Chapter 149
Yang Shuwen is a junior student at Binjiang Agricultural Machinery College. Starting this semester, she has to spend two days a week going to Hongxing Commune for production labor internship. Her main task is to provide targeted assistance to four production teams in repairing agricultural machinery.
The agricultural machinery and tools of the production team were not complicated, and maintenance work was not difficult for her.
The biggest challenge she faced was actually on her way to the countryside for internship.
In order to be able to go and return on the same day and not have to spend the night in the production team, the students always chose to take the water route.
It takes about half an hour to board the ship from Binjiang Pier and disembark at Dongyuan Pier, which is convenient and fast.
However, Yang Shuwen suffered from severe seasickness. She felt dizzy and nauseous and her face turned pale every time she was on a boat.
A trip to and from the Red Star Commune could cost her half her life.
"Shu Wen, how do you feel? Apply this first?" Zhao Juan stuffed a small box of cooling oil into her hand.
All the classmates knew that Yang Shuwen was seasick.
Every time I go on board, I help her grab a seat on the deck so that she can enjoy the river breeze, which is always better than being stuck in the cabin.
Yang Shuwen thanked him, applied a thick layer of cooling oil under her nose and on her temples, and lay listlessly on the railing without saying a word.
Zhao Juan was at her wit's end and suggested, "Why don't we take a long-distance bus next time? At worst, we could just stay overnight at the production team."
The speed of long-distance buses is actually not slow, but you need to change buses along the way, and sometimes you have to wait for more than an hour, which is a waste of time waiting for the bus.
Yang Shuwen shook her head.
It didn't matter that I shook it, the feeling of nausea became even stronger!
Li Weiguo, another member of the internship team, emerged from the cabin and quickly walked over to the two of them. "The comrade who checked the tickets just now said they sell some candied cherries on the ship that are somewhat effective for seasickness. Yang Shuwen, would you like to buy some to try?"
Yang Shuwen was too upset to speak, so Zhao Juan asked for her, "Can cherries cure seasickness? Is that a scam? How much do they sell?"
"I saw an old lady buying some. She said the cherries were sweet and sour, with a stronger sour taste." Li Weiguo measured the size with his hands. "This big spoonful costs thirty cents. There are about a dozen cherries in one spoonful."
"How much? Thirty cents for a dozen cherries?" Zhao Juan almost jumped up. "Why don't they just rob people? I saw someone selling cherries at the vegetable market a few days ago. They were selling them for fifty-eight cents a pound. A pound should contain at least fifty or sixty cherries, right?"
Li Weiguo scratched his head and said, "They use sugar to make syrup, and the cherries have to be processed, so they are definitely more expensive than fresh cherries. And this is on the ferry, so things are more expensive than on the boat."
Like ships and trains, in order to take care of rural members who do not have commercial grain coupons, they do not need grain coupons or meat coupons to buy food on the ship, but the prices are more expensive than outside.
If passengers think it is a good deal, they can buy it. If it is not, they can just bear with it. It is all voluntary anyway.
Zhao Juan still thought that three cents for cherries was ridiculously expensive, but she glanced at Yang Shuwen, whose face was pale, and asked, "Shuwen, do you want to try it?"
Yang Shuwen didn't say anything, but took out her wallet from her shirt pocket and gave it to her.
As long as it can relieve this discomfort, she will accept three cents.
Zhao Juan left her on the deck to enjoy the fresh air, and followed Li Weiguo back to the cabin.
The young sailor selling cherries was standing at the entrance with a five-liter wooden barrel in front of him. He was explaining the price to a curious old lady who was asking about it.
"Auntie, these aren't just ordinary cherries in syrup," the crew member said, holding up a glass can. "See? These are produced by the Binjiang No. 1 Food Factory, and they're usually sold in department stores. This can, including the syrup and liquid, weighs 470 grams, and they cost 1.38 yuan in the store!"
"What kind of canned food is this? Why is it so expensive?" The old lady took a closer look at the can.
"Well, canned fruit is an imported product. It used to be exported to earn foreign exchange, so it's always been so expensive! Canned cherries are different from common goods like apples and peaches. Fresh fruit is expensive too. A pound of apples is only 46 cents, and a pound of cherries is nearly 60 cents!"
The crew member pointed to the wooden barrel in front of them. "The cherries in this barrel are from the First Food Factory, and they taste exactly like the ones in the cans. Go to the store and ask if they can be opened and sold loose. The salesperson would definitely roll their eyes! If you want to taste them, you'll have to spend 1.38 yuan for a big can. But on our ship, it's different! 30 cents for a big spoonful, you can enjoy the freshness and relieve seasickness at the same time."
