Chapter 58

Cheng Zheng had just finished his mission and was thinking about home, especially since it was already past midnight when he returned to the island. Now it was New Year's Eve, so he hurried home so that he could finally spend a reunion with his family.

At four o'clock in the morning, the island was quiet. Cheng Zheng returned home and opened the bedroom door with ease. He saw a big and a small child sleeping peacefully on the bed.

A few months after giving birth, Jian Lu has recovered to her original state. She has delicate features on her oval face. When she sleeps, her crow-feather-like eyelashes brush her eyelids quietly. Her face is covered with fine, soft down. Perhaps she did not sleep well, so she tilted to the left, covering most of her face. As she tilted her body, her dark hair cascaded down like a waterfall, making her look even whiter.

The two people sleeping in the middle of the bed were not so quiet. They were breathing softly, their cheeks were puffy, and they pursed their lips in their sleep and stretched their right leg.

Cheng Zheng looked at his wife and daughter-in-law lying on the bed, and felt his heart was filled with joy. The fatigue from days of running around was gone.

Just as he was about to turn around and go to the bathroom to take a shower, Cheng Zheng suddenly discovered that the girl who was originally asleep suddenly woke up, opened her eyes in a daze, and was still in a daze.

After being stunned, I was about to start crying again!

Open your little mouth, ready to go!

"Don't cry, Shuangshuang. Let's not wake up mom." Cheng Zheng walked to the bed, gently picked up the girl, and rocked her gently in his arms.

Maybe Shuangshuang hadn't seen her father for too long. She stared at the person in front of her with her big eyes for a while. Her mouth, which was just open and ready to cry, gradually closed. Her eyes were serious and a little inquiring.

Cheng Zheng had never been stared at like this in his life.

"What? You don't know your dad?" Cheng Zheng scratched the girl's nose and said with a smile.

“Ah~ Wuwuwu~”

Shuangshuang, who hadn't cried yet after waking up, finally started crying. She howled and cried to her heart's content in her father's arms.

"Oh, my little ancestor, your voice is so loud when you cry." Cheng Zheng coaxed the girl while looking at his wife on the bed.

Sure enough, the girl cried a few times and the daughter-in-law woke up.

This is a conditioned reflex of getting up in the middle of the night to feed.

Jian Lu reached out to touch the side in a daze, wanting to pat the girl and coax her as usual, but the result was...

Where are the people!

Jian Lu woke up instantly and looked at the empty bed next to her. The next second she saw the man standing at the end of the bed and the girl crying in his arms.

Cheng Zheng hadn't been back for more than half a month, and suddenly appeared in front of him. He was still tall and straight, with a handsome face. Even though he looked a little sullen, it only added to his mature charm.

"You're back?"

Jian Lu found that she was not as excited as she had imagined. She only felt joy and peace overflowing throughout her body.

Sitting up straight, Jian Lu stretched out her hand to him and said in a hoarse voice, "Give me the girl."

"Yeah, I'm back."

Cheng Zheng carried Shuangshuang to his wife's side and watched his daughter calm down in her mother's arms until she started drinking milk.

While drinking milk, he looked at his father with his big eyes, as if he was still recognizing him.

"When did you arrive?" Jian Lu asked him while feeding him.

"I just arrived and found Shuangshuang awake when I entered the room. I even talked to Shuangshuang and asked her not to wake you up."

Jian Lu smiled and glanced at the girl who was trying hard to drink milk. "She didn't discuss it with you. She wants to drink milk."

After drinking the milk, Jian Lu held her and patted her back to burp the milk. Soon the child fell asleep again.

Seeing Cheng Zheng put the girl aside and put a small quilt on her, Jian Lu went over to check her and tucked the corner of the quilt, and sighed, "Eat and sleep, sleep and eat, what a little pig."

Cheng Zheng frowned and said in shock, "How can Shuangshuang be a pig?!"

Jian Lu: “…”

I don't want to talk to someone who has no sense of humor!

After taking a quick combat shower, Cheng Zheng was finally able to hug his wife again after more than half a month.

