457: Chapter 457 The kitchen is a restricted area; parents are not allowed to enter.

When a Municipal Party Secretary travels, it is generally with an entourage, accompanied by many people and vehicles, including press cars, police cars, and so on.

Qin Chuan disliked this the most. Every time he went out, he traveled light and with a small entourage. This time, he only brought Deputy County Mayor Zhang Tianxiong along.

He did not go very far, planning to just wander around the urban area of Dongjiang City to take a look.

What was he focusing on?

He intended to check the cafeterias and dining situations in some schools within the city.

Not long after he took office as the Municipal Party Secretary of Dongjiang City, Qin Chuan had specifically rectified school cafeterias and dining. A long time had passed, and schools across the city had changed significantly, but were there any fish that slipped through the net?

There was, of course, no need to visit the schools that were doing well.

He wanted to see those with problems. Qin Chuan asked, "Xiao Zhang, have you heard of any school where there are issues with dining?"

After hesitating for a moment, Deputy County Mayor Zhang Tianxiong replied, "Leader, ever since you started prioritizing the dining issues of middle and primary school students, the situation has improved greatly. I have not heard of any school that still has problems."

Qin Chuan said, "I hope there are no problems, but I still need to see for myself to be at ease."

Following that, Qin Chuan did not reveal his identity. Posing as a parent, he visited several primary and middle schools in succession, even going deep into their kitchens at every school. If he encountered resistance, Qin Chuan had a way; he would claim to be a staff member from the Education Bureau, and then he would be allowed in.

Time quickly reached past eleven o'clock. Having visited three or four schools in a row, Qin Chuan was quite satisfied in his heart.

The students' dining environments were all good; the meals were cheap and affordable, clean and hygienic, and the ingredients were very fresh. He did not see any moldy or rotten ingredients at all; basically, everything was purchased and prepared that day.

It was almost noon. Should he go and take another look?

Not far ahead was Dongjiang City No. 8 Middle School. Although it was not a provincial key school, among the many high schools in Dongjiang City, it was considered a school with an above-average ranking.

What surprised Qin Chuan was that there were many people at the school gate.

They were all parents who had come to deliver meals to their children. There were quite a few of them, a massive crowd; even if not a thousand, there were at least three or five hundred.

This was quite strange. Why were so many parents delivering meals?

High school students were under a lot of pressure, and their meals needed to be nutritious, but if the school's food was passable, parents would not come in person to deliver meals. It was the middle of the day, everyone was busy; where would they find the time and energy?

Unless there was really no other way. Understanding this point, Qin Chuan walked over, followed only by Deputy County Mayor Zhang Tianxiong.

"Big sister, are you here to deliver food to your child?"

Seeing a middle-aged woman carrying a lunchbox, Qin Chuan took the initiative to greet her.

Perhaps because Qin Chuan exuded an air of approachability, the middle-aged woman did not resist and replied, "Yes, delivering food to my child. They just started their third year of high school; the food needs to be nutritious."

Qin Chuan said, "The school has a cafeteria, right? Delivering food like this must take up quite a bit of your time."

The middle-aged woman said, "What other choice is there? Everything is for the sake of the child."

Someone nearby said, "Brother, do you think we want to deliver food? The food at this school is not fit for human consumption; even pigs wouldn't eat it."

Qin Chuan deliberately put on a look of surprise, "That can't be right. The Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government have repeatedly emphasized this and have been cracking down on school dining issues. How can such a situation still exist?"

"How can it not? I don't know about other schools, but the food at No. 8 Middle School is truly terrible. My child has complained many times, and I have no choice but to come over every day to deliver food."

After chatting for a while, Qin Chuan learned many things and felt quite angry. He prepared to enter the school, especially to go and check their cafeteria.

Time quickly reached 12:00 noon. As the bell rang for the end of class, a large number of students poured out of the teaching building. Some ran toward the cafeteria, while others ran toward the school gate.

A surprising scene occurred. It was noon and class had ended, but the school gate did not open. Only a small side door was opened. No students came out; only a few people who looked like teachers came out from inside.

Could it be that no one wanted to go home for lunch?

After asking, Qin Chuan learned that the school required every student to eat at the school. Therefore, no one went home to eat, no matter how close they lived.

Through the gate, parents passed lunchboxes inside to their children.

A spectacular scene appeared. Across the gate, outside were crowded parents, and inside were students all standing or squatting on the ground eating.

The students wolfed down their food quickly. After finishing, they handed the lunchboxes back to their parents and returned to the classroom.

It was just the beginning of September, and the weather was quite good—not cold and not hot. But what if it were winter? People would freeze to death. In summer, they would be hot enough to die.

Qin Chuan understood. The school must not be allowing students who had food delivered to them to go to the classrooms or the cafeteria to eat, so there was no other way; everyone had to eat there.

This was infuriating.

Qin Chuan's expression gradually darkened, and he waved his hand, saying, "Let's go. We are going inside the school to take a look."

Seeing that Qin Chuan wanted to enter the school, the security guard at the gate came over to block them. Deputy County Mayor Zhang Tianxiong reprimanded him, "Are you blind? This is Section Chief Li from the Education Bureau."

The security guard was also a bully who feared the strong and oppressed the weak. Although he didn't know any Section Chief Li, upon hearing it was the Education Bureau, he immediately let them pass.

After Qin Chuan and Deputy County Mayor Zhang Tianxiong entered the school, they went directly to the student cafeteria.

Inside the large cafeteria, it was noisy. Students were lining up to get food or were already eating there.

He took a look at their meals.

No wonder the parents said such food was not even fit for pigs. The rice was yellow and mushy, likely expired old rice. The vegetables were basically boiled, looked terrible, lacked oil, and were unappetizing at first glance, with yellowed leaves.

As for meat dishes, Qin Chuan saw none at all; it was mainly boiled vegetables. He went to the serving window to take a look, and there were only three dishes.

One was boiled greens, one was boiled tofu, and then there was stir-fried green beans with meat; all he could see were green beans, and meat slices were rarely seen.

What about milk? Why was there no milk?

Funded by municipal fiscal appropriations, Qin Chuan had implemented free lunch milk across the city, with a standard of five yuan per person per day, which ensured that every student had milk to drink.

But he did not see any milk here.

Qin Chuan's face sank completely. When he saw a striking slogan posted on the kitchen door—"Restricted Area: Kitchen, Parents Keep Out"—his face instantly turned even darker.

"I am going in to see exactly what this kitchen is like."

After entering the kitchen, Qin Chuan saw an even more infuriating scene, and his face became even gloomier.

The entire kitchen could be described as dirty, messy, and poor. Sewage flowed across the floor, pots and pans were in chaos, and many had not been washed for days. Flies were flying everywhere.

There were still many ingredients left, many of which were moldy. The remaining pork was stinking, and the potatoes piled in the corner had already sprouted.

"Who are you people? Get out!"

A voice rang out, shouting a reprimand, demanding that Qin Chuan and Deputy County Mayor Zhang Tianxiong get out immediately.