Su Qingluan didn't know when the work would be completed today.

Although these people were eager to try out the "double wages", Su Qingluan looked at the tired faces and thought that many people here were "middle-aged and elderly" and could call themselves "old man" or "old woman", so she decided not to take on too much burden.

So Su Qingluan said, "Considering that some people are staying to work overtime today, please gather at my doorstep tomorrow at noon. Of course, your wages will still be paid as usual. Okay, those who are not working overtime should go home, and the rest of you should stay where you are."

After most of the people who didn't work overtime had left, Su Qingluan handed the key to the shop in the town to Liu Yunniang: "Now you take these people to the town, we should be able to make it before the city gates close."

Although Lefeng Town was only a small town, it still had to close its gates and impose a curfew at night. However, there was still more than an hour before the gates closed, so it was definitely possible to arrive in time.

"Zhaodi, come back to my house with me. I want to get those things." Su Qingluan had already considered the possibility of overtime, so she had prepared some overnight things on the second floor of the shop in advance.

However, Aunt Zou had already gone back, so the "logistics team" was one person short, but they still had to prepare midnight snacks for everyone, so naturally they needed some of Su Qingluan's usual kitchen utensils and seasonings, so Su Qingluan had to take them all.

She also told her family that they would stay in the town overnight, and Su Qingluan hurried to the town with Zhaodi.

Zhaodi has a slender physique. Even though Su Qingluan has been giving her an egg every day to replenish her strength since yesterday, it takes time to change her physique.

So Su Qingluan had to accommodate her somewhat slow pace - although Su Qingluan also understood that Zhaodi had tried her best, she had already started jogging and was out of breath.

Later, Su Qingluan was really afraid that she would not be able to catch up with the closing of the city gate, so she simply pulled Zhaodi and jogged all the way, and finally they caught up with the gate.

Even so, the two of them were still reminded by the gatekeeper, "It's almost nightfall. The county town is no different from the countryside in that there are no night patrols. If you're caught wandering around the town after dark, you'll go to jail!"

Zhaodi's already pale face turned even bluer with fright, but Su Qingluan smiled calmly and said, "Thank you for the advice, sir. We have relatives in town and will not wander around the city and cause trouble for you."

Everyone wants to hear something nice, especially Su Qingluan, a fair and beautiful girl. The soldier guarding the city scratched his head and said, "Well, I'm not an 'official' at all. I'm just trying to make a living. But if you really run into patrolmen, just be nice and tell them you're on your way home. People like you are obviously simple folks, and no one will give you any trouble."

Upon hearing this, Su Qingluan quickly nodded and thanked him, then went into the town with Zhaodi.

As the sky darkened, Su Qingluan and Zhaodi encountered two patrols on their way to their destination, just as the soldiers had said. However, perhaps because the city gates hadn't been completely closed, or perhaps because Su Qingluan and Zhaodi looked so thin and small that they didn't look like criminals, they were allowed to pass.

Su Qingluan thought to herself that it was true that no one would hit a smiling person no matter where they were.

By the time the two arrived at the Su family's shop, it was already brightly lit and bustling with activity.

Liu Yunniang led those people here and only carried out some preliminary preparations such as simple cleaning and tidying up, and lighting fires in all the stoves.

Since Su Qingluan arrived only half an hour later than Liu Yunniang and her group, when Su Qingluan arrived, everyone had just lit the stove.

Su Qingluan clapped her hands and began to assign tasks: "The five groups will split up and work separately. Groups one and two will rinse all the fruits and pick out any that have been squeezed and damaged. Groups three and four will spread the washed fruits out on several winnowing baskets placed on the shelves in the yard—be careful not to pile up the fruits. Group five will follow Yunniang and I and move randomly."

Everyone took on their own tasks and began to light oil lamps and candles, and then the stars and lights got busy.

In the kitchen, Su Qingluan and Liu Yunniang were also busy.

Although there were one or two people in each group who did not choose to work overtime, there were still nearly twenty people left.

To make a big pot of rice, the seasoning just needs to be about the same, but stir-frying a large amount of ingredients is physically demanding.

Su Qingluan, Zhaodi, and Liu Yunniang were in charge of picking and chopping vegetables and preparing the food. The remaining three members of the fifth group were all men, and since two of them were farmers and the other was a hunter, they were all relatively strong. Therefore, in terms of physical strength, cooking a large pot of food was absolutely no problem.

So, the three of them took turns to go to the stove to cook the big pot of food, while the remaining two people made coarse grain steamed buns.

Su Qingluan couldn't help but sigh again. Small farmers didn't have so many ridiculous sayings like "a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen". Everyone worked whoever was free. Everyone had endless work to do every day, so there was naturally no such thing as "division of labor". Therefore, men's cooking skills were generally passable.

Everyone was busy in an orderly manner, and soon groups one and two had washed the fruits. Su Qingluan asked these people to go to the second floor and clear two areas on the floor. Then they could draw a curtain in the middle, and men and women could sleep on each side of the large mat.

After groups three and four dried all the fruits in the yard, Su Qingluan asked them to assemble the two millstones in the yard and grind the spices.

In order to prevent the ratio of the spices from being leaked, Su Qingluan asked the spice seller to cut the spices into smaller pieces and weigh them in advance and mix them evenly according to the proportions when purchasing them.

However, this kind of "chopped" spices are only at the level of Chinese herbal medicine. If they are mixed directly into the jam, it will inevitably affect the taste and flavor - after all, the taste of a large piece of spices is quite stimulating.

Grinding Chinese herbal medicines, no, spices, requires patience, especially since Su Qingluan said the powder must be able to pass through a sieve that is used to sift white flour three times.

So after groups one and two finished making the beds, they also joined in grinding the spices.

Su Qingluan was also busy. Although it was an autumn night, the people in the kitchen were sweating profusely because of the blazing stove.

By the time it was almost 11am, it was already completely dark. The big pot meal was finally ready, and everyone was already starving - after all, by this time of day, not only was dinner not around, some people had already washed up and gone to bed.

Seeing that some people were still unable to put down their work, Su Qingluan clapped her hands and said, "There is still a lot of work to do. We can't finish it in a short time! Everyone, eat first to replenish your energy! Otherwise, if you collapse from exhaustion, it will be a waste of time!"