Jian Lu nestled in Cheng Zheng's arms, with his arms around her waist. Some light gradually came out from outside. Neither of them felt sleepy, so they just talked about what had happened in the past half month.

"My mother and I have prepared everything for the New Year. We've made a lot of delicious food and bought some cloth. Everyone in our family will get a new piece of clothing." Jian Lu talked a lot about the good things about the New Year, taking into account every aspect.

"Okay." Cheng Zheng felt at ease. He thought that everything was fine. As long as his family was there, it didn't matter what he ate or wore during the New Year.

"We were just talking about this last night. We wondered if you could come back to celebrate the New Year..." Jian Lu moved her head, tilted her head to look at Cheng Zheng, and pouted, "I almost thought that this year the New Year would be just the three of us."

"How can that be possible!" Cheng Zheng also looked down at his wife, "I will definitely come back to celebrate the New Year with you! I promised you."

"Yeah!" Jian Lu leaned her head against Cheng Zheng's chest, holding him tightly with both hands. She felt his chest moving as she spoke. "I just had a feeling, you know? I always felt that you could come back!"

"Your premonition is quite accurate." Cheng Zheng was no longer sleepy at this moment. Seeing his wife proudly showing off her premonition, he just thought it was adorable. He leaned over to kiss her, leaving a kiss on her cheek.

Jian Lu felt a gentle and tender warm touch on her cheek, and she slowly closed her eyes.

Then another kiss fell on the center of the eyebrows, the tip of the nose, and the lips.

Jian Lu slowly opened her eyes and met the man's ink-deep eyes. There was nothing else in his eyes except her own appearance.

The kiss with Cheng Zheng's domineering and clear breath fell again, kissing and pecking Jian Lu's red lips lightly, and sucking hard. Jian Lu's lips were pried open, and her tongue was hooked, entwined and played, lips and teeth blended, exchanging each other's breathing and heartbeat.

The strong longing turns into a kiss, so hot and scalding that one cannot stop.

"Hmm..." Jian Lu patted Cheng Zheng with her remaining rationality. The two of them separated their lips and teeth, and only then could they breathe freely, "Shuangshuang is here!"

Cheng Zheng panted heavily, glanced at the girl sleeping soundly beside him, then looked at his wife, "How about letting mom sleep with him for one night?"

Jian Lu: “…” Your thoughts are too obvious!

At this time, Shuangshuang was sleeping soundly:???

——

The morning breeze blows by, as if it is stained with the joy and auspiciousness of New Year's Eve, blowing across all corners of the world.

On Crescent Island, every household got up early and was busy preparing for today's New Year's Eve dinner.

At 5:30 in the morning, Aunt Wang, who always got up early, came down from the second floor. As soon as she arrived in the living room, she saw a dark shadow flash by.

Tall and strong!

Alarm bells rang in Aunt Wang's mind. How could a thief break into this heavily guarded family compound?

"you..."

"Mom!"

"Shitou?" Aunt Wang's heart suddenly dropped to the ground. She was surprised and happy to see her son suddenly come back. She walked up to him, grabbed his arm and looked him up from head to toe. "When did you come back? You little brat, you scared me!"

Cheng Zheng smiled, "Mom, how can you still be scared? I just came back and it's still dark."

Cheng Zheng came out of the living room to pour water, holding the enamel cup and preparing to go back to the house, "I'll pour a glass of water for Lulu. Mom, why are you getting up so early? There are not many people at home, and we don't need to get up so early to cook during the New Year."

"You don't understand!" Aunt Wang was used to being hardworking. She couldn't sleep or rest. She always liked to find work for herself. Even if there was no work, she would create work to do. "You and Lulu should sleep for a while. You can eat when you get up."

Knowing that her daughter-in-law had to feed her baby in the middle of the night every day and could not sleep well, Aunt Wang was considerate of them and never urged them to do anything. She just took care of herself.

=

As the day dawned, all kinds of aromas filled the kitchens. Cui Yuhe was busy preparing food for the New Year. Some of it was prepared in advance, and some of it had to be cooked on the day of eating.

