Chapter 189: Authorization For The Staple Food
Xiang Chuan was pondering how to get pocket money from her father when Xiang Xue finally noticed the spoon hovering in mid-air.
To be precise, she noticed the fried rice on the spoon, with its glossy, distinct grains.
[Sister Xiang Chuan, what are you eating? Newly made dough drops?]
Xiang Xue asked doubtfully. Lin Ming behind her was also staring doubtfully at the screen, gesturing with his fingers to gauge the size of the rice grains, wondering when Sister Xiang Chuan had developed such smooth, small dough drops.
“Hmm? This? This is rice.”
Xiang Chuan held the spoon up to the lens, giving Xiang Xue and Lin Ming a good close look.
The modern black tech camera’s resolution, which could crush 21st Century professional cameras, was something Xiang Chuan had already experienced when viewing the photos Xiang Xue posted in the family chat group. That resolution was so high it was like 40K, clear enough to see the pepper grains on steak.
Just as she thought, Xiang Xue peered through the lens and clearly saw the fried rice on the spoon.
[Rice? Isn’t rice just the dough drops and noodles at home? This… doesn’t look like noodles?]
Xiang Xue looked uncertainly at Lin Ming.
Lin Ming nodded. He had just squeezed next to Xiang Xue and seen Xiang Chuan showing off the rice to the lens. He could clearly see the glossy grains on the spoon; whether viewed from afar or close up, they didn’t look like something simply made from flour.
“It’s indeed not noodles. This is rice, white rice.” Xiang Chuan turned the lens toward the fields. “You know rice plants, right? Rice. This is made from rice.”
[Ah?]
[What?!]
At that moment, familiar exclamations came from the other side of the screen. Xiang Chuan didn’t even furrow her brow; over these two months, she had grown somewhat immune to her father’s outbursts.
Sure enough, Xiang Weiguo, who had been acting as background filler behind the screen, now rushed straight to Xiang Xue’s seat, staring intently at the fried rice on Xiang Chuan’s spoon in the image.
“Father, I know what you’re thinking, but people need to know contentment. We have beans at home, enough to eat for a long time. And we still have plenty of noodle authorizations on hand, right? A few more plates of stir-frying will make up for it. Don’t be too greedy.”
After Xiang Chuan spoke, she decisively put the long-neglected bite of rice from the spoon into her mouth.
Looking at Xiang Weiguo’s entangled expression on the other side of the screen, Xiang Chuan remained completely unmoved.
Ouyang Yating and Ainuo sitting beside her were quite impressed by Xiang Chuan’s resolve.
Regarding the rice patent authorization, they had asked Xiang Chuan about it in their small group chat (A Bite of China Club’s four members + Chou Manman + Nancy) during lunch break.
With precedents like buns and noodles, plus the stunning performance of white rice and stir-frying at lunch, they had no doubt Xiang Chuan would hand this authorization to Yue Xiang Group. But Xiang Chuan directly denied their guess.
[Some things aren’t suited for one company to monopolize.]
Xiang Chuan typed this profound-sounding message in the group, but Ouyang Yating and Chou Manman immediately called her out, narrowly preventing the topic from derailing.
Still, this was indeed Xiang Chuan’s honest thought.
In her view, with Yue Xiang Group having obtained authorization for bean products, once they mass-produced seasonings and various bean foods in the future, it would surely attract envy. Already, the eateries with explosive customer traffic had prompted many companies to consider antitrust laws. If not for Xiang Chuan later expanding the authorization scope and the Agriculture Bureau’s mediation, Yue Xiang Group would not be enjoying calm waters now.
Moreover, rice is a staple food crop. Even with Xiang Chuan’s modern knowledge reserves only able to compete with an elementary school student, after reading many transmigration novels and memorizing all those political theory texts back in school, she understood that the government wouldn’t easily hand planting and management of certain crops to ordinary companies, as it would revert modern society to capitalism.
Although this might stimulate economic development, for the nation—or the fleet—it was not a long-term solution.
