Chapter 12: The Watched Couple
Whenever the Third Fleet conducts some government activities, the tea room in the government building becomes the lounge for the secretaries and captains’ close guards of all the leaders attending the activities. Due to the leaders’ sensitive identities and the secrets of various departments and industries, the secretaries’ usual social activities are also restricted. Therefore, this place is not only the secretaries’ lunch spot, but also an excellent place for them to communicate feelings with each other and get some gossip.
Lisa and Xiao Ye subconsciously stepped into the lounge and immediately regretted it, because quite a few people had already gathered here. If the things in their hands were seen by others, how much could they still enjoy? Just as the two and Lin Yu’s close guard Daiken behind them hesitated whether to retreat, the secretaries of the Third Fleet government high officials spotted them with sharp eyes.
“Lisa, Xiao Ye, why are you only coming now?”
The secretary of the Director of Agriculture Bureau, whom they usually interacted with frequently, waved at them.
Since they were seen by acquaintances, there was no way to retreat now.
Lisa and Xiao Ye exchanged a glance, resignedly walked into the lounge, and sat down at an empty table nearby the other.
“Why not come over and sit? Today Ai Jie brought portable noodle soup and carrot solid food specially supplied by the Agriculture Bureau.”
The other party urged, not forgetting to shake the portable noodle soup packaging bag in their hand.
If Xiang Chuan were on site, she would definitely not be able to resist complaining: “This looks just like the sucky jelly from Wang×.”
“Your side is piled full. The food boxes given by the Director are relatively large and can’t fit. Sitting here is fine.”
Lisa made small talk, not forgetting to subtly reveal that this was leftovers from their own leader, praying they wouldn’t covet it.
Sure enough, after hearing that it was leftovers from the leader’s side, the other party fell silent but couldn’t help muttering inwardly: Recently, the Cultural Affairs Bureau’s expenses haven’t been short to the point of deducting even the secretaries’ meal costs, right?
After noticing that the colleagues had shifted their attention away from the three of them, Lisa eagerly opened the food box.
When Xiang Chuan set the kitchen AI’s menu, she set the egg pancake as the staple food, so the egg pancakes were the most numerous, filling a quarter of the food box compartments. Fried bananas and fried potato shred pancakes occupied two-thirds of the food box compartments, and the remaining one-third was cut fruits. The fresh-cut fruits were actually something Xiang Chuan thought of on the spot, so she casually stuffed some into the food box compartments. However, she didn’t expect Xiang Weiguo and Lin Minzhi to only eat from two food boxes, missing the little surprise their daughter prepared for them in the third food box.
Xiao Ye skillfully disassembled the food box lid into three serving plates, and took out a pair of chopsticks and a fork from the food box interlayer, looking at Daiken: “Mr. Daiken, are you used to using a fork or chopsticks?”
“Either is fine for me.” Daiken replied.
In the end, Daiken took the fork, Xiao Ye handed the chopsticks to Lisa, and he took out his own dedicated tableware from his personal pocket. Carrying personal tableware is a habit of Yue Xiang Group staff.
The food box, full of variety and overflowing with aroma, immediately drew the attention of those around. Lisa was quick-eyed and quick-handed, immediately picking up a piece of egg pancake and stuffing it into her mouth. Her somewhat inelegant wolfing down instead showed how delicious this food was.
“Brother Xiao Ye, what are you eating…?”
The first to come over were the close guards of the production escort ship captains. Due to Yue Xiang’s business relations, these people of the same level often communicated, and plus Xiao Ye’s seniority, he was respectfully called Brother Xiao Ye by everyone.
“Leftovers eaten by Chairman Xiang and Director Lin.”
After Xiao Ye finished speaking, he bit into a fried banana, and the sweet banana aroma wafted out, not only whetting their appetites but also piquing their interest: What exactly is this made of? And how is it made?
“Brother Xiao Ye, don’t be so distant. You can reveal a bit more. Chairman Xiang even allowed you to take it out and eat it.”
Hearing this, Xiao Ye couldn’t help but feel embarrassed: “I really don’t know. This was something Director Lin asked me and Lisa to take from the trunk of the car before lunch. We didn’t know what was inside until we opened the food box.”
The close guards looked at each other. Could this be a new product secretly developed by Yue Xiang? Even Brother Xiao Ye, the trusted confidant of Yue Xiang Group’s top leader, doesn’t know?
“It shouldn’t be from Yue Xiang’s side.” Lisa swallowed a bite of potato shred pancake. “These food boxes are what I took from the two’s homes into the car.”
Not Yue Xiang? But the Xiang Family? It was getting more and more mysterious.
But now was not the time to worry about the source. Watching the three eat one bite after another so enjoyably, those standing closest couldn’t help but salivate.
“Brother Xiao Ye, Sister Lisa, share a piece for us to taste.”
“Yeah, let us taste the flavor.”
“Half a piece would be good too.”
“One bite, just one bite is fine.”
“A small piece would satisfy me too.”
Lisa and Xiao Ye couldn’t outtalk them, so they used the last serving plate from the food box lid to put one portion of each, then took out the knife from the food box interlayer for them to scramble over. Later, the secretaries sitting nearby also couldn’t hold back and came up to share. The two had to take another portion for them. If they hadn’t interacted infrequently usually, probably even the close guards of the military escort ship captains sitting on the corner sofa would come over to taste.
The lethality of 21st century food is astonishing. Even just a sixteenth-sized yam cake or potato shred pancake could bring the strongest impact to these high official confidants who were used to eating modern high-end food.
At this moment, the crowd was like raptors that had tasted raw meat, their gazes toward the food box almost scaring Lisa into hugging the food box and running away directly. Fortunately, with Xiao Ye’s flexible handling and Daiken’s silent intimidation, they only lost one-third of the contents before satisfying the crowd and making them leave.
After all, they see each other often at work. They couldn’t just grab it forcefully, right?
Moreover, if they maintained good relations, they could get a priority share of any new gourmet food in the future. With such thoughts, the gazes of those around toward the three became fervent, making Lisa shudder all over.
“Does this count as me walking into the tiger’s den?”
Lisa shrank her neck, taking small bites of the peeled apple chunks, saying uneasily.
“It won’t go that far, but I’m afraid it won’t be peaceful for a while.”
Xiao Ye wiped his sweat.
“Chairman Xiang and Director Lin might get lively.”
Daiken’s one sentence stunned the two, then they showed bitter smiles: Yeah, after all, those two are the real protagonists.
Almost at the end of lunchtime, all the high-levels of the two fleets present and some related high-levels not present learned of this news: Yue Xiang Group Chairman Xiang Weiguo and Cultural Affairs Bureau Director Lin Minzhi had developed unprecedented delicious food.
The secretaries were all skilled at writing text, describing the taste vividly and graphically, while the production escort ship’s close guards were all veterans immersed in agriculture for years, expressing their analysis as if they were there.
The result was that all the high officials and business representatives who received the news, despite having already had lunch, couldn’t help but swallow hard.
Thus, as expected during the afternoon meeting, although the Third Fleet Leader on stage was giving a passionate speech, the Xiang Weiguo couple in the audience had quietly become the focus of attention, leaving Xiang Weiguo and Lin Minzhi amused and helpless.
Although after Lisa and Xiao Ye took the food boxes out, they had anticipated that the news would leak to others, being secretly watched by more than half of the high officials—even though there was no malice, and even some faint goodwill—still made the couple somewhat overwhelmed.
