Chapter 168 (End of Text)

"Grandma, I'm back!"

Along with the crackling sound of chains, Kong Dongdong's voice spread into the yard.

"Here I am." Sun Laimei wiped her hands on her clothes. Kong Yue and Lu Chunnong were not at home, so she was the only one at home.

"I haven't seen you all day. Why are you back so early today?" Sun Laimei finished speaking as the door was half open. She immediately spotted the person behind Lu Qin.

"Auntie, this is Comrade Zhou."

Sun Laimei quickly realized who it was and said, "Hey, come in, come in."

The clean and bright courtyard of the Kong family came into Zhou Jun's sight. He was carrying the vegetables he had bought from the state-owned restaurant and said, "Excuse me, auntie."

"Come on, what else do you want to bring?" Sun Laimei first looked at Lu Qin's eyes, and when she saw him shrug, she accepted it. It was a tacit understanding between the old and the young.

After moving to a new home, it was rare for fellow villagers to come over, and Sun Laimei was happy and didn't mind the trouble.

What follows is naturally a greeting.

There were stone benches and a stone table in the middle of the yard. She asked him to sit down while Sun Laimei went about cooking.

Zhou Jun shouted, "Just eat something."

Kong Dongdong slipped into the room with his bag and soon came out holding his water bottle.

Lu Qin glanced at him, took his kettle and poured him half a cup.

"Thank you, uncle."

Kong Dongdong walked away again holding the pot.

Zhou Jun withdrew his gaze from the child and waited until he sat down before asking, "Have you told your classmates about the new product?"

Lu Qin: He hasn't even mentioned it yet. But he praises his food every day.

"I'll call tomorrow, there shouldn't be any problem."

He had inserted more than one private message, and now Cao Hai's family was used to Cao Hai having an outgoing roommate. When they replied to their son's letter, they even wrote him a special letter.

Zhou Jun took a sip of tea, knowing that he had an idea. "As for the supply and marketing cooperative, I'll contact the two companies again in a couple of days to see if they're willing to cooperate."

"Okay, if I need help, tell me."

The two of them chatted intermittently.

The sounds from outside could be faintly heard in the kitchen. Sun Laimei washed the pot and added more fire to the stove.

Kong Dongdong gulped down half a cup of water and put the kettle aside. "Grandma, let me help you light the fire."

Sun Laimei shoveled the water out of the pot and took the time to answer him, "Be good, just sit there. Stand a little further away. Be careful not to splash the milk or oil."

Kong Dongdong backed away.

Sun Laimei fried the green beans in the pot, turned around and looked at him, and couldn't help but look again, "Dongdong, are you tanned?"

It wasn't obvious just now, but probably because it was hot in the kitchen, when he rolled up his sleeves, the difference in skin color between his wrists and his face was particularly obvious.

Kong Dongdong looked down and rolled up his sleeves again, revealing distinct color differences on the joints of his arms.

He blinked his big eyes and said, "Grandma, it's on my face."

Sun Laimei was about to say it was black, but then she thought about how this kid also cared about appearance and looked exactly like his uncle in that respect, so she pretended to look at him carefully before making a comment, "His face is fine, there's no black on it."

Sun Laimei was the only one who believed this. But it was true. Although she was a little darker than before, she was still fair and tender compared to other children.

The small round table in the yard was filled with dishes like braised pork with green beans, fried small yellow croaker, braised eggplant, scrambled eggs with green peppers, and a serving of chicken and potatoes.

Sun Laimei called out, and the four of them gathered together to have breakfast and dinner.

Lu Qin took the time to pick up some food for Kong Dongdong and continued to talk about work with Zhou Jun in a disjointed manner.

The uncle and nephew both rolled up their sleeves. Kong Dongdong moved his butt forward, put his hands on the table, and compared the skin color of the two with his small eyes... After the comparison came out, his eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly. And, it really was darker.

Seeing him getting closer and closer, Lu Qin thought he was squeezing him. He moved aside and replied to Zhou Jun, "The first batch of sales can be carried out as early as October."

Kong Dongdong glanced around, and the result was that he didn't plan to go out the next day.

He was in elementary school and could already match his clothes by himself, but he wore autumn clothes that covered his arms and feet tightly.

Lu Chunnong found him a short-sleeved shirt and a thin jacket to prevent it from being too hot at noon, so he could take them off directly. However, he refused to wear them, and kept saying that he wanted to keep his skin whiter.