Heat the coconut juice prepared in advance, add brown sugar cubes to melt and stir evenly, then add glutinous rice flour while sifting in two batches, stirring constantly. Cui Yuhe ate this brown sugar rice cake when she was a child, but the family conditions were worse in the past, so she could only eat it once during the Chinese New Year. There were many people in the family, so it was good to be able to get one piece.

When the glutinous rice flour and brown sugar coconut milk are mixed into a thick paste, put it into a pot and steam it until cooked.

The brown sugar rice cake is soft and sweet. It is delicious whether cut into strips and eaten as is or fried until both sides are golden and crispy.

"Hengheng, take them to your aunt Xiuhui and aunt Lulu's homes." Cui Yuhe filled two bowls of brown sugar rice cakes and asked her son to deliver them to the two families.

"Okay, I'll go!" Hengheng was just playing with his younger brother Yuanyuan. When he heard his mother assigning tasks, he quickly went out with two bowls in his hands.

"Slow down, don't spill it!" Xu Lang watched his son's two thin legs flying fast, and couldn't help but warn him. He turned around, reached out and took a piece of brown sugar rice cake and put it into his mouth, exclaiming, "This is a good thing!"

"You only know how to eat!" Cui Yuhe urged him to knead the dough. "Don't be a lazy guy today. Help me cook."

"When have I ever been a hands-off manager? I must be a role model in our family compound!" Xu Lang ate another piece while speaking, but his wife slapped his hand away.

"If you eat like this, the brown sugar rice cakes haven't even been served yet, and they'll be gone in a little while."

Xu Lang stopped while kneading dough in the kitchen. "I'm making glutinous rice cakes. I remember the first time I went to your house, you made me a dish of brown sugar rice cake. It tasted really different and sweet!"

Cui Yuhe listened to him recalling the time when they were just dating, smiling, "That was so many years ago, do you still remember it?"

"Of course not." Xu Lang hugged his wife's waist and kissed her on the face loudly. "I decided at that time that this girl is my wife!"

"You wish!" Cui Yuhe smiled and pushed him away. Suddenly, she looked at the flour on his hands and frowned, "My clothes! You, your hands are covered with flour!"

"Hahahaha hey hey, I didn't mean it, I really didn't, hey, don't hit me!"

......

Hengheng took two bowls of brown sugar rice cakes and went to Aunt Xiuhui's house first, where he received a handful of sugar. Then he went to Aunt Lulu's house.

It was Uncle Cheng who opened the door.

"Uncle Cheng, you're back?" Hengheng knew that Uncle Cheng was on a mission and hadn't seen him back yesterday.

"Yes, Hengheng." Cheng Zheng looked at Xu Lang's son, who seemed to have grown taller. "Come in and play?"

"No, I have to go home right away." Heng Heng held the brown sugar rice cake in front of him and said, "My mom asked me to bring it to you. She just made it. It's delicious!"

Hengheng spared no effort to praise the brown sugar rice cake made by his mother.

"Okay, thank your parents for me." Cheng Zheng took the brown sugar rice cake, went into the house and got some Jingguo for Hengheng, then watched him run back before going back into the house.

As soon as he entered the house, Cheng Zheng saw his wife yawning as she got up. She had gotten up early in the morning to feed her daughter, and Cheng Zheng pestered her for a while. Jian Lu slept until about nine o'clock, and was still not fully awake.

"Who is it?" As soon as I went downstairs, I heard Cheng Zheng talking to someone at the door.

"Hengheng, bring the brown sugar rice cake over here. It's freshly made and smells delicious. Come and try it." Cheng Zheng put the bowl on the table and shouted to the kitchen, "Mom, come and try the brown sugar rice cake."

"Leave it there for a while." Aunt Wang replied from the kitchen.

"Wow, it looks so delicious!" Jian Lu had never eaten such brown sugar rice cake before. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she hurried over and continued to eat the brown sugar rice cake bite by bite.

The brown sugar rice cake tastes soft and sticky when you put it in your mouth. The sweetness of brown sugar and the softness of glutinous rice combine to create a perfect taste.

