"Great! Good stuff, Jing-ge!"
A group of people cheered excitedly and came over with their glasses to toast Chen Jing, making the graduation banquet incredibly lively.
With him drawing attention, Ji Xia, holding a wine glass, toasted several tables before returning to Sun Xiaoyu's side with peace of mind.
Sun Xiaoyu smiled and brought her a bowl and chopsticks, and ladled out a bowl of mushroom and pheasant soup for her: "Hurry up and eat something, have some chicken soup. The banquet today is very well prepared. Where did you hire this chef?"
"We hired him from the county town. I heard his ancestors were chefs, and his cooking skills are truly excellent. I'll take you to try his food sometime."
"Alright, but you won't be staying at home for much longer, will you? When are you coming to the capital?"
"In three to five days, around mid-August, let's go and prepare early."
Sun Xiaoyu nodded: "Yes, we should prepare earlier. After the banquet, we can sit and have some tea."
Ji Xia agreed. Of course, the shareholders needed to sit down and discuss the matter of setting up a workshop in the capital, so as not to upset her second brother and sister-in-law.
This matter was not suitable for outsiders to know, so the two exchanged a few words in hushed tones and then tactfully changed the subject.
Ji Xia drank half a bowl of soup before smiling at Zhang Lan, who was standing next to Zhang Hong: "Lan has changed so much, I almost didn't recognize her just now."
Zhang Lan smiled and said, "Working in the factory every day means less sun exposure, so my skin is a bit fairer."
"She's become so much fairer, she looks like a completely different person. I've heard that the environment there is very fertile, which is why Suzhou and Hangzhou are known for their beautiful women. Ah Lan has become so much prettier in just six months."
Of course, it's not just about not getting enough sunshine; the soil and water also play a role.
Looking at Zhang Lan's complexion, her once thin cheeks have gained weight, and her skin is fair with a rosy glow, full of vitality. It seems that the food in the canteen is nourishing, which is why she has become so good-looking.
Zhang Lan quietly left and went to the Jiangnan branch factory with Sun Xiaoyu. Zhang Hong's maternal relatives, Granny Zhang and Old Man Zhang, came over and made a scene a few times.
However, Zhang Hong had already broken their hearts. They insisted that they had given her the money at the end of the year and sent her back home, and they didn't know where she had gone.
The Zhang couple were furious. Their capable worker, who could earn money and collect dowries, had disappeared. Apart from arguing with their eldest daughter a few times and getting some compensation, they didn't dare to make a scene in front of the Ji family.
This time, the graduation banquet was hosted by the Chen family, and Zhang Hong's family members were not invited.
None of the villagers knew Zhang Lan. When they saw Zhang Lan appearing behind Sun Xiaoyu, they assumed she was a city girl that Sun Xiaoyu had brought back.
When some busybodies asked Ji Xiangjun if he was his sister-in-law and if he had a boyfriend, Ji Xiangjun laughed and told them not to get their hopes up. He was already engaged, and no one would care about him anymore.
Ji Xia asked about her recent situation with concern, and Zhang Lan smiled with relief: "I just came back with Sister Xiaoyu to visit you, and I'll be going back in a couple of days."
Are you going back from there?
Upon hearing this, Zhang Lan shook her head: "Last year, I had my eldest sister lose all the money I had earned, as a way of 'buying back' my gratitude for being raised."
Sun Xiaoyu chuckled softly beside her, "She got together with a salesman from the factory over there. When she came back, she asked Xiang Jun to help her get a certificate of being unmarried so she could go back and get a marriage certificate. She's not coming back anymore."
"It's fine if they don't come back. Just live your own life well."
Ji Xia patted her shoulder approvingly, then suddenly remembered that you have to be eighteen to get a marriage certificate now. Is she eighteen now?
Apart from a few envious people, most villagers praised the banquet that day.
No gifts were accepted, and the banquet was exceptionally lavish, allowing a group of villagers who hadn't eaten meat for months to enjoy a delicious meal.
Meanwhile, a group of young men surrounded Chen Jing, pleading with him to take them out to earn money if they had the chance, and Chen Jing readily agreed.
As dusk deepened, the villagers who had come to the feast left one by one. Chen's mother and Xu Yufen, along with several hardworking women from the village, tidied up the courtyard, making sure everything was neat and tidy. They divided the remaining ingredients in half among the women who had helped with the cooking.
Ji Xia and Chen Jing used the excuse of discussing work with Ji Xiangjun to return to the Ji family home after the banquet.
Ji's mother was still helping out at the Chen family's house, as were Ji's Party Secretary and Ji Zhijun. Zhang Hong, along with Zhang Lan and their two children, were catching up with old friends outside, making the Ji family's place relatively quiet.
Back at the Ji family home, Ji Xiangjun handed over various reports from the past six months: "Let's reconcile the accounts first, calculate the profits and costs of the two factories, and then discuss the next steps."
"Second brother, what's your plan?"
Ji Xia quickly flipped through several reports and looked at the final statistics. Over the past eight months, the factory in Jiangnan had expanded again, and its monthly output and income were quite considerable.
The factory has grown from fifty or sixty people to one hundred and fifty people, and its monthly output can now reach tens of thousands of items.
Ji Zhijun and Sun Xiaoyu exchanged a smile: "This is what I'm thinking. You have a factory in Beijing, while we're in Jiangnan. It's too far apart."
"How about we take all the shares in Jiangnan, and you can have all the shares in the commune and the capital. Of course, I will compensate you with money for the shares in the Jiangnan factory."
Ji Xia and Chen Jing discussed it in hushed tones and finally agreed.
Although the factory is doing well, it's too far away, and Ji Xia and Chen Jing simply can't manage it.
Ji Xiangjun and Sun Xiaoyu had capital and wanted to control the entire factory themselves. It's good that they split it up.
When the Jiangnan branch factory first started, they spent about 100,000 yuan on various expenses, including buying machines and building factories. However, after half a year of expansion and production, the market value of the machines, factories, and all goods approached 400,000 yuan.
Ji Xia and Chen Jing acquired 70% of the shares, which amounted to 280,000.
As for the small workshops in the commune, business was good, but they only had a dozen or so sewing machines and a dozen or so people. Even with the goods in the warehouse, they had less than 40,000 or 50,000 yuan in total.
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