In the reborn era, the lucky bag is enjoying the show in the factory area.

After Xi Beizhan left, Luo Yu quickly locked the door and leisurely started eating sunflower seeds.

And you know what? The ones the system rewards taste better than the ones you grow yourself.

The ten sunflower seeds were quickly eaten up. Luo Yu took out a few peanuts from his spatial storage and threw them onto the stove lid to roast. While roasting, he speculated about the relationship between Xi Beizhan, Mine Manager Hao, and Secretary Chang.

After thinking about it for a while, Luo Yu gave up.

"Even if you rack your brains, you might not be able to guess correctly. Why bother? Let's just ask him."

After eating roasted peanuts, Xi Beizhan returned.

"Roasted peanuts?"

Luo Yu stepped forward and took the two cloth bags from Xi Beizhan's hands. She felt a sudden weight in her hands and almost dropped them, but she didn't think much of it. She glanced at Xi Beizhan and nodded, "Yes, Aunt Liu gave them to me. She has two more on her table. Do you want some? I'll grill some for you too."

Xi Beizhan shook his head. "No, I want to save room for dinner. There are four dishes today, so we can have a proper meal. Come to think of it, we've never eaten alone before."

Luo Yu thought for a moment, "That's true, I've never eaten alone before, this is the first time."

Xi Beizhan felt a little aggrieved. "We've never gone on a date. Young people in big cities go out on dates, go to parks, watch movies, eat at state-run restaurants, and buy things for their partners at department stores. We've done all of those things."

Xi Beizhan looked at Luo Yu with a pitiful expression, his eyes even a little red.

Luo Yu couldn't stand this situation, so she reached out and patted Xi Beizhan's head. "Good boy, it's not that we don't want to go, it's just that we're too busy to go right now. Didn't we go to the market last week?"

So, next Sunday, we'll go to the park in the morning, have lunch at the state-run restaurant, watch a movie in the afternoon, and then go to the Western Store to buy watches and other things while we're there.

By the way, my good friend Li Kexin works at the Western Store. I'll introduce you to her then, and we'll treat her to dinner tonight.

"She's always taken good care of me since I met her, and her parents have always been very kind to me too."

Upon hearing that Luo Yu wanted to introduce him to her good friend, Xi Beizhan's eyes lit up, and he nodded hastily, "Okay, let's do it this way, whatever you say."

The fact that Luo Yu could introduce him to her friends proved that Luo Yu genuinely approved of him, which made him even happier than when he went on his first date with his wife.

Luo Yu helped Xi Beizhan take all the lunch boxes out of the cloth bag. When she saw the six largest lunch boxes and thirty white steamed buns in front of her, Luo Yu was shocked.

Why did you buy so much?

Xi Beizhan leaned closer to Luo Yu and whispered apologetically, "We just left Director Xu and the others there like that, and we feel a bit bad for them. Once Uncle Hao's people arrive, they'll definitely come back for dinner. I'll buy some extra food as an apology."

Xi Beizhan was worried that Mine Manager Hao would be a bad person and leave him and Luo Yu there to guard the place. He didn't care, but his wife couldn't do it. His wife was not willing to do servants' work.

That's why he was in such a hurry to run away.

Luo Yu nodded, "This was an unfair thing to do, but treating him to a meal is a way of making amends."

Luo Yu opened each lunchbox one by one and found two boxes of braised fish, two boxes of sweet and sour pork, a whole lunchbox full of shredded potatoes, and a box of braised eggplant. There was so much eggplant that the lid couldn't be closed and it all overflowed, leaving Luo Yu's hands covered in oil.

She put the shredded potatoes and eggplant on the lid of the lunchbox, and left one box each of braised fish and sweet and sour pork untouched. She stacked them all on the stove lid to keep them warm. Since the steamed buns couldn't be heated, Luo Yu took out four of them, wrapped the rest in a towel three or four times, covered them with two small mats, and then dragged a chair to the side of the stove. She put the steamed buns on the chair and placed them close to the stove.

Luo Yu had been craving fish ever since she bought it yesterday. Today, she ate almost the entire box of braised fish. She ate a few pieces of sweet and sour pork, and Xi Beizhan devoured the rest.

After finishing the meal, Xi Beizhan brewed some tea leaves he had gotten from Mine Manager Hao and poured Luo Yu a cup.

"Try it. If it doesn't taste good, I'll go get something else. Uncle Hao still has plenty."

Luo Yu smiled and said, "You're quite impolite. If Director Hao knew you were still eyeing his tea, he'd be so angry he'd chase you all over the yard."

When Mine Manager Hao was mentioned, Luo Yu took the opportunity to ask, "How did you meet Mine Manager Hao and Secretary Chang? They treat you very well, like they're treating their own juniors."

Xi Beizhan took a sip of tea. "Speaking of this, I have to mention my time in the army."

Uncle Hao and Uncle Chang were also retired soldiers. At that time, my brother had just joined the army. I didn't want to be separated from my brother, so I insisted on going too. My second aunt had no choice but to agree.

I went with him as a military family member, which is different from a regular military dependent. After all, my brother had just joined the army and was just a private. I wasn't qualified to accompany him yet, so I asked my dad's old comrade-in-arms for help. It was like an elder arranging for his younger family member to go and get some experience.

They thought I was too young and lacked the drive, and that I would find the hardship meaningless after a few days and give up.

I never expected that I, being stubborn and unwilling to admit defeat, and with decent physical fitness, would quickly stand out among the new recruits when my brother and I joined the army. In the end, we defeated several veterans in the competition, and even broke records in several training subjects.

My skills caught the attention of my superiors, and I was granted special permission to join the army two years ahead of schedule.

I performed exceptionally well in the army, and my brother and I joined the reconnaissance company together when we were new recruits. Uncle Hao and Uncle Chang were the regimental commander and political commissar of the unit to which the reconnaissance company belonged at that time.

Director Hao and Secretary Chang saw that I was young and didn't know much about things besides training, so they helped me a lot in my daily life.

They often invited me home for meals, and my brother and I caused quite a bit of trouble at their house during those years, leading to a sharp decline in their living standards. This angered Uncle Hao's youngest son so much that he would attack me whenever he saw me. Unfortunately, he couldn't beat me, and I beat him up several times. He only became well-behaved as he grew older.

Xi Beizhan proudly raised his chin, his eyes full of laughter, clearly showing that he was very happy.

"I've been in the army for over ten years, and they've practically watched me grow up. I eat at their house every few days, so naturally they treat me differently from other soldiers."

A few years ago, Uncle Hao and Uncle Chang had to retire from the army due to health reasons. The local area was in urgent need of manpower. Since the two were both from Northeast China, when the work was assigned, there happened to be a mine manager and a secretary in Wulong Mine. The two of them discussed it and decided to stay together. Anyway, they were used to working together for so many years and it would be troublesome to work with others.

Therefore, the two came to Wulong Mine, one as the mine manager and the other as the party secretary.

However, the two of them came one after the other, and no one here knew that they knew each other. In front of outsiders, they also acted as if they were not familiar with each other, and sometimes they would even have a cold argument.

Last year, my brother sacrificed his life, and I was discharged from the army. I mentioned it to two old men and learned that Brother Xing was also here. So this year, when I was discharged due to injury, I submitted my application and came here.

When Xi Beizhan mentioned his brother Xi Nanzheng, his eyes showed sadness, which made Luo Yu feel a pang of heartache again.