Thanks to "TigerJiHu" for the reward, much appreciated, please save my work to your collections, I've seen the discussions in the review section, and I'll handle the upcoming plots accordingly, so as not to let everyone down. Also, a little request for you to save this to your collections—can we hit five thousand today? I'm counting on you all!

Unexpectedly, the phone rang. Wang Xiaoqiang let out a long sigh, while Xia Guifang's tense nerves relaxed, and she collapsed onto the bed.

Wang Xiaoqiang pulled out his phone and seeing that it was Wang Dakui calling, he pressed the answer button. Wang Dakui's gruff voice came through, "Boss Wang, happy New Year!"

"Uh, Chef Wang, happy New Year to you too!"

"When will you come to Dihao again? The two of us should have a drink together. We've known each other for so long yet never sat down to drink together!"

"Uh, I'll definitely drop by when I have time."

After hanging up, Wang Xiaoqiang saw Xia Guifang lying on her side on the bed, propping her cheek with one hand, her big watery eyes staring fixedly at him. Her lips and eyebrows carried a mix of shyness and mild resentment. The blush on her cheeks was both endearing and pitiful.

Wang Xiaoqiang felt an inexplicable stir in his heart and couldn't help but lean over to meet her gaze and asked softly, "Little Fang, are you mad at me?"

"No," Xia Guifang stretched out her other hand to ruffle Wang Xiaoqiang's hair, a tender gesture showing she wasn't angry.

"Really not?"

"Really not."

"Then give me a kiss."

Xia Guifang did kiss Wang Xiaoqiang's cheek and then apologized in his ear, "Little Qiang, sorry, I really can't give myself to you now. After we get married, I'll be yours. Then, whenever you want it, I'll... I'll give myself to you."

Xia Guifang's words got Wang Xiaoqiang heated up again. He couldn't help but embrace her, but just then, the phone rang at the most inconvenient moment—it was a call from Zheng Hua, the chef from Junle Hotel.

The purpose of the call was to offer New Year greetings.

No sooner had he hung up, another call came in. This time, it was from Xu Kunyou, the kitchen manager of Qingcheng Hotel, also calling to offer New Year greetings.

"Boss Wang, I'm grateful, really grateful. Your eggs have greatly boosted Qingcheng Hotel's business, and my boss even increased my salary by two thousand... All thanks to you, Boss Wang. I wish you and your family happiness and wealth..."

"Manager Xu, you're too kind. I also wish you good health and joy in your family…"

"Boss Wang, tomorrow when the truck comes to pick up the eggs, there will be a gift for you. I hope you'll accept it…"

"Uh, I hope it's not anything expensive, because if it is, I'd have to return it," Wang Xiaoqiang clearly said.

"Uh, no, no, it's just a couple of packs of cigarettes and two bottles of liquor…"

Though Xu Kunyou was nominally the kitchen manager, he was in fact the head chef of Qingcheng Hotel. His attitude towards Wang Xiaoqiang was even more sincere than Wang Dakui and Zheng Hua's, and there was even a hint of fawning.

No wonder, Wang Xiaoqiang's eggs had greatly improved the quality of his Mandarin Duck Double Flower Eggs, bringing great business to Qingcheng Hotel, earning him a salary raise from the boss, and more than that, they enhanced his reputation. And it's well known that a person's reputation is directly linked to their interests.

It was supposed to be Wang Xiaoqiang who should have called to offer New Year greetings first, but now it was the other way around. Those high-and-mighty chefs who usually wouldn't even bother with the top executives were now taking the initiative to call a small supplier to offer New Year greetings!

"I'm leaving!" One phone call after another meant that Wang Xiaoqiang was no longer in the mood to be lovey-dovey with Xia Guifang. He kissed her on the face and walked out.

Without waiting for Wang Xiaoqiang to come out, Xia Sanwa and his wife had already quietly slipped into another room from the door. Wang Xiaoqiang did not see them when he came out.