"I'll feed one to mom." Jian Lu picked up a piece of brown sugar rice cake and fed it to her mother-in-law. The two of them praised Cui Yuhe's cooking skills together and started to prepare lunch.

Many dishes for today's lunch have been prepared in advance. We only need to make braised fish, coconut chicken, and steamed seafood.

"Shitou, go and get some more sleep." Aunt Wang felt sorry for her son because he was tired from the mission, so she didn't let him hang around here. "If you don't want to sleep, just look after Shuangshuang."

In the kitchen, the iron pot was bubbling with chicken soup with a slight aroma of oil. In another pot, scallops with garlic and vermicelli were steamed. After the scallops were steamed, the pot was changed to another dry pot to cook clams, and finally the braised fish was prepared.

Jian Lu chopped the red pepper, green pepper, ginger and garlic and sautéed them, then added the sauce made by her mother-in-law, added water and boiled it, then added soy sauce for color, star anise and star anise, and put in the whole fish.

The spicy flavor of the braised fish gradually seeps into the fish body as the temperature rises, dyeing it a beautiful brown color.

While the kitchen was bustling with activity, Cheng Zheng, who had been busy for more than half a month, finally had a chance to relax.

Looking at the girl who had just woken up in the bed, the two of them looked at each other with their heads and eyes.

"Shuangshuang, daddy is back." Cheng Zheng stretched out his hand and waved it in front of the lady, trying to attract her attention.

In the past, Shuangshuang would smile at her dad, showing her gums, with her little face wrinkled and some humming sounds coming out of her mouth.

But now, Shuangshuang didn't respond to her father, and even seemed to dislike her father for blocking her.

"Shuangshuang...Shuangshuang..." The more Cheng Zheng called the lady's name, the colder he felt. Why didn't the lady smile at him?

"You don't recognize your father?" Cheng Zheng felt sad. How could his little girl be like this? "I am your father!"

Shuangshuang looked serious, and a closer look revealed that her brows were still furrowed. There were noisy sounds in her ears, and her eyes rolled away, looking away.

Cheng Zheng: "..."

Jian Lu prepared the braised fish and cooked it in the pot. She took the time to come to the bedroom to take a look. "Brother Cheng, are you drinking at noon? The special tobacco and alcohol tickets for the New Year have not been used yet. If you want to buy something, you can go and have a look this afternoon."

"I'm not drinking anymore." Cheng Zheng sighed, "I'm not in the mood."

As soon as she finished speaking, Jian Lu noticed that the man seemed to be in a bad mood.

"What's wrong?"

Cheng Zheng pursed his lips, feeling sad, "Wife, my daughter-in-law doesn't seem to recognize me!"

If his soldiers were like this, he would have ways to train them, but this was his own daughter, who was only three months old and couldn't speak yet. He couldn't tell whether she could understand what people said or not. He was really helpless!

"Oh, I thought it was a big deal." Jian Lu leaned over and touched the girl's face, and they both smiled immediately, "Then you should drink a sip."

Seeing his daughter-in-law coming, the young lady immediately smiled, and Cheng Zheng felt even more sad, "Why?"

"Just drinking to drown your sorrows." Jian Lu turned and left.

Cheng Zheng: “…”

=

At lunch on New Year’s Eve, the Cheng family finally gathered together. Even Shuangshuang was carried to the dinner table and stayed there for a while.

Jian Lu fed the children in advance, and the two of them watched everyone eating and drinking curiously, with their little mouths moving along.

There were six dishes on the table. Aunt Wang didn’t say it, but what she was thinking in her mind was “good luck and fortune!”

"Shuangshuang wants to eat too, look at her little mouth moving!"

"Let me see, it's true." Jian Lu found that the baby girl was four months old and her body movements had increased a lot. Not only was her little mouth moving, but her body was also moving, without stopping.

Cheng Zheng drank a mouthful of white wine to "drink to relieve his sorrow" and noticed that the lady was staring at his glass. "You can't drink! Come and watch daddy drink."