Kong Yue's first reaction was to look at Lu Qin.

Lu Qin looked like he had no idea.

There was no one following him, and he was a little uncomfortable at first.

***

Cao Hai went to the fields as soon as he had a holiday. In his place, rice is harvested three times a year. Now that he has just finished harvesting the rice, he has to plow the land and prepare for the third rice planting.

When he heard the captain shouting that someone was calling his father, he was very puzzled. He was the only child at home, so who would call his father?

He didn't have time to wash the mud off his legs, so he ran barefoot to find his father, with one side of his trouser legs higher than the other.

Cao's father was also puzzled, and Cao Hai asked curiously if he knew who hit him. Cao's mother happened to be nearby, so she ran over as well.

When the team leader heard the noise, he was surprised to see a family of three with muddy legs.

He thought of the voice of the young comrade opposite him. Could it be that the young comrade was some important person?

"Hey, you're finally here. The comrades on the opposite side have been waiting for a while." The captain made way.

Father Cao wiped his hands on his clothes and asked, "Who is it?"

Cao's mother leaned her head forward.

As the phone touched my ear, a cheerful voice from the other end greeted me, "It's me, uncle."

Father Cao only thought that the young comrade's voice was somewhat pleasant, and there was a crackling sound on the other end of the phone line, but he didn't recognize it.

Cao Hai was far away, but when the microphone was halfway through leaking sound, a figure flashed through his mind.

Coincidentally, the person on the phone was already explaining, with a smile on his face, "Uncle, it's me, Lu Qin."

As soon as he mentioned his name, Cao's father suddenly understood and smiled subconsciously. He turned and looked at Cao's mother, and both of them had smiles in their eyes. He replied in surprise, his tone rising, "It's you! Ouch, the phone was buzzing so fast, I almost didn't hear clearly."

The last time Cao Hai called back, Lu Qin grabbed the phone and chatted with him for a few words, but the time interval was a bit far, and the call was not clear, so he almost didn't recognize him.

Cao Hai: He knew it was Lu Qin.

The memory goes back to before the holiday, when Lu Qin asked him to leave the brigade's phone number.

"Yes, yes, it's me, uncle. I didn't expect you to recognize me so quickly. What are you and aunt busy with recently? Comrade Cao is home too, right?"

Zhou Jun turned around with the teacup in his hand. Seeing Lu Qin's chatty way of chatting, he turned around and left again.

Cao Hai covered the microphone tightly. "It's just the farm work. My aunt and I are preparing to plant rice. Our son Haizi is also working in the fields. There's no water, so we're waiting for the old man to send rain."

Cao's mother came forward and said, "Lu Qin, let's plant rice."

"Hey, auntie is here too. Hello, auntie. Planting rice is very hard work. Uncle and auntie should make sure to rest." Lu Qin's accent was suddenly distorted by them.

Cao's father sighed and said, "It's indeed hard work, but we live on what we earn from the land."

The person opposite him was talking loudly, and Lu Qin was not idle either, so he followed suit. It happened that no one was in the office, which made it even easier for Lu Qin to chat.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Lu Qin let out a cry of "Oh".

Father Cao, "What's wrong, Comrade Xiao Lu? Do you have something to say to Haizi?"

Lu Qin smiled sheepishly, "I almost forgot about it while chatting with you. Actually, I don't know if Haizi told you about my work."

Father Cao looked at Cao Hai.

The microphone was muted at this moment, and Cao Hai heard clearly, "He works in a food factory."

"Oh, so that's the case. Haizi said you work in a food factory." Father Cao repeated it, fearing that the person opposite would get impatient.

"Yes, yes, that's right. I work at a place called Laifu Food Factory. When our products are ready, I'll send some for you to try. But now, I have something to trouble you with, and I'm a little embarrassed to tell you."

Cao's father thought to himself that he was just a country boy and there was nothing he could do. "Just tell me what you want."

"This is about your family's dry food. I distributed your dry food cakes to everyone in our factory and they all thought they were delicious. So I think we can cooperate with you. The factory has also held a vote. What do you think, uncle and aunt?"

"What!" Father Cao felt like he was hallucinating. A big pancake hit him on the head and made him feel dizzy. "What cooperation?"

"Uncle, cooperation means we want to produce your cookies, package them, and then sell them on the market. The taste of your cookies is absolutely amazing, so uncle, don't worry."

