problem
When Director Sun heard that she had an idea, he didn't care that she hadn't officially started work yet, and hurriedly asked, "How do you make it look good? Shall we make some molds of different shapes?"
Wang Shuitao nodded and added, "We can make more colors. Our county's textile factory is doing well, right? I heard that many of the dyes are plant-based. Could we use them in candy? Or we could just make a national flag; it would definitely sell very well."
She thought that although textiles and food seemed unrelated, perhaps some dyes were interchangeable.
Meng Songying is sensitive to these matters and expressed her disapproval: "The national flag is not allowed." Selling goods with the national flag design is a criminal offense.
Then he added, "Textile dyes won't work either."
Looking back on my past and present lives, I realize that I have never actually bought a similar product.
Wang Shuitao felt a little guilty, so she came up with another idea: "How about a rainbow pattern? Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple—I think some people would buy that. Cats, dogs, and rabbits? That's easy. Just make a mold and add the eye color. Does the factory have any food coloring?"
Factory Director Sun felt the plan was quite feasible, turned to look at Meng Songying, and when he didn't react, he gave him a whack.
Meng Songying remained unmoved, silently taking stock in her mind: "Red, yellow, blue, and green are all there."
Wang Shuitao looked at him: "The candy that Engineer Meng gave me last time was brown, and it looked quite nice when used to make patterns on animal bodies."
Actually, that's because the raw materials for the sugar cubes weren't decolorized.
Meng Songying put down her chopsticks, took out a neat handkerchief from her pocket to wipe her mouth, straightened her back almost imperceptibly, and looked back. She did it quickly and didn't keep Wang Shuitao waiting for long.
Finally, he nodded and said, "Okay."
Sister Li clapped her hands and thought of one too—grape skins.
Director Sun looked at the three people racking their brains, somewhat puzzled, and said, "We can mix the colors ourselves, right? We already have red, yellow, and blue."
He looked at Meng Songying suspiciously. Although the color mixing wasn't under his jurisdiction, he should know about it, right?
Meng Songying picked up her chopsticks again, poked a taro in her mouth, chewed it, and then lowered her head.
"Oh, right, they're the three primary colors! My brain short-circuited just now, hahaha." This is Wang Shuitao laughing.
Factory Director Sun wasn't dwelling on the matter; he was considering whether to transfer Wang Shuitao to the factory office, but he didn't know if she would be willing.
He specifically chose the job of sugarcane buyer because it's only busy for five whole months of the year, from November to April; otherwise, it's very leisurely.
The factory office is different; you have to do all sorts of miscellaneous tasks, and there are many more service-oriented jobs.
He thought, "I should wait a little longer, lest the child think I'm deliberately making things difficult for her."
After the meal, Sister Li took Wang Shuitao to the sugarcane purchasing area, where sugarcane is now so scarce that there's no need to go to the countryside to haul it away.
The entire village sent one person to deliver the sugarcane, making for a sparsely populated scene; the peak season for sugarcane had already passed.
Wang Shuitao diligently went up to weigh the sugarcane, bundle it, and then drag it onto the cart for the workers waiting to process the sugar.
The busy afternoon passed quickly.
In the evening, the cafeteria serves taro rice, rice noodles, stir-fried preserved mustard greens, and stir-fried carrots with minced meat.
Wang Shuitao craved meat, so she ordered two ounces of rice noodles and 15 cents worth of stir-fried minced meat with carrots as a topping.
This window had the longest queue; it seems everyone prefers to eat more meat.
She discovered that the dishes from the sugar factory had a very subtle sweetness, which was probably the secret to enhancing the flavor.
Given the opportunity, it's clear that chefs can be quite ambitious.
The minced meat was very lean, with almost no fat. She thought of stir-fried preserved mustard greens with lard. Perhaps fat was precious these days and was used to render oil.
The soup in the rice noodles was a cloudy white, which must have been the water used to cook the rice noodles, just right for Wang Shuitao's taste.
She used to dislike using broth or simply drinking clean boiled water as the soup base.
I love cafeterias like this. The water used to cook rice noodles has a stronger starch flavor. If you add oil and salt, it becomes very fragrant and appetizing.
After quickly finishing the bowl of rice noodles, Wang Shuitao returned to her room and tidied up briefly.
He then hung the chair upside down on the table, with his knees against the table legs, his abdomen against the tabletop, and his hands supporting the two table corners. He bent over and used all his strength to move the table behind the door in one go.
