Reasons for resignation

  Satisfied, Zhang Jin took another look at his work and finally opened the kitchen door to shout at the four people sitting in the living room chatting idly: "The dishes are all done, come over and take them out quickly!"

  Zhang Jin's words coincided with the opening of the kitchen door, and the alluring aroma wafting out made the four people on the sofa stand up simultaneously as if electrified. After a conditioned reflex-like jump, Lan Feifei and Mu Xinran only then realized that their impatient appearance seemed somewhat un-ladylike. The two women exchanged an embarrassed smile, and only then suppressed their urgent emotions, walking towards the kitchen at a moderate pace.

  Xiao Fei and Wei Feng, however, didn't care about losing face at all. After jumping up from the sofa, they ran to the kitchen in three strides, with Wei Feng muttering to himself: "Finally, I'm starving to death."

  Currently, four people have taken away eight dishes, with each person taking two cold and two hot dishes. When Zhang Jin brought the large casserole of "Three Delicacies Stewed Mushrooms" to the dining hall, he found that he had miscalculated again. He should not have thought that bringing out all eight dishes at once would stop Old Three and Old Four from sneaking extra bites. He should have locked them in a room before serving the food and only let them out after everyone else had finished eating... no, after he and the two ladies had finished eating. Because just as he turned around, each of the eight dishes was already at least one-quarter gone!

  Of course, the above idea can only be turned around in Zhang Jin's mind, and finally he can only reluctantly accept reality. After putting down the large casserole in his hand, Zhang Jin said somewhat weakly: "Can you two guys have some demeanor? You look like a starving ghost."

  As for Zhang Jin's criticism, Xiao Fei and Wei Feng were completely deaf to it, their hands still waving their chopsticks in the air, their cheeks still rising and falling without stopping.

  To be honest, the attitude of the two brothers is obviously affirming their own craftsmanship. Zhang Jin is secretly pleased with himself right now. So after persuasion was ineffective, Zhang Jin could only smile and point to the two men who looked like they were starving to death, saying to the women who were looking at him with a sly smile: "Look at the kind of men you've found, not even a bit of demeanor? Forget it, don't mind them, give me your bowls, I'll serve you a bowl of my signature dish - 'Three Delicacies Mushroom Stew'!"

  Lan Fei hastily got up and took the large casserole from Zhang Jin's hands. "Zhang, let me serve it instead. You've been busy for half a day and must be tired, sit down and eat!"

  This time Zhang Jin did not decline and sat down in the empty chair between Xiao Fei and Wei Feng.

  Soon, Xiao Fei and Wei Feng stopped abruptly, as if they were in a freeze frame, because Lan Feifei had lifted the lid of the 'Three Sacrifices Mushroom Stew'...

  A master chef would never, nor deign to, lie about his culinary skills. Zhang Jin said that his own "Three Sacrifices Mushroom Stew" was not inferior to the famous "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall", and at the moment the pot lid was opened, Wei Feng and Xiao Fei dared to pat their chests and guarantee that their boss had been too modest. The so-called "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall" fragrance couldn't compare to this dish's aroma, if "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall" is "Fragrant for Ten Miles", then this dish should at least be worthy of the praise "Fragrant for a Hundred Miles"!

  Then Lao San and Lao Si, those two good-for-nothing guys, didn't even have time to swallow the food in their mouths before simultaneously handing their bowls over to Lan Fei Fei's face. With unclear speech, they went 'wuuu wooo' while making gestures with their hands, meaning to ask Lan Fei Fei to serve themselves first.

  The craftsmanship of a master chef naturally made Xiao Fei and Wei Feng's two families of four eat with utmost satisfaction, exclaiming in delight.

  After dinner, the table was not cleaned up, and the five people who were stuffed with food moved directly from the dining table in the restaurant to the sofa in the living room, including the shy Lan Feifei and Mu Xinyan, who were all lying there with their bellies protruding, unable to move even a finger for a while.

  Don't be fooled by Lan Fei and Mu Xinran's elegant appearance before meals, but once they started eating, they immediately abandoned their dignity and joined the three men in a fierce competition. In the end, the bottle of fine wine brought by Wei Feng was left untouched, but Zhang Da's eight dishes were completely devoured, with not a single grain of rice left on the plates, which shone like mirrors. It's no wonder that after dinner, none of the five people could move, all half-reclining there, almost groaning in satisfaction.

  Five people leaned there for a while, and Xiao Fei finally gathered the strength to speak after catching his breath: "Boss, I finally know why you resigned. You want to open a restaurant, right? No problem, brother supports you, with your skills, you'll definitely make a fortune. But you're also too unkind, all these years you never told me you can cook, are you afraid that I'll come often to eat for free?"

