someone to book a room in the morning and check out in the afternoon. After they left, the receptionists even wondered if they had sneaked out from home for a quick getaway.

By the time they arrived at the kindergarten, An An had already finished school. Most of her friends had left, and she was waiting by the gate.

Seeing her parents, the little one immediately beamed with joy and called out, “Mommy—”

The gatekeeper and teacher then let her out, and Li Xiao took the backpack from the teacher.

Jiang Rou took An An’s little hand and apologized, “Sorry we’re late. Mommy and Daddy got caught up with registration.”

An An, showed I-understand-look, then said, “It’s okay. Mommy must have been too busy with the exam registration to pick me up. I’m not upset.”

“……”

Jiang Rou, feeling a bit guilty, exchanged a glance with Li Xiao.

Li Xiao remained calm and added, “There were indeed more people today.”

An An nodded vigorously and kindly said, “Just come earlier next time.”

—o—o—o—

To make up for being late, Jiang Rou took An An to KFC for a meal, allowing her to have a cup of cola. The little one was extremely happy and ordered a lot of tasty food.

Just a week or so after the registration, the CCTV(China Central Television) news “Weekly Quality Report” suddenly broke the news about the toxic Jinhua ham incident involving pesticides. The news stirred public anxiety. ^[2]It’s actually a real-life scandal: In 2003, Jinhua Ham was the center of a controversial food safety incident in China. In the incident, several small producers of Jinhua hams operated out of … Continue reading

Everyone knew that pesticide, known as DDT, was a type of insecticide that could be deadly if ingested. There had been previous food safety issues, but since this was reported by CCTV, the public’s reaction was particularly intense. ^[3]The first modern synthetic insecticide, DDT (dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane), was developed in the 1940s. It was initially used very well to battle malaria, typhus, and other insect-borne human … Continue reading

As Jiang Rou was preparing for the graduate exams, she watched the news every day. On this Sunday, after having lunch, the family of three relaxed by watching the news.

At the moment the news broke, Li Xiao was eating a piece of ham, and his face turned pale.

An An was holding a thin slice of ham in her hand. She looked at the TV and then at the ham in her hand, seeming a bit puzzled.

An An didn’t recognize many words and had little interest in the news. She was crawling around on the sofa, but she could understand the images. The ham on TV looked similar to the ham in their kitchen. Unsure, she got off the sofa and hurried to the kitchen, then asked with confusion, “Daddy, we also have ham. Can we still eat it?”

Seeing her reluctance, Jiang Rou quickly stood up, took the ham from An An’s hand, and threw it into the trash can. She then asked Li Xiao, “What kind of ham is this?”

Li Xiao was also uncertain. “I don’t quite remember. When it was given to me, I didn’t pay much attention. They said it was a good thing and quite expensive.”

He then went to the kitchen with a dark expression and found that the packaging was already gone, and there was no label on the ham.

Jiang Rou was worried. The ham had been a gift from Li Xiao’s business friend a few days ago. Since Jiang Rou had studied medicine, she paid more attention to her diet. Even though the ham was expensive, she hadn’t eaten much of it—she had only tried a couple of slices on the day it was brought home. Li Xiao and An An had been eating it over the past few days. Both father and daughter enjoyed the meat, and they had been eating it as a snack.

Li Xiao was also scared. The thought of having consumed pesticide made him uneasy. He was worried, especially for An An, who was still young.

He took out his phone to call his friend, but before he could dial, his friend called him in a panic, “Brother, have you eaten the ham? You should throw it away immediately. I just saw on the news that there’s been a problem.”

Li Xiao replied, “……I saw that too.”

The person on the other end cautiously suggested, “Why don’t you go to the hospital for a check-up?”

The tone was filled with regret. “I also got this through a friend. I thought it was a good product because it was expensive. I even gave two to my father-in-law. He has already finished one and gave another to a colleague. I truly didn’t know…”

Jiang Rou had already grabbed the car keys and said, “Let’s go to the hospital first.”

Li Xiao did not resist this time. He picked up An An and, while making phone calls, followed her out.

—o—o—o—

The family of three spent the entire afternoon at the hospital for a full-body check-up and had a blood sample taken.

An An’s little nose turned red from crying, and after the blood draw, she sniffled in her mother’s arms and said with a big, pouting mouth, “I don’t want to eat ham anymore.”

Jiang Rou, amused, patted her red, tear-streaked face and said, “Even if you want to, Mommy won’t buy it for you.”

Fortunately, the final results showed that their health was fine and there was no significant impact, likely due to the small amount of ham they had consumed.

However, the ham incident did not end there. In the following days, not only was Jiang Rou busy with exam preparations but Li Xiao was also occupied with dealing with health and sanitation inspections. After the ham incident was exposed, public reaction intensified, leading to increased inspections by relevant departments, which uncovered numerous cases of substandard food.

Li Xiao’s snack factory was subjected to multiple rounds of inspections. Fortunately, his factory passed without issues. However, Zhou Jian told him something that made Li Xiao uneasy: Zhou Jian said that an undercover reporter had come to the factory a few days earlier, taking many photos and asking employees questions. After finding no problems, the reporter left.

Li Xiao couldn’t help but be grateful that he had followed Jiang Rou’s advice to maintain strict standards for quality and hygiene and had avoided any shortcuts or deceitful practices.

If their factory had been exposed and fallen under scrutiny, it would have likely gone bankrupt.

Other factories were not as fortunate. Seven or eight factories were found to have issues and were directly reported in the news. However, the company “Twelve Zodiac Animals” was also mentioned, but in a positive light.

The host praised Twelve Zodiac Animals as a clean factory.

Due to the recent panic over food safety, to prevent further negative impact, the news specifically highlighted Twelve Zodiac Animals. The food safety issues not only posed a threat to public safety but also were detrimental to the development of the domestic food industry.

As a result of this incident, several products were removed from supermarket shelves. However, Twelve Zodiac Animals was less affected and even saw an increase in sales, so Li Xiao did not spend money on extra promotions this year.