Xiang Chuan recalled the Agriculture Bureau director who had eaten at home several times; between the lines, he had conveyed these very ideas. She figured with her father’s years of business savvy, he couldn’t miss the implication, but as the company leader, he couldn’t help wanting more benefits for his own firm.
After all, this was a new staple food for modern people.
On the other side of the screen, Xiang Weiguo watched Xiang Chuan happily savoring bite after bite of fried rice, finally conceding under his daughter’s silent protest. He slouched dejectedly back to the rear, resuming his role as background filler.
With her father no longer hogging the lens, Xiang Xue and Lin Ming crowded back in front of it.
[Sister Xiang Chuan, tell us what it tastes like! Or just send the recipe over now. I’ll have Xiao Chu make some at home too. I remember the warehouse still has plenty of rice flour!]
Xiang Xue looked at the abundant fried rice in Xiang Chuan’s four-compartment meal box and couldn’t help swallowing.
She hadn’t tasted it, but that didn’t stop her from judging these small grains delicious based on months of sneaking meals in the kitchen.
After all, her fickle, ancient-taste-aligned sister was eating it with such relish. Though their tastes weren’t identical, she was certain it wasn’t bad!
How could such a good thing not be eaten right away!
Xiang Xue grew a bit angry as she thought about it.
Why did her sister have to go to the production escort ship to make something that looked so tasty? If ingredients were needed, just tell Xiao Xing or Xiao Chu at home to prepare them!
If Xiang Chuan knew what her wide-eyed sister was thinking, she would definitely defend herself: It’s not that I didn’t want to make it at home; I just couldn’t resist bringing out the new rice!
Of course, Xiang Chuan had no mind-reading, so she could only answer honestly: “No no, you can’t make this with rice flour. This is made from rice before it’s ground into rice flour. I don’t think they sell this on the market.”
Meaning: I can’t make it right away at home either.
[I don’t care, send the recipe! I’ll have Father and Xiao Xing prepare it later. It’s just unground rice flour, we can definitely buy it!]
Xiang Xue stared fixedly at Xiang Chuan’s egg fried rice, swallowing repeatedly, suddenly losing interest in the roasted chicken just served.
At this point, Lin Ming spoke up helplessly from the side:
[Xiang Xue, haven’t you forgotten Sister Xiang Chuan is on the escort ship right now?]
[Yeah, but sending a recipe is no problem, right?]
Xiang Xue said indignantly.
[Did you forget? Due to the space-time network signal station malfunction, space-time network functions are greatly limited. Even Sister Xiang Chuan’s patent authorization can’t be sent instantly to the Information Turbulence Processing Office. Right, Sister Xiang Chuan?]
When Lin Ming looked at the lens, his face instantly switched to an obedient smile like Sichuan Opera face-changing, making Xiang Xue really want to smack the back of his head.
Xiang Chuan smiled and said:
“The authorization might not be that troublesome. Our homeroom teacher said she’ll feedback to A Dan the captain and see if they can go through the government route to prioritize submission to the office. But the recipe doesn’t get that privilege. Just wait obediently until the day after tomorrow.”
Hearing this, Xiang Xue immediately protested.
[I can’t wait! It looks so tasty, but I can only watch… Father! Can I take leave tomorrow to go to the production escort ship? I don’t mind getting up early!]
Xiang Chuan glanced at her father in the background.
Xiang Weiguo was now propping his chin with one hand, pondering the feasibility. Seeing her father’s eager expression, Xiang Chuan even suspected he might tag along as guardian.
Just then, Lin Minzhi’s cold voice rang out from off-screen:
[No. Xiao Xue, go to class obediently these days. Dear, stop fixating on this. Handle the beans first, don’t cause more trouble for Xiao Chuan.]
Hearing this, Xiang Xue visibly deflated, and Xiang Weiguo in the background obediently buried himself in his noodles.
Xiang Chuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. With today’s sudden situation, she couldn’t guarantee no more accidents in the next two days. If Father came and started arguing with government people, things would be hard to resolve.
In her mind, she gave a silent thumbs-up to her mother for stopping Father and her sister, pondering whether to prepare a few world classics for Mother upon return, to contribute to the Cultural Affairs Bureau.
