Sugar biscuits and sweet vegetarian meat
Qian Liju had no interest in her daughter going to the city; she was going there to enjoy a life of luxury, so what was there to say?
He was preoccupied with whether Da Tong and the widow, who hadn't received their breakfast that morning, would come over.
She was unaware that they were busy cleaning up the gate and dealing with villagers who came to check what had happened, so they had no time and dared not come over again.
Some things can't be started. Once the note on the door is discovered by people from other villages, even if Wang Shuitao eventually lets them go, a constant stream of people will emerge to continue to deal with them.
Wang Datong, Feng Shuiyun, and even the three children were aware of this situation.
On the other side, after stopping and resting, they finally arrived at their assigned dormitory, put down their things, and collected the food coupons and other receipts issued by the factory. It was just around mealtime.
Wang Shuitao walked towards the canteen with great interest, eager to experience the flavor of the factory canteen from the 1970s.
A small blackboard hangs at the entrance of the cafeteria with today's menu:
Taro Rice
Sugar residue cake
Sweet vegetarian meat
Stir-fried preserved mustard greens
As she was looking, someone came up behind her and patted her on the back. It was the older woman from that day. Wang Shuitao already knew her name was Li Yuanhong, so she greeted her as well.
"Sister Li."
Li Yuanhong warmly put his arm around her shoulder and led her into the canteen, introducing the sugar factory's specialty foods as they walked: "You've never heard of sugar residue cakes before, have you?"
"Hmm, I've only ever heard of soybean dregs cakes," Wang Shuitao replied.
Li Yuanhong: "That's right, they're all pretty much the same. Our sugar residue cakes and sweet vegetarian meat also use tofu residue, but they're different from other places. We also add processed sugarcane residue and molasses, making them incredibly sweet. Other factories are envious."
Wang Shuitao didn't know that molasses was a byproduct of sugar production and only had a slight sweetness. She assumed it was a concentrated essence and couldn't help but swallow.
As for whether eating too much sugar will cause weight gain or illness, that's not something she should be thinking about right now.
After sitting down, Wang Shuitao ignored the stares and glances from the other workers eating in the canteen and started eating.
On the divided plates, there were a little bit of each of the four kinds of dishes and rice, all served in the smallest portions: a small amount of taro rice, a sugar-coated pancake, two pieces of sweet vegetarian meat the size of a woman's palm, and a spoonful of stir-fried preserved mustard greens.
Taroes are small, round ones, mixed with rice made from glutinous rice. They were only washed but not peeled, and Wang Shuitao ate them one bite at a time.
The sugar residue cakes and vegetarian meat weren't very smooth in texture; you could taste the obvious fibers and powdery bits, but they were sweet and very fresh.
The preserved mustard greens seemed to be stir-fried with lard; they smelled incredibly delicious.
Li Yuanhong ordered two sugar candy cakes and four pieces of sweet vegetarian meat, which were only available during the sugarcane harvest season, and that season was almost over.
Taro rice and stir-fried preserved mustard greens are available all year round, so she doesn't eat them now.
Only when she was half full did Wang Shuitao have the time to observe the people at the table.
Sister Li led Wang Shuitao to a table on the left side of the cafeteria by the window, where two men, one old and one young, were already sitting.
The young man was none other than Engineer Meng, who was taciturn that day but whom Wang Shuitao considered very kind-hearted.
Sister Li introduced: "This is Engineer Meng Songying, who manages the factory's machinery and researches sugar production. This is my husband, who is also the factory manager of the sugar factory. His surname is Sun."
Wang Shuitao greeted them in return: "Hello, Director Sun, hello, Engineer Meng, I'm Wang Shuitao, just call me Xiao Wang."
There was no rule of not speaking while eating or sleeping in the factory. The factory manager and Engineer Meng were discussing sugar production.
This year, the country launched the "Five Small Projects," and the county's sugar factory was also assigned the task of making sugar blocks.
Previously, county-level factories only needed to produce white sugar and brown sugar; orange candy and milk candy were made by factories in the city and province.
We are indeed encountering some problems; the sugar cubes we make don't taste right.
The batches produced were all sold through the local supply and marketing cooperative, but the feedback from there was that they didn't sell well.
They're all the same price, but people only want the ones from outside.
To sell well, you have to sell at a low price, but the cost is fixed, and the production volume in the county is small, so the cost is actually higher.
The problem seems to have been dragging on for a long time, and no solution has been found. Everyone has lost their energy.
It was mostly Factory Director Sun complaining, while Engineer Meng only responded occasionally.
Sister Li remembered that she had also eaten the sugar peaches from that day, and asked her, "Peach, I won't call you Little Wang anymore, there are too many Little Wangs in this factory. I'll just call you Peach. How did you like the candy that Engineer Meng gave you the other day?"
Wang Shuitao was taken aback. She thought it was a defective product, but it turned out to be a regular product for sale.
But after thinking about it carefully, she gave her own opinion: "It's quite sweet, and sweet things are all delicious, but it has a machine-made taste. And the shape doesn't seem to be very square."
Sister Li thought to herself, "This girl is so hungry she's practically a paper doll, yet she can still find fault with the candy. Our factory's candy is really no good."
She also mentioned something she knew: "Those are defective products. They taste the same as the regular ones, but they don't look good."
Factory Director Sun asked, somewhat puzzled, "What's that machine smell? Is there a diesel leak?"
Wang Shuitao tried to describe it: "It's like licking a piece of metal, the kind of metal that's been sitting in the kitchen for a long time and has a layer of grease buildup on it."
It's basically just the smell of a range hood that's been running for a long time.
Sister Li understood: "Isn't this just the oil brushed on inside the mold to make it easier to remove the sugar? Everyone is so careful with their food, they keep brushing it on layer by layer and don't want to wipe it off."
Old Sun talks about it every day at home; she's become so familiar with the process of controlling sugar that she knows it by heart.
The sugar is very hot when it first enters the mold, and the oil layer is repeatedly heated, resulting in different flavors of the sugar cubes, such as orange, osmanthus, and mint, all layered in the oil.
Engineer Meng nodded: "Not only that, the lubricating oil on the machine also needs to be cleaned."
The feedback that the sugar taste was off was too vague, and he himself couldn't quite describe what was wrong with it; he had never tasted this flavor anywhere else.
So he always felt that there was a problem with the production process. The sugar cubes needed to have starch and vegetable oil added, which was not done when making white sugar and brown sugar before. He focused all his attention on adjusting the temperature.
It turns out there was a hygiene problem.
Wang Shuitao scratched her ear.
Having discovered the problem, Factory Director Sun's joy was only so-so. Sister Li nudged him with her elbow: "What's wrong? Taozi just arrived and solved the factory's problem, why are you still so upset?"
Factory Director Sun had his own worries, and he poured out his grievances to the three of them: "I'm not targeting Xiao Wang, but actually, sigh, our factory's sugar still has to be sold through the supply and marketing cooperative, and we have to compete with the sugar from the city and the province."
“I’m happy that the production problem has been solved, but when it comes to taste, the flavorings and spices allocated to our county are all old and can’t compare to theirs.”
Sister Li patted his arm to comfort him.
Meng Songying: "Do your best."
Wang Shuitao blinked, hesitated for a moment, but still decided to try her best to perform well and work hard.
He said, "I have an idea. The taste can't compare to what you get outside, so why not focus on the appearance? A pretty face is a selling point. Especially since sugar cubes aren't like brown sugar or white sugar that people eat themselves; most people buy them as gifts."
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