"Ah~" A sound came out of Shuangshuang's mouth. Even though he couldn't speak yet, he made quite a noise and even twisted half of his body trying to turn over.

"This is exciting and exciting." Jian Lu looked at the lady who was wearing red today. She was such a festive baby. The red color made her fair and tender skin look even more beautiful. "You will be able to eat more during the Chinese New Year next year."

"ah!"

Shuangshuang uttered a few more babbling sounds and laughed happily.

After lunch, Cheng Zheng finally had to take a nap. The father and daughter sat on either side of the bed and slept soundly.

One can fall asleep as soon as he touches the pillow, and the other can sleep for more than ten hours a day.

After Jian Lu finished her work outside, she was about to go into the house to check on the two of them, only to see that Shuangshuang had already woken up and was struggling with herself, trying hard to turn over with her legs agape.

It was quite difficult to change from lying on her back to lying on her side. Her legs were stretched out and her little body was twisting and moving to the right.

Cheng Zheng slept for more than two hours and woke up feeling energetic. He opened his eyes and saw his daughter struggling beside him. He did not cry or make a fuss, but tried to turn over.

They stood up and pulled their daughter-in-law to sit down beside the bed. The new parents watched their daughter's performance attentively.

It’s Chinese New Year, and the parents are so loving and their daughter is so filial.

"Look at her hands, both of them are clenched." Cheng Zheng noticed that the young lady was trying too hard, and couldn't help but lend a hand to help her, gently pushing her body to the right.

Wow, it’s over.

Shuangshuang found herself lying on her side and started giggling.

"Shuangshuang, let's turn over again." Jian Lu has been practicing her from lying on her side to lying on her back recently. "Come on, come on."

It is indeed much easier to lie on your back from lying on your side. You use all your strength to kick your legs and turn over. Wow, you're over!

Lying on his back, his fair and tender face was exposed, looking at his father and mother.

"My girlfriend is so amazing!" Cheng Zheng thought Shuangshuang was the most amazing kid in the world, and he picked her up and kissed her a few times.

Shuangshuang seemed to really recognize her father this time, and she puffed up her cheeks and called out "ah ah ah" a few times.

——

For the New Year's Eve dinner, Aunt Wang prepared an even more sumptuous meal, with eight dishes in total, which filled the family of four's stomachs.

After dinner, everyone stayed up together to celebrate the New Year, but Shuangshuang drank milk and fell asleep soon after.

When it was midnight and the adults were getting ready to go to bed, the child woke up and was making a lot of noise, refusing to go to sleep.

Cheng Zheng turned the child over and made her lie prone on the bed. He patted her little butt and taught her, "You're not sleeping so late at night. Are you bothering your parents?"

"Ahhh!" Both of them lay down and laughed even more happily.

After washing up, Jian Lu returned to the bedroom. She felt a headache looking at her energetic daughter. "It's the New Year. Why are you so happy?"

"Come, show your mother another somersault." Cheng Zheng helped her turn over, and they both lay flat again in an instant, smiling sweetly.

——

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Aunt Wang prepared New Year's money for her son and daughter-in-law. It wasn't much, just 1 cent for each person, and more for the couple, 50 cents.

The gifts for my other two sons’ families were already sent out when I sent out New Year gifts last time.

It was the first time for Shuangshuang to collect money. They didn’t know anything, but they still held on to the money tightly.

Several families were chatting in the courtyard. Cheng Zheng gave New Year's money to Dunzi, Hengheng, Yuanyuan and Chenchen, 20 cents each. Before the money got warm, it was taken away by their mothers. On the other side, Liang Haisheng, Xu Lang and Wu Feng were also giving New Year's money to other children.

In the military family compound, a few families have good relationships and give more New Year's money. Most other places give one cent, but they only give twenty cents.

Dunzi coveted the money, but his mother took it away as soon as he received it.

"Mom, please give me two cents." He bargained with his mother.

Today, everyone who made new clothes wore them. They looked brand new and especially energetic.

Feng Xiuhui knitted a new blue sweater for her son. Dunzi looked quite handsome in it, but the things he said were unpleasant.

