Chapter 28
Jiang Yao quickly came back to her senses from the great joy of receiving the big order. To complete this order, they faced a very serious problem, which was the procurement of raw materials.
Half a pound of glutinous rice flour, half a pound of sticky rice flour, three taels of starch, half a pound of red beans and three taels of white sugar can make 30 snow skin mooncakes. To make a thousand mooncakes, you need seventeen pounds of glutinous rice flour, seventeen pounds of sticky rice flour, ten pounds of starch, seventeen pounds of red beans and seventeen pounds of white sugar.
If it were in the future, they could just go to a supermarket or market to get the raw materials, but now supplies are in short supply and they don’t have that many tickets. Where can they buy so many raw materials?
"We can grind the rice flour ourselves, but we need to buy glutinous rice flour, starch, red beans, and sugar. Where can we buy them?" Jiang Yao lowered her voice and asked Lu Che, "Can you secretly get some tickets back?"
"No." Lu Che said, "Not to mention whether we can get it, even if we can, we dare not do it. Buying so much grain and beans at one time is impossible unless it is purchased by a factory. But there are only a few factories in the county, and the people in the supply and marketing cooperative will definitely remember who goes to purchase. If we buy rashly, others will definitely be suspicious."
"Then what should we do?" Jiang Yao said with a sad face, "This is a great opportunity for us to make a name for ourselves. Today there is a machinery factory, and tomorrow there will be bamboo factories, flour factories and the like that will come to place orders with me... No, the flour factory..." Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she pulled Lu Che and said, "Do you usually deliver firewood to the flour factory? Can you get some goods from the factory?"
"It should be possible, but the goods you get may be stolen goods. If you are caught one day, you will get into trouble. It is better to buy them directly through special channels." Lu Che said.
"What is a special channel..." Jiang Yao asked and immediately realized what this special channel was.
"That's fine. It's less likely for people to find out that we're doing private work than buying it outside." Jiang Yao asked, "Can you find a special channel?"
"Yes, didn't I tell you last time? Procurement for the factory canteen is not easy. In order to ensure the employees' meals, they often purchase through special channels. When I deliver firewood, I will also meet the delivery people. After a few visits, I have become quite familiar with two or three of them." Lu Che said.
"Great." Jiang Yao said, "Then buy the stuff as soon as possible. After confirming the delivery date with the machinery factory, I will start preparing."
"Okay." Lu Che nodded. "I'll go directly to the county town after work. You can have dinner tonight and don't have to wait for me."
"You're going there without eating?" Jiang Yao felt distressed when she heard that. "You have to walk back and forth and go to several places. You won't be able to eat until nine o'clock tonight."
"It's okay." Lu Che raised his hand and touched the top of her head, saying, "I had a full lunch today, so it's okay to go to bed later in the evening. Okay, go to bed quickly, or I'll be too late if I don't go out."
After Lu Che left, Jiang Yao went to catch up on her sleep, but she didn't sleep too well. She got up at four in the afternoon to cook.
She was reluctant to let him have a hot meal only at nine o'clock tonight. He said he was very full at noon, but in fact he only ate a few more pieces of sweet potatoes and one or two pieces of sweet and sour fish, and gave them all to Zhou Yang and Zhou Xin.
After eating the fish at noon, there was no meat left in the house, but fortunately there were plenty of eggs. Jiang Yao boiled eight eggs, peeled them and put them into the brine that had been boiled in advance, letting them slowly absorb the flavor.
As soon as five o'clock arrived, she took out her lunch box, filled it with a large bowl of sweet potato rice and three braised eggs, and went to the field to deliver the meal to Lu Che.
He was working in the rice fields today, which was a bit far from Lu's house. Jiang Yao estimated the time and thought that he would be almost done by the time she sent him there. Lu Che could eat quickly and then go to the county town.
Lu Che has always been very serious about his work. Others would slack off and start waiting for the end of get off work before five o'clock, but he is different. He always works until the end of the day before leaving, even if he has to go to the county town later.
