txolops Chapter 40 Helping to Bring Meals
Chapter 40 Helping to Bring Meals
At 4:30 pm, at the entrance of Qiming Kindergarten.
As the school bell rang, Tangtang, carrying her little schoolbag, flew into Lin Chen's arms like a happy little bird.
She ate her lunch obediently again today, and received another little red flower as a reward from her teacher on her chest. Her little face was full of pride.
Lin Chen and Wang Hai picked up the child and, without delay, immediately rode their bikes back to their rented room in the urban village.
The two men deftly loaded the two large buckets of rice, chopped scallions, and twelve whole trays of perfectly intact fresh eggs that they had prepared that afternoon onto the tricycle.
With everything ready, Lin Chen carried Tangtang into the passenger seat, and Wang Hai turned on the ignition, heading straight for the Yintai Building Plaza.
5:20 PM.
"Squeak—"
The tricycle was parked in the same spot as before.
At this time, a long queue of forty or fifty people had already formed in the square.
At the end of the year, all the companies are busy with business, and these white-collar workers who rushed down to queue up at the last minute are all starving.
At the front of the line were Liu Wei and Zhao Qiang from the planning department, along with Li Na, who had come down with them today.
"Boss, you're here pretty early today."
Liu Wei greeted him with a smile.
"Yes, we have a lot of stock prepared today, so come early."
Lin Chen nodded slightly, removed the car keys, and got out of the car.
He took out a faded apron from the bag and tied it.
"Tangtang, go sit down over there."
Lin Chen habitually gave a brief explanation.
"Daddy, Tangtang isn't sitting today, Tangtang needs to help!"
Tangtang put her little stool aside, ran to Wang Hai who had just set up the folding table, and looked up at him, saying, "Uncle Fatty, can Tangtang help you distribute the spoons?"
"Oh my, our Tangtang is so sensible!"
Wang Hai cheerfully opened a pack of disposable spoons and handed it to Tangtang, "Okay, then the important task of distributing spoons is yours today!"
Tangtang happily took the spoon, held it in both little hands, and stood obediently to the side of the table, looking like a serious little worker.
Liu Wei stood at the front of the line, watching the busy two people and a child, and habitually glanced at the corner of the table.
The sign that usually reads "One per person" on cardboard was not displayed today.
"Hey, Brother Wang."
Liu Wei pointed to the corner of the table and reminded him, "Did you forget to take out that limited-purchase sign?"
"When there are more people later, it will be difficult to maintain order without signs."
Zhao Qiang and Li Na, who were standing nearby, also peeked over.
Wang Hai stopped sorting the boxes, straightened up, looked at Liu Wei and the other two in front of him, and grinned broadly.
"Brother Liu, the sign hasn't been lost; it's still at home."
Wang Hai cleared his throat and shouted loudly to the long line, "I have two pieces of good news to announce today!"
The crowd fell silent instantly, and all eyes were on Wang Hai.
"This is the first piece of good news!"
Wang Hai patted the two huge stainless steel insulated barrels behind him and said proudly, "I understand everyone's hard work queuing up, so I prepared the ingredients today."
Starting today, our fried rice will officially increase from 100 servings per day to 150 servings!
Upon hearing this, a cheerful cheer immediately erupted from the group.
"Great! 150 servings! I was number 40-something in line today, and I was so nervous, but now I'm all set!"
"The boss is generous! Adding fifty more portions means dozens more brothers won't go hungry every day!"
Zhao Qiang rubbed his hands together happily.
Wang Hai raised his hands and pressed them down, signaling everyone to be quiet.
"Don't get too excited yet, everyone. The second piece of good news is the real highlight!"
Wang Hai looked at Liu Wei and the others and said with a smile, "Because production has increased, starting today, our stall will officially cancel the rule of 'one item per person'!"
From now on, when you come to buy food, you can buy as many portions as you want!
If any colleagues in the office are in a meeting and can't leave, feel free to help them!
There was a brief two-second silence in the queue.