Zhao Juan squeezed in and asked, "Can your cherries in syrup really cure seasickness?"
The young crew member laughed and said, "Everyone's constitution is different, so it varies from person to person. Even if you go to the hospital to get medicine, there's no single medicine that works for everyone!"
He was the most eloquent crew member on this route. Because of his eloquence and sales skills, the leader put this bucket of candied cherries for trial sale on their ship.
Zhao Juan asked, "How many cherries are in one spoonful? Take a spoonful and let me see."
The crew member did not suspect anything, opened the lid of the barrel and scooped out a spoonful of liquid.
Zhao Juan counted carefully and found a total of 16 cherries in this spoon.
She negotiated with the crew: "Comrade, can you sell these cherries in syrup for a little less? I want five cherries, and I'll give you ten cents, okay?"
They bought these cherries in syrup mainly to relieve seasickness.
What if it doesn’t work for Yang Shuwen’s seasickness, then wouldn’t the thirty cents be wasted?
So, buy a dime one and try it first.
The young crew member looked embarrassed. He discussed it with his colleagues and reported to the captain. When he returned, he said helplessly, "Okay, I'll sell you five cherries for ten cents. Today is our first trial sale, mainly to let everyone taste them first."
His leader had already explained this to him before he set off.
This bucket of candied cherries weighs ten kilograms.
As long as he can ensure a total income of more than ten yuan, he will be considered to have completed the task.
Zhao Juan went back to get her lunch box and bought five extremely expensive cherries from the crew.
Staring at the five tiny cherries in the lunch box, she asked unwillingly, "Comrade, can you give us a spoonful of sugar water?"
The crew member was very generous and actually scooped a spoonful of sugar water for her.
Zhao Juan returned to the deck with her lunch box and called out, "Shu Wen, how about trying these cherries? They smell sweet and sour."
The cherries were soaked in syrup and it was difficult to eat them, so Yang Shuwen took the lunch box and drank the spoonful of syrup first.
The sweet and sour taste hit her taste buds directly, so sour that she automatically secreted saliva.
"Is this a cherry or a hawthorn?" Yang Shuwen asked with a frown.
"Cherries? The salesperson said they were cherries in syrup." Zhao Juan asked worriedly, "Shu Wen, does this thing work?"
If it doesn't work, that penny will be wasted.
"It seems okay," Yang Shuwen said, still feeling a little nauseous. She held a sour cherry in her mouth and leaned against the railing, "I'll take it slow."
Zhao Juan swallowed her saliva, but couldn't resist the temptation and poured the remaining sugar water in the lunch box into her mouth.
Then she stood there and thought for a while, then ran back to the cabin with her lunch box.
"Comrade, can you give me another spoonful of sugar water?"
The crew member said, "It's not enough to just sell sugar water. We sell sugar water and cherries together."
"Then I don't want cherries. Can you give me two spoonfuls of sugar water? I'll give you ten cents!"
*
On the other side of the city, Ye Manzhi finally waited for Chen Zhuoyue at the factory. Accompanying him was Section Chief Liu from the Transportation Service Department of the Navigation Administration.
"Director Chen, our factory's products have not disappointed everyone, right?" Ye Manyi asked.
"Haha, it looks like sales are pretty good at the moment," Chen Zhuoyue said with a smile. "Compared to short-distance ferry routes, sales on long-distance routes are better."
Ye Manzhi nodded.
That day she went to the Navigation Administration in person and proposed the idea of selling canned sugar water on the ferry.
Although Chen Zhuoyue and Wu Zhengrong were old classmates, they did not agree immediately at the time as public was public and private was private.
He only said that he could first purchase 50 cans of food from the food factory and sell them on several routes for trial.
If the effect is good, continue to purchase; if not, forget it.
Ye Manzhi certainly had no objection. As long as canned fruit was available for sale, there would always be people who were curious and wanted to try it.
In view of the characteristics of ferry passengers, Ye Manzhi suggested that the navigation administration should not purchase canned food, and the food factory can provide them with bulk canned food of the same quality.
On the one hand, it is convenient for passengers to purchase small portions, and on the other hand, it can reduce costs.
The factory price of a standard 470-gram can of cherries in syrup is 1.15 yuan.
If you only sell bulk canned goods, there will be no additional costs such as glass jars, tinplate, soft rubber film, trademark can labels, labor and electricity costs, etc.
The factory price of a pound of canned food in syrup can be reduced to less than 80 cents.
Moreover, the canning workshop has limited production equipment, and directly selling bulk cans can not only save costs but also ease the canning pressure on the production line.