He has always had a belief in his heart that even though he came from a poor family, he is a hardworking and motivated person. If the captain gave him 10 centimeters, he must make sure that these 10 centimeters are well deserved and not let anyone criticize him.
"Lu Che, stop working, your wife is here to see you..."
Just as he was working hard, Lu Che suddenly heard someone shouting. He didn't take it seriously at first, but after the person shouted a few more times, he realized what the person was shouting.
Why did his wife come here suddenly? Did something happen at home?
With a bad premonition in mind, Lu Che immediately put down his farm tools and crawled out of the rice field.
He had just climbed out of the field when he saw Jiang Yao walking towards him from afar. He didn't know what she was holding in her hand, but seeing that she was moving neither hurriedly nor slowly, it seemed that nothing sudden had happened. He felt relieved.
"Why are you here?" Lu Che was so happy to see his wife that the expression on his face softened unconsciously.
Jiang Yao handed over the lunch box in her hand and said, "I'll bring you food. After you finish eating, go to the county town."
"I can go back to eat in the evening. It's too troublesome to make such a trip."
"I can't bear to leave." Jiang Yao muttered softly, but it was loud enough for Lu Che to hear clearly.
Suddenly, his tired body was no longer tired after a day of work. He opened the lunch box and said, "Okay, I'll eat now."
It was now nearly time to get off work, and everyone was sitting in groups of three or four by the field to rest. When they saw Jiang Yao coming to deliver food, they felt jealous and envious.
"Everyone is about to get off work and go home. Who are you delivering food to at this time? " someone said sourly.
Lu Che pulled Jiang Yao to sit down and simply ignored what the man said.
The provocation didn't work, but the gossiping heart was not extinguished, and someone asked: "Jiang Yao, Lu Che can go back to eat later. Aren't you tired of making such a special trip?"
"Jiang Yao is definitely not tired, staying at home doing handicrafts every day. Do you think she works in the fields every day like us?"
Before, everyone called Jiang Yao "Jiang Zhiqing". Now that she married Lu Che and became the daughter-in-law of Qingyuan Production Team, everyone called her by her name. Jiang Yao didn't mind and said to the woman who asked the question, "Lu Che will go to the county town to collect firewood later. He will be back very late tonight. I asked him to eat first."
Everyone knew that Lu Che went to collect firewood. After all, he often paid money to the production team. Someone asked, "It's dark when we get to the county town now. It's not easy to collect firewood at night. Why don't you go in the morning?"
Before Jiang Yao could say anything, someone rushed to say, "She had a wedding night last night and couldn't get up in the morning. How dare you ask this?"
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter.
These married women with several children dared to say anything. Jiang Yao's face immediately turned red. Lu Che couldn't stand others teasing his wife. He raised his head from the lunch box and glanced at the villagers around him. His eyes were full of warnings, and everyone was afraid to say a word.
Lu Che had only eaten half of his meal when it was time to get off work.
The villagers left one after another. Lu Che ate faster and emptied his lunch box in two minutes.
Seeing him look like a hungry ghost, Jiang Yao muttered, "Look at how hungry you are, and you said you won't eat until nine o'clock tonight."
"I'm not hungry, that's why I eat so fast." Lu Che pulled her up, handed her the lunch box and said, "Hurry up and catch up with the main group and go home. It's getting dark early now, and I don't feel comfortable letting you go back alone."
Jiang Yao's heart warmed up, and she stopped talking to him and said, "Be careful on your way. I'll wait for you to come back."
She just wanted to express the literal meaning of the five words "I'll wait for you to come back", but someone misunderstood her and said with a look of concern for her: "If you make trouble again tonight, I'm afraid you can't stand it."
"..." Jiang Yao glared at him angrily, "You think too much. I just want to wait for you to come back. I don't agree if you want to make trouble tonight."
Lu Che's trip to the county town went smoothly this time. He confirmed with Director Fang of the machinery factory that the goods would be delivered before 8 a.m. five days later. He went through several special channels and brought back nearly 100 kilograms of raw materials that night.
After walking for an hour carrying nearly 100 kilograms of stuff, he was already sweating profusely when he got home.
