The next day, when they went to the Xilan Brigade again, Lin Yu and Ou Manqing were treated differently than the day before.
The people here are very friendly to them; after all, in their eyes, these two are the gods of wealth.
The two men reached a preliminary agreement with the team leader that the first batch of purchases would be similar to the amount of lychees, which would be 300 catties of peaches and 100 catties of plums.
They specifically chose those that weren't fully ripe yet, as they were more durable.
The entire brigade worked together to pick fruit for them.
Lin Yu and Ou Manqing also went down to work together.
Lin Yu could understand some of the dialect, and with Ou Manqing as a translator, the two of them chatted happily with the rest of the group.
He quickly became one of the group.
Lin Yu also asked them, "What do you do with all this fruit that you can't finish?"
An elderly woman said that most of them were thrown away and used as fertilizer.
Some are also dried into dried peaches or dried plums.
Lin Yu's eyes lit up: "You know how to make dried fruit?"
The other person shook her head, and under Lin Yu's expectant gaze, she called over another elderly woman.
"Sister Zhang can cook, and she cooks very well. You can ask her."
This Mrs. Zhang is a woman in her fifties. According to her, her skills came from her mother, which she later improved upon.
For example, the drying time and the method of turning the fruit are very important when drying fruit.
She also revealed that she could add sugar water to make candied fruit, but that would be too wasteful of sugar, so she didn't dare to make it.
Lin Yu thought this woman was a talented person, so she tried to get closer to her and asked if she could teach her.
“Aunt Zhang, this is your craft. If you’re willing to teach me, you’ll get a share when I sell the products.”
Aunt Zhang shook her head: "I'd be happy if I could help you. You don't need to give me anything."
She felt that her skills were not very useful; in this production brigade, having this skill was not as useful as being good at farm work.
But Lin Yu didn't think so. She believed that her ability to possess this unique skill meant she had studied it seriously.
It's just that she wasn't given a stage to showcase her talents.
There are many talented people in the countryside; the question is who can discover them.
Lin Yu felt that this Aunt Zhang was the expert she was looking for.
Grandma Zhang had never been praised like this in her entire life. She was deeply moved by the respect shown to her by Lin Yu and Ou Manqing.
So when she was teaching Lin Yu, she tried her best to give her everything she knew.
Lin Yu already enjoyed studying cooking, and now with someone to teach her, she quickly learned how to make dried fruit.
Dried peaches aren't as tasty as canned fruit, but dried plums, which Lin Yu preserved with sugar, taste quite good.
Gone is the original tartness of plums; in its place comes the sweetness of sugar and the original fragrance of the fruit.
After eating it, Aunt Zhang said, "I've tried making it before, but it's not as delicious as yours."
Lin Yu knew the reason: "It's not that you did a bad job, it's that you were reluctant to add sugar."
Sugar was so rare at that time. Although sugarcane was produced in the south, people still needed sugar coupons to buy it.
When Aunt Zhang made dried fruit, everyone thought it was unnecessary.
She added sugar secretly, afraid that if people found out, they would scold her for being wasteful.
Therefore, she was reluctant to add so much sugar, so the taste was naturally not as good as Lin Yu's.
This is due to limitations in the environment, not a problem with her skills.
Aunt Zhang was clearly comforted.
As Ou Manqing listened, he admired Lin Yu very much. In just a few days, Aunt Zhang had already fallen in love with her to no end.
If we're talking about who's most popular with middle-aged and elderly women, Lin Yu is the number one person Ou Manqing knows.
Others who have tried Lin Yu's dried fruit also prefer the pickled plums.
Peaches taste better when they're juicy.
Lin Yu wrote down her actions and thoughts in a letter, and sent it along with the fruit onto the train.
Once you arrive at Lianhua Brigade, someone will take the items back to the factory.
After Grandma Lin showed the women the instructions she had written, they tried it again and they should be able to succeed.
Meanwhile, watching the fruit being sent away, Lin Yu pulled Ou Manqing to the bank to withdraw money.
Like the Oujiacun Brigade, Lin Yu planned to settle the first payment for the goods in Xilan Brigade first.
This gives them confidence.
In addition to returning the money for the fruit to the brigade leader, Lin Yu also applied for a patent fee for Aunt Zhang.
After all, she was the one who developed the technique for making candied fruit. Although Lin Yu had improved it, Aunt Zhang's efforts should not go unrewarded.
After hearing Lin Yu's words, the brigade leader also told Aunt Zhang to accept the money: "This money is rightfully yours, take it."
With the team leader's approval, Aunt Zhang finally accepted the money with peace of mind.
Of course, apart from the brigade leader and Aunt Zhang, very few people knew about this.
I'm afraid that others will feel resentful and report me.
Leaving aside Aunt Zhang's patent fees, the money for purchasing the fruit alone is enough to reassure the commune members.
This proved that their fruit could indeed be exchanged for money, which gave them even more confidence in Lin Yu.
The brigade leader promised that, apart from setting aside money for building a school for the children and hiring teachers, the money would be distributed to them according to their work performance.
This gave everyone even more motivation to work.
Lin Yu and Ou Manqing were asked to stay for dinner by the brigade leader and several veteran cadres.
They wanted to refuse, but seeing the expectant looks in the elderly people's eyes, they couldn't bear to.
To express his gratitude to them, the brigade leader killed all the chickens he raised at home.
The commune members then brought out food from their homes, and together they put together a large table of dishes.
They must live a very frugal life normally, yet they brought out so much to entertain them.
"Please eat more, don't be shy."
They treated the two of them like their own children, so Lin Yu and Ou Manqing had no choice but to eat without ceremony.
I must say, although the farmers' cooking methods are not very refined, the food does have a unique flavor.
Lin Yu enjoyed the meal very much.
The elderly people were even happier to see that they didn't stand on ceremony.
They were eager to build a good relationship with them so that they could realize their dream of building a school for the children as soon as possible.
After finishing their meal, the two declined any offers to stay and rode their bikes back into the city before it got dark.
When Mrs. Ou saw the two of them, she asked anxiously, "Where have you been? Why are you so late?"
Ou Manqing quickly explained to her that he hadn't gone anywhere and had just stayed at the Xilan Brigade.
Mrs. Ou was relieved: "They are also very hospitable. Just help them more."
They were all from her hometown, and she would be happy if they could live better lives.
Lin Yu nodded: "Yes, we'll do our best."
Then, Mr. Ou took the opportunity to ask about Lin Yu's progress.
By this time, Lin Yu had already completed more than half of his plan.
The rest is about developing new products.
In other words, she's preparing to return to the Lotus Brigade.
To be honest, she and Ou Manqing have been in Guangcheng for more than a week, and in two more days it will be half a month.
There was no overdue payment, after all, she had initially planned for half a month.
Upon learning that they were about to leave, Mrs. Ou frowned: "Can't they stay a few more days?"
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