Chen Zhuoyue said, "We are here today to discuss long-term procurement. I will let Section Chief Liu discuss the details with you."
"That's most welcome," Ye Manzhi asked with a smile, "Chief Liu, how does the Aviation Administration plan to get the goods?"
"Tentatively, let's deliver goods to Binjiang Wharf once a day. Ten-pound canned goods, fifteen barrels a day."
"So many?"
One hundred and fifty kilograms is not a small amount.
Section Chief Liu explained: "Long-distance passenger transport consumes a lot of energy."
Moreover, the welfare benefits of the Aviation Administration are relatively good. Employees can purchase food that cannot be sold on the same day at the purchase price.
The syrup in these candied cherries is very popular, and the 50 kilograms of canned cherries from last time were not enough to share.
Thinking of this, Section Chief Liu hurriedly asked, "Director Ye, when you're packing the cans, can you put more sugar water and less cherries in the barrels?"
"Is there any explanation for this?"
It was the first time that Ye Manzhi heard such a request.
You can't just buy soup when buying canned food, right?
Chen Zhuoyue said with a smile, "I didn't expect that canned sugar water would be more popular than cherries. The sugar water is sticky and a bit choking, but if you dilute it with some boiled water, it tastes surprisingly good. Two spoonfuls of sugar water for a dime can make a can of sweet and sour sugar water. It's more cost-effective than drinking soda."
A bottle of soda costs ten cents.
Two spoonfuls of cherry syrup also cost one cent.
Some passengers spent ten cents to buy two spoonfuls of sugar water, which they poured into a military water bottle to make a large pot.
Ye Manzhi: “…”
It's actually possible!
She didn't know if there was enough sugar water in the factory, so she had to negotiate with the workshop.
She called Liu Sheng from the Supply and Marketing Department and asked him to come over and discuss the specific details of the supply with Section Chief Liu.
When there were only two people left in the office, Ye Manzhi smiled and sighed, "Team Leader, this time it's all thanks to your help. I just came to the food factory and encountered the mess of post-disaster reconstruction. Life is really hard."
"I see you're living a pretty good life now. You even have a secretary."
Chen Zhuoyue was a section chief in the Aviation Administration, but in an organization like theirs, no one except the director was qualified to have a secretary.
"Everything has its pros and cons," Ye Manzhi invited. "Squad leader, when you and your sister-in-law are free, come over to our place and I'll show you some of my cooking skills and cook a few dishes myself."
"Haha, I haven't been to your house lately," Chen Zhuoyue took the opportunity to complain. "I called Director Wu yesterday and asked him to treat me to dinner, and he agreed quite readily. But before I could even get excited, he mentioned that your area is planning to lay some plumbing and drainage pipes, and I'd be able to work with him after dinner at your house."
Ye Manzhi: “…”
She suspected that Wu Zhengrong's old illness had recurred!
Dr. Wu is like a lion in the animal kingdom, with a strong sense of territory.
Over the years since they got married, she often entertained relatives, friends, and neighbors at home, and Wu Yuzhuo also often brought his friends home to play, but Wu Zhengrong rarely entertained friends at home.
Unless Ye Manzhi took the initiative to invite his friends to his home, every time classmates or comrades got together, they would either go to someone else's home, or to the cafeteria or restaurant. Anyway, he didn't like to invite people home.
Over the years, the number of times he has treated people to dinner at home can be counted on one hand.
Ye Manzhi actually quite likes his family concept, but sometimes she is speechless about his territorial consciousness which is like peeing to occupy territory.
Unable to entertain guests at home, Ye Manzhi simply invited Chen Zhuoyue and Section Chief Liu to have a small stir-fry meal in the cafeteria.
After seeing off the guests, she called Liu Sheng over and asked about the details of the order contract.
Liu Sheng explained the situation and added, "The factory has to produce nearly two tons of canned food every day, but the 150 kilograms allocated by the Navigation Administration alone is simply not enough to handle it all. We may have to apply for an increase in the sugar quota..."
After listening to him talk about his difficulties, Ye Manzhi laughed in anger. "Section Chief Liu, we have a ready-made example in front of us. The Supply and Marketing Department can just copy it. Some people get seasick, so does that mean others get carsick too? Can the Supply and Marketing Department try to get in touch with the long-distance bus station? Or maybe the railway? At worst, we can sell these sour canned foods as maternal and child health products to pregnant women with severe morning sickness. Over at the maternal and child supply store, there's a special counter serving pregnant women, and our factory's delicious canned cucumbers and hawthorns are on display there. When supplying goods to the commercial department, can we emphasize that this is a sour formula suitable for pregnant women and can be put in maternal and child supply stores?"