Jiang Yao looked at it with heartache again, "Why are you so stupid? Can't you drive a bullock cart to get it back tomorrow morning?"
"Such a big bag is very conspicuous, and it's not easy for people to notice it if you bring it back at night." Lu Che said, "You have to borrow an ox to drive an ox cart. It's ok to go to the market, but if you suddenly go to borrow an ox at other times, it will easily arouse suspicion."
"That seems to be the case." Judging from Lu Che's cautious approach, it is really not easy to do private work these days. Fortunately, she has him. If she were to work alone, she would have been discovered long ago.
Soon it was the day before delivery. Jiang Yao soaked the red beans in the afternoon and got up at twelve o'clock in the morning. She first boiled the red beans into soft red bean paste and then started to knead the powder.
It was impossible for her to make a thousand snow skin mooncakes by herself before tomorrow morning, so Lu Che and Lu Qing also came to help.
Especially the work of rubbing the powder had to be handed over to Lu Che. If it was one or two kilograms of powder, Jiang Yao would have no problem rubbing it, but now there were dozens of kilograms of powder, she really didn't have the strength to do it.
There were no stamps when making snow skin mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, so Jiang Yao just rolled them into round shapes. For this large-scale production, he asked Lu Che to make three wooden stamps in advance. The mooncakes were then knocked out one by one using the stamps, which increased the speed and made them look particularly good.
Although Director Fang required that the goods be delivered to the machinery factory before eight o'clock, in order to conceal his tracks, Lu Che carried two bamboo baskets on a shoulder pole at five o'clock and prepared to go to the county town to deliver the goods.
Jiang Yao originally wanted to go with him, but Lu Che disagreed, saying that she was tired after staying up all night and asked her to go to bed quickly.
She couldn't persuade him, so she just said, "Go to bed when you come back. Don't go to work today. This is an order."
“Okay, I will definitely obey my wife’s orders. You go and sleep alone first, and I will hug you when I come back.” Lu Che said with a raised eyebrow.
"Who asked you to hug me?" Jiang Yao was obviously lacking in confidence when she said this, because she slept on him like a sloth every day.
Lu Che listened without exposing her, and followed her words: "Well, you don't need me to hold you, but I need you to hold me."
After Lu Che delivered the goods, he was very obedient and did not go to work. Actually, staying up all night was nothing to him. He was not particularly tired, but he really wanted to sleep with his wife in his arms.
In the past, he had heard many men in the production team say dirty words in the fields, and he despised them for being obsessed with beauty and not making progress. Now that he has married, he has finally realized that as long as he can hold his wife and not get up, it doesn't matter if he doesn't eat.
He was completely depraved, but he was willing to fall into Jiang Yao's gentle arms.
His wife was tired after a night of work, and Lu Che didn't want to wake her up, so he climbed onto the bed quietly. Unexpectedly, as soon as he lay down, Jiang Yao seemed to smell his scent and automatically hugged him.
He thought she was pretending to sleep, but after he called her twice and blew in her ear, she was still sleeping soundly. He then realized that this was her subconscious behavior. Seeing his wife relying on him so much, he kissed her forehead with satisfaction, then closed his eyes and fell asleep.
They slept until noon.
Although Jiang Yao didn't get enough sleep, she was hungry, so she had to get up and cook.
"Lie down for a while. Grandma said this morning that she will make lunch." Lu Che hugged her back and handed her the purse on the bedside table. "Mooncake money, please count it."
As soon as Jiang Yao saw the purse, she immediately perked up. She sat up, opened the purse, and began to count the money carefully.
This time, she set the profit of the snow skin mooncakes at about one cent, which was almost less than that of a tea egg, but the advantage was that the quantity was large, and she could make small profits but quick turnover, so she finally made ten yuan.
It was already pretty good to earn ten yuan for an all-night job, and she also wanted to leave a good impression on Director Fang that she was good value for money. The factories in the county were very close to each other. Today, the machinery factory was giving out benefits, and tomorrow it might be the turn of the nitrogen fertilizer factory. If Director Fang gave a recommendation, business would continue to come.
