He Didn't Know He Was Wrong

People from the Ba-Shu Region took their food seriously—it was in their bones.

If food disgusted them, they wouldn't be able to swallow the anger in their hearts without venting it. Who could stand that kind of humiliation?

Hearing the commotion, Zhou Yan couldn't help but step over to the doorway to watch.

Quite a crowd had gathered at the factory gate, and some people had even come out of the factory carrying their rice bowls to watch.

Wasn't this better than having side dishes with their cafeteria food?

Wang Laowu stood before his noodle pot being scolded, wilted like an eggplant struck by frost.

His wife's face was bright red, and she wished she could crawl into a hole.

By late October, mornings and evenings had turned cool, but once the sun came out during the day, the temperature was still quite high.

Wang Laowu's noodle stall had a sheet of oilcloth stretched above it. The toppings and minced-meat sauce had sat in the sun all day, then been left overnight. By noon today, they had naturally begun to smell sour.

"It... it was just a little leftover from yesterday. We picked out the meat. How could it possibly have any smell?" Wang Laowu said, pursing his lips with some grievance.

Beef cost two yuan a jin. Who would be willing to throw it away?

Because of Zhou Erwa Restaurant yesterday, more than half the toppings and sauce they had prepared had been left over. With prices slashed today, the couple had figured they could fry up a huge pot of fresh ingredients, mix the leftovers in, and no one would notice.

They hadn't expected the sun to be so vicious today and the temperature to rise so quickly. The food had already turned sour by noon, and even pepper powder couldn't cover it up.

"No matter how bad the Factory Canteen's noodles are, they're still better than your leftovers!"

"Exactly! Zhou Yan's place looks clean and sanitary! Spending an extra twenty cents means eating with peace of mind!"

The customers had no interest in Wang Laowu's excuses. Some immediately got up and headed for Zhou Erwa Restaurant.

"Hey, you haven't paid yet!" Wang Laowu's wife, Liu Fen, cried anxiously.

"You still dare ask for money? It's already merciful of us not to tear your whole stall apart! Believe it or not, I'll report you to the Market Management Committee?" Liu Laoba hopped madly in place. "And here I was, trusting you so much! I've eaten noodles at your place for years!"

"Exactly!" Wang Jianming snorted along with him and walked away without looking back.

Liu Fen still wanted to argue.

"Don't say another word!" Wang Laowu tugged on Liu Fen's clothes and lowered his voice. "If this gets reported, we won't even be able to keep the stall open."

"It's all your fault! I told you the weather was too hot and the food would spoil easily! Now all the customers have gone to Zhou Yan's place. What are we supposed to do?" Liu Fen stamped her feet anxiously.

To steal Zhou Yan's business today, they had gone all out. Yet half the sauce and toppings were still left. If they couldn't sell them, they wouldn't even recover their costs.

"It's all Zhou Yan's fault. Otherwise, we wouldn't have had so much sauce left over yesterday." Wang Laowu looked equally miserable. Ruining the reputation he had built over years hurt worse than losing a few basins of sauce.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Feeding customers leftovers—what a rotten thing to do. Their conscience must've been eaten by dogs!" Zhao Tieying had also come to the door to watch the excitement. Smacking her lips, she laughed. "See? Just like they say: an evil old hen hatching a barren egg—serves them right!"

Zhao Tieying hadn't lowered her voice at all, and the customers heading toward the restaurant all heard her.

"Auntie Zhao is right!"

Some customers laughed and cursed along with her, their favorable impression of Auntie Zhao rising sharply.

Wang Laowu and Liu Fen's faces turned green. Since they were in the wrong, they didn't even dare talk back.

Mother and son exchanged a smile. Zhou Yan silently gave his mother a thumbs-up. When it came to critical hits, Auntie Zhao, the master of sarcasm, was still the best.

Wang Laowu's self-exposure greatly eased Zhou Yan's pressure from stockpiling ingredients.

Many customers who had originally come for noodles with more meat at forty cents per liang decisively chose the heavily recommended Zhou Erwa Restaurant after hearing that Wang Laowu used leftovers. Customer traffic surged.

Wang Laowu and Liu Fen guarded their empty stall with miserable expressions.

"Should we invite Director Wang over again to back us up? If this keeps up, we can't keep doing business," Liu Fen whispered, tugging Wang Laowu's sleeve.

"You go invite him. I'll..." Wang Laowu whispered a few words into her ear.

"Alright." Liu Fen nodded and hurried off.

Wang Laowu got to his feet, picked up half a basin of Braised Beef topping, and called out loudly, "I, Wang Laowu, was wrong about what happened today. I shouldn't have begrudged the leftover beef, and I especially shouldn't have let customers eat leftover sauce and toppings. If I was wrong, then I should stand at attention and take the punishment. I have nothing to say for myself. But I've sold noodles at the Textile Factory gate for two years, and this is the first time I've done something like this. I hope everyone can give me a chance to turn over a new leaf. I swear that from today on, our noodle stall will never use leftovers again."