Liu Sheng was able to bring gifts to the gate of the military industrial compound to give them to her, which showed that he was actually a very smart person.
It’s a pity that it’s not used in the right place.
This is the work of the Supply and Marketing Department. Ye Manzhi does not need to do everything by himself. He can contact the Navigation Administration and open a breakthrough, and then hand over other business to the Supply and Marketing Department.
She was the one who found the channel for the Aviation Administration, and the two parties had never directly cooperated before. It was considered that she made a small splash after taking office and made a little name for herself.
Although it was only a small tear, it had a huge impact on the canning workshop.
The selection, washing and pickling of cherries requires a large number of manpower.
After the candied cherries were sold again, one of the four canning workshops resumed production.
When Ye Manzhi entered the temporary workshop, the ground was covered with cherries like small hills, and the workers were gathered together working hard.
"Director Ye, I heard that our cherry syrup is very popular. Is that true?"
Ye Manzhi squatted on the ground, pulling cherry stems with everyone else, and said with a smile, "You're well-informed. Our cherry juice is really popular. A company has specifically requested to buy our cherry syrup."
"Director Ye, there's always half a bucket of cherry syrup left in the workshop every day. Can our factory employees buy some?"
"How did you deal with the leftover sugar water in the past?" Ye Manzhi asked.
"They were all sold to the nearby production team to feed the cattle."
In fact, it was originally distributed privately to employees as employee benefits.
But last year someone reported this to the factory leaders, and a group of people said that this was undermining socialism, so later all the sugar water was bought up by the suburban production team in the name of feeding cattle.
What are you feeding the cows? It must have all been drunk by people.
"Sugar is so scarce, it would be a waste to feed the cows with sugar water. Let's save it for people to drink."
Ye Manzhi suggested to the factory that the leftover syrup from the canning workshop be sold in the pastry store outside the factory.
After adding water, a can costs eight cents.
Those who want to drink the sugar water can bring their own cans and bottles to the store to queue up on a first-come, first-served basis.
The 35 female comrades who signed up for the May Day city race can get a can of cherry syrup for free after each day of training.
The expenses shall be borne by the factory director's reserve fund and the trade union.
For a time, the pastry store of the food factory was packed with people.
Every day after get off work, a large number of workers line up at the dessert station to buy dessert.
Some people who want to drink iced sugar water will spend another penny to buy a salt water popsicle and put it in the canning bottle.
Ye Manzhi was also one of the female comrades participating in the city race, so of course she could also take some sweet soup home.
This resulted in young Comrade Wu Yuzhuo stretching his neck every day, waiting for his mother to get home from get off work.
As soon as Ye Manzhi entered the yard, she couldn't wait to ask, "Mom, did you bring back cherry juice today?"
"No." Ye Manzhi said with a deliberately sullen face, "If you drink sugar water every day and gain weight, you won't be able to fit into your performance costume. Will you still be able to dance on stage on Children's Day?"
Wu Yuzhuo exercises a lot every day and shows no signs of gaining weight for the time being.
But Ye Manzhi was afraid that she would damage her teeth by drinking sugary water every day.
Wu Yuzhuo didn't believe it and said slyly, "Mom, you must have brought some. A can of sugar water costs eight cents. If you don't bring some, you'll be too upset to sleep tonight!"
The day before yesterday, my mother forgot to make sugar water and went straight home after get off work. She felt that she had been wronged and couldn't sleep at night.
She heard it all!
Ye Manzhi flicked her pigtails, then pulled a can out of her bag and handed it to her. "You're the only one who understands! Rinse your mouth and brush your teeth right after you finish drinking!"
The factory's sugar water is made from fruit and sugar, with nothing else added.
Rather than letting her drink soda that would stain her tongue, it would be better for her to drink the factory's sugar water.
Comrade Wu Yuzhuo nodded happily, ran into the house, poured half a cup of tea into the teacup, and left it for his parents.
Then he ran to the next door with the cans and shared them with his friends.
*
The food factory’s sweet soup was never sold to the public, but now a sweet soup station has suddenly opened, specializing in selling the day’s leftover sweet soup, and the business can be described as booming.
Gradually, people from other factories who heard the news came over with cans to get sugar water.
The number of citizens buying sweet soup is several times more than that buying cakes.
Chen Qian looked at the long queue ahead and said regretfully, "If the sugar quota wasn't insufficient, we could definitely increase the supply of sugar water."
Even though a big jar of sugar water only costs eight cents, there is still some profit to be made.
Niu Enjiu put his hands behind his back, snorted, and went straight back to the office.
What’s the use of selling a few melons and dates in sugar water?
The most important thing is to resume normal production in the canning workshop as soon as possible!