"Whatever New Year's gift money you want, mom will keep it for you."

"That's what you said last year, and the year before last!" Dunzi's mouth was pouted like an oil can. "I just received 60 cents in total. I don't want more, just 20 cents!"

"Hey, look at you, a grown man still crying?" Feng Xiuhui took out two dimes from her pocket and gave them to him, "Okay, I'll give you two dimes, but you can't spend money recklessly."

"knew!"

Dunzi held the two dimes in his hand and looked at them happily. Although the money was not new, it was precious!

Two cents can buy a lot of things!

Not far away, Shuangshuang was being held by her mother and looking at flowers. They were eggplant flowers. The little girl loved them so much that her little hands were curled up while looking at them.

"Both!"

Dunzi came over and acted like an older brother, "Happy New Year to Aunt Lulu, Happy New Year to Granny Wang."

Aunt Wang has always liked Dunzi, a chubby boy. "Dunzi, Happy New Year."

"Did your uncle Cheng give you any New Year's money?" Jian Lu asked.

“Give it!”

Dunzi had two one-cent New Year's money in his hand. He took one and placed it in front of Shuangshuang, saying proudly, "Shuangshuang, take it. This is the New Year's money that Brother Dunzi gave you!"

Jian Lu and Aunt Wang laughed when they heard this, and then looked at Dunzi, who was serious for once and tried hard to act like an older brother.

Shuangshuang didn't understand anything, she just saw something in front of her and reached out to grab it. She likes to grab things now, and her little hands hold them tightly.

"We both want to say thank you to Brother Dunzi, right?" Jian Lu said to the girl, "But she can't speak yet, so we'll just owe it to her. We'll make it up to Brother Dunzi next time."

Dunzi nodded, and finally broke his smile. He whispered to Shuangshuang, "Then you have to remember this. I gave you the New Year's gift. From now on, you have to call Dunzi brother first. The other brothers don't have to worry. They have to line up behind me!"

The curve of Jian Lu's lips widened as she listened. My goodness, these kids are fighting over this?

=

The lively and noisy New Year ended with both of them collecting a lot of New Year's money. Jian Lu prepared a coin jar for her daughter, which was a coconut shell coin jar made by Cheng Zheng himself. The coconut meat inside was emptied out cleanly, washed and dried, and a small lid was made on the top opening. The money totaling one yuan and fifty cents received this time was put into the coin jar.

Shuangshuang didn't know that she had become a wealthy woman with more than a billion dollars. She only focused on turning over and over every day and had a lot of fun.

+++++

Years later, the pearl farm of Cai Xiujuan's brigade started to be established in a big way. Jian Lu took some time to go there and help inspect it and give some advice.

This was the first time that Jian Lu had traveled far away from the island after giving birth, and they could only leave when both of them were asleep.

After two hours of boating, Jian Lu saw Cai Xiujuan waiting for her on the shore.

"Lulu, are you tired from the boat ride?" Cai Xiujuan was wearing a waterproof rubber jacket and a pair of boots, looking very capable.

"No, I'm used to taking a boat."

"This is our brigade leader Zeng, brigade secretary Li, and brigade accountant Zhang." There were three male comrades standing next to Cai Xiujuan, two of them were older and one was a young man.

"Hello, Captain Zeng, Secretary Li, and Accountant Zhang." Jian Lu didn't expect so many people to be waiting for her.

"Hello, hello, Comrade Jian Lu, welcome." Captain Zeng had a kind face and a friendly smile. He showed great enthusiasm to Jian Lu, "We heard from Comrade Cai Xiujuan that you helped a lot with pearl farming this time."

"Please help us this time. I heard that you have learned a lot from the educated youth in big cities and have read many books on this subject. We don't quite understand these, so we need your help to check them." Secretary Li was also polite.

The conditions in the Tongqing Brigade where Cai Xiujuan was located were not very good. Most of the inland communes made a living by farming, while most of the brigades near the water made a living by raising fish and fishing. However, the food from the water was only enough to provide them with food and clothing, and the brigade was still poor.