That was probably for the best, as it avoided unnecessary awkwardness.

As Wang Xiaoqiang reached the main gate, Xia Sanwa and his wife popped their heads out of the room, watching as he strode out strongly with a swift pace. Xia Sanwa muttered to himself, "What a guy, turns out he can really hold his liquor!"

Xia Guifang's Mother couldn't help but show a look of surprise and doubt... "Old man, did you buy fake Hengshui liquor?"

"Cut it out. I've been drinking my whole life, and I couldn't tell real from fake?" Xia Sanwa glanced at his wife disdainfully. "If you're not convinced, try drinking half a jin yourself."

Xia Guifang's Mother shrunk her neck and rushed to her daughter's room.

After the Spring Festival, the five workers at the Chicken Farm had finished their holidays and resumed their regular work.

One day, Wang Qizhi and his wife from the village brought two gifts to the Wang Family, expressing their desire to work at Little Wang's Chicken Farm.

Wang Qizhi's real name isn't actually Wang Qizhi. He got that nickname because his right hand has two extra fingers. After decades, almost no one else knew his real name, as his nickname had completely replaced it.

As the name Wang Qizhi suggests, his right hand has seven fingers, two more than the average person, making it look a bit like a crab, somewhat eerie in appearance. In reality, the two extra fingers on the outside of the thumb did not affect work much. However, whenever he went out to find work, employers would shake their heads and say NO as soon as they saw his hand.

Unable to get work outside, Wang Qizhi could only barely make ends meet by contracting some farmland. With money tight, and his child growing up and needing a spouse, they didn't have a house built. Wang Qizhi and his wife were as anxious as ants on a hot pan,

Seeing that Little Qiang's Chicken Farm was thriving, with cars from the Provincial Capital regularly coming to pick up eggs, and noticing that Zhao Dabao and his wife seemed much happier since they started working at Little Qiang's Chicken Farm, Wang Qizhi made up his mind. After the new year, even if it meant kneeling to beg, he had to work at Little Qiang's Chicken Farm,

In fact, Wang Qizhi and his wife weren't the only ones who wanted to work at the Chicken Farm.

In the days around the new year, there was a steady stream of people visiting the Wang Kuishan couple under the pretext of New Year's greetings, probing for information at the Wang Family and asking if Little Qiang's Chicken Farm was still hiring workers?

Wang Xiaoqiang was very cautious about who he hired; he didn't want the slippery or lazy ones, not the ones who loved to chat, not the ones without long-term plans to work.

So no matter who came asking, Wang Xiaoqiang never explicitly said he was hiring. He would be noncommittal and say it depended on how the Chicken Farm's business was going to be in the coming year.

After considering Wang Zhiqi and his wife, Little Qiang finally agreed, because after the new year the scale of the Chicken Farm was going to expand, and hiring was inevitable. Wang Qizhi and his wife were okay workers, and since Wang Qizhi had no hope of getting work outside because of his hand, and it was hard to get a job, they would surely cherish it.

Plus, they seemed to be in it for the long haul, so Little Qiang decided to keep them both.

Wang Qizhi and his wife thanked him profusely and were about to leave, but Little Qiang pushed the two gifts they had brought back at them. The couple refused to take them back no matter what, forcing Little Qiang to accept them, but in the afternoon, he had his father, Wang Kuishan, give Wang Qizhi's little daughter a hundred yuan in New Year's money.

Wang Qizhi and his wife had not expected Little Qiang to be so generous. They resolved on the spot to work hard at the Chicken Farm. With such a generous boss, they felt he was worth working their hearts out for.

The remaining flat house on Mantou Mountain was given to Wang Qizhi and his wife to live in.

After Wang Qizhi and his wife reported to the Chicken Farm, Little Qiang gathered the workers to hold a meeting, went over the confidentiality principles and fine regulations once more, and then promoted Xia Guifang to deputy factory manager, putting her fully in charge of the work at the Chicken Farm.

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