Chapter 37: Taking the Leader Out to Eat

Tu Shan smiled and threw another punch: "Don't say things I don't like to hear."

Tian Junjie glared at Tu Shan as if he wanted to eat her alive.

Tu Shan smiled and threw another punch.

Tian Junjie was in so much pain he nearly collapsed. He looked at He Jiahuan: "Are you really not going to intervene?"

He Jiahuan said sternly: "Xiao Tu, no hitting."

Tu Shan obediently replied "Okay," then raised her hand and threw a punch.

Tian Junjie looked at He Jiahuan in a rage. He Jiahuan shrugged; he had tried to intervene, but he couldn't stop her.

"Yes, yes, there was seduction, okay? Let me tell you, all men have a base nature. You look like that—it would be a miracle if your man didn't cheat."

Tu Shan sneered: "Trying to provoke me? Small tricks. Captain, look, didn't I just get it out of him? He is in cahoots with Zhang Limei. You still said I was settling personal scores and framing Zhang Limei. Was I framing her? Her accomplice just confessed."

He Jiahuan: "..."

Tian Junjie came to his senses, realized he had been played, and began to curse furiously.

Tu Shan covered her ears and shook her head wildly: "I'm not listening, I'm not listening."

He Jiahuan: "..."

Tian Junjie: "..."

Tian Junjie roared: "Did you just find a lunatic to conduct the interrogation? I'm going to report you! I'm going to file a complaint!"

He Jiahuan rubbed his nose; he hadn't done it on purpose.

Tian Junjie seemed to have been driven to the edge by Tu Shan. He began to give up, acting recklessly and answering whatever was asked, becoming exceptionally cooperative.

After that, He Jiahuan did the questioning, while Tu Shan buried her head in writing. When she couldn't keep up, she would tell Tian Junjie to slow down.

Tian Junjie, wanting to spite her, didn't even wait for He Jiahuan to ask; he just spewed everything out at once. Seeing Tu Shan scrambling in a panic made him feel a sense of satisfaction.

He Jiahuan: "..."

When the two of them came out of the interrogation room, it was already twelve o'clock.

Tu Shan looked like her soul had been sucked out, her head drooping.

He Jiahuan glanced at her: "Is it really that bad? It’s just writing a few words."

"A few?" Tu Shan shoved the thick stack of notebooks in her hand right in front of He Jiahuan's eyes: "Take a look, just look. If there aren't eighty or a hundred thousand words here, I'll take your last name. That animal surnamed Tian talked a bunch of nonsense, and my hand is almost ruined."

He Jiahuan, rarely seeing Tu Shan suffer a setback, laughed: "There are techniques to taking records; you don't have to record every single word. It's normal that you're not used to it since you're just starting. Learn more from the others later and you'll understand."

Tu Shan waved her hand: "Captain, you don't understand. Eh, it doesn't matter. It's lunchtime, let's go, let's go eat."

He Jiahuan declined: "You go ahead. I'll organize the confession and find a breakthrough. This case must be closed as soon as possible."

"Oh, what's the rush? I'm good at this. I'll have it done for you in half an hour this afternoon. Come on, let's eat first. There's good stuff today."

Tu Shan dragged He Jiahuan along and called over the other brothers and sisters on the way.

And just like that, He Jiahuan appeared in the cafeteria, looking fresh and bright.

Truth be told, the number of times he had appeared in the cafeteria on time throughout the year didn't even add up to the fingers on one hand.

He was a stranger to the cafeteria.

"Did the cafeteria change chefs? The food smells really good today."

"Smells good, right? It tastes even better. Come on, let's go queue up."

It wasn't just He Jiahuan who thought it smelled good; everyone else did too, all craning their necks, waiting to see what good food was being served.

Those who were already eating couldn't even be bothered to look up.

When it was Tu Shan and He Jiahuan's turn, Tu Shan pulled out her large earthenware pot. He Jiahuan's face turned red, and he wanted to turn around and leave; this meal wasn't worth it.

Tu Shan grabbed his clothes and held him back.

The auntie serving the food eyed her: "Are you really not going to tell me how you pulled strings?"

Today, that stingy old bald donkey didn't know where he had gotten thousands of catties of grain, and he was unusually happy and generous. The mixed-grain rice had more white rice and less coarse grain, and radishes and potatoes were served in abundance.