In the past two years, some brigades have set up small garment factories and let the team leaders' members raise silkworms to make garments and earn work points. They have gradually become richer, but that is because those brigades have the conditions to raise silkworms.

Captain Zeng and Secretary Li were also worried, thinking every day about how to increase the money each member received for each work point and how to ensure that more people in the team had enough to eat and had fine grains.

Just like when you are thirsty, someone brings you water. The pearl cultivation proposed by Cai Xiujuan gave some people hope.

"I only know a little bit about it. The main techniques are still mastered by Sister Xiujuan. This time I am here to help and at most give some suggestions."

"Comrade Jian Lu, you are the consultant of our pearl farm, so feel free to ask for help!" Accountant Zhang is younger and more lively, and his words made everyone laugh.

Cai Xiujuan led a group of people to the pearl breeding pond designated by the brigade. This area is four or five times larger than the fish pond where Cai Xiujuan conducted experimental breeding last year. Not far from the pond is the office of this pearl farm.

Accountant Zhang came into the room and poured water for several people. Cai Xiujuan took out the data and information that she had prepared recently according to what Jian Lu said. She was like a blind man crossing a river and had no idea where to go, but she took one step at a time and prepared all the data.

"Some of the clams I caught last time died or didn't grow up to the required standard, but the rest were fine for pearl extraction. However, my technique is not very stable now. Sometimes I can get more than 10 pearls from one clam, and sometimes not so much."

Jian Lu nodded and asked for detailed data, "Do you have specific data on how many of the 10 clams that survived the test are left?"

Cai Xiujuan pondered for a moment and said, "There should be about seven or eight."

Jian Lu silently memorized the 70 to 80 percent achievement rate and asked, "What about the success rate of pearl extraction? Think about it, if you extract pearls from 10 clams, there are 200 pearls in total, how many can you succeed?"

There is no very accurate data calculation at the moment, and there are not even enough samples, so Cai Xiujuan can only make an estimate.

"Maybe a little more than half."

"Let's call it 55 percent."

Accountant Zhang listened to their conversation and couldn't help but interject, "Our team is going to do a good job. We'll produce 100 kilograms first. According to the purchase price from the pharmaceutical company, that would be more than 70,000 yuan!"

Who wouldn't be tempted by the huge sum of money? Captain Zeng and Secretary Li couldn't help but be tempted and wanted to give their full support.

Jian Lu inquired in detail and learned that the brigade was preparing for a big event. She did some calculations for them, "If we hope to produce 100 kilograms of pearls by this time next year, and we assume that each pearl weighs 15 grams on average, we will need 6,666 pearls. Based on the clams' compliance rate and pearl extraction success rate that Sister Xiujuan just mentioned, a conservative estimate is that 555 clams will need to meet the standards, so we will need 700 clams for cultivation."

When people heard the number of 700 clams, they were a little confused. “How could that be so many?”

"Yes, this is still a conservative estimate, because this data is from Sister Xiujuan's previous small-scale cultivation, and there may be errors with large-scale cultivation. But it's roughly in this direction." Jian Lu calculated the data and carefully found two problems for them. "Now the problem is river clams. Your team rarely has fresh water, and the water quality is relatively good. There are also abundant river clams, but can there be so many, or you should pay attention to the breeding of river clams in the future. The second is a technical issue. You must cultivate as many pearl breeders and pearl collectors as possible to ensure that the survival rate of river clams meets the standards and the success rate of pearl extraction remains within a certain range. Only in this way can you stabilize costs and estimate income to the greatest extent."

Everyone nodded in agreement. They had thought too simply before. They had determined the total quantity based on the price without thinking clearly about how many clams and employees were needed. They had also been vaguely thinking about how many clams and employees were needed, but they had never thought clearly about it.

"Okay!" Captain Zeng felt enlightened after hearing what Jian Lu said. He felt more at ease after doing the calculation. "Let's give it a try first. We have already arranged people to look for river clams. We have more than 200 of them now. We will raise them first and then continue to look for more. If we can find some, we will go down again. In addition, we will recruit a group of female members trained by Comrade Cai Xiujuan. Female comrades are careful and suitable for this kind of work. They will mainly be responsible for raising clams and extracting pearls."

