Chapter 446 Changes
Song Lubai heard a knock on the door early in the morning before she even got out of bed.
It was Wang Dong who brought soy milk.
He came for Chen Yu.
Chen Yu listened to Wei Zhao's words last night and his attitude towards Wang Dong became polite but somewhat distant.
Wang Dong raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled without making a sound.
Chen Yu awkwardly looked away.
"Comrade Song, I heard you're going to the 18th Regiment. I have a bicycle here. You can ride it back first and return it to me next time you come."
Song Lubai said, "I'll hire a carriage, so I won't trouble you."
Wang Dong frowned, but quickly regained his composure. After saying goodbye to Wei Zhao, he rode his bicycle to work.
While washing her face, Song Lubai whispered to Wei Zhao, "Keep an eye on Chen Yu. I feel like he's being a little too attentive."
Wei Zhao also felt that Wang Dong's behavior was too obvious.
The journey back would take two or three hours. Song Lubai hired a donkey cart, but she was afraid, so she had the old man drive the donkey cart and wait by the roadside for more than an hour until the people who were going to the 18th Regiment met up with her. They all rode the donkey cart together to the 18th Regiment.
When they arrived home, it was lunchtime. Wei Yang was cooking at the stove by the door, while his two daughters were playing jump rope with other children under the shed in the yard.
Song Lubai jogged up to him, and just as Wei Yiping opened his mouth to call out "Mom," Song Lubai raised her finger and shushed him.
Once she reached Wei Yang, Song Lubai stomped her foot and shouted in a clear voice, "I'm back!"
Wei Yang had already heard the footsteps behind him, but he didn't expect it to be her. He was genuinely pleasantly surprised to see her.
He put the pot lid on, pulled the person into the house, and lifted them up against the door.
The two were affectionate for a while, and the child was banging on the door, shouting that he wanted to see his mother.
Wei Yang pinched her cheek and said, "You've lost weight."
Song Lubai pressed her face against his neck and hummed some mushy words: "I think about you every day, I miss you so much that I can't eat, of course I'll lose weight."
Wei Yang was delighted by her, and his eyes were filled with laughter.
As soon as Song Lubai stepped out, the two children grabbed her legs.
One person was holding onto one of her legs, making it impossible for her to move an inch.
She kissed each of the two children on the cheek, then said with a smile, "Mommy brought you some nice things."
Department stores in Shanghai are filled with all sorts of trinkets: bow hair clips, colorful glass threads for making bracelets, hair clips adorned with sequins and pretty beads, brightly colored buttons, transparent glass lampshades, color-changing rings…
The two children were dazzled by the small items that filled a cloth bag.
"Mom, what's this circle for? Is it a bracelet?"
Song Lubai said, "This can be used to hang keys. The keys won't fall off because they're inside the loop. This way, you can clip them to your waistband without worrying about losing your keys."
"What about this one?"
"This is called a mood ring; it changes color when you wear it on your hand."
"Ah, why does it change color?"
Song Lubai pinched the child's soft cheek and said with a smile, "Then you'll have to explore it yourselves. Tell me when you know why it changes color."
The meal was ready, and Wei Yang brought it in. Because he hadn't expected Song Lubai to come back, he hadn't made enough mixed grain rice, so he took some money and coupons to the cafeteria and bought a few steamed buns.
After not seeing her for so long, the child wanted to stick close to her. After Song Lubai took the child to school, she went home and took a nap.
After waking up, I boiled water, took a bath, and put the mutton in a pot to stew.
Knowing that her child didn't eat lamb, she made egg noodles instead.
After dinner, Wei Yang watched the children brush their teeth and wash their faces and feet before urging them to go back to their rooms to sleep.
The two children went back to their room. Wei Yang had just entered the room and taken Song Lubai's hand when the two girls came in again, carrying pillows.
"We want to sleep with Mommy!"
The couple exchanged a glance. Song Lubai patted the bed and said, "Come on up, let me tell you what we saw on this trip."
Children are excited to see their mothers after a long time, but it's also true that they fall asleep very quickly.
After the child fell asleep, Wei Yang took the child to the next room.
…
The people from the wool mill arrived later than previously agreed; the wool buyers didn't arrive until the end of November.
In less than a year, the 18th Regiment went to the countryside to purchase and shear the wool from their own sheep, collecting a total of more than 600 kilograms.
Depending on the breed and color of the sheep, the collected wool is stored in different places.
The community issued a notice that each household could raise one sheep, and the wool had to be sold to the community.
Although not many families in the community have the means to raise sheep, there are still some who do.
However, most of the wool collected by the group was still collected from Uyghur villages.
Depending on the breed of sheep and the quality of the wool, the prices offered by the wool mill vary.
In total, I sold them for 1,180 yuan. After deducting the purchase cost, I made a profit of over 600 yuan.
Including the milk curds produced, it is estimated that by the end of the year, the total income could be over a thousand yuan.
On New Year's Day, Song Lubai and the people from the workshop went to the city to deliver milk curds.
Today's milk curds are different from before because they come in a packaging bag.
The festive red packaging bag is printed with the words "Western Region Ranch Milk Curds" in large print, and below it is a line of smaller print that reads "One piece can make a cup of milk, nutritious, fragrant and delightful."
The package contained one pound of food, sealed with a thin gold string, and looked like a festive round lantern.
Song Lubai had already reminded Song Hai that they needed to get packaging bags, and the price would be adjusted accordingly.
The new packaging looks really good. After examining it, Song Hai weighed it and asked, "How much is a bag?"
Song Lubai felt slightly guilty but pretended to be calm and said, "Three pieces."
Just by changing the packaging, the price increased by one yuan per kilogram. Song Lubai felt that this was not fair, but it seemed that this was the only way to do it.
In department stores, anything with packaging is quite expensive.
Song Hai weighed it in his hand, sighed, and said, "Little Song, you really know how to do business."
Song Lubai said awkwardly, "We don't have anything good to offer as gifts. Now that the milk curds have been packaged, they'll definitely sell even faster. Who knows, our 'Western Region Ranch' might even become quite famous in the future."
Song Hai shook his head and didn't say anything.
Dairy products are a rare commodity, and they sell quite well regardless of whether they are packaged or not.
"If you think it's too expensive, we can reduce the price by two cents per bag."
This was the first time Song Lubai had lowered the price.
The main issue is that she doesn't agree with raising packaging prices from the bottom of her heart, but she's in the packaging business to make more profit, so she can't give up any more.
Song Hai: "50 cents."
Song Lubai shook her head, "That won't do, two cents at most."
After arguing for a while, they finally agreed on a price of 2.7 yuan per bag.
The achievements of the wool purchasing station and the milk curds were real, and Song Lubai was named a model of the regiment by the division headquarters in the spring of 1975.
In the presence of numerous division leaders and cadres from various regiments, she accepted the praise and received a small flag and a reward of rice, flour, and oil.
However, not long after, the division headquarters held another meeting and announced the major news of abolishing the corps, regiments and administrative units and establishing the agricultural, reclamation, general and bureau units.
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