Chapter 256 Settling Down
When the people at the tobacco station heard that Zhang Cui's son-in-law was a cadre, their eyes changed a little.
After talking for a while, they asked again, "Sister Zhang, where's your husband? Why did you come all the way from your hometown?"
It seems strange that a family of four doesn't have a single man to lead the household.
Song Lubai spoke before Zhang Cui could, saying, "He died of illness. After he died, all the relatives wanted to take advantage of him. There was never a moment of peace at home. I had no choice but to have my mother bring my younger brother over. After all, my husband is a capable man. Once he's here, we can't let others bully him."
Xu Yunru said with sympathy, "Don't worry, Uncle Liu and the others are all kind and helpful people. They definitely won't bully you. When they heard you were coming, they even helped with the furniture in the house."
Among the men's wives was one of them. One of them said, "People from our hometown are used to bullying the weak and fearing the strong. It's not easy for us women to raise children on our own. Don't worry about us now that you're here. No one will bully you."
Zhang Cui spoke politely to everyone, then lifted the curtain and went inside.
Xu Yunru led the way and said, "The door curtain was made by Uncle Liu and the others. The felt on the bed is the one I used before. Just put the felt at the bottom. The kang (heated brick bed) underneath is made of mud, so we need to use a felt pad."
Although there wasn't much furniture in the room, there were still two old, low cabinets and a wooden stand for a washbasin.
The room was quite clean, with newspapers pasted on the walls and a rope strung across the middle for hanging clothes.
Xu Yunru did most of the work. She was afraid that Zhang Cui would be disgusted by the state of things when she arrived, which would cause problems with the work. So she did her best to tidy up, but due to limited resources, this was the best she could do.
“Sister, the well is right in the yard. You can fetch water yourself if you need it. We eat together in a communal kitchen. Just come back for meals when it’s time to eat.”
Song Lubai said, "My husband will be coming in a few days. We'll need to use the cafeteria to buy some groceries."
The aunties readily agreed.
The staff at the tobacco station dispersed, and Song Lubai and the others began packing their luggage.
The room was not small. Zhang Cui had her own room and slept on a kang (a heated brick bed) that was two meters wide. Looking at the empty room, she said, "This place is not bad. The two rooms in the old tenement building were only the size of this one. This room is enough for a family of several people. It's just a pity that the floor is mud."
Xu Yunru said, "The buildings at the tobacco station were originally warehouses. This year's output is unknown, so they'll be used as houses for now. Even though the ground is muddy, these houses are guaranteed not to leak."
"Auntie, you guys go ahead and tidy up. I'll go check the kitchen. It's almost lunchtime. I'll come and call you in a bit."
Xu Yunru left, and Zhang Cui began to make the bed with mattresses and sheets.
The bed sheet she brought from her hometown could only cover half of the bed, which looked quite comical.
"This bed is really big."
The twins thought the bed was great. Before, their room was small and the bed was small too, so they could only stretch out their arms and legs. Now, the room is spacious enough to play ping-pong.
The twins are now fascinated by everything and run around inside and outside the yard.
Not far from the courtyard are green tobacco fields, and a few hens are kept in a small fence behind the courtyard. Further away, smoke rises from every household in the village.
Blue sky and white clouds, a gentle breeze, and the rustling of leaves.
"Dinner is ready."
The aunt who had finished cooking let out a howl in the yard, and several households lifted their curtains and went into the kitchen.
The kitchen was the same size as the rooms in every household, with a pitted old round table in the middle. On the table was a pot of steaming vegetable soup, and in a wooden basket were cornbread buns made from various grains.
The soup mainly consisted of green vegetables with a few egg drop pieces floating on top. Only a little salt was added to the soup, so the taste was still palatable.
The dishes weren't exactly delicious, but the portions of steamed buns and vegetable soup were enough to fill everyone up.
"We're all here today thanks to Comrade Zhang; otherwise, we wouldn't have put the eggs in here."
Zhang Cui quickly said, "There's no need to spend money. We still have to live our lives from now on."
Aunt Zhou said, "We have a lot of grass here, so raising a few hens here will produce more eggs than raising chickens in the city. We usually eat some vegetables, but we still make scrambled eggs every now and then. Even if we just put them in the vegetable soup, they don't taste very good. Today, since you're here, we should welcome our new comrades. In a few days, we'll collect the eggs and we'll all have scrambled eggs together."
After the meal, many people went back to their rooms.
Zhang Cui had never had so much free time. She walked around the yard and asked, "When do we start work?"
Uncle Liu sat on the doorstep, smoking his pipe, and said, “We don’t have a fixed time here. Look how strong the sun is. Even the tobacco farmers have to wait until four or five o’clock to go to the fields. Go back and rest first. When we go to the fields this afternoon, you can come with us and see what we say to the tobacco farmers.”
Zhang Cui knew nothing about tobacco leaves and was afraid that she couldn't do the job. However, seeing the work attitude of the tobacco station staff, she felt that this job should be much easier than working in the workshop.
In the food factory workshop, she repeats the same operations every day, to the point that she can get the job done without even thinking.
When she was woken up, it was almost five o'clock. Zhang Cui went to the fields with several staff members from the tobacco station.
Old Sun, who is also an employee of the tobacco company, said: "This is the first year, and our task is not heavy. The requirement from above is to purchase 60% of the high-quality tobacco leaves. Judging from the growth of the tobacco leaves in the fields here, we can still complete the task."
Song Lubai and Xu Yunru followed behind. Song Lubai asked, "Uncle Sun, do you know how to grow tobacco?"
Old Sun, chin raised, said, "I used to work at the tobacco factory. Before the tobacco company was established, it was your supply and marketing department leaders who went to the tobacco factory to recruit me. Although I've never grown tobacco, I know what kind of tobacco leaves are top-grade, what kind are second-grade, what kind of tobacco leaves can't be harvested, what yield in a field is considered a good harvest, and what pesticides to use when tobacco leaves are infested with insects..."
Once inside the field, Old Sun gestured on a tobacco leaf and said to Zhang Cui, "Comrade Zhang, look carefully. This tobacco leaf is over 25 centimeters long, so it will have to be downgraded for purchase."
Zhang Cui asked, puzzled, "Why? Shouldn't it be better to grow bigger?"
Old Sun said, "There's a lot to learn here. When we buy tobacco leaves, we have to ensure their high purity and consistency. Overly long leaves can cause abnormalities in thickness and oil content, affecting the overall batch quality consistency. Also, overly long leaves will reduce work efficiency because their size exceeds equipment standards, and additional processing will increase costs..."
Old Sun said a lot of things, which Zhang Cui could barely understand.
After showing off, Old Sun said, "We have books in our office. Go back and read them more. Now, just follow us to familiarize yourself with this place. As you read more, you'll learn without even realizing it. There's no rush."
Zhang Cui said, "You know so much."
Old Sun humbly said, "I only know how to do one thing at a time, and I don't know anything else."
After running around all afternoon, visiting seven nearby villages that grow tobacco, Song Lubai finally understood why they were all so dark-skinned.
Running around like this every day, no one can get fair skin.
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