Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Eating and Taking, Is There Such a Thing?
Wang Rui’s sudden poetic remark caught the warehouse girl completely off guard.
’What the hell?’
’You’re the only one who gets to be all high and mighty, reciting ancient poetry? And we’re only allowed to say, "Damn, this is good"?’
The warehouse girl lowered her head, not saying a word, and furiously wolfed down the large meat bun.
Inside the cafeteria, He Shuting sat alone. Following Su Chen’s instructions, she had to stay and watch the group as they ate to prevent anything from being stolen.
Though, He Shuting had no idea what in here was even worth stealing.
Outside the cafeteria, Liu Shengnan stared through the glass door at the group of diners, her eyes wide with shock.
"Where did Director Li find these friends? Have they not eaten in three days?"
Su Chen crossed his legs and stroked his chin, looking contemplative. "They certainly look like they haven’t eaten in days."
Xiaobin, who was usually quiet, suddenly piped up, "You guys were pretty much the same way during breakfast and lunch."
Su Chen: ...
Liu Shengnan: ...
"Oh, right." Su Chen remembered something else. "Shengnan, tally up today’s overtime hours and bring the list to my office tomorrow for me to look at."
Liu Shengnan scratched her head.
A graduate of Jingzhou University of Finance and Economics, her first job out of college had been at Delicious. She had joined the company eager to learn, but to this day, Liu Shengnan still wasn’t sure what her duties in the finance department actually entailed.
’Now I finally get to do some real finance work!’ she thought, feeling quite happy.
"Don’t worry, Boss. I’ll get the overtime and business reports tallied up tonight!"
Su Chen shook his head. "No need to do it tonight. Tomorrow morning is fine."
There was another half of the sentence that Su Chen left unsaid.
’If you do the tally tonight, doesn’t that mean more overtime?’
’I haven’t even finished paying off the subsidies, and now I have to owe you more for overtime? Hell no.’
"Brother Chen." Bai Xiaobo, who was sitting behind the two of them, was also staring intently at the group eating in the cafeteria.
"Hm?"
"These people can really eat. Look, over forty steamed buns aren’t even enough for them."
Su Chen glanced over. Sure enough, two steamers of buns were already gone.
"They’re mixing that braised eggplant and potato with their rice. See that young guy with the black-rimmed glasses? I counted. He’s already had three bowls of rice!"
Su Chen looked closely. While the others chatted occasionally, the guy with the black-rimmed glasses near the serving counter was just shoveling food into his mouth without a word.
"And the pickled cabbage fish! He’s about to finish his second bowl! That’s insane, one serving is over a pound of fish!" Bai Xiaobo exclaimed repeatedly.
"Don’t worry about it so much." Su Chen stood up and dusted off his clothes. "It looks like they won’t be done anytime soon. Let’s go eat too."
"What I’m trying to say is," Bai Xiaobo said with a pained expression, "they’ve eaten almost everything. What’s left for us to eat...?"
Aunt Fang walked over with a broom and dustpan. "Aren’t there still fried eggs soaking in the meat broth? I think we’ll be fine with just those. It’s not good to eat too much at night anyway."
Seeing everyone’s long faces, Su Chen said, "It’s free."
"I think fried eggs are great. Not only are they nutritious, but they won’t make you gain weight," Liu Shengnan said earnestly.
Bai Xiaobo nodded in agreement. "True. And if they’re fried eggs soaked in meat juice, they must be delicious too."
Su Chen stared speechlessly at the two clowns. "Aunt Fang, let’s not go in while they’re eating. Could I trouble you to bring the food out for us?"
With a quick "Okay," Aunt Fang took off her gloves and went into the cafeteria.
No one noticed that He Shuting was currently wide-eyed, watching a good show unfold.
"Wang Rui, you’re shameless! Who does that?!" The warehouse girl tugged at Wang Rui’s sleeve. "Director Zhou, you be the judge! Some people haven’t even had their fill, and Wang Rui is already stuffing things in his pocket. Is that appropriate?"
Wang Rui’s face flushed red. "Why isn’t it appropriate?! The cafeteria food is usually terrible. What’s wrong with me taking a bun for breakfast tomorrow? It’s just five yuan, I’ll pay for it myself!"
"That’s still not okay! Look, Director Li only had two buns. What gives you the right to take this one?" the warehouse girl shot back, immediately bringing their new leader into it.
That made Wang Rui open and close his mouth, unsure how to retort.
Seeing the topic shift to him, Li Mingtao looked at the two and quickly said, "It’s fine, let him take it. I’m full."
But the warehouse girl wouldn’t let it go. "No way! If Wang Rui gets to take one to-go, then I want to as well!"
This...
Zhou Kai frowned. He’d never thought of this girl as being particularly difficult, but she was being so feisty today.
’But to be fair, the thought of having to eat the company’s usual garbage for breakfast tomorrow makes me want to take something to-go as well.’