Immediately afterwards, a discussion that was much more heated than before erupted from the crowd.
"Really no more purchase limits?!"
Liu Wei excitedly grabbed Zhao Qiang's arm, "Qiangzi, did you hear that?"
No more purchase limits! I finally don't have to get those glares from my colleagues who missed out on food every day!
Li Na quickly pulled out her phone, her fingers flying across the screen: "Great! Our supervisor was just throwing a tantrum in the meeting room saying he was starving and had a stomachache. I'll bring him some right now!"
The white-collar workers at the back of the line also lowered their heads and started sending messages in the company group chat.
"Hey, Lao Zhang, don't order takeout!"
The fried rice downstairs is no longer rationed, I'll get you one!
"Xiao Li, quickly transfer the money to me via WeChat!"
I'll pack one copy for you to take home today. You can continue working on your PowerPoint presentation upstairs!
For a moment, the entire corner of the square was filled with the cheerful atmosphere of workers helping each other bring meals.
Without the constraints of purchase restrictions, everyone's smiles became genuine and relaxed.
Seeing the enthusiastic response from the crowd, Wang Hai turned and exchanged a glance with Lin Chen.
Lin Chen didn't speak, but simply nodded calmly.
"Alright everyone, the rules have been explained!"
Wang Hai tapped the table. "Those of you who want to bring your own lunch, please tally up the quantities beforehand. We're ready to start selling!"
Liu Wei stood at the front, looking at the messages and transfers constantly popping up in the WeChat group on his phone, and waved his hand.
"Brother Wang, give me six servings!"
Liu Wei held up two fingers. "One for myself, and five for those five unlucky guys in the department who're still in a meeting!"
"Li Na, how many portions do you want?"
Wang Hai turned his head and asked, "I need three copies! One for my supervisor, and one for the intern I'm supervising!"
Li Na answered decisively.
"Alright! Nine portions in total, please wait a moment!"
Lin Chen stood in front of the stove and pressed the knob with his left hand.
"Click".
A ghostly blue flame shot up instantly.
With the purchase restrictions lifted today, his work rhythm has also changed.
To ensure the speed of queuing, he went all out.
Heat the pan, cool the oil. Lin Chen picked up a few fresh free-range eggs from the egg tray next to him with one hand, cracked them neatly on the edge of the pan, and the egg liquid slid directly into the hot oil, making a loud "sizzling" sound.
Next, the rice was poured into the pot.
The shovel flew through the air.
Lin Chen didn't waste any words; he just focused on controlling the heat.
He compressed the fried rice process to the extreme, and every time it came out of the pan, the rice grains still maintained that dry, distinct texture.
In just a few minutes, nine steaming portions of fried rice were cooked and packaged into takeout containers.
Wang Hai quickly closed the lid and packed the lunchboxes into sturdy plastic bags.
"Uncle and Auntie, here's a spoon for you!"
Tangtang tiptoed and counted out nine disposable spoons from the stack in her hand, carefully handing them to Liu Wei and Li Na.
"Oh, thank you, Tangtang!"
Li Na smiled as she took the spoon, and couldn't help but reach out and gently pinch Tangtang's little cheek.
"A total of 891, scan now!"
Liu Wei waved his phone, and he, along with Li Na and Zhao Qiang, each carrying several heavy bags, walked into the building with beaming faces. "Brothers, you guys take your time in line, we're going up to be the saviors!"
"Next!"
Wang Hai shouted loudly, "Give me four servings!"
"Alright! Four servings!"
Because the purchase limit was lifted, the way the procession moved changed significantly.
Although the number of people in line hadn't decreased, the number of items each person ordered had increased, and Wang Hai's packing speed had increased exponentially.
On an early summer evening, the atmosphere around the flowerbeds was even more lively than it had been a few days before.
Tangtang stood beside the table, diligently performing her job of "distributing spoons," and each time she handed out a spoon, she would accompany it with a sweet smile.
The 150 units of stock were being consumed at an alarming rate by these white-collar workers who had completely let loose.