In addition, the tomatoes in the vegetable garden can be harvested in about ten days, and Director Fang is one of the key customers to be developed.
"How is it, right?" Lu Che asked after she finished counting.
"That's right." Jiang Yao smiled, then took out three yuan from her pocket and said, "This is for Sister Qing."
"Okay, you give it to her later." Lu Che said indifferently, then he pulled her back into his arms with his big hands and said, "Hold her for half an hour before getting up."
"Okay." Jiang Yao rubbed against him and asked, "Did you mention the tomato delivery to Director Fang today?"
"Yes, he was very happy. He said that when the time comes, I will bring the goods to him to see. If they are all good products and the price is right, he will buy them." Lu Che said.
Jiang Yao: "I plan to price these tomatoes at 8 cents per pound. What do you think?"
"8 cents?" Lu Che disagreed. "Vegetables are usually 2 cents per pound, and rarely more than 3 cents. Although our tomatoes are scarce, their price is four times that of other vegetables. I'm worried that Director Fang won't buy it."
"Eight cents is not expensive at all." Jiang Yao said, "Anyway, I will find a way to make him feel that our tomatoes are worth the money, and that there is a problem that needs to be solved urgently."
Lu Che: "What's the problem?"
Jiang Yao: "It's a transportation problem. You can't borrow a bullock cart. You often go to the county town, and it takes at least two hours to go back and forth. It's okay once or twice, but it's not worth it to always spend time on the road. I want to buy a bicycle. In fact, I saw you often go to collect firewood before, so I had this idea at the time."
"I want to buy one too, but I can get a ticket through special channels now. However, the supply and marketing cooperative hasn't received any bicycles for a long time. Even if there are some, it will be hard for us to get a quota." Lu Che sighed, "I don't know when my aunt will come back. She didn't say she was coming back in the letter she sent to my grandma some time ago."
"There's too much uncertainty over my aunt's situation." Jiang Yao said, "How about I send a telegram to my brother and ask him to ask his old boss in the provincial capital to help buy one. We have to go back to the provincial capital to move the sewing machines and other things anyway, so we can just ride back when the time comes."
"Will it... be too much trouble for our brother?"
"No." Jiang Yao said, "My brother saved that old leader. He was transferred to the provincial capital because of his injury. He can help me find a job. A bicycle is nothing. If you agree, I will send a telegram to my brother and ask him to arrange it."
"Okay." At this point, there is really no better way than this.
"Then let's go to the county town to send a telegram this afternoon." Jiang Yao said, raising her hand to touch his face, and said: "You don't have to feel that you are incompetent. Before everyone succeeds, they need the help and support of others. Just remember where you came from in the future."
"Yeah." Lu Che smiled and raised his hand to cover the back of her hand.
The two of them stayed together for a while, then got up, washed, and ate.
After dinner, Lu Che went to wash the dishes. Jiang Yao pulled Lu Qing aside and handed her three yuan. "Sister, this is the money I earned from the mooncakes. Keep it."
"No need." Lu Qing pushed it back and said, "Actually, I didn't do much. It was you and Lu Che who were busy."
"I've been through a whole night, so why haven't I contributed?" Jiang Yao stuffed it back, but Lu Qing refused to take it. She said, "I'm relieved to see that you and Lu Che are doing so well now. I've written a letter to Yangyang's father, telling him that I'm going to join the army. If everything goes well, I estimate that I will leave by the end of the year. I only have Lu Che as my brother, and I won't be able to help him much in the future."
Although she had known that Lu Qing would return to join the army sooner or later, Jiang Yao still felt reluctant to let him go after hearing the news. "Sister, I can't bear to leave you."
"I can't bear to leave you, grandma, and Lu Che." Lu Qing grabbed her hand and said, "But I owe Zhou Jin too much. I can't just accept it with a clear conscience just because he unconditionally accommodates me."
The man who saved her from danger, insisted on marrying her despite her poor background, and later allowed her to live in her parents' home after marriage to support her family, now it's time for her to run to him.