But with Li Mingtao still there, Zhou Kai put on a stern face. "Alright, that’s enough. Is everyone full? Tell me how much you ate. I’ll go pay the bill."
Wang Rui broke free from the warehouse girl’s grip. "I had five buns, two bowls of pickled cabbage fish, and three servings of eggplant and potato!"
"You can really pack it away." The warehouse girl shot him a disgruntled glare. "I had four buns, two bowls of pickled cabbage fish, and one serving of eggplant and potato. But... Director Zhou, why do we have to calculate the bill ourselves?"
"Yeah, isn’t there a waitress? The pretty lady over there..." Wang Rui turned to He Shuting. "Could you ring us up?"
"Who are you calling a waitress?" He Shuting’s brow furrowed.
’I’m a streamer with fifteen whole fans, and you’re calling me a waitress?’
’Besides, I’m sitting here to watch you people and make sure you don’t steal anything. Who said I was your waitress?’
He Shuting hadn’t understood why Su Chen wanted her to do this, but now she got it. If she hadn’t been sitting here, that guy with the black-rimmed glasses really would have made off with that bun.
’And now he has the nerve to call me a waitress?’
"You’re not...?" Wang Rui looked completely dumbfounded.
’Is she the owner’s wife?’
"Alright, alright, let’s all listen to Director Zhou." Li Mingtao stepped in to smooth things over. ’If this keeps up, my cover will be blown sooner or later.’
"I had two buns, two bowls of pickled cabbage fish, and four servings of eggplant and potato..."
"I had..."
Zhou Kai tallied the numbers with a pen and paper. When the last person had reported, he added up all the figures.
"Hsss..."
Even for someone like him, who often dined out with management, he couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath when he saw the final total.
[Steamed Buns: 47. Pickled Cabbage Fish: 15 servings. Eggplant and Potato: 28 servings.]
If you included the bun Wang Rui was taking to-go, that was a grand total of 48 buns!
’Are you guys fucking pigs?’
Zhou Kai completely forgot that he himself had eaten five buns, two servings of pickled cabbage fish, and two servings of eggplant and potato.
’Forty-eight times five plus...’
He furiously tapped on his phone’s calculator.
"One thousand three hundred and eighty."
When his phone’s calculator automatically announced the number, Zhou Kai froze.
’Holy crap!’
’That much?’
If this were an outside restaurant, Zhou Kai certainly wouldn’t have thought it was a lot.
After all, there were ten of them. A meal costing over a hundred yuan per person was completely normal. In fact, this amount might not even be enough for a hotpot dinner.
But...
But they had only eaten three dishes today, one of which was a staple food, and another a simple side dish to go with rice!
None of the items on the menu were expensive on their own.
It was no exaggeration to say that in a second-tier city like Jingzhou, finding pickled cabbage fish for 48 yuan a pound was just a dream...
Those thick, meaty buns would normally sell for seven or eight yuan each outside.
And that eggplant and potato dish—a heaping spoonful would cost at least 18 to 20 yuan at a restaurant.
’Since nothing was expensive, why did the final bill come out to so much?’
The only explanation: they ate too much!
Li Mingtao was quite satisfied when he heard the total.
’If I remember correctly, I have about nine hundred yuan left in my subsidy, at most. This will use it all up in one go!’
"Fourteen hundred. I’ll go pay," Zhou Kai said, standing up.
Li Mingtao grabbed Zhou Kai’s arm. "Let me, let me. Don’t argue with me on this, or I’ll get angry!"
He deliberately made his tone more serious.
’The company will reimburse this anyway,’ he thought. ’If I pay, it’ll use up my subsidy. If Zhou Kai tries to pay so he can pocket the reimbursement money himself, I’ll just have to drop a little hint later, and he’ll have to give it to me. No big deal.’
’This way, I not only get to use my subsidy, but I’ll also clear a five-hundred-yuan profit and get to knock my subordinate down a peg. It’s a win-win!’
Unexpectedly, Zhou Kai first pushed Li Mingtao back into his seat, then leaned close to his ear and whispered in a very low voice.
"Director Li, I know you’re a generous guy, but you probably don’t know this since you just arrived. The welcome dinner can be expensed to the company, so you don’t have to fight over the bill."
Some things were harder to handle when brought out into the open.
Watching Zhou Kai count out fourteen hundred-yuan bills and walk toward the door, Li Mingtao was dumbfounded.
’What about my subsidy then?’
’You’re way too honest, aren’t you?’
Just then, an abrupt voice cut through everyone’s thoughts and halted Zhou Kai in his tracks.
"Wait a minute!"
Everyone turned in unison to see the warehouse girl.
The warehouse girl had also stood up, her eyes fixed on Aunt Fang, who was walking out of the kitchen.
She pointed at a basin that Aunt Fang was carrying with both hands.
"What’s that?"
