Back to the 1970s: Building My Fortune Through Time Trading

Chapter 169: Cafeteria Bidding

She weighed it in her palm a few times, confirming that this Gold Bracelet was indeed suspicious.

With a complex expression, she gave Zhang Dongmei a look: "Are you sure your fiancé is really a wealthy businessman from Hong Kong?"

At this time, there were indeed some wealthy businessmen from Hong Kong coming to the mainland to develop, but they were rare.

"Of course, what’s wrong? Jealous that I found such a wealthy fiancé?"

Zhang Dongmei said while grabbing back her Gold Bracelet, "Look at you, acting like you’ve never seen the world. It’s just a Gold Bracelet, your eyes are practically falling out."

As she spoke, she put the bracelet back on her wrist.

She flaunted it smugly: "My fiancé said that when we get married, he’ll give me a diamond ring."

So what if Su Xiaoxiao clings to Zhou Cheng?

He’s just a mere battalion commander, how much stipend can he earn in a month?

Unlike her, who is going to be the wife of a wealthy businessman.

Su Xiaoxiao glanced at her Gold Bracelet, then quietly withdrew her gaze without saying a word.

She had thought it was 24K gold, but it turned out to be cheap iron marked with 666.

Even if she told Zhang Dongmei, she probably wouldn’t believe it and might even think Su Xiaoxiao was jealous and making up nonsense.

Anyway, she had already given a heads-up. If Zhang Dongmei doesn’t have the brains to figure it out, she can’t be blamed.

She can only hope Zhang Dongmei keeps a low profile and stops flaunting.

After three o’clock, there weren’t many people left in the department store, seeing that it was almost time to clock out, Su Xiaoxiao packed her things and went to find Xu Cuilan.

The two took the bus together to City Hall.

On the way, Xu Cuilan grumbled indignantly: "I don’t know which blind leader arranged for such a shameless fellow to come in, it’s not right."

"Using rotten vegetables and lymph meat to pass off as premium, I wouldn’t tolerate this even if it were Director Song’s relative."

Luckily, it was a weekday afternoon, so there weren’t many customers. What if it had happened over the weekend?

More than half of the sales clerks ended up with upset stomachs.

Usually, Xu Cuilan wouldn’t want to directly confront the leadership, but this situation was handled really improperly.

When the idea of setting up the canteen first came up, she had proposed openly selecting someone capable to run it.

Who would have thought the higher-ups immediately decided, shoving in someone’s so-called nephew?

Every mention of it infuriated Xu Cuilan, and today she went to argue with the canteen manager, Manager Zhao, but he even threatened her, saying he’d get his relatives to make her suffer.

It was enough to make her furious.

Su Xiaoxiao listened to her gripe the whole way, and as the bus finally stopped, they hurriedly squeezed off.

Before, she had met Director Song at the department store; this was her first time coming to City Hall.

These buildings looked much grander than others.

But, they weren’t here for the sightseeing.

The two headed straight for Director Song’s office on the top floor.

They arrived just in time, as Director Song was about to head out with his briefcase. He had just closed his office door and turned around to see them standing behind him, giving him a start.

"What brings you two here? Need something?"

Director Song scanned them, his gaze ultimately landing on Su Xiaoxiao.

Xu Cuilan quickly spoke up: "Director Song, we’ve come to discuss the new canteen with you."

"The canteen?"

Director Song frowned, casually opening the door, "Come in and say what you need."

The two exchanged a glance and followed him inside.

"Director Song, I’ve always followed our leaders’ arrangements without question, but this canteen issue concerns all the employees at the department store, and I had no choice but to come to you."

Listening to her tone, Director Song knew there must be trouble with the canteen. His face darkened as he spoke, "Just say what the problem is."

Hearing this, Xu Cuilan looked at Su Xiaoxiao, indicating for her to speak up next.

Su Xiaoxiao had no choice but to step forward and detail what happened that afternoon.

"Director Song, after the incident, I immediately went to the canteen’s person in charge, but the response was he had already discussed it with the higher-ups. So, you see..."

"Everything else can be managed, but if the food is unhealthy and the employees get stomach problems, how can they work? Today was just diarrhea; what if tomorrow there’s a mass food poisoning? That’d be a huge problem."

Director Song’s face grew darker as he listened. He immediately pressed the intercom button: "Secretary Wang, come here right away, I have something to discuss with you."

A few minutes later, Secretary Wang knocked on the door breathlessly, and upon seeing Su Xiaoxiao and Xu Cuilan standing in the office, a displeased look appeared on his face.

If it weren’t for these two, how could his daughter Lili have been dismissed from the department store? This had caused him great embarrassment in the residential area.

Wang Lili had been staying home due to this incident for a long time.

With a look piercing like daggers at them, he glared fiercely at Su Xiaoxiao before squeezing out a smile for Director Song.

"Director, not sure what you need me for?"

Director Song pointed at Su Xiaoxiao: "Xiao Su, repeat what you just said to him."

Following his instruction, Su Xiaoxiao once again recounted the canteen incident.

After hearing it, Secretary Wang’s complexion turned pale. Was his nephew intending to ruin him? A little skimming might be forgivable, but blatantly using rotten vegetables and lymph meat was too brazen.

The fool, he should have never gone through so much trouble to arrange for him.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Director Song, I genuinely had no idea about this."

"I processed everything according to the procedures back then, and we even had group discussions among a few responsible parties. With something like this happening, I’m sure I’m to blame for not conducting a more thorough investigation."

"Director Song, since the issue has arisen, our priority should be to resolve the canteen meal problem. Perhaps from now on, their procurement list could be scrutinized by management, and special personnel should periodically check the produce. How about leaving this matter to Manager Xu..."

Seeing him try to make a quick resolution, Xu Cuilan spoke up calmly: "Canteen Manager Zhao vowed he has people in high places, warning me there’d be consequences for crossing him. Director Song, as just a small personnel manager, I dare not meddle in such affairs."

Director Song slammed the desk: "An arrogant tone for someone merely running the canteen. I’d like to see who his ’big shot’ is. Secretary Song, you have two days to investigate thoroughly."

"Furthermore, we definitely need a change in the canteen contract holder. Any solid suggestions?"

While speaking, his gaze landed on Su Xiaoxiao, considering her knack for clever ideas; her opinion might be worth requesting.

"Xiao Su, how do you think we should handle the canteen contract issue?"

Not expecting to be called upon, Su Xiaoxiao quickly straightened up.

She thought for a moment and said, "Director Song, how about we conduct a bidding process for the canteen contract?"