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墨書 Inktalez
During mealtime, many people were carrying their utensils and heading in one direction. Song Pearl followed the crowd without needing to ask for directions and arrived at the Helper's entrance. The Helper had only two windows, one for selling rice and the other for selling vegetables.
Both windows had people lined up, and there were also customers leaving with their meals. There was no restaurant; some workers went directly to the workshop to eat, while others took their meals back to the dormitory.
Song Pearl stood in line behind the crowd when someone tapped her shoulder from the side.
"Song Pearl~"
Song Pearl turned around and saw it was Hong Xinran, whose large sunglasses covered half of her expression, revealing only a slightly raised corner of her mouth.
"Song Pearl, could you please treat me to lunch? You know I didn't bring any money," Hong Xinran said somewhat awkwardly in a low voice.
"Sure, what do you like to eat?" Song Pearl asked.
"Anything is fine; just get me whatever you buy," Hong Xinran replied easily.
In reality, there weren't many choices; it wasn't that they could have whatever they wanted from the Helper.
When Song Pearl reached the window, she realized there was only one type of noodle dish available: golden-brown steamed bread steaming under a cloth. She bought two pieces according to her appetite and handed them to Hong Xinran.
Hong Xinran took the two pieces and raised an eyebrow, asking, "Only two? Aren't you going to eat?"
"I'll buy another one," Song Pearl quickly handed over another meal ticket.
The twenty yuan meal ticket given to Song Pearl by Gao Xiaoxia could be used for both rice and vegetables, with each ticket worth one yuan. This type of steamed bread cost fifty cents each.
The vendor at the rice window handed her another piece of steamed bread and returned a five-dime meal ticket.
The person behind Song Pearl in line looked at her with displeasure; the pace was too slow.
Song Pearl remembered that during her past trips to the market, there was only one serving of stir-fried celery with meat left unsold, and she had no choice but to eat it.
Hong Xinran shook her head from the side, saying, "I don't like it. Celery tastes like grass, it's too awful. And look at that meat, where's the meat?"
Hong Xinran's picky comments displeased Vegetable Vendor, who waved his iron ladle in annoyance and said, "If you don't like it, let the next person have it. This will be gone soon."
"What's so great about this? This vegetable is fit for pigs!" Hong Xinran muttered under her breath.
Song Pearl quickly put on a smile for the grumpy vendor, "Then I'll take the hot dogs, three hot dogs." Vegetable Vendor huffed and tossed three hot dogs at the window without asking for a ticket.
"How much?" Song Pearl asked while holding up her meal ticket.
"Don't worry about the money, just take them!" The vendor continued to serve vegetables to the next person after taking the bowl handed over.
"Hmph, that's more like it. Even eating this vegetable requires compensation for my spirit."
Song Pearl still wanted to give him the ticket, but Hong Xinran pressed down her hand and pulled her arm away as they walked, sneering, "Why give it to him? He doesn't want it! Didn't you see that guy serving? He's such a miser. He only scoops half a spoonful, and after shaking his arm a few times, there's barely anything left in the bowl."
"I didn't notice," Song Pearl replied.
"Were you always eating this kind of food when you were in school?" Hong Xinran asked. "Otherwise, how could you not see it?"
"No, the food was quite abundant."
"Then your thinness must be due to poor absorption."
Hong Xinran concluded.
"That sounds about right."
Most of the time back then, Song Pearl only ate steamed buns with pickled vegetables; even if the restaurant had lavish dishes, she couldn't absorb them properly.
The two of them arrived at Hong Xinran's medical office, which was spacious with two rooms.
The outer room had a desk and chairs, with two long benches against the wall. On the shelf behind the desk, there were already some medicines placed. The door was open, revealing a bed and a rack for hanging IV bags.
It looked quite similar to a rural clinic.
Hong Xinran pulled a bench over to the table and took out paper cups to pour two cups of water.
Song Pearl sat on the bench, peeled a sausage, and tore open a piece of steamed bread to make a homemade hot dog.
"It looks pretty delicious," Hong Xinran said as she sat down and imitated Song Pearl by putting the sausage into the bread. The soft white layer of the steamed bread released fragrant steam, and it indeed looked good.
After Hong Xinran finished her two homemade hot dogs, Song Pearl had just swallowed her last bite.
"Are you still hungry after eating so little?" Hong Xinran asked while drinking water.
"I'm full," Song Pearl replied, lifting her cup. The water was at just the right temperature; she drank it all in one go and poured herself another cup.
"This steamed bread is really special; I've never had such delicious bread before!" Hong Xinran burped contentedly and picked up the kettle to pour herself some water.
"Where do you work? How's the environment?" Hong Xinran asked.
"It's okay, quite quiet. I'm an inspector, but I still don't know what work I'll be doing," Song Pearl said while turning her cup in her hands.
"What did you study?"
"Animal Husbandry."
Hong Xinran choked on her water a bit and looked up at Song Pearl. "How did Animal Husbandry end up in this machining factory?"
"I don't know either; it seems they really need someone like me."
"Whose is it?"
"Our village chief's."
"Oh..." Hong Xinran elongated her voice and smiled slightly, "We're all the same. I should be working at a big hospital, but because I couldn't find a good doctor, I thought they needed someone like me, so I volunteered to go to the countryside. Fortunately, I didn't sign a contract with that hospital; otherwise, I would have had to pay compensation."
"Did you find a job before?" Song Pearl asked.
"Yes, I applied at Eastern International Hospital and got accepted, but my family didn't want me to work so far away, so I came back," Hong Xinran said, sounding a bit disappointed.
"I've also found a job at an Animal Husbandry Research Institute. They want me to report there before the New Year, but I haven't told them that I can't go," Song Pearl mentioned her own situation.
"You should still inform them; it's an issue of integrity. It allows the organization to prepare for recruitment," Hong Xinran said.
"I had some things going on earlier and forgot," Song Pearl replied, falling silent for a moment. "I'll find a place to call and let them know."
"The signal here is poor; my phone has no reception," Hong Xinran said as she took out a small phone. "When we go to work later, I'll go with you to the office to make the call."
"Can we use it casually?" Song Pearl asked uncertainly.
"Why not? The factory phone is meant for workers to use," Hong Xinran replied confidently.
"Alright, then you can accompany me," Song Pearl said, pressing her lips together.
"No problem. I've noticed you have a long face like a bitter melon; you hardly smile..." Hong Xinran laughed heartily.
Song Pearl smiled slightly, which made Hong Xinran laugh even more.
Hong Xinran's walking posture was anything but ladylike; she walked with confidence. She swaggered ahead of Song Pearl and led her to the office, knocking on the door before entering. The office director was sitting at his desk reading documents.
"Director, could you help us with something? We need to use the phone," Hong Xinran said.
The office director shifted his gaze from the documents, looked at the two people who had entered, and pointed to the phone beside him, saying, "Go ahead and use it."
Song Pearl followed behind Hong Xinran. She noticed that the homeroom teacher had raised his head and couldn't help but blink. What had the director done at noon? Why was there a paw print on his forehead?
"Go on!" Hong Xinran nudged Song Pearl.
Seeing that Song Pearl was staring at him and not approaching, the office director assumed she was shy, so he stood up and left his seat to walk out of the office.
"Xinran, did you see that paw print on the homeroom teacher's forehead?" Song Pearl asked.
"Where? I only saw the homeroom teacher's smooth forehead and handsome face just now; there was no paw print," Hong Xinran shook her head. "Hurry up and make the call."
"Wait until he comes back, then you can take another look," Song Pearl picked up the receiver and said to Hong Xinran, "I clearly saw a paw print on his forehead just now~"
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