Chapter 97: First Update

The competition results were announced, and Xu Lu stormed out in a rage. He felt like everyone in the audience was mocking him. Their play had scored poorly and hadn't even made it into the top five, let alone the top three.

It wasn't the actors' fault; the blame lay with Jia Hui's lackluster script.

"I had a feeling the script was a bit dull."

"Too formal, lacking in uniqueness."

"It looked promising, but it just didn't connect."

Filled with resentment, Xu Lu blamed Jia Hui for misleading him. He regretted ever getting involved in this play. However, before he even reached his dormitory, he saw a large crowd gathered at the door.

Confused, Xu Lu approached and saw the head of security from the cultural center holding the laxative he had purchased, along with a pharmacy staff member.

A bolt of realization struck him, and Xu Lu turned pale.

"Xu Lu, we suspect you deliberately gave Tang Runjie a laxative to sabotage the competition."

There was no denying the evidence. Xu Lu couldn't explain why he had bought the laxative, why he had given food laced with it to Tang Runjie, and why it had happened on the day of the competition...

The onlookers began to look at Xu Lu with suspicion.

"He looks decent, but his methods are despicable."

"He's too slick; I knew he was just pretending, not a good person."

"Putting on a show of righteousness, he doesn’t seem like a good person."

"Little Tang was sent to the hospital; it was almost a matter of life and death."

"It’s just a competition; did it really need to come to this?"

...

Xu Lu's face was etched with panic. He couldn't let his reputation be tarnished. "It's not my fault, I was forced. Jia Hui was jealous of Qin Yao's well-written script, so she made me drug Tang Runjie. Tang Runjie and I are good friends; I couldn't bring myself to do it, but Jia Hui begged me... I couldn't bear to refuse, so I agreed."

"I didn't want to do this; it was all Jia Hui, she wanted to win the award!"

Without a second thought, Xu Lu turned on Jia Hui, ratting her out. When Jia Hui arrived, she glared at him hatefully.

"I never told you to do such a thing; you were jealous of Tang Runjie and afraid he would overshadow you as a police officer."

"Nonsense, you were afraid Qin Yao's play would win the award."

...

The two began to accuse each other, and in the end, they both received punishment.

Qin Yao didn't witness this incident firsthand, but she could imagine. Her keen eye helped her spot where Xu Lu had hidden the laxative, and she contacted the head of security. Tang Runjie was sent to the hospital, and the leaders of the cultural center were sure to severely investigate the matter.

Drugging a colleague isn’t something to take lightly; the consequences are too serious. If it wasn't dealt with seriously, would competitors start drugging each other in future competitions?

Wrongdoing must be punished.

Before heading home, Qin Yao grabbed an extra hand and took Gu Cheng to the vegetable garden at the cultural center. Nowadays, every unit had its own vegetable plots and orchards, with strong self-sufficiency capabilities. Qin Yao had a small vegetable plot behind the cultural center.

In addition, the unit had a large sweet potato field, collectively planted. By the end of the year, each person would receive at least 100 jin of sweet potatoes.

Sweet potatoes are an especially easy crop to grow, even more so on an island like this. Basically, you won’t go hungry. The planting method is quite simple. After burying the base fertilizer in the early stages, you only need to flip the soil occasionally without much further care—just wait for the harvest. One acre can yield at least 2,000 pounds of sweet potatoes.

Most of the crops in the vegetable garden now are fruits and vegetables that are easy to grow and not prone to pests, such as pumpkins, luffas, chayote, taro, and ridge gourd, with pumpkins and luffas being the most common. These two are real giants. If you just throw luffa seeds in the ground and leave them be, they can grow like crazy and produce a dense crop of fruits.

Pumpkins also grow vigorously. Not to mention the pumpkins themselves, the pumpkin vines and pumpkin flowers are also excellent ingredients.

Qin Yao and Gu Cheng went to the field to pick a lot of fresh pumpkin vines and pumpkin flowers. She loved eating these. A simple soup, without any seasoning, would have a natural fragrance from the ingredients themselves.

The same was true for ridge gourd. With some pork and minced garlic, you could cook up a fragrant ridge gourd soup.

Luffas don’t taste particularly good—Qin Yao didn’t like them, but they grew well and had high yields.

"Is it enough? Do you want more pumpkins?" Gu Cheng saw that Qin Yao had picked so many pumpkin vines and flowers and was a bit worried. Captain Gu really didn’t understand why this stuff was considered good to eat.

Eating pumpkin vines feels like chewing on grass, and pumpkin flowers aren’t particularly tasty, but some women, including Qin Yao, enjoy them.

Unlike his wife, Gu Cheng preferred eating the pumpkin itself, not the leaves.

"Take a few then." The pumpkins grown at this time were small but much more delicious and powdery than any pumpkin Qin Yao would eat later.

The same was true for tomatoes back then. They were rich in flavor, unlike the bland, hard tomatoes you get nowadays.

Qin Yao had Gu Cheng carry all the fruits and vegetables, hanging them all over him. The pumpkin vines weren’t just for her own consumption; she also planned to give some to Baozhen and a few neighbors.

He Lian saw Captain Gu loaded with fruits and veggies, wanting to laugh but holding back. He offered, "Captain Gu, let me carry them."

