After Dongtao finished speaking, he went into the house, took out the small blackboard he had written on in advance, and hung it on the wall.

He had just hung the blackboard on the wall when he heard the clattering of abacus beads, as crisp as snowflakes falling from the sky.

The two girls quickly figured it out: one was Dongxiu, and the other was Dongchunmei, both of whom had just graduated from high school the year before last.

Once the two girls had figured it out, the rest of the group didn't need to do it anymore; the two girls were the winners of the first round.

In short, Dongxiu and Dongchunmei both came in first place in abacus calculation for three consecutive rounds.

Dongtao led the two girls into the house, took out two pieces of paper and placed them on the table. Many numbers were written on them, and he asked the two girls to stand in front of the table and calculate them.

The two girls were truly remarkable. Their abacus skills were exceptional. Without even looking at the abacus, they focused on the exam questions, stroked the abacus beads with their right hands, and almost simultaneously calculated the numbers for the exam questions. Then, they picked up their pens and wrote down the calculated numbers below.

These numbers were all calculated by Dongtao in advance.

In fact, he gave Dongxiu and Dongchunmei the same test question, with only one number changing. They calculated it almost at the same time.

Their calculations were flawless, and the positions of accountant and cashier were settled. Dongxiu was to be the accountant, and Dongchunmei was to be the cashier. It was then easy to recruit for the remaining positions.

But there are too many people to hire, and it wouldn't look good if we didn't hire everyone from the same village. Dongtao said, "Now line up. As I just said, we'll only take thirty men and twenty women..."

Before Dongtao could finish speaking, the men and women ran to line up, and soon they formed two long lines.

Dongtao left twenty people in front of the women's team and thirty people in front of the men's team, and sent everyone else back.

Li Yuzhu said, "You can start work today. Ten men will ride the tractor and come with me to the brick factory to haul bricks. The rest of you will clean up the factory and help unload the bricks when the tractor comes back."

Just then, the machinery factory delivered two tricycles, and Dong Damei arrived as well. She jumped off one of the tricycles and walked up to Dong Tao, saying, "Uncle, these two tricycles were bought from the pig farm. Driving a tricycle is easy to learn. Why don't you send two people to learn from the master? Once they've learned, they can go back home."

Dongtao said, "Niece, leave this to me. Go back home without worry. Once you've learned it, have your master go back immediately."

Li Yuzhu said, "Sister, I'm going to the brick factory to pick up bricks. Shall I take you home?"

Dong Damei said, "My bicycle is on the tricycle; I'll ride it home."

Li Yuzhu hadn't noticed the bicycle on the tricycle. She asked, "Sister, does anyone at the machine factory know how to drive a tractor?"

Dong Damei simply replied, "Yes!"

Li Yuzhu took the keys to the tractor parked at the machinery factory from her bag and handed them to Dong Damei, saying, "When you go back to the city, tell Dong Daming to come back around noon and see how many bricks are needed to build the warehouse and pigsty. When you get back to the machinery factory, have someone deliver the tractor to Hongda Brick Factory for me."

Dong Damei said okay, and the driver helped her unload the bicycle from the tricycle and rode away on it.

Li Yuzhu drove to the brick factory, but the red bricks produced there were not selling well, and there were bricks everywhere. As soon as Li Yuzhu stopped the tractor, the factory manager walked towards her.

This wasn't Li Yuzhu's first time hauling bricks here. She needed bricks to build her house, and she had driven her tractor here to haul bricks many times. The factory manager here knew her.

The factory manager asked, "Yuzhu, are we going to haul bricks by machine this time?"

Li Yuzhu said, "We're using a lot this time. Find me a bicycle, and I'll call a driver. Two tractors will be hauling bricks this morning."

The factory manager was very pleased to hear this and quickly brought Li Yuzhu a bicycle.

"Two thousand bricks per load, four yuan per brick," Li Yuzhu said to the ten men. "Load them onto the truck; each truck will hold thirty loads."

After Li Yuzhu finished speaking, she got on her bicycle and headed towards Su Village.

Half an hour later, Li Yuzhu brought Su Wei to the brickyard. The tractor was already fully loaded with thirty bricks.

Li Yuzhu said, "One of you get on the bus and guide Su Wei back home to unload the truck. The other nine of you stay here to load it."

Su Wei boarded the train, and someone else sat on the back berth to guide her.

As soon as Su Wei drove away, Dong Damei had someone bring another tractor from the machinery factory.

In the morning, two tractors hauled six loads of bricks, bringing back a total of 180 bricks.

After loading the last truck in the morning, Li Yuzhu paid the brick factory for the bricks, and everyone got on the truck, started the tractor, and headed towards Dongcun.

After unloading the last truckload of bricks at noon, Li Yuzhu told everyone to get on the tractor and go to the restaurant for lunch, since loading and unloading bricks is hard work and it was also the first day back at work.

If there are more than fifty people, we have to go to the city for a meal; there are simply no restaurants that big in the countryside.

After driving into the city, two tractors stopped in front of a braised meat shop, and everyone got out and walked towards the restaurant.

There were over fifty people seated at six tables. Li Yuzhu didn't make the order too complicated. In these days, people don't eat much oil or meat, and they generally don't get to eat meat at home. She just wanted them to eat something substantial, even if it meant spending a little more money. She went into the kitchen and asked, "Boss, one pound of braised pork per person. Is there enough braised pork in the shop for all of us?"

The shop owner couldn't believe his ears. A pound of braised pork cost more than a dollar. How much money would it cost if so many people ate all of it? But why would he be worried about finding customers when he was selling food?

More than 50 people would need to prepare over 50 kilograms of braised meat. A braised meat shop can't braise that much meat in a day. He said, "We definitely don't have that much braised meat in our shop. If it's not enough, I'll go to another shop to buy some for you."

Li Yuzhu said, "Okay, we'll calculate based on the number of people. Everyone who comes at noon today will have a plate of meat, sliced ​​braised pork, with one pound of braised pork on each plate, plus some garlic dipping sauce. We'll also serve six vegetable dishes to each table."

A pound of braised pork is more than anyone can eat with a normal appetite. Add to that six vegetable dishes per table, and even if they eat as much as they want, they still can't finish it. If they can't finish it, they can take it home. We'll make sure they eat their fill and are satisfied with the meal.

The owner of the braised meat shop really hit the jackpot this noon. He said, "Okay, I'll also give each table four free vegetarian dishes."

Li Yuzhu said thank you and turned to leave the kitchen.

Li Yuzhu stepped forward and said, "Each person gets one pound of braised pork. If you can't finish it, the restaurant will pack it up for you to take home. We still have work to do this afternoon, so we won't be drinking baijiu (Chinese liquor) for lunch today. Each person will have one bottle of beer."

The dozens of people were overjoyed when they heard this; they had never eaten anything like it before.

It takes time to cut meat for a large group of people, so Li Yuzhu took advantage of the time to go to the stationery store and buy some office supplies for the pig farm.

After Li Yuzhu returned, the waiter had just placed the braised meat on the table. Each plate contained one pound of braised meat, and after that, ten plates of vegetarian dishes were served to each table.

They couldn't bear to eat the braised meat freely, wanting to take it home so their families could have some meat, but the ten vegetarian dishes on the table were all eaten up.