Chapter 411 The Little Cart
In mid-March, the day finally came when Zhang Cui was about to leave. Song Lubai was both happy and a little reluctant to part with her.
She couldn't bear to give up the convenience her mother brought her by helping her take care of the child!
As Zhang Cui packed her things, she worried for her. She felt that if she left, Song Lubai would have to work and take care of the child, and her life would definitely be chaotic.
I used to think it was nice that my in-laws weren't around, but now that they're not home, it's really inconvenient.
After delivering the person to the city, Wei Yang took out three ten-yuan bills from his pocket and handed them over.
Zhang Cui refused to accept it, saying, "What are you going to do with this? We can manage on our own, but you'll have bigger expenses in the future, so keep it for yourselves."
The thirty yuan was a decision made by Song Lubai and Wei Yang after discussing it. Before the New Year, her mother brought a lot of things and helped the two of them take care of the children. Song Lubai appreciated this kindness. She thought that her mother's monthly salary was only enough for the three of them to live on, and they couldn't save any money all year round. The thirty yuan they gave her could also leave her mother some money for emergencies.
Despite Wei Yang's repeated persuasion, he finally managed to slip the money into Zhang Jianshe's hand.
As soon as Zhang Cuigang left home, Song Lubai started boiling water.
After washing myself from head to toe, my itchy scalp finally felt refreshed, and that indescribable odor on my body was gone.
After changing into clean clothes, tidying up the room, changing the baby's diaper, feeding the baby, and putting the baby to sleep, she blocked the edge of the bed with a blanket to prevent the baby from rolling off. After arranging everything, Song Lubai went out.
The sun was shining brightly today, and although there was still a chill in the air, she felt like she had been reborn after coming out, compared to being indoors every day.
In the food workshop, the workers were divided into two teams: one team was preparing sweet potatoes and potato starch, and the other team was cutting radish strips and blanching cabbage leaves, in preparation for making pickled vegetables.
In March, the group distributed most of the sweet potatoes stored from last year to food workshops. If it had been delayed for a few more months, the sweet potatoes would have been unavailable.
Steaming the rice noodle sheets was too time-consuming, so Song Lubai simply had Deng Hong lead everyone to quickly turn this large batch of sweet potatoes into sweet potato paste, dry it into flour, and then slowly make rice noodles.
There weren't enough basins in the workshop, so they washed the burlap sacks that used to hold grain, sewed them into a large piece, tied it to a wooden frame set up in the warehouse, laid it flat, and poured the settled starch water on it to slowly air dry.
When Song Lubai entered the food workshop, she saw a bustling scene.
The warehouse shelves are packed full; if another batch arrives tomorrow, there won't be any room left.
After listening to Deng Hong's words, Song Lubai said, "Get a stove to warm up the room. Once it's lit, someone has to watch over it all the time. I think the top layer is already half dry. Find someone to carry it outside to air it out. It will be completely dry in two days."
Under the shed on the other side, Zhao Hongying was checking the dryness of the radish strips.
This step is crucial. If it's not dried properly, the marinated food won't last long and will spoil easily.
When Zhao Hongying saw her arrive, she naturally asked a few questions about the children.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two got down to business regarding the pickled vegetables.
Watching Zhao Hongying's younger sister, Zhao Hongling, squatting there silently working, Song Lubai said, "When can we start pickling? You take two workers with you and teach them how to mix the ingredients and calculate the proportions clearly."
Zhao Hongying had already calculated the amount of sugar that Team Leader Yu had sent before she knew that she was going to start making pickled vegetables. She said, "I noticed that the amount of sugar that Team Leader Yu sent was not enough, but the amount of chili peppers was barely enough. We also need Sichuan peppercorns. I told him before, but he hasn't sent the Sichuan peppercorns yet."
"If you don't have enough Sichuan peppercorns, you'll have to figure out a way to make the flavor good. If all else fails, fry the Sichuan peppercorns and chili peppers in oil to infuse the flavor into the oil. Grind the remaining peppercorns into powder and mix them into the pickled vegetables."
Sichuan peppercorns are hard to find, but they are sold in the supply and marketing cooperatives in the city, so it's not like we can't get any at all. If the flavor isn't good enough, we can only use this method of grinding the spices into powder.
Standing in the courtyard, seeing everyone busy at work, Song Lubai felt that the courtyard was still a bit small.
They should build another yard next to it, specifically for making pickled vegetables.
There were two single beds in the newly built duty room, with a stove between them. Song Lubai went to the small office and thought that a small bed should be placed there.
After leaving the food workshop, Song Lubai went to the government office.
When Yu Lin saw her arrive, he asked her a few questions and then said, "It's good that you're back. Just write the summary report for this month or so after the New Year based on the notes that Deng Hong sent."
Song Lubai watched helplessly as he pushed the half-written paper under his hand to her.
Song Lubai said, "I see you've already written so much, why don't you keep writing?"
Yu Lin was almost amused by her, "This is supposed to be your job, how can you blame it on me?"
Song Lubai said, "Didn't you write all of Xiu'e's?"
Yu Lin picked out Yang Xiu'e's notebook from a pile of notebooks on the table, handed it to Song Lubai, and said, "Take a look and see if you can hand it in."
After watching it, Song Lubai said, "I really need to practice more."
The handwriting is like that of an elementary school student, and the sentences are not very fluent. Structurally, it cannot be considered a work summary.
"When do you need it? I'll take it back and write it."
Yu Lin said, "I need to go to the city to buy more goods before Wednesday. I have a lot to do. Now that you've finished your postpartum confinement, take good care of the food workshop."
Song Lubai took the notebook back to the food workshop and put it in the office.
In the afternoon, she had to have Wei Zhao come with her, carrying the child, to the food workshop so that she could be there right under her nose and not delay her business.
It had been almost an hour and a half, so she rushed home and found a small wooden cart with four wheels on the floor.
Wei Yang was putting cotton mattresses into the cart.
There's enough space inside the car for two children to lie down comfortably.
Song Lubai was overjoyed. "Where did you get this? With this, I don't think I'll need anyone else to help take care of the kids."
Wei Yang said, "I had the carpenter who makes sweet potato starch molds for the workshop make these. The boards are wide and the four wheels are stable, so I can push them around in the future."
She added a thicker pad to the car before putting the child in, and Song Lubai immediately pushed the stroller and took the child for a walk.
The two children hadn't had much exposure to the outside world yet, and Song Lubai was worried they'd catch a cold, so she covered them with an extra layer.
The edges of the stroller are polished very smoothly, and there is a place to put things at the bottom. Except for having to lift it to go over thresholds, this stroller is really convenient.
Pushing the cart around outside, Song Lubai excitedly said, "This afternoon I'll take both of them to the workshop."
Wei Yang said, "If you need to go out, just bring it to my office."
The baby needs to be breastfed and can't be separated from his mother, but the responsibility of taking care of the baby is not Song Lubai's responsibility alone. Wei Yang knows how exhausting it is to take care of a baby, and he doesn't want Song Lubai to have a face all over her face because of the baby.
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