"No need." Gu Cheng carried the items to the car first. There was a car parked on an empty lot not far from the cultural center.

Xiao Ding, who drove for the transportation unit, was waiting under a tree to take them to the family housing area later.

Qin Yao patted the fuzz off her hands, still feeling prickly and uncomfortable, so she went to wash her hands by the faucet.

Pumpkin vines are like that, covered in white fuzz.

"Xiao Qin, was it your husband who performed as a police officer on stage today?" A middle-aged woman spoke to Qin Yao. It was Aunt Zhou, who managed the warehouse.

"Yes, Aunt Zhou." Qin Yao nodded and smiled.

"Really good, a perfect match with you." Aunt Zhou sighed in admiration and thought to herself that although Xiao Qin’s husband was handsome, he looked like someone not to be trifled with—someone to admire from afar.

"Xiao Qin, aren’t you asking around for job opportunities for your brother? I have some information that might be useful. There’s a chef at a state-owned restaurant who can’t handle the physical demands anymore and is selling his position for 800 yuan. See if you’re interested."

At that time, jobs could be inherited, traded, or even sold privately. The rules around job transfers weren’t very strict.

800 yuan for a position wasn’t cheap, but this was a state-owned restaurant. If you did the math, it wasn’t a loss.

Aunt Zhou winked. "Xiao Qin, this is a one-time deal—don’t miss out!"

She tried hard to hide her unease, wanting to make the deal. Spending 800 yuan on a chef position wasn’t a loss when you considered the value, but on this island, it was "a market without buyers," making it hard to sell.

If someone had 800 yuan, why would they spend it on a chef position? The job required enduring hardship and mastering skills.

The chef was a distant relative of hers. He was getting old and had been ill, unable to handle the physical demands of cooking. Now his son was getting married and needed money for a bride price and building a house. So, they decided to retire early and sell the job to raise money for the wedding and new house.

The son would have a job and wouldn’t need to inherit his father’s position, and the father could also retire and make some money to enjoy his later years with his grandchildren.

Others were interested, but they could only offer between 200 and 300 yuan. Even if they could pay 800 yuan, they said the money would have to be paid over the next few years. By then, the chance would have passed.

Some even offered to become his godson and learn his skills in exchange for becoming his apprentice, swearing they would pay him back in full in the future—ugh, what a fantasy! They wanted to owe him money and learn his craft. What a dream!

Aunt Zhou, hearing about his difficulties, thought of Qin Yao from their unit. She was looking for a job for her brother. Her family was from a big city, and both her parents had jobs, as did her husband... They could definitely afford it.

Chef Zhang’s minimum price was 500 yuan, payable upfront. He didn’t accept payment plans.

"I'll go home and talk to my brother about it and think it over," Qin Yao thought, feeling this was a great opportunity—800 yuan seemed like a steal—but she didn’t get too excited. She knew things that seemed too good could have hidden downsides.

The deal might not go through. Qin Yao didn’t agree right away, afraid that if she seemed too eager, they might take advantage and ask for more money.

"You’d better decide quickly. Opportunities wait for no one, and you might miss it."

Qin Yao nodded. She took a bottle of water and headed toward the gate of the cultural center. There, she ran into Gu Cheng who was looking for her. She poured water for him to wash his hands. "It's all covered in fuzz."

Gu Cheng grumbled, "You know how fuzzy that stuff gets..."

Those pumpkin vines were covered in fuzz that stuck to everything and itched. And when they got home, they still had to peel off the tough outer layer.

The two got in the car and returned to the residential compound. Qin Yao invited He Lian to come over for a meal. He quickly declined, "Thanks, but I’ve got other things to take care of."

Qin Yao went inside and brought out some candies to see them off.

When Gu Cheng got home, he first took a shower and changed his clothes, then went to pick up the two chubby kids he hadn’t seen in a while. "These two little guys are so chubby. I should’ve named one ‘Fatty’ and the other ‘Stouty.’”

"Are you proud that your son has the name ‘Stouty’?" Qin Yao picked up little Mingming, unable to help but smile at his chubby face that looked so much like Gu Cheng's.

Mingming’s chubby face was even rounder than his dad’s. His small fist clenched, looking all innocent and honest, but his black, shiny eyes darting around showed he had many tricks up his sleeve.

Rui Rui, on the other hand, had sharp features and a more serious look, but he always let his little brother get away with bullying him.

The two couldn’t nurse at the same time. Little Mingming, with his many tricks, would be nursing just fine but then suspect that his brother was getting better milk. He’d push his face over to steal his brother’s spot.

Rui Rui, with his good temper, would just indulge his younger brother.

"Try calling their names. They already respond."

"Really?" Gu Cheng tried, "Rui Rui?"

Rui Rui responded with a simple "Ah?" while Mingming shouted, "Ahhh, eeya!!!"

Gu Cheng face-palmed. "Mingming? Mingming?"

Rui Rui: "Ahya!"

Mingming: "Ahhh, wa ma!!"

Since the two boys spent so much time together, they often got confused about which name belonged to whom.

Gu Cheng continued, "Yaoyao, Qin Yao?"

Rui Rui responded enthusiastically, "Ahh, wawa!!!"

Mingming responded just as enthusiastically, "Hee ahhh, wawa!!!"

Qin Yao just shook her head, laughing.