So many workers are waiting to return to work!
He held a team meeting for the umpteenth time, calling everyone together again to discuss the problems in the canning workshop.
The notified meeting time was 2 p.m. When Ye Manzhi arrived at the meeting room five minutes early, all the factory managers, including Niu Enjiu, were present. When Jiang Wenming saw her come in, he deliberately glanced at his watch, as if to say that she was late.
Ye Manzhi smiled and sat down in her seat. "I just rushed back from the workshop. Time was a bit tight, but luckily I'm not late."
After several meetings, she has figured out the pattern.
The other three deputy factory managers usually arrive a quarter of an hour early.
Niu Enjiu's appearance time is not fixed, sometimes on time, sometimes ten minutes early.
It all depends on his mood.
Ye Manzhi was new here and pretended not to notice the unspoken rules of leadership meetings. He had arrived five minutes early for the last few meetings.
She respects the factory manager, but doesn't want to cooperate with him in having the final say.
Since the meeting time has been set, just be there on time. Why should you go to the meeting room a quarter of an hour early to greet him?
Niu Enjiu coughed lightly and said, "Now that everyone is here, let's get down to business and discuss the canning workshop issue."
This was already a commonplace issue, and every possible solution had been tried. It was useless for him to force everyone to come up with a solution.
Several deputy factory directors did not speak.
And the other three people almost simultaneously turned their attention to Deputy Director Ye.
Ye Manzhi is the deputy director of operations and is also in charge of the canning workshop, so she should be the first to speak on this matter.
"I've been at our food factory for a while now, and I've been visiting the workshops quite often lately to understand the situation. I have some tentative opinions that I'd like to discuss with everyone."
She signaled Zhou Ruyi to distribute several research reports to the factory managers.
As the deputy director in charge, she had an unshirkable responsibility for the canning workshop's operations. However, her efforts were always like squeezing toothpaste, squeezing out an idea today, another tomorrow, and they always seemed like small, insignificant efforts.
I have done a lot, but in the eyes of others it seems like I have done nothing.
So, she simply wrote a research report to systematically analyze and solve this problem.
Regardless of whether the method is feasible, at least the momentum is high.
Niu Enjiu, who received the report, raised his eyebrows in surprise and began to read it carefully.
Ye Manzhi said, "Due to the seasonal nature of canned fruit and vegetable production, the cannery has been working half a year on and off for the past two years. They work overtime in the spring and summer, leaving them with almost no work in the fall and winter. Last year, our total canned food production was 2,100 tons, while the small cannery affiliated with the Heavy Machinery Plant, with only 20 employees, has an annual output of 250 tons. Our cannery has almost 30 times as many employees as them!"
"I think we could learn from the production methods of the Heavy Machinery Factory, producing fruits and vegetables in the summer and canned meat in the winter," Ye Manzhi suggested. "Director Niu just brought back two sets of canning equipment from the Heavy Machinery Factory, one of which is for producing luncheon meat. Right now, there's a severe shortage of equipment for canning fruits and vegetables. Can we consider producing canned meat at the same time so that employees can return to work as soon as possible?"
There were only two sets of production equipment for canned fruits and vegetables, which were enough for production in a small factory. However, before the 2.27 fire, there were a total of eight sets of such equipment in the food factory!
Two sets of equipment are simply not enough to allow so many employees to resume production and work.
Chen Qian asked, "Most canned meat is for export. If we don't have any export orders, who will we sell the canned meat to? If we don't get any export orders, where will the pork raw materials come from?"
"We've stopped exporting to the Soviet Union, but that doesn't mean we no longer have export missions to other countries and regions. I remember that Britain and East Germany would import large quantities of canned luncheon meat from our country every year. Now that we have a canned luncheon meat production line, we should make good use of it and take the initiative to contact import and export companies to apply for export orders."
"As for the raw materials, we can rely on higher-ups allocating pork, or we can build our own production base," Ye Manzhi said seriously. "I've recently researched several major canned food export factories, and almost none of them are without a raw material base! But not our First Food Factory! Whether it's fruits and vegetables or pork, we rely entirely on contracts with the commune. This approach does have certain advantages; it's convenient and doesn't require us to oversee the orchards. However, the commune's management of the orchards is rather extensive. Without experts to provide scientific and professional guidance on tree care, we rely entirely on the members' intuition and experience. If we encounter a situation like this year's early cherries, it will pose a serious threat to our production."
"Therefore, I suggest that the factory consider finding suitable land on the outskirts of the city to develop our own planting and breeding base. At the same time, we can take this opportunity to have the suspended employees temporarily work at the raw material base."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
