Chapter 1007: Horrible Logistics

The next day at noon, at Xishui Yingbin Hotel, No. 210 Yingbin Road, Xishui District, Ye Province.

Xishui Guest House is a provincial-level standard hotel for receiving state guests. It is affiliated to the reception system of the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government of Ye Province. It has received many leaders of the Zhoubang Cabinet for inspection and research.

The hotel enjoys a superior geographical location, adjacent to Xishui River and Golden Avenue, with beautiful scenery.

The forest coverage rate in the area is as high as over 70%, the concentration of negative oxygen ions reaches 12000/cm14.9, the average annual temperature is 340°C, and there are more than days with good air quality. This makes it not just a hotel, but also has the unique attributes of a forest sanatorium.

The hotel covers an area of 233 acres and has 158 guest rooms distributed in 5 main buildings.

Among them, the facilities of the health and fitness center in Building No. 4 are particularly rich, including indoor heated swimming pool, gym, bowling, squash, KTV, chess and card room, tennis court and peacock garden and other entertainment projects.

After the Doomsday Creek area was recovered, this hotel was noticed by the Logistics Department of the Zhongzhou War Zone and reopened. It was completely renovated according to the standards of a Zhongzhou War Zone agency hotel.

The visit of the high-level delegation from the Western Theater Command coincided with the completion of the hotel's renovation and reopening to public use.

Therefore, compared with the previous visits of the 77th Corps and the Southern Theater Command delegation, the high-level delegation of the Western Theater Command was not accommodated in the Qinghe gathering place, but was arranged to this place with a rather quiet environment.

...

At this moment, as the time approached noon, the members of the Western Theater Delegation, who had rested until almost dawn last night, got up one after another and came to the Chinese banquet hall of the Xishui Guest House.

The midday sun shines through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, casting warm spots of light on the mirror-like marble floor, and the entire space is filled with the tempting aroma of food.

The long dining table was covered with a snow-white linen tablecloth, which glowed softly under the light.

On it are neatly arranged rows of shiny silver insulated lunch boxes, covered with transparent curved insulation lids, filled with a dazzling array of delicious food.

Hot dish area: attractive braised spare ribs with bright red color; tender stir-fried shrimps garnished with green and red peppers; juicy green broccoli with garlic; golden and attractive fried bacon and sausage; tender scrambled eggs and fluffy omelet; and a large pot of steaming, milky cream of mushroom soup.

Cold salad area: A variety of fresh and juicy vegetables (lettuce, purple cabbage, cucumber, tomato, corn kernels) appear particularly crisp and tender in the icy mist, and are paired with a variety of options such as Thousand Island dressing, Caesar dressing, vinaigrette, etc.; crystal clear fruit salad (watermelon, dragon fruit, orange, grapes, strawberry).

Beverage area: The thermos contains mellow fresh milk and freshly ground soy milk; a row of glass jars contains freshly squeezed orange juice, apple juice, and watermelon juice, with the fruit pulp clearly visible; next to it is a coffee machine, providing freshly ground espresso, American coffee, and cappuccino; there are also a variety of tea bags and kettles.

Fruit dessert area: The fruit plate is filled with extremely rare out-of-season fruits in the apocalypse: plump and juicy strawberries, bright purple grapes, and golden bananas; next to it are exquisite Western pastries: tiramisu, Black Forest cake, fruit tarts, macarons; and freshly baked muffins, served with maple syrup and fresh blueberries.

As the banquet hall gradually became lively, waiters in neat uniforms moved around with light and professional movements, replenishing food and clearing plates in a timely manner.

The officers in the Western Theater, from the gray-haired veterans to the young colonels, all held exquisite porcelain plates and lingered in front of the dining table, all with expressions of incredible shock on their faces!

"Tsk tsk~ It's like a dream!"

An officer with the rank of major general stood in the fruit area and carefully picked up a juicy strawberry, as if to confirm that it was not an illusion.

"Look at this milk! It's fresh milk! Not made with milk powder!" someone exclaimed in a low voice, pointing at the thin layer of milk skin in the thermos.

"And these vegetables... they're as fresh as if they were just picked from the ground..." Another officer picked up a piece of emerald green cucumber, looked at it against the light, his tone full of disbelief.

"Coffee... freshly ground beans..." An officer, clearly addicted to coffee, took a deep breath of the rich aroma, an expression of near intoxication on his face: "Luxury~"

Lieutenant General Zou Yuan, Deputy Commander of the Western Theater Command, and Lieutenant General Zhang Shouzheng, Director of the Joint Political Work Department, were also holding their dinner plates, mingling among the officers, and concentrating on eating.

Although he didn't look starving, his speed and concentration were definitely not like those of a leader who usually ate leisurely.

To be fair, as core leaders of the war zone, their food standards in the Northwest were definitely not low. It was true that the Northwest was poor, but no matter how difficult it was, people at their level would not starve.

Therefore, the sumptuous buffet before them certainly dazzled them, giving them a sense of luxury that seemed out of this world, but deep down, both of them regarded it as part of the "reception standard" - a face-saving project, who wouldn't understand that?

With the mentality of testing the waters, Zhang Shouzheng quickly called over a young waiter who was carrying freshly baked croissants to prepare a supplementary meal.

"Little comrade!"

"Here! Chief!"

The young waiter immediately stopped, stood up straight, spoke in a clear voice, and had a well-trained respectful expression on his face. Although there was a hint of nervousness in his eyes facing a senior general, his behavior was graceful and there was no awkwardness or stuttering at all.

"Haha, don't be nervous, little comrade." Zhang Shouzheng put on a friendly smile on his face, and his tone was as gentle as that of the uncle next door:

"I just wanted to chat with you and ask you something."

"Excuse me, Chief!" The waiter still maintained a standard service attitude, very serious.

"Well," Zhang Shouzheng leaned forward, lowering his voice a bit, sounding very easygoing. "I'm just curious, and wanted to ask you... What do you usually eat when you're not receiving missions?"

The waiter was obviously stunned for a moment, as if he didn't expect the leader to ask this.

He quickly glanced at the dazzling array of food on the table, then looked at the smiling lieutenant general in front of him, his face revealing obvious embarrassment and a hint of barely perceptible awkwardness.

"If I tell them the truth, will the leader think that we at the Guest House don't value them? And that they eat the same as us employees?"

The waiter was worried and hesitated for a moment before mumbling, "Sir... the food... is okay!"

"Well enough?"

Zhang Shouzheng's smile remained unchanged, but his tone of questioning carried a force that brooked no compromise:

"What exactly does 'okay' mean? How many dishes are there? How are the meat and vegetables combined? What are the main ingredients?"

He threw out a series of questions, his sharp eyes catching any subtle changes in the waiter's expression.

The waiter's face suddenly turned even redder. He lowered his head awkwardly, his eyes dodging, and his hands subconsciously clenched the edge of the tray. He looked at Zhang Shouzheng, then secretly glanced around the bustling banquet hall, as if looking for help. His expression was as if he was asked some unspeakable secret.

Seeing this, Zou Yuan and Zhang Shouzheng exchanged a knowing look!

"Something's happening!" Zhang Shouzheng's eyes sharpened.

"Sure enough!" Zou Yuan's lips tightened slightly.

This reaction... hesitant, hesitant... and glancing around... Almost simultaneously, a strong thought arose in the minds of both of them:

"Is there a serious logistical problem in the Central Plains War Zone?"

...