You're Looking Down on Me

Four dishes and one soup—it didn't look like much, but every dish was something an ordinary family in this era would be lucky to eat once a year.

Especially the braised pork, which was seventy percent fat and thirty percent lean. In her previous life, Hua Jinyin would have found it greasy, but seeing it now, her mouth involuntarily watered.

Beside it were bowls of rice and large steamed buns piled high like mountains. Although they weren't as white as modern ones, the fragrant dishes couldn't mask the pure scent of the rice.

Sui Yong pulled a stack of meal tickets from his pocket and slid two through the window. “Sister Liu, I didn't bring a lunch box today. Do you have two I could borrow?”

Hua Jinyin’s sharp eyes caught a two-ounce oil coupon hidden beneath the two meal tickets.

Sister Liu, the middle-aged woman serving the food, naturally tucked the oil coupon into her pocket, her eyes crinkling with a smile. “Look at you. If I wouldn't lend to others, how could I not lend to you, Xiao Sui? Wait a moment, I’ll get them for you.”

With that, Sister Liu put down the serving ladle and left, returning shortly with two large, nearly new lunch boxes and two large bowls.

The lunch boxes were filled to the brim, with the food pressed down firmly with a spoon.

The soup was Chinese cabbage with meatballs. One scoop brought up mostly vegetables, but there were several more meatballs than in other people's bowls, filling the bowl to the top.

If this were the Hua Jinyin from before her transmigration, this amount of food would have lasted her two days. But this body, perhaps due to malnutrition, could easily finish it all as long as it wasn't Zhou Laiying’s cooking.

Sui Yong handed the filled lunch boxes to Hua Jinyin to take to a nearby table while he thanked Sister Liu. “Thanks for today, Sister Liu. When my sister comes to the canteen later, I’ll have to trouble you and the head chef to look after her.”

Sister Liu poked her head out the window, watching Hua Jinyin finish setting down the boxes and come back for the soup. “Of course, no need to even ask! We’re all family!”

As more people lined up behind him, Sui Yong stopped chatting and sat down at the table with Hua Jinyin to begin eating.

It had to be said, to be a head chef in a government canteen, one’s skills had to pass the test. A piece of braised pork entered her mouth—perfectly sweet and savory, fatty but not greasy, lean but not dry. It was tender yet had a slight chew. Hua Jinyin was hooked after one bite.

She couldn't say the skill was better than Xu Xixi’s, but in terms of the quality of the meat and the distinct flavor compared to the bran-fed pork of the future, this was a clear winner.

The braised pork Xu Xixi made used local pork from the market; even if it was labeled as purely grain-fed, who knew how much bran was actually added?

When she had the chance, she would definitely raise a few pigs in her space, feeding them only grain and vegetables from the space. Once they were grown and Xixi cooked them, the braised pork would surely be even better than this head chef’s.

Sui Yong’s mouth was covered in oil as he nodded continuously while eating. “This head chef’s skill is truly superb. This braised pork is even better than what I had in the Capital. Eat more; if it’s not enough, I still have meal tickets. It’s a waste to let them sit; they’ll just turn into scrap paper after they expire. I’ll give you some later. Since you’ll be in the city, just come here to eat if you don't feel like cooking.”

Hua Jinyin’s eyes lit up, and she whispered, “How about you get a few more portions to put in the space?”

Sui Yong chuckled. “I already talked to the head chef. I asked him to set aside four boxes for me. We’ll each take two when we go back tonight.”

Hua Jinyin wanted to say she meant putting them in the space so they could be eaten directly whenever they wanted, but she feared Sui Yong’s space might not have a preservation function.

However, Sui Yong truly was a natural procurer. Seeing how smooth and charismatic he was, a small favor had made a woman he just met treat him as warmly as a relative.

She didn't even know how he had managed to win over the head chef so quickly.

So, Hua Jinyin asked the doubt in her heart, “Brother Sui, didn't you just arrive in the city? How are you so close with the head chef?”

Sui Yong chuckled and picked up a piece of bok choy. “Try this bok choy. I brought it back from the south. Right now, a jin costs a yuan. Although it can't compare to the vegetables from our side, it’s a luxury item right now. Hmm, the pork used for this braised pork was also procured by me. I brought back fifty pigs from the surrounding communes and delivered them to various government units. Besides supplying the canteen, everyone got a little bit for themselves.”

“So you used your connections for this too?”

Sui Yong curled his lip at that. “Sister Er Hua, you’re looking down on me. I was a procurer long before I joined the department. From north to south, there’s nothing I can't get my hands on.”

With that, Sui Yong chuckled again and leaned in to whisper to Hua Jinyin, “I used to be a reseller. If I hadn't been careless and let the boss discover my talent and recruit me, I might have become the boss of the black market in the Capital by now.”

A new space only a few square meters in size and he already dreamed of being the black market boss of the Capital? Then with her space of ten mu, capable of farming and ranching, wouldn't she be the black market boss of the entire country?

Thinking this, Hua Jinyin also chuckled.

After all, Bearded Man had said that as long as she went to the black market and wasn't caught red-handed, she would be fine. Even if she were caught, he could get her out.

She didn't actually expect him to save her. Her space could hide people; at worst, she would just hide inside. She didn't believe anyone could enter her space to catch her.

As for whether to cooperate with the state in the future, she would wait until she had more contact with the outside world and understood the market prices better.

Sui Yong, who had been wickedly recounting his great achievements, was suddenly silenced by her laughter.

Was she mocking him? She was definitely mocking him, right? Was his laugh just now really that despicable? It made him speechless!

After finishing the meal, Sui Yong gave all the meal tickets he had to Hua Jinyin. Besides meal tickets, there were rice coupons, oil coupons, meat coupons, bus coupons, bath coupons... even a few movie tickets.

Pushing them toward Hua Jinyin, he said, “When you go to collect your salary next month, these coupons will be distributed at the same time. Use them quickly. If you can't use them all, give them to your family. Anyway, if they aren't used by the end of the month, they’ll expire.”

Hua Jinyin only then realized a problem she had previously overlooked. “Brother Sui, I don't even know where to go to collect my salary yet.”

“That’s my fault, I forgot such an important thing.” Sui Yong slapped his head in frustration and began explaining to Hua Jinyin, “Although you are temporarily holding a position at the Women's Federation, your salary, including bonuses and benefits, is issued by our department. Since our headquarters is in the Capital, you can't go there yourself to collect it. Currently, there are three ways: one is to leave it in an account until you are transferred to the Capital; one is for someone coming from the Capital on a mission to bring it to you; and the third is to have it sent via money order through the post office. Which way do you think is best?”