Lu Qin then chatted with them for a few more words. He also left his contact information, "Uncle, I'll come over when I'm free."

Father Cao couldn't hide the expression on his face. After hanging up the phone, he patted his face.

Cao Hai, "Dad"

Father Cao raised his head and said, "I heard there's no cooperation. Comrade Lu wants to cooperate with us. Your greatest achievement in your studies so far is meeting Comrade Lu. He called me, and you didn't even chat with him."

Cao Hai, "" just denied him.

And can he grab the microphone?

Father Cao put his hands behind his back and said, "Let's go home and discuss this."

Cao's mother followed him closely.

The captain just came out from the side of the house and opened his mouth to call them, but he saw the couple walking like the wind, with their muddy trouser legs swinging back and forth.

Then, Cao Hai chased out and said, "Wait for me."

The captain was left with a breath of cold air.

For them now, the work points allocated by the team are their achievements for the whole year. Don’t even dream of earning income from other sources. As for the ingredients for the biscuits, they have plenty of them in the back mountain.

So for the Cao family, it was a piece of cake.

Cao Hai's mind was still clear. "I've been to Lu Qin's factory. They have machines, so the production requirements should be quite high. So if we pick the fruits ourselves, we probably won't be able to reach their quantity."

Father Cao thought about it and realized that this was indeed a problem.

"What should I do then?"

The couple thought about it for a long time but couldn't come up with any idea, so they had to take the initiative to call back.

When Lu Qin heard this, he knew the cooperation was likely to be successful. His response was, "Uncle, it's up to you guys to decide. You have experience, and I believe you can do it."

His trust made Cao's father feel comfortable all over, but he soon felt pressured.

Cao's father naturally chose to cooperate. He didn't have enough manpower, so he took control of the collection of raw materials himself, letting the other members of the team also collect them and hand them over to him.

The most important thing for dry ingredients is whether they are dry or not. Being able to cooperate with large factories, Cao's father and his colleagues are extremely cautious. Those that are not dried or have worm holes are directly returned and they will not accept them next time.

For Lu Qin, the new product was a snap. But Cao Hai's vacation was more tiring than school.

In late September, the ingredients collected by the Cao family were transported to the factory, and a list of raw materials was also delivered.

Lu Qin received them warmly and took them on a tour around the factory.

At the same time, Zhou Jun also negotiated a cooperation agreement with two supply and marketing cooperatives. When young people teamed up, things seemed to become much simpler.

The factory took a two-pronged approach: on the one hand, it was responsible for producing the original products, and on the other hand, it began to test new products.

Lu Qin ran between school and factory. Faced with the envious expressions of his classmates, he promised that as long as his classmates studied hard, he could directly recruit them into the factory in the future.

In October, the products from the branch factory were shipped out.

Lu Qin called a few young people together and set up a stall in front of the supply and marketing cooperative for several days to broadcast the food tasting live, and spread the reputation of the product through the mouths of the ladies who bought vegetables.

Facts have proven that as long as you are willing to use your brain, things will not be too difficult. Especially Lu Qin's smile when he sees everyone attracted many customers.

After the branch's products were launched, they were back on track. For the next two months, everything went smoothly. As expected, the branch's growth and success depended heavily on these two young people.

It wasn't until December of 1978 that a policy was introduced, and the country took a new direction, especially in the province where Ningchuan City was located, which welcomed the policy.

Zhou Jun happened to be at Kong's house that day. He came over with his newly bought radio and turned it on to ask Lu Qin to repair it.

Lu Qin fiddled with it for a few times and clapped his hands. "It's done."

Kong Dongdong stood up by holding his uncle's trouser leg and looked at the radio curiously.

Zhou Jun thanked Kong Yue for refilling his tea, leaned over and turned on the radio, which started to play after two beeps.

It seemed like I had just caught up with the news, and good news came from the radio one after another.

Lu Qin was stunned. He almost forgot about the historical event. Is it this day?

Kong Dongdong, "Uncle"

"Um."

Lu Chunnong stopped walking.

When Zhou Jun heard the name of the province where Ningchuan City was located, his first reaction was doubt. Is there really someone in this world who has foresight?

Zila, zila, the radio continues to play good news.

The author has something to say: The main text ends here, with the seventh and eighth years as the dividing point. There are also extra chapters.