In the afternoon, the men continued picking mangoes, while the women, the children who could work, and even the elderly, disabled men in the brigade who had no children came to the brigade office for study.

Yu Yao explained the precautions to them and taught them how to make qualified mango slices. Afterwards, she selected a few people to give on-site guidance.

The steps are actually not difficult; the difficulty lies in being careful and patient.

It wasn't until the sun set in the afternoon and the gong sounded to signal the end of the day that Yu Yao announced that the day was over.

Sun Yu led a group to count the number of mango slices, and Su Meihua had the counted dried mangoes loaded onto a truck. Once the truck was full, it was transported back to the compound and given to Sister Dan and the others to make syrup.

Once the mango slices have absorbed enough sugar by tomorrow morning, they can be dried.

The Qingshuiwan Brigade consists of six production teams, with each team having an average of more than 30 households and over 500 people.

There are more than 100 able-bodied laborers who can earn full work points, while the rest cannot. Children like Li Xiaohong, who are only half-grown, can only earn five work points for their work.

In the past, very few women could earn full work points when working in the fields; there were only a handful in the entire brigade, mainly due to the difference in physical strength.

The women were the ones who came to help the sideline group with selecting, cleaning, peeling, and slicing. On the first day, more than a dozen more women were able to earn full work points.

Once they become more familiar with the job market, the number of female comrades who can earn full work points will at least double.

Yu Yao had the money prepared beforehand, and after counting the mangoes, she began to settle the accounts.

She first gave the money to Li Yuanqing, who then deducted the amount to pay off the famine, and the remainder was distributed among everyone according to their work points.

Since it was the first time, Yu Yao specifically asked Li Yuanqing to pay on the spot. Once the two parties have established trust, they will no longer settle accounts daily, but rather after the mango harvest is complete.

This way, Yu Yao and the others will be under less pressure, and it will also save them a lot of trouble.

Li Xiaohong and Zeng Qiaoniang were both excited when they received the money.

Many of the people present were just as excited as they were.

For most rural women of that era, besides working in the fields to earn work points throughout the year, they could only see money when the year-end statistics were tallied.

Some poorly performing production brigades had been in debt for several years and had no money to distribute to the people.

That's how it is with the Qingshuiwan Brigade.

The men in the family can occasionally go out to do short-term jobs and earn money, but the women who stay at home to take care of the family may not earn any money for several years.

That's why everyone was so excited when they received the money from the team leader.

"I can make money now too."

Although it wasn't much money, only five or six cents, it meant something different to the women. They felt more confident and upright, and some even cried tears of joy while holding the money.

Yu Yao still had work to do. After distributing the money, she said goodbye to Li Xiaohong and her daughter, and got on the truck back to the compound.

When they arrived at the compound, Sister Dan and the others were busy soaking mango slices, and everyone else went up to help.

Because of her pregnancy, Yu Yao couldn't do it herself, so she stood aside and helped.

The commotion caused by the side business attracted the attention of the residents of the family compound, and the news reached Wang Xiu and Qin Lamei.

Upon learning this, Wang Xiu said to Qin Lamei, "Cousin, I want to sign up for the side hustle group."