Seeing that the team leader was an open-minded person and had no problem with their plan, Jian Lu went to see the pearl-growing female workers who had already received a round of training and were on the job.

Cai Xiujuan proudly said to Jian Lu, "Our team now has 10 work points per day, and one work point is worth one cent. Now the members we recruit in Yang Zhenzhu still have 10 work points per day, and one work point is worth 50 cents. If you earn more in the future, you can increase the salary."

"Then there will surely be a lot of people signing up." From one cent to fifty cents, the attractiveness of this increase cannot be underestimated.

"Of course not. There are so many people who signed up." Cai Xiujuan selected the people herself. She remembered what Jian Lu said about the importance of workers, so she screened them one by one and finally picked ten members. They learned how to cultivate and pick pearls in the initial stage. After all, there were not many pearls to pick at the moment. Pearl cultivation takes a long time, at least one year and at most three years. People cannot be left idle with nothing to do.

"I recruited several capable widows from our brigade. It's not easy for widows to take care of children. As long as they are willing to study hard, their lives will be better in the future." Cai Xiujuan didn't know whether Jian Lu agreed or not. "I also recruited a dumb girl from our brigade. She is a pretty girl, but I don't know what disease she had when she was a child and she can't talk. She has been wronged everywhere. But I think she is hardworking and learns things quickly."

"That's great. As long as we can learn, there's no problem bringing everyone along to do it."

Jian Lu looked at Cai Xiujuan's energetic appearance and remembered that the pearl company she opened later also recruited many disabled people and people from poor families. She helped a lot of people and led everyone to become rich through hard work.

Jian Lu could not refuse the job of helping to sort out the affairs of the pearl farm of the Tongqing Production Brigade. She was warmly invited to have a meal at the brigade commander's house, and then she took the last ferry to leave.

When they returned to the island, the sky gradually darkened. When the boat docked, Jian Lu saw a man standing on the shore, his body as straight as a pine or cypress.

"Before, you were the one who waited for me to come back. This time, it's my turn."

Cheng Zheng came to pick up his wife and took her home. He felt relieved to see that she was still full of energy after running around for the whole afternoon.

"Did Captain Cheng just come back from the army? Or did he go home?" The two walked side by side, and Jian Lu asked the girl, "I wonder if Shuangshuang missed me."

"I just came home and saw Shuangshuang. She was still crying. I guess she was looking for you. Mom and I took turns to coax her. Now she's drinking the milk I prepared and she's asleep again." Cheng Zheng noticed that Jian Lu was a little excited and guessed that the pearl farm was doing well. "Is the pearl farm of Comrade Cai Xiujuan and her team leader ready?"

"It's almost there, slowly getting on the right track. I met their captain and secretary today, they are both honest people. If you work hard and do it well, you will definitely succeed."

"That's good, but I won't call you away every now and then." Cheng Zheng didn't object to his wife going out to do these things, but the place was too far away. It would take four hours to go back and forth, and even if she had more time, it would take a whole day.

"You are so stingy." Jian Luke was waiting for the Tongqing Brigade to make money and pay her salary. "When I get my salary, I will treat you to a meal."

"Where to eat?"

"State-owned hotel! Order all the most expensive dishes and signature dishes!" Jian Lu calculated that it would cost less than ten yuan. It would sound scary in the future, as you can eat so much meat and vegetables for just a few yuan.

The future rich woman Jian Lu hurried home. She had been out for most of the day and missed being a lady, so she urged Cheng Zheng to walk faster. Team leader Cheng, who had gradually slowed down his walking speed in the past two years because of his wife, felt very aggrieved that he was being hurried.

As soon as the two of them got home, they saw Political Commissar Wei peeking at the door.

"Old Wei, are you looking for me?"

When Political Commissar Wei saw Cheng Zheng coming back, he showed a bitter face and said, "Old Cheng, you are finally back!"