Her Cultivation Diary-Chapter 1979 - 1742: Simple Hospitality

The leadership naturally doesn’t know that a simple basketball game has started to shift the job-seeking direction of contemporary university graduates toward rural areas.

At this moment, Driver Niu is driving the car, and the three of them arrive at Zhang Yanping’s B&B entrance.

Getting out of the car, the lights at the entrance are brightly lit.

He looks up to observe and finds that although the multi-story building is quite ordinary, it perfectly matches this price range.

— It looks inexpensive!

The three of them walk through the door.

It’s evening, and in order to avoid exercising, Zhang Yanping is naturally stationed here doing the night shift.

While browsing his phone, he furrows his brow, making the passing tenants move quickly, even holding their breath.

Currently, the room types are in high demand, so he’s not as cautious as before. Seeing someone arrive, he looks up and asks, "ID card—huh?"

Laba Festival is when he truly helped with eating and drinking, so the leader’s appearance is particularly clear to him.

Moreover, the leader’s photo is on the Song Family’s photo wall. Although his position is inconspicuous, Secretary Xiaozu frequently examines the elegance of her grandfathers.

After a while, people usually take a closer look, so recognizing him now isn’t difficult.

He opens his mouth, but the words that come to his throat immediately transform into a respectful greeting:

"You’re here?"

Though his words are polite, seeing his demeanor, the leader might tighten his brow and become cautious if he hadn’t seen him before or had some understanding.

After all, amid the crackdown on organized crime, a village hiding such a big shot suggests local officials aren’t fulfilling their duties!

But now... sigh.

Frankly, he unconsciously wants to turn his head, avoiding getting caught by any media that might say officials and gangsters are colluding.

However, if he were to speak, although they say you shouldn’t judge a person by their appearance, this particular matter...

In short, just based on Zhang Yanping’s appearance, he truly suits running a B&B in the countryside.

Otherwise, in the city, if he goes to night markets with a lollipop, vendors might start discussing protection fees.

In this brief moment, countless thoughts raced through the leader’s mind.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yanping remains oblivious, pondering why Secretary Xiaozu didn’t prepare earlier knowing someone was coming! As he deftly accepts the ID card handed over by Secretary Wang and goes through a flurry of operations.

He also enthusiastically asks:

"Have you had dinner? The cafeteria probably doesn’t have food now, but at eleven, the mountain cafeteria has late-night snacks. I’ll ask them to add more noodles."

Driver Niu listens silently by the side, his expression becoming peculiar.

Out of respect, his phrasing and attitude are quite careful.

But to suggest negligence, just look at his demeanor, and listen to the previous statement—what does he mean by adding more noodles?

If striving for simplicity, it shouldn’t be executed in this manner!

Secretary Wang, however, has done his homework quietly, knowing there aren’t many staff at night in the mountain cafeteria, and the night snacks for the vegetable pickers are always simple.

Not buns or pancakes, but noodles.

Constantly kept warm in the pot, when needed, add some wood to boil the soup, and the noodles cook in an instant.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yanping is still warmly welcoming, informing guests that tonight’s special is stewed old duck with lettuce.

Although not as appetizing as sour bamboo shoots, the duck is tender, and the lettuce is stewed, equally fragrant.

...

Having rushed, the three of them ate hastily, and now they’re indeed a bit hungry.

But the leader just gently smiles:

"We plan to go to Aunt Zhang Hong’s place later to buy some iced tofu pudding—business is good there, isn’t it? Are they still open late at night?"

"Open!"

Zhang Yanping quickly responds, "There are more tourists tonight, so they keep their business going. But need to hurry, after ten they rest."

Saying this, he eagerly steps out from behind the cashier: "Come, the room is on the third floor, let me help with the luggage..."

"No need, no need!"

Now is Driver Niu’s chance to shine, he promptly steps forward, subtly wary of this B&B owner who seems familiar with the leader.

Honestly, if he hadn’t been following all along, he’d think there was something shady about their acquaintance.

After taking another look at Zhang Yanping, he wonders in his heart: How does someone like this manage business?

Or has the rural business environment deteriorated to the extent that hiring someone like this is necessary for survival?

With wild thoughts running through his mind, Zhang Yanping doesn’t insist on helping, he simply gives the room location, hands over the room key, and stays behind the cashier.

Meanwhile, he watches as two or three men walk in, their boasts echoing inside even before they arrive.

Entering, each of them carries a small bottle of liquor freshly bought from the corner store.

He furrows his brow and says sternly:

"We don’t mind drinking, but no drunken rampages in the rooms at night."

Upon hearing this, the men who were previously loud are now tentative, nodding obediently:

"No drunken rampages, we’ll just sip and chat..."

Indeed, if the boss is this tough, they genuinely fear getting into trouble— if they cause a scene, they’d end up providing compensation in the hospital the next day.

But truth be told, anyone leisurely strolling here over the weekend wouldn’t want to risk a hassle to gain an unknown sum of money!

Zhang Yanping nods in acknowledgment, then returns to checking his phone—

The novel’s main character is about to seize a treasure!

...

Meanwhile, Secretary Xiaozu receives the news.

She hesitates for a moment—

It’s late, she thinks she should come out to greet. But... 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

She considers a bit more and asks Zhang Yanping several questions, then directly speaks to Song Tan and moves into the Song Family kitchen:

"Aunt, I remember there’s still crispy rice left for tonight? Let me take a piece."

This late in the evening, Wu Lan doesn’t have time to react before seeing her already familiar with the stove area.

The crispy rice is reserved by Seventh Uncle for everyone’s breakfast tomorrow, but when she reaches out and breaks off a large piece, Wu Lan isn’t too worried, just curious:

"Eating this at this time? If you’re hungry, let me make you something more digestible."

"No, no, no!"

Secretary Xiaozu chuckles:

"Isn’t it because the leader’s coming? If I go over now, I’ll seem too deliberate. Late evening isn’t suitable for hosting, so I’ll just take this to Aunt Zhang Hong’s place and get some fermented tofu, to help build rapport."

Oh, dear!

Wu Lan is dizzy from this twisting rationale. She waves her hand:

"Then hurry up, or you might as well take the whole sheet, share with the leader. After all, he is overseeing us."

If it were anything else, Secretary Xiaozu might refuse, but this crispy rice...

The stove is firewood, the rice new from this year.

The crispy rice warmed on the stove isn’t as thick and crispy as those sold in stores; instead, it’s thin at the edges, thicker in the center, and offers a chewy, grainy texture...

If spread with a slightly spicy, slightly pungent red and white fermented tofu...

"Ahem." Secretary Xiaozu says bashfully:

"Then I’ll take it all?"

Wu Lan laughs:

"Take it, take it! I’ll send Seventh Uncle a message later. By the way, if the leader wakes up early tomorrow, lead him up the mountain and pick some peaches for him!"