Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Cunning Li Mingtao, the Subsidy Is Almost in Hand
Li Mingtao followed the vice director to the new company’s cafeteria.
The building layouts in the High-Tech Development Zone were all more or less the same. The new company’s cafeteria was constructed no differently from the one at Meiweilai.
The dining hall was filled with fixed tables and chairs arranged in sets of four, with the kitchen situated further inside.
Along one wall was a row of glass service windows. It was already past noon, but the cafeteria was practically empty, with only about twenty-odd people eating.
"Doesn’t the company have over seventy registered employees?"
The vice director grabbed a tray for Li Mingtao. "It does. But these days, many people would rather skip lunch than eat in the cafeteria."
Li Mingtao took the tray and walked up to the window.
"New here? What’ll ya have?" a bald, middle-aged man holding a large ladle asked from behind the window, a cigarette dangling from his lips.
Li Mingtao’s brow furrowed.
’Putting the food itself aside, a server is smoking right over the dishes?’
That alone was enough to make Li Mingtao lose his appetite.
When he looked down at the food inside the service window, his brow furrowed even tighter.
There were a total of four dishes in the heated display case.
Braised eggplant, scrambled eggs with tomato, stir-fried cauliflower, and braised pork meatballs.
The names of the dishes sounded decent enough.
But a closer look revealed a different story.
You could tell at a glance that the "braised eggplant" was just boiled eggplant with a layer of oil drizzled on top.
And don’t even get me started on the scrambled eggs with tomato—it was a bright red pan of tomatoes with barely a speck of egg in sight.
The stir-fried cauliflower was nothing special, and the braised pork meatballs were clearly just the cheap, eight-yuan-a-pound kind from the market, boiled.
’No wonder the employees don’t want to eat here.’
Given the quality of the food, Li Mingtao didn’t even want to eat it after a single glance, let alone have to pay ten yuan for a serving.
"Hey, pick something already, will ya? Don’t you see the line behind you?" Seeing Li Mingtao hesitate for so long, the server grew impatient.
"Never mind." Li Mingtao turned and walked out of the line.
The vice director hurried to catch up. "Director Li, this is the situation. Most employees would rather snack on some dry food in the office than come to the cafeteria."
"This can’t go on," Li Mingtao said as he slowly walked out of the cafeteria. "How can anyone work if they can’t even get a decent meal?"
Quitting a job over bad food might sound like a ridiculous reason.
But for most people, the simplest wish is to have a delicious lunch after a hard morning’s work.
This was especially true for a group of white-collar workers in the Development Zone.
Even in poor rural villages, if neighbors helped with harvesting or other odd jobs, they would always be treated to a good meal at noon as thanks for their labor.
"Let’s head back to the office. I have some cookies in my drawer," the vice director said with a sigh.
Li Mingtao shook his head. "I’m not going back. I’m going to eat out."
"Out?" The vice director’s spirits lifted instantly. "Did a restaurant open up downstairs?"
The question nearly fried Li Mingtao’s CPU.
"Wow! I’ve been with this company for almost a year and haven’t seen any restaurants nearby. The closest little eatery is a ten-minute bike ride away." The vice director rubbed his hands together. "Come on, come on, Director Li, take me with you! Lunch is on me!"
Li Mingtao’s mind raced.
’The fact that I’m still employed at Meiweilai... my new colleagues absolutely cannot find out.’
’And the fact that I’ve found a new company... my colleagues at Meiweilai absolutely cannot find out either!!!’
’Why did I have to open my big mouth...’
Standing by the elevator, Li Mingtao pulled out his phone and pretended to look at it, but his mind was frantically searching for a way to refuse the vice director’s kind offer.
After fiddling with his phone for a moment, Li Mingtao noticed a few new messages in the [Meiweilai Company Work Group].
[Su Chen: Since no one has any objections, the new cafeteria policy is now set.]
Li Mingtao: ???
’You’re setting a new policy when I’m not even there?’
[Su Chen: From now on, for all three daily meals, cafeteria food will no longer have a fixed price. The specific price will be determined per dish based on quality. The pricing standards will be reviewed and approved daily by the Foodie Committee in a meeting, and officially announced ten minutes before mealtime.]
’They even formed a committee?’
Li Mingtao was getting more and more confused. What the hell was a "Foodie Committee"? The name itself sounded completely unprofessional!
But he understood the first part.
It basically meant that the good old days of five or eight yuan meals were over. You paid for what you ate.
One dish for ten yuan, two dishes for twenty.
The clever Li Mingtao quickly had a thought. If that was the case, wasn’t his situation now equivalent to having a membership card at Meiweilai Company?
Card balance: 1,161 yuan.
The only reason he didn’t want Su Chen to find out he was working at another company was because he was afraid it would be difficult to claim his subsidy, right?
’What if...’
A plan formed in Li Mingtao’s mind.
"Vice Director Zhou, I do know a place to eat, but..."
Vice Director Zhou Kai’s eyes lit up. "You really do? Let’s go, let’s go! We can try it out today. If it’s good, our company’s employees will have a place to eat. When our own cafeteria goes out of business, won’t they be forced to improve the food?"
The more he spoke, the more feasible it seemed to Zhou Kai. A brainstorm erupted in his head. "When the time comes, forget the cafeteria manager—even the big boss can’t forbid employees from eating out, right? Heh! Our department can’t be blamed for this, either. We’ll have solved both the lunch problem and a company-wide problem!"
Li Mingtao looked at the enthusiastic Zhou Kai.
’I haven’t even finished speaking and you’ve already thought all this through?’
’So why aren’t you the director?’
Li Mingtao said patiently, "Director Zhou, please let me finish."
"This place isn’t a restaurant. It’s a company owned by a friend of mine. It’s no problem for me to eat in their cafeteria, and bringing you along won’t be an issue either. We can just pay for it. But the problem is..."
The light in Zhou Kai’s eyes dimmed. "Oh, I see. Then I guess it’s not realistic to have everyone go there to eat."
Li Mingtao nodded. "Regardless, let’s go over and eat there for lunch today. Just say you’re a good friend of mine helping me with some business, and we happened to be passing by. Otherwise..."
"I get it! I get it!" Zhou Kai nodded frantically.
The two of them stepped into the elevator.
Li Mingtao continued mulling over his little scheme.
’We’ll eat there for lunch. Zhou Kai will definitely be too embarrassed to eat for free, so won’t he have to obediently give me the money for the meal?’
’By that logic...’
Li Mingtao breathed a sigh of relief.
’Before the company goes bankrupt, I can basically eat my way through the subsidy. Not only that, but I can also get some of it back in cash.’
’Perfect!’
...
「Meiweilai Food Company Cafeteria」
The employees, who should have been knitting, playing King of Glory, or doing their makeup in the office, were now all gathered in the cafeteria.
Meanwhile, Su Chen, who was supposed to be busy preparing lunch in the kitchen, had been driven out into the dining area.
Now, looking at the fired-up crowd of employees, Su Chen was lost in thought.
