Chapter 248: Kenny And Li Wei Strike Up A Conversation
In the canteen of the Third Military Escort Ship.
As the Nongda Affiliated High School students took their seats one after another, the serving plates they held lined up in the student dining area. The appetizing aroma of the dishes wafted into the noses of everyone who passed by the student dining area intentionally or otherwise, making those who couldn’t eat even hungrier.
The instructors got some perks; the students shared some dumplings with them, letting them savor the taste. More people could only look on longingly, holding their solid food and liquid food in hand, imagining themselves eating flatbread and dumplings and drinking delicious meat soup.
Of course, some bold ones directly approached the students to observe, such as Kenny and Li Wei.
After the students sat down, the two immediately decided to find someone to ask about the inside story. The first ones they targeted were naturally Class Eight Grade One, who had participated throughout the entire edible processing.
——
Xiang Chuan sat in the farthest corner of the dining area with three A Bite of China Club members as well as Chou Manman and Nancy. The few were chatting about the gains from just making the dishes.
The most nervous just now was Liang Gong, who had a relatively timid personality. Earlier, when Xiang Chuan had the three lead Class Eight everyone to help out, since they were all processing ingredients together, Liang Gong hadn’t paid much attention to everyone’s gazes. But this time, Xiang Chuan directly named him to lead the dessert group. When Liang Gong walked up to Labor Committee Member Fu Chengkai, he was even so nervous that his legs nearly went weak.
Fortunately, Class Eight everyone knew Liang Gong’s personality and comforted him one after another, easing his nervous emotions, which kept the dessert production progress from falling behind.
“I think I’d better make desserts alone next time. It’s really not suitable for me to lead other classmates to do it together.”
Liang Gong took a lingering sip of carrot chicken soup with trepidation. The chicken soup, rich with chicken aroma and the sweet taste of carrot, eased his mood a bit.
“Hey, it’s too late to say that now. Your club is now our school’s signature. For any big or small activity, the principal will definitely call on you to show your skills first.” Nancy chuckled. “Even sometimes the principal doesn’t need to arrange it; you’ll do it on your own like now or like during the previous field training.”
It was only the first semester, and they were already so eye-catching. There were still five semesters left in high school. By graduation, the four A Bite of China Club members would probably become the most watched prominent figures of this batch.
Hearing this, Liang Gong’s cheeks twitched uncontrollably a few times. During the past two weeks’ weekends when he went back to his hometown to pack some summer clothes, passing by the port or residential area and running into his mother’s colleagues, not only did they call out his name directly, but they also warmly inquired about his well-being. Before this, he had been referred to as “Aksim General Manager’s child” by his mother’s colleagues.
But there was no way around it. After all, the cancellation of the Production Escort Ship Reduction Draft and the establishment of the Agricultural Products Increased Production Ratio Adjustment Draft both had the active figures of A Bite of China Club behind them. Since the live stream of the field training, all government personnel engaged in agriculture first remembered Xiang Chuan. Later, in the video records and image records from the Fourth Production Escort Ship, the three A Bite of China Club members Ainuo, Ouyang Yating, and Liang Gong also gradually spread.
There were even rumors that if the four planned to study agriculture-related majors in the future, Demeter Agricultural University, the most famous in the Third Fleet, would not only offer full tuition waivers for the four, but also provide the best teaching environment in the professional practice courses over the next four years of university.
However, considering that A Bite of China Club was indeed at the forefront of ancient diet culture research right now, this rumor wasn’t doubted much by the folks at Nongda Affiliated High School. Instead, it stirred up some gossip at other schools.
While Liang Gong was lost in thought, two tall figures appeared by the dining table.
“Good afternoon, fellow students.” Kenny showed a confident smile and even winked at Xiang Chuan, who had slightly raised her head to look at them. “Interested in chatting a bit?”
“Sorry to interrupt your lunch, we just want to ask about these foods processed with special food processing technology.” Li Wei impassively cut straight to the point.
Hearing Li Wei’s words, Xiang Chuan was somewhat surprised.
Now the entire Third Fleet called the recipes she brought out ancient food or ancient gourmet food and such. Almost no one used this roundabout phrasing anymore. Could these two have been on an assignment outside for half a year before coming back?
“You two are soldiers from the Eleventh Fleet Pioneer Unit, right? We seem to have seen you at the port this morning.”
Ouyang Yating took over the topic.
“Yes, I apologize for our captain’s rude behavior this morning. He’s usually a bit too impulsive, and we didn’t stop him in time. Please forgive us.”
As he spoke, Li Wei gave Kenny a cold glance. Kenny could only laugh dryly. He hadn’t expected the trouble he caused in the morning to boomerang back at him in this form. If he had known these pretty female students might be related to ancient food processing technology, he… he still wouldn’t have been able to resist taking a few more looks.
This guy was all about sticking to one path to the end.
“Captain?”
Now it was the six at the dining table who showed surprised expressions. Xiang Chuan looked at Kenny beside her, who had the vibe of a Hollywood carefree young male star. She remembered this guy; he was the one staring at Ouyang Yating’s and Nancy’s thighs that morning.
Such a guy was the captain of the Pioneer Unit… Xiang Chuan picked up the fruit milk at hand and thoughtfully took a few sips, wondering if staying too long in the troops had made him like this. How could a fine young man think of looking at female students’ thighs?
“Forgive my bluntness, officers. Instead of asking us, you’d be better off asking Captain Huaken or the Agriculture Bureau on the main ship.” Ainuo swallowed the beef dumpling in their mouth and said calmly. “We’re just students; what we know isn’t comprehensive. We know how to do many things but not why they’re done that way. Moreover, you’re not residents of our fleet, so we’re even less at liberty to disclose.”
“Yeah, after all, as you said, these are foods processed using special food processing technology.” Unbeknownst to herself, Nancy sat up straight, like an elegant young lady, and took a small sip of the warm milk at hand. “Though there shouldn’t be barriers between fleets, this concerns the improvement and application of new technology, which isn’t for us students to decide. If we let something slip, it wouldn’t be good for the school or our families.”
Ainuo and Nancy’s responses shut down the questions Li Wei had prepared. He gritted his teeth inwardly and said no more.
In fact, as the two said, Xiang Chuan didn’t have much say on the issue of publicizing the recipes. The only thing she could control was getting a decent income during the authorization protection period through the authorization of these foods—even by Xiang Family standards.
As for whether to publicize these recipes or authorize them to whom, those matters were handled by Xiang Chuan’s most direct authorization buyer, Xiang Weiguo, in discussions with government higher-ups. Xiang Chuan herself didn’t have much decision-making power.
Xiang Chuan bit into a dumpling and looked at Li Wei, who had been left speechless by Ainuo and Nancy. She felt at least a bit relieved in her heart.
Her club members could still handle such sudden situations. It seemed she didn’t need to put on a corporate slave face and speak officialese. Rejoice.