After saying that, he directly poured the beef topping in his hands into the slop bucket beside him. That half enamel basin contained at least two or three jin of beef.

Then he picked up another basin of minced-meat sauce and poured that into the slop bucket too.

Wang Laowu's move drew the attention of quite a few workers.

That was all meat. Ordinary families only ate it once or twice a month, yet it was being wasted just like that.

Wang Laowu poured out three basins of sauce and toppings before stopping. Then he declared loudly, "The remaining toppings and sauce are all good. They were freshly fried this morning, and there's absolutely no leftovers mixed in!"

"To show our apology, I'm treating everyone to free noodles. One bowl of noodles with one liang of meat, and you won't have to spend a single cent! Consider it my apology to everyone!"

As soon as he said that, quite a few workers' eyes lit up.

Customers who had originally been walking toward Zhou Erwa Restaurant couldn't help stopping in their tracks.

A bowl of noodles with one liang of meat, completely free of charge—there was certainly something appealing about that.

"It's free. Should we give it a try? Everyone used to say Wang Laowu's noodles were decent, didn't they?"

"If he knows his mistake and changes, we should still give him a chance."

"He doesn't know he was wrong. He's just scared. If you want to go, go ahead. I'm eating noodles at Zhou Yan's place."

The workers discussed it quietly. Some headed toward Wang Laowu's noodle stall, while others remained determined to go to Zhou Erwa Restaurant.

The corners of Wang Laowu's mouth rose. He had won his gamble. The remaining sauce would spoil by tomorrow anyway, so he might as well give it away for free to salvage his reputation. Then he could sell noodles cheaply for a while, and this matter would gradually blow over.

Zhao Tieying carried the bowls into the kitchen and told Zhou Yan about it.

"He's got some nerve, I'll give him that." Zhou Yan paused as he lifted noodles from the pot. Wang Laowu had reacted quickly enough with this crisis management move. It seemed using his self-exposure to shut down the noodle stall might not be so easy after all.

He wondered whether Station Chief Gao was reliable and whether he could trace things back to Wang Laowu.

"It's fine. Sooner or later, heaven will deal with that kind of rotten scum," Zhao Tieying said with a smile, comforting Zhou Yan. "The most important thing is for us to make our noodles well and let customers eat with peace of mind."

"You're right." Zhou Yan smiled and nodded. Auntie Zhao really was someone who didn't let things eat away at her.

Once the news that the noodles were free spread, Wang Laowu's stall quickly became lively again. Before long, seven or eight people were seated there.

Wang Laowu stood before the large pot cooking noodles, a smile returning to his face. Losing a little money was fine. As long as he could keep the business going, he would earn it back sooner or later.

Meanwhile, Liu Fen had brought Wang Defa over as well.

Wang Defa stood before the noodle pot with his hands behind his back and his belly thrust out, lecturing in a pained tone, "Wang Laowu, you fool! How do I usually educate you? You need to make sure our worker brothers eat well, eat their fill, and most importantly, eat with peace of mind."

"Director Wang, you're right. I let greed cloud my mind. I just couldn't bear to waste the meat. I'll never dare do it again," Wang Laowu said, nodding furiously.

"Sigh, I know you're used to being frugal. Everyone has only recently begun eating enough, so I understand. But you absolutely must not make this kind of mistake again." Wang Defa nodded slightly, his tone softening considerably. "Your noodles are still quite good. Your meat is as high-quality as the Factory Canteen's, the portions are generous, and the prices are affordable. Unlike some restaurants, whose eyes see nothing but money, acting like capitalists."

"Of course, of course," Wang Laowu agreed with repeated nods.

Wang Defa and Wang Laowu put on such a convincing double act that even Zhou Yan, who had come out carrying bowls of noodles, couldn't help stopping to listen for a moment. He really couldn't underestimate the wisdom of ordinary people. Their public relations tactics were no worse than those of some slapdash outfits in later generations—and they even managed to disgust him in the process.

"Even the Factory Canteen's Director Wang thinks so highly of Wang Laowu's noodles. That means they really must be good."

"The Factory Canteen's meat gets priority supply from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Wang Laowu really is willing to spend money on ingredients."

"How about I go back and call everyone from the workshop over? Chances like this to eat for free don't come around often."

The workers nodded repeatedly after hearing that. Several more sat down to give the noodles a try, while others prepared to call their friends over.

Wang Defa smiled smugly, preparing to spout a few more official platitudes.

Just then, two jeeps drove up and stopped in front of the noodle stall.

Two epidemic prevention officers in white coats got out of the first vehicle, which had "Jiazhou Epidemic Prevention Station" painted on it. One of them was Gao Tianlei.

Two officers got out of the vehicle behind it. After glancing at the noodle stall's sign, they looked at Wang Laowu and said, "Wang Dewei, right? You're suspected of purchasing large quantities of meat from diseased pigs over a long period, endangering food safety. Come with us for questioning!"