Chapter 1293

A few minutes after going downstairs, they saw a girl walking over. Su Xinghui had seen this girl in his previous life—she was Wei Pengfei's wife, Cheng Hongli.

Cheng Hongli was of medium build and not very beautiful, but she looked very comfortable. She was the type of "small family jade" and was very suitable to be a wife.

Cheng Hongli walked over, and Wei Pengfei called out, "Hongli, come over quickly. This is Su Xinghui."

Cheng Hongli smiled and called out, "Hello, Su Xinghui! I am Cheng Hongli. I've heard Pengfei mention your name for a long time. He said you were a famous talent at Jiangcheng University."

Su Xinghui said, "Hello, Cheng Hongli. Pengfei is overestimating me."

Cheng Hongli said, "Don't be humble. You've been in the newspapers several times. I've read those newspapers. You are so capable."

Wei Pengfei said, "Fine, let's not stand here. Let's go eat."

The three walked toward the west. Not long after, they walked to the entrance of a restaurant. Su Xinghui looked up and saw the six characters "State-run People's Restaurant." He couldn't help but laugh; it seemed every county seat had a People's Restaurant.

However, in Changshan County, the only decent restaurant was this People's Restaurant. Of course, the County Party Committee Guest House had better conditions, but the County Party Committee Guest House was not open to the public.

The thinking and concepts in Changshan County were not that open yet. The County Party Committee Guest House was a place for county leaders to socialize. Leaders from the city often ate here. If it were open to the public, wouldn't it be noisy and make the leaders feel troubled?

Therefore, when Wei Pengfei invited Su Xinghui to dinner, he could only come to this People's Restaurant. Just this point alone showed that Changshan County was not just a little bit behind Shangjun County. In Shangjun County, there were many famous restaurants now, and even Pengjiawan Town was much more prosperous than this Changshan County seat.

The three walked into the People's Restaurant. Although it was mealtime, there weren't many people eating. The decoration in the People's Restaurant was far behind the County Party Committee Guest House, and there were no private rooms. To eat, one could only sit in the lobby.

The dining tables in the lobby were those "eight-immortal tables," and beside the tables were those long benches. The tables and benches looked very old, and the accumulated dirt over the years made the color of the tables and benches pitch black.

The area of the lobby was not small, at least it could hold twenty or thirty tables, but now there were only four or five tables of people eating in the lobby, and some waiters were sitting lazily on those empty long benches, laughing and chatting.

Su Xinghui furrowed his brows. Wei Pengfei was accustomed to such a scene. He found a table that looked slightly cleaner, and the three sat down. Wei Pengfei shouted, "Waiter, order food."

A female waiter stood up slowly, walked over, and asked in a rough voice, "What dishes to order?"

This female waiter didn't look like she was seeing God when she saw customers; it was more like she had a grudge against the customers. However, Wei Pengfei was also accustomed to it and didn't take offense at all.

Wei Pengfei looked at the dishes written in chalk on the small blackboard hanging on the wall, ordered a mutton hot pot, ordered a plate of smoked fish, ordered a plate of sweet potato starch balls, ordered a vegetable dish, and finally ordered a bottle of local Changshan buckwheat liquor, then let the waiter go to place the order.

After calculating, the waiter said, "A total of forty-one yuan and fifty cents."

The rule of the People's Restaurant here was to pay first and then serve the dishes. Wei Pengfei took out his wallet and paid the bill. The waiter didn't say a word and went to the back kitchen to have the dishes cooked.

Su Xinghui said, "Pengfei, the service attitude here is quite poor."

From the service attitude of the Changshan County People's Restaurant, one could see the gap between Changshan County and Shangjun County—it was all-around. In the current Shangjun County, even state-run units had quite good service attitudes.

Wei Pengfei smiled bitterly, "No way, state-run units are all like this. If you get angry with her, then this meal can't be eaten today. In the Changshan County seat, there's nowhere else to eat. So, I think it's not a good thing that you were transferred to Changshan County."

Cheng Hongli asked in surprise, "Su Xinghui was transferred to Changshan County?"

Wei Pengfei nodded, "Yes, isn't this cadre rotation? So they rotated Xinghui to our Changshan County."

Cheng Hongli said, "Rotated to Changshan County? That's indeed not a good thing. The conditions in our Changshan County are not as good as your Shangjun County."

Su Xinghui smiled, "No matter what the conditions are, I'm already here, so let's not talk about this."

A dozen minutes later, the waiter brought a charcoal hot pot with an expressionless face, put it on the table, and turned to leave with an expressionless face. Wei Pengfei shook his head with a bitter smile and said to Su Xinghui, "This mutton is still not bad, try it."

Su Xinghui actually ate this kind of mutton when he came to Changshan County in his previous life. He knew that this mutton was the meat of a special kind of goat called the "Horse-head Goat," which was indeed very delicious. He picked up a piece of mutton rib with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, and sure enough, this mutton had no gamey smell, the meat was fine, tender, and delicious, and it was stewed very soft and rotten. It was indeed a top-grade mutton.

Su Xinghui nodded, "Delicious!"

Wei Pengfei said, "This kind of goat is a specialty of our Changshan County, called the Horse-head Goat. It's delicious."

Before long, the waiter brought the other dishes and the bottle of buckwheat liquor. Wei Pengfei and Su Xinghui began to drink together.

Although Changshan County was economically backward, these few specialty foods were quite good. Not to mention the Horse-head Goat, that plate of smoked fish was made from red-tailed fish that grew up in mountain spring water. The taste of the fish meat was tight and delicious, and the smoked fish used fruit wood from the mountains, carrying the fragrance of fruit trees.

That plate of sweet potato starch balls was called "sweet potato starch lumps" in Changshan. They were made from sweet potato powder grown in the mountains, and meat filling was wrapped in the middle of the balls. The taste was delicious, and the texture was rich in layers, making people feel the fragrance on their teeth and cheeks after eating.

Even the taste of that plate of vegetables was much better than ordinary vegetables. The vegetables here were all high-mountain vegetables, pollution-free, and naturally delicious.

As for that bottle of buckwheat liquor, it was brewed from a grain specialty of Changshan County called buckwheat. This liquor was brewed from pure grain, and the mild climate in the mountains was very suitable for brewing liquor. The brewed liquor was fragrant, and in the rich wine fragrance, there was a hint of faint bitterness, which could be said to have a unique flavor.

Unfortunately, due to the inconvenient transportation in Changshan County, these specialties were difficult to transport out of the mountains, and could only be eaten and drunk in Changshan County.

Su Xinghui said, "The specialties of your Changshan County are quite good."

Wei Pengfei said, "There are many treasures in the mountains. Today you only tasted these few. Once you stay in Changshan for a long time, you will know. It's just a pity that it's too poor here, and even if there are treasures, they can't be turned into money."

Su Xinghui nodded silently. He picked up a cup of buckwheat liquor and said, "Come, toast you a cup!"

Wei Pengfei drank that cup of wine in one gulp.