Dong Qing laughed and said, "Of course! With a father this handsome, there's no reason why his son shouldn't be handsome too."
Li Yuzhu laughed and said, "You're getting all worked up over your sister-in-law's comment about you being fat."
Li Yuzhu's words made the three of them burst into laughter.
"You two sit down and talk for a bit, I'll go to the kitchen and prepare a few dishes."
After Dongqing finished speaking, he went into the kitchen. The family had prepared everything for the Spring Festival. They weren't hungry after eating, so they just needed to prepare a few cold dishes to go with the drinks.
There were ready-made fried peanuts, a plate of sliced beef, a plate of spiced pig's head meat, a plate of spiced donkey meat, and a side of cold lotus root salad and agar-agar. The lotus root and agar-agar were already prepared, and the beef and donkey meat were just slices, no need to add any seasoning.
He put the pig's head meat and two vegetarian dishes on cilantro and scallions, added seasonings and sesame oil, mixed them well, and plated them. Before Chen Hong returned, he had already prepared all six dishes and placed them on the restaurant table.
Chen Hong returned quickly, and he and Dong Qing carried the fireworks from the tricycle into the house.
Dongqing and he went to the restroom to wash their hands, and then sat down at the dining table.
Li Yuzhu said, "Sister-in-law, let's go over there too."
Su Wei said, "I can't drink alcohol because I'm pregnant."
Li Yuzhu smiled and said, "Can't you drink alcohol? Can't you eat food? Listen to me, go sit down and have some food."
Su Wei smiled and said nothing, then stood up and walked to the dining table with Li Yuzhu to sit down.
It wasn't appropriate for Su Wei to drink anything during her pregnancy, so Li Yuzhu poured her a glass of plain water. Su Wei accepted the water and said thank you.
Dong Qing opened a bottle of baijiu. As always, he never pressured his close friends to drink when they ate together. He drank as much as he could, without any pressure.
Alcohol is a good thing, but drinking too much can harm your health. It's always good to drink in moderation and only drink according to your own tolerance.
Dongqing poured a glass of wine for his wife as well. The three of them picked up their glasses, took a sip, and then put their glasses on the table.
Dongqing picked up his chopsticks and said, "Eat your food, sister-in-law. Let's not drink alcohol, just eat our food and see how my cooking is."
When it comes to cooking, Dongqing's cooking is better than his wife's, a fact that Li Yuzhu cannot deny. Dongqing usually doesn't let her cook at home, firstly because he doesn't want her to work hard, and secondly because her cooking is indeed not very good.
Su Wei joked, "Don't show off to your sister-in-law. It's not like this is the first time I've eaten your cooking."
After Su Wei became Dong Qing's sister-in-law, her way of speaking to him changed a lot. She would occasionally crack a joke. A sister-in-law really doesn't need to be so reserved when speaking to her brother. Telling jokes can also liven up the dull atmosphere.
They picked up their chopsticks and ate amidst laughter and conversation. Donkey and beef meat was indeed very fragrant in those days. When the merchants marinated and braised the meat, they did not add any additives or colorings, only the original flavor of the meat and spices. The meat was very fragrant and appealing when it was put in the mouth.
Chen Hong and his wife rarely ate such delicious meat dishes at home. In those days, living conditions were generally like this, and even if they had a little money, they were reluctant to spend it.
Of course, Su Wei ate plenty of meat when she was riding in the sports car, but she didn't get that treatment after she started working.
A monthly salary of a few dozen yuan is really not enough to make ends meet. If it weren't for Dongqing's monthly subsidy of 2,000 yuan to her husband, her life would be no different from other families.
With a monthly salary of just over 200 yuan, the two of them can't even dream of eating meat every day. Even if they had money, they wouldn't be willing to buy beef or donkey meat often; they could only eat a little occasionally.
Dong Qing and Chen Hong started by chatting about everyday things, and then the conversation turned to the factory. Dong Qing asked, "How long will the factory's production materials last after the New Year when production resumes?"
He wouldn't have asked that question if it weren't for the tight economy. He wasn't really concerned about how much raw material the factory had in stock; if they didn't have it, they would just buy it. The funding gap next year was too large, and Dong Qing was constantly worried about the company's finances.
Chen Hong said, "Every year before the factory closes for the holidays, we make sure to stock up on enough raw materials for the next year's production. We have enough stock to last a month; this has become a routine practice."
The steel market is in a slump after the Chinese New Year, as all the goods were sold out before the holiday. This is the main reason for the shortage.
Every factory goes on a frenzy of material procurement before the Lunar New Year to ensure they have enough materials for production before the start of the following year. That's why factory sales are particularly good at the end of the year.
Within a month of resuming work after the Lunar New Year, it's generally impossible to replenish many materials. Materials will be replenished gradually after half a month. This applies even to niche products, and it has become a common practice in all industries.
Dong Qing was aware of this as well, but perhaps he was under too much pressure and had forgotten about it. Sometimes, the pressure in one's heart can lead one's thoughts astray. Only after hearing this did he feel relieved.
At least he won't have to worry about the factory's funds after the New Year. He can still handle some daily expenses. If he can have half a month, he can sell the pigs at the end of the first month and the funds will be available. Although it won't solve the fundamental problem, it can at least solve the immediate crisis.
Sales of fully enclosed tricycles have been lackluster this year. It's not that people don't like these high-end tricycles; it's just that most people don't have the money, and even if they wanted to buy one, it would be out of reach.
Chen Hong has always controlled the production volume of fully enclosed tricycles, so there are not many fully enclosed tricycles in stock.
The sales of semi-enclosed tricycles were good, basically on par with the sales of simple tricycles from the machinery factory. They generated a lot of profit for the company in the second half of last year. Otherwise, Dong Qing would not have dared to buy land in Pengcheng. His financial backing came from these four companies.
Dong Qing asked, "Could we free up some workshop space at the tricycle yard next year to produce other types of machinery?"
Chen Hong said, "That's no problem. After the New Year, I'll make a complete overhaul and free up two workshops and a warehouse."
Having freed up two workshops and a warehouse was enough. Dong Qing stood up, went into the bedroom, took out two sets of blueprints, and sat down at the dining table.
He handed two sets of blueprints to Chen Hong and said, "I drew these two sets of blueprints myself. One set is for a tractor-driven self-tilling plow for farmland, and the other set is for a rotary tiller for farmland. I will produce these two products next year."
Dong Qing was in the machinery business in his previous life, and he could draw these blueprints from memory.
Chen Hongxian looked through a set of sketches of a self-tumbling plow, which is a large tractor-tethered self-tumbling plow.
Currently, the tractors used in farmland still plow in one direction. After the land was distributed to individual households, no one uses these tractors to plow anymore. Nobody can accept plowing several acres of land and then creating two deep ditches.
The plow designed by Dong Qing works on the same principle as the original plow. The original plow changes the direction of turning the soil by flipping the plow surface left and right. The tractor-drawn plow he designed actually has two sets of plows. For example, if there are three plows, six plows need to be installed in opposite directions and automatically flip up and down to adjust the direction of turning the soil.
Chen Hong has a background in mechanics, so he can easily understand these blueprints.
There are two sets of blueprints for the plow, which are actually the same. There are three-plow and six-plow designs. These two products are suitable for use with high-horsepower tractors and low-horsepower tractors, respectively.
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