As soon as Su Qingluan finished speaking, there was a moment of silence at the scene, and then a few people started whispering, and then the "murmuring" sound became more and more obvious, turning into a noisy sound.
Su Qingluan listened to everyone's discussion for a while, then clapped her hands and said, "What's the point of just mumbling down there? If you have any questions, ask them now!"
So the brave ones took the lead and asked, "What do you mean by helping everyone repair the exterior walls and roof...is it a complete renovation?"
Su Qingluan looked at the huge crowd below and couldn't tell who was asking the question. She could only jokingly ask in the direction of the voice, "If we want to completely renovate the house, I'm afraid it will take a month or two. Where will you live in the winter when it snows?"
Everyone burst into laughter, and Su Qingluan explained, "Repairing the exterior walls and roofs usually only takes one or two days per house. If we have to renovate the entire house, I'm afraid only one house will be able to do it before winter. What's more..." Su Qingluan looked around, "Renovating the entire house, and you think you can get such a huge reward with just two days of work?! Who is the black-hearted shopkeeper?"
When the people below heard Su Qingluan call herself a "black-hearted shopkeeper", they couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"If you do a good job, Manager Su will hire someone to repair the house." This news spread like wildfire among the helpers of "Su Ji".
Of course, in addition to the group picking fruits, a corresponding proportion of people in the other groups also received this "benefit".
In fact, our houses are made of mud and bricks, and we are not rich. These houses can easily fall into disrepair over time, with a leaking roof here and a cracked corner there.
In addition to the labor costs of repairing these areas, it is generally "customary" to prepare food and wine for the people who come to work.
Those who hire people to do the work dare not neglect them and prepare good wine and food, for fear that if they offend these craftsmen, they may do something bad and tamper with the materials, and then the hosts will have no place to cry.
However, after calculating the cost, it was not low. Therefore, ordinary people who were struggling to make ends meet would just make do with what they could. If a roof tile was cracked, they would piece together two larger half tiles and then smear some mud on it. If a corner of the wall was loose, they would use broken stones mixed with mud and straw to cover it.
In a word - as long as it does not affect the overall use, it does not matter whether it is inferior or not beautiful in appearance, or whether there are any safety hazards, as long as the cost of repairing the house can be saved.
So when everyone knew that Su Qingluan was going to pay out of her own pocket to repair everyone's houses - although it was only the most basic repairs to the exterior walls and roofs, everyone understood that keeping the house warm was more important than any flashy aesthetics - after all, winter was coming, and if there was not enough food and the house was not warm, it would be very dangerous.
So when everyone knew what the so-called "welfare" specifically meant, those who qualified for the welfare jumped up and down for joy, hugged each other and congratulated each other; while those who did not qualify, especially those who planned to cheat and save effort, regretted it so much that they stamped their feet.
The effect of the first "welfare" distribution was better than Su Qingluan expected - since then, everyone seemed to be energized and worked with great enthusiasm, and few people were lazy.
However, this effect is a matter for later discussion.
Although the list of people who will receive the "benefits" has been finalized, construction will still have to start at least tomorrow, and everyone is now working together to complete the remaining work for the day.
Anyone who's worked on a large-scale group project knows that the closer we get to the end of something, the longer it takes than expected. So this time, even though we were finishing up the first batch of jams from the "Four Seasons" series, the day's work actually took longer than the previous ones.
Of course, they had to eat a big pot of food at noon. Su Qingluan asked Aunt Zou, who was in charge of logistics and income and expenditure, and Zhaodi what they wanted to eat at noon. The two of them bowed to Su Qingluan and then said that they had bought pork today.
Su Qingluan raised an eyebrow: "Pork stew?"
The two people across from him nodded, then said with some concern, "The pork smell is very strong and there's no way to get rid of it."
Su Qingluan looked over and said with a smile: "Although the pork skin is very chewy, it still needs to be processed before putting it in the pot, otherwise it will easily leave a strange smell."
"We have added a lot of onions, garlic and white wine..." Zhaodi sighed.
Su Qingluan said, "You can put the pig skin in the furnace and roast it over an open flame."
After Zhaodi did as she was told, the fishy smell was indeed much less.
Although the pork stew was not a particularly rare delicacy, everyone was hungry and anything would taste good to them. Even Su Qingluan herself ate an extra bowl of soup.
However, after eating, they still had to continue working. They were busy until dark, and Su Qingluan finished work even later than before.
But even so, she still felt much more relaxed than the previous time. The reason was simple - after the first round of work, everyone had a stronger ability to cooperate with each other and was more familiar with their own and overall work processes. Naturally, they would not work all night like last time and even get sick from exhaustion.
When Su Qingluan returned home today, it was already dark. When she returned to Huaxi Village from the town, she found Yang holding a lantern and walking several miles in the cold wind to greet her.
"Mother?!" Su Qingluan exclaimed in surprise, "Didn't you say you could have dinner first and don't have to wait for me?" She hurriedly took two steps forward and held Yang's hand: the temperature was cold to the touch. Su Qingluan almost suspected that what she was touching was not Mother's hand, but a piece of cold, rough, and unpolished jade.
Seeing this, Yang held Su Qingluan's hand and said, "Don't worry. We had diced beans and noodles tonight. Everyone has eaten, and you're the only one left. Don't worry, Daya. Mother has saved a portion for you. Just heat it up on the stove and you can eat it."
"It's okay, I eat cold food..." Su Qingluan didn't finish her words when she heard Yang mutter disapprovingly: "What nonsense are you talking about? It's so cold, and you're eating cold food. Aren't you afraid of getting a stomachache or dysentery?"
Su Qingluan: ...There's really no need to use this kind of analogy... After the mother and daughter returned home together, Su Qingluan told her father the list of families that had received "benefits" today: "From tomorrow on, Dad will have to work hard!"
Su Qingluan smiled.
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