"Then why do you look so bitter and resentful?"
Commander Lin was also puzzled. Qin Qinghuai was never one to be sentimental, and he rarely showed such outward emotions. Why would he be so swayed by such a small matter?
"What did Tofu do to offend you?"
"Hey! Tofu, tofu didn't offend me, but,"
He's a cunning old fox; someone who can become a political commissar has a sharp mind.
"Commander, we've planted just as many soybeans this year, what do you say?"
Regiment Commander Lin's eyelids twitched. Based on his understanding of this political commissar over the past year, he knew he was about to cause trouble. He quickly looked around, leaned closer, and asked, "Hungry?"
"No, what do you mean? You were going to keep these soybeans to make oil, weren't you? What else could you possibly be doing with them?"
Qin Qinghuai's mind is quick; he had just gotten himself stuck in a dead end, but now that he's figured it out, he's regained his usual composure and calm demeanor.
"This is a good thing; it's not just for making oil and tofu."
Do you think we can do something with this?
A few days ago, before planting, Professor Wei and his two grandfathers summarized last year's experience and said what crops were more suitable for planting here. Do you remember?
This kind of thing is no small matter here, and Commander Lin just blurted it out.
"Potatoes, soybeans, wheat, watermelon, and corn can also be used for silage or feed."
"yes,"
Not far from here is the land, which looks lush and green from here. It's planted with large fields of soybeans. The harvester is also turning the soil. In the spring, it has reclaimed a lot of wasteland, which has helped with manual labor and saved the workers a lot of effort.
"What's up? You've got another idea? Tell me what you think, don't keep me in suspense!"
I simply led the child ahead without paying much attention, but I could still hear the voices behind me, intermittently.
"Let me ask you first, Commander. This year there's a lot of reclaimed land. Whether it's soybeans, potatoes, watermelons, wheat, or corn, there's a lot planted. The corn is easy to deal with; we've already decided on silage for it to make feed."
"And what are your plans for the rest?"
Commander Lin thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"You're in charge of all of this. You're asking me out of the blue, so I can't think of anything special. It's just the same old thing: after the portion is distributed to everyone, we hand it over to the canteen as ingredients, like you said, such as soybeans, pressing them for oil, making bean sprouts, and tofu."
The same applies to potatoes and wheat.
Watermelons? I honestly didn't know that. You know, they're neither food nor drink, yet I see you've had quite a few people growing them.
"So, you're thinking of keeping it all for yourself?"
Commander Lin was startled.
"Otherwise what? We have tens of thousands of people here. Even just our own numbers are not small. The annual food rations are not a small amount either."
"Political Commissar, don't tell me you didn't plan to save some for the brothers' rations?"
Having suffered greatly from hunger over the past few years, Commander Lin had a particular attachment to food.
"No, we're not going to leave enough food for ourselves, and you'll just put the rest somewhere else?"
Qin Qinghuai remained silent.
"Commander, so what? You're the biological father, and I'm just the stepchild?"
"Uh, haha, haha, I was getting anxious, I was getting anxious, please continue, please continue."
When Qin Qinghuai spoke again, he brought up a completely unrelated question.
"Commander, my wife said there's a kind of food in this village called pancakes. Pancakes rolled with scallions are a good dish. Have you ever tried them?"
The sudden 90-degree turn caught Commander Lin off guard, leaving him stunned for several seconds before he came to his senses.
"Ah, yes, there are good things, but, alas!"
These past few years, there haven't been times when we had enough to eat. Who has grain to grind into flour to make pancakes? I reckon even pancake griddles are hard to find these days.
We Northeastern men just love that one thing: a big pancake, green onions, smeared with soybean paste, rolled up – that's just the way it is.
If you could afford to make some egg sauce, let me tell you, it would be even more delicious. I haven't had it for years.
"We're country folk, this is how we eat. City people think it's unrefined. They make pancakes, small, thin pancakes, rolled with scallions, and eat them in small bites."
Qin Qinghuai smiled.
"Hmm, and there's also dried tofu rolls with scallions, right?"
"That's true, but dried tofu is even more precious than this tofu. I've only had it twice when I went to the county town. How could I have ever had the chance to wrap it with scallions?"
This is the countryside, and everyone here is from the countryside. Even Qin Qinghuai, with his pretentious, bookish manner, just says what he really thinks.
"Don't worry, I'll let you eat your fill one of these days."
"Commander, this is what I'm thinking. You see, soybeans can be pressed for oil, made into bean sprouts, tofu, and dried tofu. I heard from the cooks that they can be used to make all sorts of other dishes. But we can't eat these soy products every day, right?"
"Yes, there are potatoes too, and there's also space reserved over there to grow vegetables, isn't there?"
Actually, Commander Lin is happy to eat these bean products every day. Life has improved so much that he can now choose what he wants to eat.
He'd be laughing in his sleep right now.
"Political Commissar, we're going through a tough time, so let's stay safe!"
"Commander, you don't believe me?"
"I believe it, I believe it, but I'm also scared. I'm really afraid of going back to the old days, I'm really afraid that my brothers will go back to not having enough to eat."
You're so clever and shrewd. If it weren't for you coming, we'd probably still be pitifully begging Yueyue for her meager food rations.
"Don't say that,"
Qin Qinghuai frowned.
"Things will get better day by day."
Commander Lin naturally felt that the momentum would only get better during this period.
"Isn't the atmosphere just right? I'm getting a little carried away."
After a brief commotion, the conversation returned to the main topic. Commander Lin was startled and couldn't help but raise his voice.
"What did you say? You want to open a workshop?"
He glanced back briefly upon meeting her, then turned back to watch Xiao An playing with Hui Zhou, whom he had just met. He thought to himself, "When did this man start thinking so far ahead?"
“A workshop is not a good idea. My suggestion is to build a factory directly.”
In the beginning, we don't need to make anything too big; we can press oil and make soy products at the same time.
In fact, Qin Qinghuai wanted to do more, but now was clearly not the time. He was also afraid of scaring others, since the crops in the field were only the second year's experimental crop, and there was still a risk that they might not succeed.
Seeing this, even Commander Lin was quite frightened.
"No, brother, do we really need to set up a separate factory? Can't we just work in the mess hall?"
He spent most of his time in the military and rarely went out, but he knew how sought-after a factory worker's position was. Those factories were state-owned, so their importance was naturally very high. Yet, the political commissar casually referred to it as "building a factory," which always left him with a sense of unease.
"Do you have some other ideas for this soybean? How can you make something out of just one soybean?"
Besides, as you yourself said, we can't eat this every day, um, soy products. To build a factory just for this, requiring equipment and manpower, do you think it's necessary?"
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