Chapter 370 - Wuwuwu, he misses his girlfriend. (2)
Tong Xuelu made a serving of stewed chicken and two types of snacks at the Wen’s before she took off.
She must say that Xiao Qi was much tastier than Xiao Wu. The meat was tender and just overall very tasty.
The three of them enjoyed Xiao Qi at the dinner table as they talked about how to prepare Xiao Ba next time.
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When Tong Xuelu took off, she had in her military pouch a bag of fruits and a stack of fabric and food tickets. They were all given to her by Old Mr. Wen.
When Tong Xuelu returned home with the fruit, she immediately saw Tong Jiaxin studying.
People never have an appreciate for what comes by easily. It looked like Tong Jiaxin had truly learned his lesson this time.
Tong Xuelu gave a few of the fruits away to her neighbors.
Fruits were a rarity back then. During the infrequent time when the CSMC got some of them in, they were gone before they could even hit the shelves.
The Wei family accepted the fruits and gave them back a bag of dried mushrooms in return.
Tong Jiaming brought home a good news for Tong Jiaxin with him when he returned that night – he would be able to return to school the next day.
Tong Jiaxin was so happy that he leaped into the air.
Mooncake had no idea what happened but it joined them in running around in circles. Suddenly, it tripped on flat ground, somersaulted a few times and finally ran into the table leg. It was dazed for a long while as though it was having a hard time believing that it was so clumsy.
Its look made Tong Xuelu laughed. She patted it on its head and said, “How are you so cute, Mooncake?”
When Mooncake heard “cute”, it barked a couple of times, got back up, ran around a few times by itself, started somersaulting and finally bumped into the table once again.
It looked up and looked at Tong Xuelu with its limpid eyes, seeking for compliment.
Tong Xuelu, “……”
Could this dog be any more dramatic?
That night, after the siblings had bathed, they studied together in the study.
Tong Jiaming patiently tutored Tong Jiaxin after he had finished his own homework.
Tong Jiaxin paid particular attention this time.
When Tong Xuelu saw the two brothers snuggling next to each other, she couldn't help but smiled.
When Tong Mianmian saw her Big Sister smiling, she ran up on her chubby little legs, climbed on top of a stool, and poked her head over next to Tong Xuelu’s.
The two’s heads touched, much like those of Tong Jiaming’s and Tong Jiaxin’s.
Tong Xuelu held her cheeks and gave her a kiss. Her smile deepened.
***
Tong Xuelu headed over to the Commerce Department after she was done with purchasing ingredients for the restaurant.
Secretary Zhuo was a bit surprised when she saw Tong Xuelu.
Tong Xuelu did not tell her about the proposal; she only told her that there was something that she wanted to talk to Minister Lin about.
Secretary Zhuo did not pry. She let Minister Lin know that Tong Xuelu was there to see him and showed Tong Xuelu in after that.
Minister Lin, too, was surprised to see Tong Xuelu there. “Why are you here today, Manager Tong? Did something happen at the restaurant?”
Tong Xuelu sat down in the chair across from him and shook her head. “Everything at the restaurant is copasetic under Minister Lin’s management.”
“If that’s the case, what is the purpose of your visit today then?”
Minister Lin felt very regretful that Tong Xuelu could not be his secretary. Not only was she a highly competent individual, she was also well articulated.
Tong Xuelu presented her proposal to him. “Minister Lin, I heard that the Commerce Department is about to have a cooking competition in the future. Is that true?”
Minister Lin took the proposal from her and skimmed over it. “Why? Are you interested in joining it? Had you forgotten that your restaurant is only a tier 2 restaurant and does not qualify in a competition like this?”
It must be a tier 1 restaurant in order to serve foreign guests. And they would have to decide which one was the best one among all the tier 1 restaurants.
As for the tier 2 and tier 3 restaurants, it didn’t matter how good their chefs were, the Commerce Department would not consider having them in the competition.
If the restaurant itself wasn’t up to par, it didn’t matter how great their chefs was. They would not be able to host foreign guests. Did they have to carve out budget to update the restaurant?
For certain the finance department would not want to pay that nor did Minister Lin wanted to deal with that.
There were plenty of tier 1 restaurants out there, so why the extra hassle when there didn’t need to be?