Chapter 401 Zhao Dongmei Beats a Child
As the weather gets colder, drying the starch water takes too long, which greatly delays the progress. In addition, sweet potato vermicelli does not sell for as much as wide vermicelli, so Song Lubai simply stopped making sweet potato vermicelli and made wide vermicelli cut by knife.
The starch water settled overnight, and the starch yield was indeed a little higher than before, but not by much.
Fortunately, the workers' skills have become more refined, and their control over the production details has become more precise. In addition, with the availability of stone mills and special knives, the time spent grinding the powder and filtering impurities has been greatly reduced, freeing up more manpower. Now, the daily production of vermicelli is 18 or 19 jin more than before.
Song Lubai has implemented all the improvements she could think of, and the results are visible to the naked eye.
Based on this trend, she roughly calculated that the amount of sweet potato starch she could produce by the end of the month would be 200 jin more than what she had produced in the previous month and a half.
But it's still not enough. Watching the workers lift the pot lid and take out the plates, then quickly put in new plates that have been soaked in syrup, Song Lubai felt that they could get a bigger stove. With bigger plates, one batch of steamed food would be equivalent to two batches of food being steamed now.
She told Deng Hong about her idea, and Deng Hong said, "Where are we going to find such a big pot lid? Where are we going to find such a plate?"
The pot lid can be woven from broom grass to make a large one. The plates don't need to be specially made; as long as two plates of the same size can fit in the pot, that's fine. The main thing is to make a decent pot.
Without hesitation, Song Lubai found someone to build a large stove in a suitable place after get off work that afternoon.
Inside the workshop, stoves were being built, while the sound of a tractor chugging could be heard from outside the wall.
When Song Lubai went out, she saw the tractor driver from the mechanized farming team pulling a large cart of cotton stalks.
After exchanging greetings, the members of the mechanized farming team worked together to unload the cotton stalks.
The food workshop needed a lot of firewood, and Yu Lin contacted the company to have it delivered.
After this truckload was unloaded, the area around the courtyard wall was piled up.
The man who came to deliver the firewood said, "It's late today. We'll bring two more loads when we get back from the fields tomorrow, Comrade Song. How long do you think this will last? If it's not enough, we'll come again the day after tomorrow."
The tractor had to go down to the production team every day, and bringing firewood back was just a convenient detour.
The people who came to deliver firewood all felt that there was enough firewood piled up outside the yard, but for the food workshop, it was still not enough.
Song Lubai said, "We need to haul a few more loads. We're running out of supplies very quickly. Thank you so much for your help."
The man hauling firewood said, "Comrade Song, I heard they're making sweet potato noodles here. When will we all be able to eat noodles made by the regiment itself?"
Song Lubai said with a smile, "The supply and marketing cooperative sells them, but the quantity is not large, so you need coupons. We will send a large batch to the supply and marketing cooperative before the New Year. This batch is for everyone in the group to celebrate the New Year. Not only do we not need coupons, but it is also cheaper than the market price."
Upon hearing this, the group of people all smiled.
Although everyone doesn't have much money, they still have to buy some good food for the New Year no matter what.
After talking for a while, the man hauling firewood said, "Alright, we have to go home for dinner. Comrade Song, you should go home early too."
Watching the people walk away, Song Lubai walked into the workshop, where Old Wang and the stove builder were working hard, their foreheads covered in sweat.
Old Wang turned his head and said, "It's completely dark, Comrade Song. You should go back first. I can handle things here. I'll check it again after it's done. You don't need to worry about it."
Old Wang is Song Lubai's good helper. Usually, Song Lubai does the talking and Old Wang is in charge of the actions. Old Wang does things that require physical strength and that Deng Hong cannot do.
"It's alright, I'll wait for Wei Yang to come and pick me up."
She walked closer and said, "Old Wang, we have quite a lot of goods in our workshop right now, and we need someone to stay here to watch over them at night. I'm thinking of building a small shed next to the warehouse before the weather gets too cold, so that someone can stay here to watch over them at night. In the future, our workers can work in pairs and take turns watching over them."
She looked around outside and saw a lot of firewood piled up outside the workshop and a lot of goods in the yard. Dried vermicelli is very flammable, and if a fire breaks out, the losses will be considerable.
Putting aside the fire, if someone were to break in and steal something, with no one guarding the place, wouldn't it be as easy for a thief to steal as taking something out of a bag?
Old Wang wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve and said, "I think it's a good idea. Otherwise, I'll come back and stay in that small office after dinner every night. I'll sleep on the floor for now."
The yard is big enough that building another guardhouse wouldn't take up much space.
Song Lubai said, "It's cold now, and we'll be lighting the stove soon. We need to cover ourselves with something thick tonight. I'll talk to Team Leader Yu tomorrow and ask him to bring back a thick quilt. Let's leave it for today. You can stay here after we bring the quilt back."
Old Wang nodded and said, "Okay, I'll do whatever you say."
The two were building a stove when Song Lubai inspected the yard and then Hou Weiyang arrived.
The couple said goodbye to Old Wang and then left.
The man who was building the stove with Lao Wang said, "The regimental commander's wife is not old, but she is quite good at taking care of things."
Old Wang said, "That's for sure! Comrade Xiao Song is quick-witted, has a lot of ideas, and seems easy to talk to, but she has a temper. She's an educated person and can handle things."
Song Lubai would be speechless if she heard this compliment from someone called a "cultured person".
She only attended high school. In her mind, a cultured person was someone who had properly gone to university, like Wei Zhao, who was not only cultured but also always had unique insights to offer.
Song Lubai was starving; she had eaten all the biscuits in the house, and she had been eating at least two bowls of rice every day for the past few days.
Although Wei Zhao said her belly looked too big, she couldn't help it at all, eating a lot every time and getting hungry quickly.
Hearing the rumbling sounds coming from her stomach, Wei Yang couldn't help but laugh and said, "You eat so much every day, how come you're still so hungry?"
He placed his hand on her stomach, gently poked it, and said, "You're such a glutton, just like your mother."
Song Lubai pinched him.
As the two approached their home, they heard Zhao Dongmei scolding the child.
"You always eat all the good food by yourself, don't you ever think about your younger siblings? All the good food goes into your belly, how are they supposed to live? You're like a reincarnation of a starving ghost, always wanting more than you can eat, and you never help out at home. What good are you..."
At Zhao Dongmei's doorstep, Feng Yaozu was being scolded by Zhao Dongmei like a grandson.
Zhao Dongmei held the child in one arm and used a fire poker to whip Feng Yaozu with the other.
Feng Yaozu screamed and cried out for his father after being whipped.
Feng Xiaolong, who was inside the door, came out impatiently and said, "That's enough. It's not a big deal. Don't go too far!"
Zhao Dongmei raised her voice and said, "I'm being unreasonable? I don't know who the hell is being unreasonable! That was my and my child's food, and he ate it all. What are we supposed to eat?"
Because he was in the wrong, Feng Xiaolong had let Zhao Dongmei beat up that brat Feng Yaozu earlier, but she had been scolding him for half an hour, and his ears were almost calloused.
"You won't starve if you skip a meal. I'll borrow some for you tomorrow. Okay, close the door and go home to sleep."
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