Actually, making canned food is not difficult at all.
In those days, people were limited by a lack of information, and were not very literate or read books, so they found this to be a very strange thing.
Zhao Sufang taught everyone step by step how to remove the fishing line, how to deep-fry the fish over low heat, how to make the sauce with soy sauce, sugar, and spices, and finally how to seal, sterilize, and vacuum-pack the fish.
Now, everyone in Lijiapo, young and old, thinks that Zhao Sufang is truly worthy of being the mother of a genius like Li Xiangdong. Zhao Sufang herself is also very capable!
Now Zhao Sufang can't take care of her family at all. Taking care of Li Yan, Li Ping and Li Jiabao, cleaning the house and cooking are all left to Li Zhen.
Li Zhen had stopped going to work at the brick kiln a while ago, and Li Xiangdong secretly resigned on her behalf. The work at the brick kiln was lucrative, but it was incredibly tiring. A young girl constantly making bricks, earning just over ten yuan a month, was truly hard-earned money.
Li Xiangdong felt that his sister was still young. She had attended junior high school before, and now she had quit her job to study at home. He planned to let her take the college entrance examination in two years when the country resumed it.
No one in the family objected, except for Li Wanshi, who jumped out again to express her disagreement. Li Xiangdong impatiently pushed her out the door without saying another word.
Li Wanshi was so angry that she didn't eat for several meals after returning home. Li Xiangdong's attitude of ignoring her made her feel extremely humiliated, and her son's tacit approval made her even more heartbroken. She really wished she had never given birth to this son!
Of course, only Li Qingshan cares about her now; even her beloved youngest son, Li Song, hasn't offered her any comfort.
Li Zhen now cooks three meals a day, then cleans the house, washes clothes, and goes to the brigade headquarters to help her mother make canned food.
In the brigade headquarters' courtyard, a group of people were busy but not chaotic. Some were cleaning, scaling, and removing the lines from fish; some were frying them; some were making sauces; and some were boiling water in large pots and steaming cleaned canned goods upside down...
Zhao Sufang weaved through the crowd, and if she saw someone make a mistake, she would immediately remind them, and sometimes she even had to demonstrate it herself.
Li Zhen noticed that her mother's voice was a bit louder than usual, her back was ramrod straight, and she walked with a brisk pace.
"Sister Sufang, Sister Sufang, look at the sauce, how's it going? Can we pour it out now?"
A woman called out Zhao Sufang loudly.
"Okay, I'll be right there."
Zhao Sufang agreed, and then said to the person frying the fish, "It must be fried thoroughly over low heat! The bones must be fried until they are crispy to make it taste good. Otherwise, if people eat the canned food and find that it's raw inside, who will dare to buy our Lijiapo canned food in the future!"
The man nodded obediently.
Zhao Sufang walked quickly towards the person making the sauce...
This scene repeats itself many times every day. Zhao Sufang is so tired that she falls asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow when she gets home. But even so, she is very happy.
She discovered that he really liked it when people called her Sister Sufang, instead of Sixth Sister-in-law, Sister-in-law Jin, Li Jin's wife, or the Brigade Leader's wife!
She felt happier existing as an independent individual than as an appendage to her husband, though she didn't know why; it was a novel feeling.
The villagers of Guanyutai Village next door ate a big bowl of porridge made with brown rice, green beans, potatoes, and salt that night. Before midnight, their stomachs were growling with hunger, and the aroma of fried food wafted over from Lijiapo Brigade.
The villager rolled over in frustration, clutching his empty stomach, and muttered, "Damn it, every day in Lijiapo is like New Year's Day! It's so damn tempting!"
He wasn't alone in this situation; many villagers, drawn by the aroma of fried fish, tossed and turned all night, finally falling asleep dreaming of plates upon plates of braised carp...
This year, Panjiazhuang Brigade only harvested one-fifth of its wheat; the remaining several hundred acres are still rotting in the fields. Pan Dachun held several meetings to ask the commune members to harvest the wheat, but they all refused.
Ever since Li Xiangdong directly accused him of secretly reselling peaches from the brigade's peach orchard, a small group of people have been secretly looking for evidence to bring him down.
His words are no longer very effective.
Pan Dachun's eyes lit up, and he picked up a bag of late-ripening peaches and went to find his brother-in-law.
The next day, the commune sent a working investigation team to Lijiapo Brigade!
Now the brigade leader, the brigade accountant, and a production team leader have gone to Dongfang City. Li Tang went to the county town to deliver canned fish. Li Kang, the security chief and militia captain, came out with the storekeeper Li Qing to welcome the investigation team.
The two men, feeling uneasy, welcomed the five-person work investigation team, led by Sun Zhiqing, the deputy head of the commune, into the brigade headquarters.
In the courtyard of the brigade headquarters, there were still pots set up with hot oil, large wooden basins filled with bloody water from washing fish, and rows of canning jars containing dark yellow fish.
"Hey! Who's celebrating a happy occasion here?" Sun Zhiqing adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, his eyes gleaming as the lenses reflected the light.
Li Kang knew these people were definitely up to no good and didn't want to reveal what was going on in the brigade. Seeing their question, he vaguely replied, "Ah, yes!"
Hearing him say that, I thought, "Oh, there really is! Whose family is it? Since we've run into each other by chance, I'll give a gift and share in the joy!"
When Li Kang saw him pressing for answers, his mind went blank and his eyes started darting around. Li Qing quickly came up with a solution: "This was made by everyone in our village. Once it's done, each family will get a share."
"Oh, eat it yourself—"
Sun Zhiqing drew out his words and glanced at everyone present.
Zhao Sufang instinctively disliked visitors. She called to the busy women, "Everyone, stop what you're doing. Now that the commune has sent people, let's not occupy the brigade's threshing ground and interfere with their work. Once you're all ready, come to my house!"
The women, regardless of seniority or age, now implicitly regarded Zhao Sufang as their leader. Upon hearing this, they did not delay any longer, packed up their tools, and headed towards Li Jin's house.
Sun Zhiqing watched everyone until they were completely out of sight before letting out a soft snort and turning back into the brigade headquarters.
Liu Changhai's wife, Zhao Jinzhi, leaned close to Zhao Sufang and whispered, "Sister Sufang, what are these people doing here? Do they know we run a cannery and they've come to investigate us?"
Zhao Sufang's heart skipped a beat. She knew that the county and commune did not allow villages to run enterprises, but her son had said that the policies from above allowed it!
With her husband and son not home, she can't afford to panic; she has to hold on!
So Zhao Sufang raised her voice slightly so that those around her who were eavesdropping could hear her, "The city and province are all encouraging village-run enterprises. We are a collective economy, not some individual family engaging in speculation and profiteering. We are not afraid of anyone! Besides, they may just be here to take a look and will leave in a little while!"
These resounding words calmed the anxious women unconsciously.
As a result, they all thought the working investigation team would just take a look and leave, but unexpectedly, the working group suddenly announced that it would be stationed in Lijiapo!
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