  Wei Feng also digested some at this time, and heard Xiao Fei's rebellion against Lao Da. He hastily followed suit: "Yes, yes, Lao Da is really not considerate enough. Such delicious food wasn't brought out earlier, according to three meals a day, how many good things have I missed in the over ten years since I met Lao Da? Heaven, it's simply astronomical!"

  "Three meals a day? Do you still have a conscience? I'm not your family's FeiFei, why should I cook for you three meals a day? Let me tell you, even if it were Ye Hong, she hasn't eaten my cooking either! Today, I'm in a good mood, so I'll treat you to a meal. You can just find a sewer and enjoy it secretly!" Zhang Jin was also stuffed, and he was too lazy to move, otherwise he would have jumped up and punched this guy who was trying to take advantage of him.

  "In my opinion, if Honghong were to taste the dishes you made, she would definitely not leave even if it meant quitting her job. If our family's Xiao Fei had this skill, I wouldn't agree to a divorce even if he wanted one! And who knows, maybe I'd be so happy that I'd even fulfill his long-held desire for a concubine!" This time it was Mu Xinyan speaking, and with the polite mask completely shed at the dinner table, her words were quite sharp. After all, she's a married woman!

  Mu Xiner and Zhang Jin's ex-wife have a special relationship. Not only is she Ye Hong's iron sister, but also Mu Xiner and Xiao Fei got to know each other because of Zhang Jin and Ye Hong's relationship. In the end, they were able to get together, and Zhang Jin and Ye Hong can be considered real matchmakers.

  After hearing Mu Xinran's words, Zhang Jin felt a bit downhearted. He and Ye Hong didn't break up because of emotional discord. Their separation could only be said to be the result of fate playing tricks on them, making two strong-willed people become lovers and spouses, but ultimately it was like stone loving lead, wanting to get close but unable to merge. Even though they had been apart for a while, whenever Zhang Jin thought about this, he couldn't help but feel suffocated.

  Wei Feng didn't disappoint, being the most skilled at observing facial expressions in the official circle. He sensitively discovered that Lao Da's face was somewhat downcast, and hastily pulled his wife back, interrupting this discordant topic, and brought it back on track: "Lao Da, where do you plan to open your store? Have you found a good location?"

  Zhang Jin shook his head, dispelling the lingering thoughts in his mind about this disappointing failed marriage. He continued with Wei Feng's words: "To be honest, I never planned to open a restaurant. I'm just tired and scared, so I quit."

  "What does it mean?" Zhang Jin's words left all four people present confused.

  Zhang Jin naturally couldn't reveal that he had been possessed by "Wulin Three Kingdoms", so he took out the excuse he had thought of long ago: "To be honest, after my divorce six months ago, I've been in a bad mood. It's like there's a fire burning inside me that can't be extinguished. This mood has also affected my work, you know what my job is like - every day I'm dealing with pharmaceutical company representatives and competing with colleagues in the same department.

  "I originally took on this job, although I couldn't say it was like a fish in water, but I was still very capable. However, because of this evil fire, during this period of time, I've been feeling more and more that those pharmaceutical representatives are hateful, and I'd like to take the sole of my shoe and slap them one by one. I couldn't bring myself to discuss drug prices or kickbacks with them. And as for the work of haggling over prices in the pharmacy department, it's also becoming more and more disgusting, making me want to set fire to the entire department, warehouse, and everyone in it. But if that were all, I'm afraid I still wouldn't be able to make up my mind to quit, after all, you're not outsiders, and you know this position is very lucrative."

  Regarding Zhang Jin's words, the four of them nodded in agreement. As for the gray income from this line being substantial, Zhang Jin never minced words with these people. After all, Xiao Fei and Wei Feng were his own brothers, so it was impossible to report himself. And the two women, one was a devoted woman who would not marry Wei Feng, and the other was a licensed wife of Xiao Fei, also did not dare to do anything unfavorable to Zhang Jin for the sake of their husbands' face. Moreover, in every industry, as long as there were business dealings, there would be gray income in between, which had become an unspoken rule that everyone knew about, especially in this country. Nowadays, people even didn't think it was a shameful thing, they thought that taking advantage of the position and getting kickbacks was part of their job, and that it was a rightful return. If you were to be selfless, then that wouldn't be called integrity, that would be stupid!

  "A while ago, you shouldn't be unaware of the incident in our neighboring city? The directors of the pharmacy departments of all nine state-owned hospitals in the city were arrested, and few doctors in these hospital pharmacies escaped punishment, with some being sentenced and others fined."

  Today it's those few hospitals in the neighboring city, who knows when it'll be our city's turn? Originally I might have continued working in this position, but after seeing this news I got a bit scared. Plus, I've been getting more and more disgusted with this job, so that's why I decided to quit before things hit me on the head.

  This is the real excuse that Zhang Jin had been repeatedly considering before his resignation, because now this line of work is very popular, whether it's Xiao Fei or Wei Feng are both clear about it. This excuse would also be more convincing to them.