Jiang Yao chatted with Lu Qing for a while, and after Lu Che finished washing the dishes, they set out to the county town to send a telegram.
After sending the telegram, they went directly back to Qingyuan.
When we set out just now, it was still early and the members had not yet come out to work. Now that we have returned, everyone is already working in the fields.
As a "model worker", Lu Che still insisted on going to work the day after his marriage. Everyone was surprised why he suddenly didn't go to work today. Now seeing him walking on the road with Jiang Yao, everyone finally understood what was going on.
"Lu Che is still a man after all. He was able to hold on yesterday, but today he just stayed with his wife and was too lazy to go to work." Woman A had an expression that said, "As expected."
Woman B said: "Isn't this normal? When you and your man first got married, didn't you even want to leave the room?"
Wife C said: "That's right. What's more, Lu Che is only in his twenties when he gets married. His wife is extremely beautiful, so he can't wait to have her on the bed all the time."
The women talked more and more excitedly, and laughed meaningfully from time to time. Zhu Xia and other female educated youth who worked with them blushed when they heard what they said, and they wanted to cover their ears.
"Big Du Zhiqing, why are you blushing too?" Woman A joked, "It's normal for Zhu Zhiqing and others to be shy since they don't have a partner, but you've been dating Zhao Zhiqing for so long, and you live under the same roof..."
Woman A didn't finish her words, but everyone understood what she meant.
Du Yuejia's face turned even redder with embarrassment. She opened her mouth to explain, but she didn't know how to explain. She only said, "Aunt, it's not what you think."
"Dad Du, how come you, who has a partner, are more shy than your sister who doesn't have one?" said Woman A.
Du Yuejiao, who was named, snorted when she heard the voice, "Aunt, I have a fiancé now."
"Fiancé?" The women gathered around Du Yuejiao as if they had heard explosive news, asking her in a flurry, "Little educated youth Du, I heard that you went back to the provincial capital a few days ago to go on a blind date?"
"Can you go back to the city after you get married?"
"What kind of person is your fiancé? Is he a worker?"
"It's good to go back to the city."
"It's good to marry a worker. You can eat commercial grain and don't have to work in the fields."
Du Yuejiao, who was surrounded, did not feel impatient at all. She smiled and let the women ask questions. After they finished asking, she said, "My fiancé is indeed from the city. I can go back to the provincial capital after I get married. By the way, he is not a worker. He is the director of the Revolutionary Committee."
After hearing that last sentence, Du Yuejiao's tail was about to go up to the sky.
Zhu Xia and the others couldn't stand her, so they left and went to work elsewhere.
Jiang Yao had no idea that she had become the subject of conversation again, but she didn't care.
On the fifth day after the telegram was sent, she received a reply from Jiang Zhen saying that he had sent a telegram to his old leader, who also agreed to help them buy bicycles and asked them to prepare the money and tickets.
Lu Che was a man of action. The next day after receiving the telegram, he received a bicycle ticket from a special channel.
Jiang Yao took the bicycle ticket and said cheerfully as if she had seen a black gold card, "It's better to do it today than to wait for a day. Let's go back to the provincial capital tomorrow, buy a bicycle first, and then bring back the sewing machine and other things."
"Okay." Seeing her so happy, Lu Che also smiled, but with some emotion, he said: "Yaoyao, I married you, I really married a treasure. You are very smart, you have many ways to make money, and you are also rich. Not only did you help me buy a bicycle, but you also gave me a sewing machine. In fact, I don't care what people say about me outside, but I am really embarrassed."
"We are husband and wife now, there is nothing to be embarrassed about." Jiang Yao said: "This is only temporary, you have to pay me back many times in the future. This is my initial investment, and I am waiting for you to repay me in the future."
Compared with the boss's future business empire, what she has is just a drop in the bucket.
"What do you mean by investment?" Boss Lu didn't understand, so he said, "But I think there is a good way to repay you now."
Jiang Yao asked curiously: "What method?"
"Of course I promised you my body. Come on, wife, I will repay you now."
“…”
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