Chapter 425 The Sisters-in-Law's "Golden" Battle
Let's get right to it.
In less than a week, the sign for the "Military Spouses Cooperative" was hung up.
A large iron pot was placed in the yard, with fruitwood burning underneath, and the pot was bubbling away.
The air was filled with a sweet, fruity aroma and the tangy, spicy smell of pickled vegetables.
Su Yue didn't let them use those cheap glass bottles, but instead specially designed a batch of wide-mouthed bottles and labeled them with red "Support the Army" tags.
It looks rustic, but it has a genuine and down-to-earth feel to it.
In a corner of the farm, a slide and two swings have appeared out of nowhere.
It was welded together by soldiers from the engineering corps using discarded steel pipes and tires.
Although the paint wasn't applied evenly, the children found it more fun than the parks in the provincial capital.
Gu Pingan led a group of wild boys through the tire pile, getting covered in mud.
Gu Ningjing sat on the swing, being pushed high by Chu Jingya, her giggles filling the farm like silver bells.
"Second Aunt! Higher!"
Chu Jingya protected her belly and gently pushed, "It can't go any higher, be careful not to fall."
She held a sketchbook in her hand and took advantage of the break to quickly capture the scene before her.
Back when she was in the performing arts troupe, she painted Tie Mei from model operas, her face radiant and flawless.
Now, she paints images of Granny Liu boiling syrup and young military wives carrying their children while weeding in the fields.
On the drawing paper, the wrinkles on Aunt Liu's forehead were mixed with charcoal ash, and the young military wife's suspenders were patched.
Imperfect, yet breathtakingly beautiful.
"Jingya." Su Yue walked over and handed her a glass of freshly brewed sea buckthorn juice. "The performing arts troupe wants you to put on a show for the August 1st Gala next month?"
"I've cancelled it." Chu Jingya took a sip, her eyes squinting from the sourness. "I can't perform that kind of didactic stuff anymore. I want to stage something new."
"What's new?"
“Just play them.” Chu Jingya pointed with her charcoal pencil at the group of women who were busy at work. “No need for fancy words or professional singing. Just have them wear these work clothes, take hoes and scissors and go up there. Sing about how they turned the saline land into a gold mine, sing about how they protected this home.”
Su Yue looked at her.
That once delicate young lady from the capital now has a heavy layer of emotion in her eyes.
That's the earth's energy.
“Okay.” Su Yue nodded. “I’ll have Huo Wenxuan invite all the reporters from the provincial newspaper. This is not only a program, but also the best advertisement for our farm.”
It was evening.
A military truck slowly drove out of the farm gate.
The truck bed was filled with fresh vegetables, slaughtered chickens, and baskets of freshly steamed buns.
That was a supply shipment sent to Radar Station No. 3.
Su Yue stood by the car and handed a package to the driver, Xiao Wang.
"This is for Commander Gu." Su Yue patted the package. "There are two bottles of sea buckthorn sauce and a few pairs of newly made insoles inside. Tell him that everything is fine at home and not to worry."
"Yes! Don't worry, sister-in-law!" Xiao Wang saluted, stepped on the gas, and the truck sped away, kicking up dust.
The atmosphere in the compound has changed.
In the past, after dinner, there was less gossip about this family and that. The women would gather together and talk about tomorrow's orders and compare whose family had the most work points that month.
Even those troublemakers who usually love to gossip now address Su Yue as "Factory Director Su" and smile as warmly as if they were seeing their own mother.
Money gives people courage.
With money, you can stand tall.
Zhao Tiezhu's home.
Cuihua brought a plate of braised pork to the table; it was glistening with oil and smelled delicious.
"Eat!" She piled a large piece of meat on each of the three children's plates, and poured a glass of wine for Zhao Tiezhu, who had just returned from the company. "From now on, our family will have meat at every meal! We won't need your meager stipend for tuition anymore, I'll cover it!"
Zhao Tiezhu held his wine glass, looking at his wife's radiant face, tanned from the sun, his eyes slightly red. He downed the wine in one gulp, forcing out through gritted teeth, "Wife, you're amazing."
It's late at night.
Su Yue sat under the desk lamp, flipping through the month's total accounts.
After deducting the wages of the military spouses, raw material costs, and equipment depreciation, the farm's net profit this month reached eight thousand yuan.
This was a huge sum of money in 1971.
But she didn't plan to save the money.
"Mom," Su Yue said to Zhang Huilan, who was sewing shoe soles, as she closed the ledger, "I want to take this money and build a nursery and a primary school next to the farm."
Zhang Huilan paused for a moment while holding the needle.
"Build a school?"
“Yes.” Su Yue walked to the window and looked at the dark night outside. “The women are busy working, and the children can’t be left unattended. Moreover, only by improving education can these children truly leave this island and go to more distant places in the future.”
“Okay.” Zhang Huilan bit off the loose thread and tapped the sole of her shoe against her knee. “This is a great act of good karma. If we don’t have enough money, Mom still has some savings for her coffin.”
"That's enough." Su Yue turned around, the light reflecting in her eyes, like two flames dancing. "As long as the farm is there, as long as the Blue Ocean Factory is there, the money will keep flowing in."
Su Yue closed the ledger, her fingertips lingering for a moment on the profit figures for Red Star Farm.
Outside the window, the island's night wind, carrying moisture, patters against the windowpane.
The desk lamp flickered twice, its dim yellow light illuminating a thick stack of clinical medical records beside it.
That was a summary of the phase II clinical trials of bacteriophages.
Tiger and two other critically ill children have been transferred to a regular ward, and their vital signs are stabilizing.
Chen Xinyue pushed open the door and came in, holding several reports she had just taken out of the laboratory.
"Sister, this is the last sputum culture result, negative."
Chen Xinyue gently placed the report on the table, her fingertips trembling slightly with excitement.
Su Yue picked up the report, her gaze sweeping over the minus sign that represented health.
"The recovery rate is 100%, and the elimination rate of drug-resistant bacteria is 99.8%."
Su Yue put down her pen and leaned back in her chair.
Images of spending the past two weeks in the ICU, day and night, flashed through my mind.
The thrill of snatching someone from the jaws of death is more reassuring than earning tens of thousands of dollars from the farm.
"Is the paper finished?"
Su Yue turned her head to look at Chen Xinyue.
"As per your request, all the raw data, control group curves, and lysis photographs under an electron microscope have been bound into a book."
Chen Xinyue pulled out a thick manuscript from behind her back, the cover of which read "On the Clinical Therapeutic Effect and Promotion Significance of Specific Bacteriophages on Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria".
Su Yue opened the manuscript and checked it word by word.
In this era when information transmission was not yet advanced, every set of data was a bullet aimed at the prejudices of the medical community.
"Submit the article to the Chinese Medical Journal."
Su Yue signed her name at the end, the pen tip piercing through the paper.
One week later.
Before the postmark from LanHai Daily Chemical Factory had even warmed up, a registered letter bearing the word "Top Secret" arrived at Su Yue's desk via military air route.
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