Upon hearing Yu Yao's claim that there was a problem with this batch of sugarcane, Fang Qiaoqiao and the purchasing department workers were filled with doubt.
These sugarcane stalks are straight and thick, and they look quite nice, with no problems with their color.
The educated youth in charge of the handover at the farm had a subtle glint in his eye, but no one noticed it.
"Ayao, why can't this batch of sugarcane be used?" Fang Qiaoqiao asked.
Yu Yao turned to a worker from the purchasing department and said, "Comrade, may I borrow your knife for a moment?"
She took the machete and randomly picked a sugarcane that looked healthy.
I counted two sugarcane sections from the bottom up and chopped them off with one stroke.
"Qiaoqiao, look!" Yu Yao showed the cross-section of the sugarcane to everyone present.
Fang Qiaoqiao's eyes widened.
The sugarcane, which appeared to be in good condition, was already moldy inside. Such sugarcane would not only be unusable for sugar extraction, but would also suffer significant losses during transportation and have to be discarded once it reached the factory.
Moldy sugarcane has a slight odor, which is barely perceptible and located inside the sugarcane, so others may not be able to smell it.
But all of these combined were as obvious to Yu Yao, whose sense of smell was extraordinary, as lighting a lamp in the dark.
To further confirm, Yu Yao and Fang Qiaoqiao randomly selected several more sugarcanes, all of which appeared to be in good condition, but had become moldy to varying degrees inside.
Yu Yao and Fang Qiaoqiao glanced at the farm youth they were responsible for handing over to.
The educated youth denied it: "I don't know what happened."
"Ayao, what do we do now?"
Unsure of the exact quantity of these substandard sugarcane, Yu Yao thought for a moment and said, "Go find Zhou Qiang; he's in charge. This kind of thing should naturally be his concern."
Fang Qiaoqiao nodded: "I'll listen to you."
Zhou Qiang was giving instructions to the convoy when he saw Fang Qiaoqiao and Yu Yao. He put on a smile and asked, "What happened?"
Fang Qiaoqiao stepped forward and told them about the discovery of the moldy sugarcane.
When Zhou Qiang heard about the moldy sugarcane, his expression became unnatural for a moment, a fleeting unease that Yu Yao noticed.
She frowned, unsure if she had misread it.
After listening to their account, Zhou Qiang's face darkened. "We've been cooperating with the farm for so long, and this is the first time we've encountered such a problem. You two shouldn't make a fuss about this yet. I'll go and find out what happened. The farm must give us an explanation."
After that, Zhou Qiang went to find the staff member in charge of the handover at the farm.
Yu Yao learned how the matter was handled from Fang Qiaoqiao's account.
It is said that the sugarcane was originally bad sugarcane that the warehouse was planning to throw away, but unexpectedly, it was moved over by the newly arrived educated youth on the farm and handed over as good sugarcane.
The farm staff apologized and made amends, replacing the sugarcane with fresh, high-quality sugarcane.
Although she had some doubts about the reason for this, since there was no evidence, Yu Yao didn't say much.
After the purchasing workers confirmed the last batch of sugarcane, they set off with the convoy back to the food factory.
Yu Yao and Fang Qiaoqiao rested for a while before following Yan Minjia to the sugarcane field where honeydew was grown.
The farm is located near the mountains, and the yield of the honey harvested from the honey plant ...
Yan Minjia led the way while introducing the scenery of the forest area to them.
Yu Yao saw rows of tall rubber trees, nanmu trees used for making furniture, and some of the wood was covered with wood ear fungus and moss, making the forest quiet and secluded.
It took another ten minutes or so to reach the honey plantation.
Although it's called a farmland, Yu Yao felt it was more like a reclaimed wasteland planted with wild sugarcane that looked almost like weeds.
Yan Minjia cut two pieces of the honeydew melon and handed them to Yu Yao and Fang Qiaoqiao, saying, "Try it."
Yu Yao bit off the outer skin and tasted it.
The honey from the cut hand is not as cloyingly sweet as sugarcane from squeezed sugar; it has a lower sugar content but carries a subtle and unique fragrance, just as described in the ancient recipe given by Uncle Chen.
Yu Yao cut two small bundles of honeydew, enough to make one or two jars of syrup for her experiments.
After harvesting the honeydew nectar, it was already late. It would take two hours to ride back, and the entire route was through forests and mountain roads, which wasn't safe.
At Yan Minjia's enthusiastic invitation, the two decided to rest at the farm for a while and return early the next morning.
In those days, educated youth often visited each other's homes, and if someone's friend came, all the educated youth in the dormitory would host them together.
Yan Minjia's roommates were very friendly, not only welcoming them to stay wherever they wanted, but also inviting them to participate in the evening activities for educated youth.
The educated youth worked hard during the day and had a monotonous life at night, with few recreational activities on weekdays. They only had time and energy to get together on weekends, and their favorite activities were playing ball, playing cards, and telling stories.
Movies are only shown occasionally on the farm.
Yu Yao and her friends were lucky; they happened to arrive just in time for the projectionist to show a movie at the farm.
Today's film is the Yugoslavian film "The Bridge." Yu Yao had never seen it before, and it was a novel experience for her.
The next morning, Yu Yao and Fang Qiaoqiao tied the honey to the back seat of the car and rode their bicycles to the military compound.
On the way, Fang Qiaoqiao talked about her plans for a while, "Ayao, I won't go home for a while. I'll go back to the military compound with you. My mom wants me to go see Sister Meihua."
“Okay, I happen to have some canned goods. Could you take them to my aunt and tell her to thank her for the yellow lantern chili sauce?”
Upon hearing this, Fang Qiaoqiao knew that her braised ribbonfish canned food was ready and couldn't wait to try it.
Upon arriving at the entrance of the military compound, Yu Yao first took Fang Qiaoqiao to register. After the sentry checked and found no problems, the two pushed their bicycles into the compound.
Because it was the weekend, all the children in the compound were on holiday and were running around excitedly.
Lei Xiaojun was the king of the kids. He was leading three or five kids from the old residential compound in a cockfighting contest against several kids from the new residential building. Whoever won would get the seashells in their hands.
These seashells were all picked up from the beach; they were a form of currency among children.
When Lei Xiaojun saw her and Fang Qiaoqiao, especially the candy and malted milk powder in Fang Qiaoqiao's bicycle basket, he knew there was something delicious to eat, so he stopped playing and went home with them.
"That's my and Sister-in-law Su's courtyard up ahead." Yu Yao led Fang Qiaoqiao into the courtyard first, offered her a cup of sweet soup, and then took the sugarcane into the main room.
Fang Qiaoqiao sat on the recliner, sipping water and rocking back and forth with great interest: "Ayao, you really know how to enjoy yourself. This courtyard is so beautifully decorated. I'll get one for myself sometime."
The two rested for a short while before Su Meihua went home. Fang Qiaoqiao didn't stay long and took the gifts she bought at the supply and marketing cooperative to visit Su Meihua.
"Qiaoqiao, wait a moment, I'll get you the canned food first. When Lu Ze comes back, we'll go to the shipyard's residential compound for dinner."
Upon hearing this, a fleeting look of melancholy crossed Fang Qiaoqiao's eyes, but she quickly regained her composure and forced a smile: "I know, you said it before, that Comrade Wu's girlfriend is coming to visit."
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