Seeing that the female comrades were so helpful and had silenced Liu Ping, Zhao Xuelin stopped talking, but he still remembered Liu Ping in his heart.
Zhao Xuelin motioned for everyone to be quiet, then pulled out a blue-covered notebook. His expression was a bit more serious than usual. "Alright, now let's vote for the employees of the rice mill and oil press. Before we do, I have a few words to say to everyone."
"Working in the rice mill and oil press is both hard physical labor, and operating the machines requires technical skills. Not everyone is qualified for the job. Our village cadres have discussed this before and will try to consider young and strong men with good health."
As soon as he finished speaking, the female comrades jumped up in a swarm. "Captain, this is unfair. We female comrades are all very strong. Why do you only consider the men and not us?"
"Don't argue, let me explain."
Zhao Xuelin was most afraid that they would cause trouble. If the female comrades united to resist, he would be scratched in the face by them if he did not handle it properly.
"Be quiet, sit down, and let the captain finish what he has to say."
Secretary Tian stood up and spoke. He had a high prestige in the production team and had been the secretary for more than ten years. His words carried more weight than Zhao Xuelin's, so everyone sat down obediently.
"I know the women in the team are very capable. Whether it's housework or farm work, they're all experts. You truly hold up half the sky. No matter how hard the work at the rice mill and oil press is, you can definitely do it if you grit your teeth. Especially the women who earn ten work points a day. If they join the team, they will definitely perform just as well as the men."
"It's just that I have other plans for the women on the team, and I think you're more suitable for this job."
As soon as Zhao Xuelin said this, everyone became curious. Someone couldn't wait to ask, "Captain, what other work is there? Don't be so fussy. Just tell us now so we don't have to guess."
"Yesterday, Yun Zhiqing gave us a suggestion. Our village cadres discussed it and did some calculations, and we decided that tofu processing is a viable option."
"This morning, I met with Comrade Li Jian and Comrade Yin Mei to discuss the situation. I tried some fermented bean curd that Li Jian's family had mailed to me, and some fried tofu that Comrade Yin Mei had made on the spur of the moment. They tasted completely different from the original plain tofu. I also met with Han Zheng to learn about the market for soy products. All sorts of soy products are very popular, and the prices are much higher than just plain tofu."
"We're considering mobilizing the entire team to try making fermented bean curd and fried tofu. Both require the same raw materials as white tofu. Seventy percent of the women in the team are skilled at making tofu. Compared to doing hard labor at the rice mill, this job is more suitable for you."
The team leader was thoughtful and considerate of them. Rather than doing manual labor, the women were willing to grind beans and make tofu at home. However, some people expressed doubts: "Team leader, will these fermented bean curd and fried tofu sell well? No one here has ever eaten them. If we make them and no one wants them, wouldn't that be a big loss?"
"Don't worry about the taste. Four of us village cadres have already tasted it. Tomorrow I'll have Comrade Yin Mei fry a pot of fried tofu. If you're interested, you can go and try it. As for fermented bean curd, Comrade Li Jian only has a little left, so I can't give it to you to taste. However, the comrades at the Youth League Center have tried it, and they think it tastes pretty good."
Qiu Shiyan, the male team leader at the Youth Corps, stood up and spoke up. "Fermented bean curd is delicious and goes really well with rice. One quail egg can go with a bowl of rice. The harvest was the worst the winter before last, and all the vegetables froze to death. We at the Youth Corps relied on the fermented bean curd mailed from Li Jian's family to get us through that period."
Li Jian and Yin Mei most hope that the team can implement this matter. If it can be done, they will not have to go to the fields to do farm work.
Seeing that everyone was in high spirits and very interested in fermented bean curd, Li Jian stood up and said, "I'm going to the county town tomorrow morning to send a telegram home and ask them to mail a few jars of fermented bean curd to me. I'll invite you all to try it later."
"Li Jian, there is plenty of tofu in the team, why don't you just make it on the spot?" Mrs. Wang said.
"Aunt, fermentation is required for the production of fermented bean curd. The fermentation time is related to the temperature. At this temperature, it takes about half a month to ferment before it can be eaten." Li Jian explained.
"Oh, I see. Then you can ask your family to mail some to us so we can try the taste."
Seeing that the women had stopped arguing about the rice mill, Zhao Xuelin struck while the iron was hot. "We have to develop collective industries one at a time. We'll start with the rice mill and the oil press. Once things are stabilized, we'll immediately start producing soy products. The production team still has to apply for various approvals from the commune, and we'll have to rush to build a workshop. All of this will take some time. Let's focus on the farm work first, and then the whole team will work together to develop the tofu industry."
"Okay, we'll listen to the captain."
The people in the Dongjiang Brigade are quite united. The brigade leader has plans and arrangements, so they don't make any noise and just follow his instructions.
The female comrades stopped fighting among themselves, but they tried their best to ensure that the men from each family would be selected to work in the rice mill. During the subsequent election and voting process, they almost engaged in a war without gunpowder.
Yun Huaying and the others sat in the corner, cracking sunflower seeds and quietly watching the fun. Seeing them arguing fiercely over a spot, Lin Shan patted her chest and sighed, "It's a good thing we didn't fight for it. Fortunately, we were smart enough to give up on our own initiative, otherwise we would have been drowned in saliva."
Although Han Zheng was attending on behalf of his grandfather, he didn't campaign at all. He also sat there, eating sunflower seeds, and whispered to them, "The commune is planning to build a school. It's already been submitted to the county for approval. The school is most likely to be built in Dongjiang Brigade."
The three people's eyes lit up at the same time, and Jiang Yuan was slightly excited: "Brother Han, is it really going to be built in the Dongjiang Brigade?"
"Once the rice mill and oil press are built, Zhao Xuelin will go and unite the two brigades on the other side of the river to start producing soy products. We'll form a supply cooperative and the three brigades will work together to provide suggestions. The Dongjiang Brigade has the greatest hope of building a school."
"Brother Han, will the two brigades on the other side really cooperate?" Lin Shan didn't know much about the other side and asked, "Why don't they fight for their own production team?"
"It's impractical to build a school on the other side of the river. There's a Huatian Commune next to their two production teams, and there's a school in Huatian Commune. The county won't plan two schools so close together. So once the school building is approved, the site will definitely be chosen from among the Dongjiang, Nanzhu, and Nanwan brigades."
"Of the three brigades here, Nanwan is the farthest away. Building a school there would make it inconvenient for students from the other two brigades to attend school, so the school will basically be located in the two brigades in the middle, Dongjiang and Nanzhu."
"Once the approval documents come in, the public office will convene a meeting of village cadres from the five brigades. Given the premise of a joint tofu industry, the two opposing brigades will definitely support the Dongjiang Brigade. Nanwan and Nanzhu have long been at odds, and the two captains dislike each other. Nanwan will definitely not support Nanzhu, so the school's location in Dongjiang is very likely."
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