More importantly, the chefs were all praising the quality of today's grain, radishes, and potatoes, saying it had improved their cooking skills.

She knew exactly what the distributed grain usually tasted like.

Today's batch definitely had another source.

And what was important? Everyone's portion had increased. That stingy old bald donkey must have struck it rich.

The auntie leaned in close to Tu Shan, using the spoon to press the rice hard into the pot, and whispered: "It was you, right?"

Tu Shan put on a "what are you talking about, I don't understand" face: "Auntie, the pot is going to burst."

The auntie huffed, then took He Jiahuan's lunchbox to add rice, pressing it down just as hard.

He Jiahuan didn't have Tu Shan's thick skin: "That's enough, that's enough, no need for so much. Thank you, thank you."

The auntie glanced at He Jiahuan: "You're a poor excuse for a leader, being bossed around by a little girl."

He Jiahuan smiled awkwardly and walked away with his lunchbox.

Tu Shan hugged her large earthenware pot and smiled at the auntie: "Our leader is thin-skinned. Thanks, Auntie. And thanks for this morning, too; the buns were delicious."

Mentioning the morning, the auntie beamed: "It's nothing, it's nothing. If you have any more favors like that in the future, just come to me. I'm a very helpful person."

She had split that ten yuan with the old sister who made the buns, netting eight yuan for herself—nearly a month's salary. My goodness, good things like this should happen every day.

Tu Shan waved and caught up to He Jiahuan, who was trying to return to the office, dragging him toward the happy younger sister who was waving her hands frantically.

He Jiahuan was grabbed by the back of his clothes and forced to walk backward, his face turning red with anger: "You brat, let go! I'm your leader, don't I have any dignity?"

Tu Shan said earnestly: "Leader, when it's time to eat, just eat. Don't turn a sacred office into a place that smells like food; that's highly unethical."

"Fine, fine, I get it. Let go, I'll walk myself."

Tu Shan didn't let go: "Leader, you're a grown man, why do you always care about such trivial details?"

He Jiahuan was so angry he felt like he was having a cerebral hemorrhage. Was this a trivial detail? She wasn't the one losing face, was she?

He stopped struggling and obediently let himself be dragged to a seat. He ate in silence. Come to think of it, it really was delicious. Did they really change the head chef?

Tu Shan glanced at him and complained to the happy younger sister: "He's so stingy."

The happy younger sister rolled her eyes and changed the subject: "Third Sister, today's food is really good. Eat up."

Fine. Tu Shan took out her large spoon and ate mouthful after mouthful, savoring the flavor.

The solid pot of food decreased at a visible rate.

He Jiahuan took a peek, couldn't bear to look a second time, and even turned his back, signaling that he didn't know this person.

The food today was indeed delicious. Many people wanted seconds after finishing, but the cafeteria auntie banged on the basin and shouted: "It's gone, it's gone! Everyone hurry up and leave!"

Everyone left their seats with regret.

He Jiahuan was also left wanting more.

However, his stomach was full. Thanks to Tu Shan, the auntie had given him a lunchbox packed tight and overflowing; he was stuffed.

Sure enough, being full meant having energy. He was now very motivated to work.

Back at the office, he prepared to analyze Tian Junjie's confession record.

Tu Shan snatched it away: "Leader, there isn't a single word of truth in Tian Junjie's mouth. You won't see anything by looking at it like that."

He Jiahuan asked: "How did you reach that conclusion?"

Tu Shan smiled: "He seemed furious, but there were no bloodshot eyes. In such hot weather, with such a big fire, his muscle tension wasn't quite right, and his sweat glands weren't dilated enough. Especially later, when he was playing pranks, his eyes were too excited."

He Jiahuan couldn't help but suspect that the last sentence was the real point. She felt Tian Junjie had played a trick on her, was too angry, and wanted to pick a fight.

"Then why did you remember it in such detail?"

"Because if a person wants to tell a lie, they have to mix in a little truth for it to sound credible. By recording every word he said without missing a single one, I can analyze his speech habits and patterns, and thereby roughly judge what is true and what is false in his words."

He Jiahuan looked at Tu Shan with new eyes. Regardless of whether her reasoning was useful, it did make some sense.

"Have you analyzed it yet?"