The tables and chairs were provided by the factory. Sister Li explained that they were obtained through a welfare exchange with the wood factory. They were all very light, but still usable.
Wang Shuitao patted the table with satisfaction, made the bed, and went to sleep.
The wind was strong on spring nights, but thankfully there were tables and chairs to prop it up, so the door only shook twice and wasn't too noisy.
Wang Shuitao slept soundly through the night; it had been a long time since she had slept so peacefully.
The next day, at 6:30 a.m., the reveille began. Thinking that she didn't have to go to work in the fields, Wang Shuitao sat up with a jolt, which made the bed creak.
The loudspeaker outside was playing yesterday's news, interspersed with a few patriotic songs. After finishing braiding her hair into two pigtails, Sister Li knocked on the door.
"Peach, is it ready?"
Yesterday, after Director Sun got home, he mentioned to her that he felt Xiao Wang was quite ambitious and wanted to get Wang Shuitao into the factory office, but the work wasn't as easy as that of a purchasing agent, and he didn't know whether he should say so.
Li Yuanhong herself also served as the women's director of the sugar factory. She felt that women who were capable of working should continue to work, and why should they rest when they were so young?
Moreover, the purchasing staff have a relatively easy job, and everyone knows that those in the business are people with connections.
But Peach is capable, so why should she bear this bad reputation?
No one will say it out loud, but it's not good to be talked about behind your back.
She's going to try and persuade her.
A scraping sound came from inside the door, and then the door opened, revealing Wang Shuitao.
Li Yuanhong looked at the two dry, thin braids and praised, "Look at these braids, how neat and pretty they are."
She didn't say that she just felt she needed to eat some black sesame seeds, but she was thinking about when the factory would issue food ration coupons and would ask the logistics department later.
More and more people came out, all rushing to the cafeteria for a meal, so there wasn't much good food left at the end.
The two walked quickly forward in the crowd. Wang Shuitao did not notice what Sister Li was thinking. She had always thought that two braids were pretty, but when she wore them out, she was always told that they were unfashionable.
I'm exhausted here. All I want to do every day is lie in bed like a corpse, except for work. I don't have the energy to style my hair.
I was full of energy this morning and tried to get it done. I was worried that it wouldn't be even, but Sister Li said that it should be done well.
For breakfast, we ate a vegetable substitute, which is rice mixed with sweet potato chunks, corn kernels, and diced pumpkin.
The factory's head chef was very resourceful. He would cook mixed grains in one pot and steam a small amount of rice on top, so that the sugarcane cutters and sugarcane pressers, who were doing heavy labor at the sugar factory, could get a lot of rice and a little bit of mixed grains.
The others were given a bowl of vegetables with mostly mixed grains and little rice.
Meat dishes in the morning and at noon are prioritized for heavy laborers, while meat dishes in the evening are supplied to the entire factory, so the lines are particularly long.
This morning, everyone from the other jobs conscientiously bought bamboo shoots.
Bamboo shoots are everywhere this season; they're boiled, sprinkled with a little salt, and served.
It's very effective at removing oil, although I don't know what kind of oil it's supposed to remove.
However, it is still necessary to eat in order to ensure the smooth circulation of the five grains.
As soon as Sister Li sat down, she said, "Peach, eat your fill. If you're still hungry, go get some rice. This kind of dry rice is only available during the pressing season. After April, they'll only serve porridge and soup, which are things with hardly any rice."
She noticed that Taozi was too thin and wanted her to eat more in the next few days, since May was just around the corner.
Upon hearing this, Wang Shuitao immediately felt a deep respect for the bowl of rice and tried her best to scrape it clean, leaving not a single grain untouched.
After chatting for a while, Sister Li got to the point: "Taozi, yesterday Lao Sun said he wanted you to go to the factory office. Do you want to go?"
Wang Shuitao recalled the factory director's troubled expression yesterday; it turned out he was thinking about this.
She asked first, "What about the purchasing agent job?"
Sister Li: "You tried out how the purchasing agent works yesterday, but you haven't been to the factory office. My suggestion is to go and try it out first, just say you're there to help out. If you don't like it, you can come back and continue as a purchasing agent."
"That's a good solution," Wang Shuitao readily agreed.
Li Yuanhong originally wanted to say that the people in the factory office had an extra opportunity compared to the purchasing staff: they could become leaders.
However, remembering Taozi's background—from the countryside and with only a junior high school education—she didn't bring it up.
There's no need to lure people with such a deceptive carrot.
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