Lin Qingqing returned from the cooking class and immediately started preparing dinner.

Today’s dishes included braised pig intestines, some vegetables, and a soup.

She chose bok choy for the vegetables and planned to make loofah soup.

The sweet potato rice was cooking in the clay pot, and she heated water in the iron pot.

Lin Qingqing then sliced up a plate of braised pig intestines. “Lu Cheng, I’m going to Sister Xiuyao’s house to bring them a plate of braised intestines as well.”

Lu Cheng replied, “Got it.”

After a whole afternoon of work, he had completed the construction of the squat toilet and also partitioned the bathing area.

Now, he was working on the water tank for the toilet, which was made from wooden planks.

Once the tank was finished, they could manually release water that would come directly from the tank to flush the toilet.

Of course, there was no need to worry about the tank leaking since the water in it would be used up once filled.

It must be said that this squat toilet was really good; even five-year-old Lu Haici could use it without worrying about falling in.

Not only that, Lu Cheng had also cut a small opening in the side of the toilet for ventilation.

Lin Qingqing arrived at Yu Xiuyao’s house. “Sister.”

“Hey.” Yu Xiuyao was cooking and replied from the kitchen, “I’m making food inside.”

Lin Qingqing walked into the kitchen.

All the small courtyards had similar layouts. “Sister, I made some braised dishes and brought them for you to try.”

When Yu Xiuyao saw it was braised pig intestines, which looked like braised meat, she immediately caught a whiff of the rich aroma as Lin Qingqing took it out, still warm from being cooked. “You can make braised dishes? That’s impressive.”

Making braised dishes is indeed a skill.

Lin Qingqing smiled and said, “It’s not that good; I hope you won’t dislike it. Also, the flavor is a bit strong, thinking it would last longer this way. When cooking later, I can chop some braised meat to enhance the flavor.”

“Exactly, only strong flavors can last in this weather,” Yu Xiuyao agreed. “Wait a moment…” she said as she went into the room with a large soup bowl.

When she came out, she was holding a bowl with three eggs. “Here, take these and try them too.”

“What’s this…” Lin Qingqing’s eyes brightened. “Salted duck eggs?”

Her grandmother was an expert at making preserved foods but couldn’t master salted duck eggs.

Yu Xiuyao replied, “I learned this from my mother. I exchanged some duck eggs from the countryside, and they were just recently pickled.”

Lin Qingqing thought for a moment, then asked, “Sister, can you sell me a few pounds of these salted duck eggs?” Salted duck eggs can be stored for a long time and are versatile in cooking.

Since she also had some pumpkins at home, she could make salted egg yolk pumpkin tomorrow.

Lin Qingqing was quite tempted.

“This… just take it if you want to eat it. Why sell it?” Yu Xiuyou naturally felt embarrassed to accept money. “Besides, I don’t have that many anyway.”

“That won’t do. For one or two, I won’t be polite with my sister-in-law, but for a pound, I can’t just take it without paying,” Lin Qingqing said.

“Well… I don’t even know how much it costs per pound,” Yu Xiuyou admitted that she did have quite a few salted duck eggs, saving them for when they ran out of oil at home; a salted duck egg could help supplement their oil supply.

If they were fresh duck eggs, they would be priced like fresh chicken eggs at fifty cents a pound, but pickling salted duck eggs requires a lot of materials.

Lin Qingqing said, “How about a dollar a pound?”

Actually, she wanted to offer a higher price, knowing that Yu Xiuyou wouldn’t accept it, which was why she proposed a dollar.

However, even with her offer of a dollar per pound, Yu Xiuyou refused: “No, no, that’s too expensive. How about you give me sixty cents instead?”

Fifty cents for a pound plus ten cents for the materials; regardless of how much the materials cost, she would charge an extra dime.

Lin Qingqing felt that sixty cents was taking advantage of her, but she knew that no matter what price she said, Yu Xiuyou wouldn’t accept it, so she decided to remember this favor. “Then I’ll listen to my sister-in-law.”

Yu Xiuyou was relieved to hear her agree. “Then I’ll go get them.”

After a while, Yu Xiuyou brought out nine salted duck eggs.

Actually, there would be a little over eight salted duck eggs per pound, but Yu Xiuyou wouldn’t let Lin Qingqing lose out, so she gave her nine.

Lin Qingqing accepted the salted duck eggs and asked, “Sister-in-law, isn’t the supply and marketing cooperative collecting chicken eggs now? Have you thought about selling these salted duck eggs to them?”

“Well… I hadn’t really thought about it,” Yu Xiuyou admitted, feeling a bit shy.

However, after hearing Lin Qingqing’s suggestion, she felt it could be a way to make some money.

Coming from the countryside, she hadn’t had much education, and it was fortunate that she married Old Qin early; otherwise, considering Old Qin’s later success, she wouldn’t feel worthy of him.

Once Old Qin found success, he brought their family to the military.

Even though he earned 140 yuan a month, their family of four had many expenses from his salary.

Plus, Old Qin had to send 20 yuan home every month.

Yu Xiuyou had no objections to this, as if that money wasn’t sent back, she wouldn’t be able to follow him in the military.

Thankfully, after her in-laws took their 20 yuan each month, they never troubled them again.

Seeing Yu Xiuyou’s reaction, Lin Qingqing knew she was somewhat interested.

She encouraged, “Sister-in-law, why not give it a try? Selling to the supply and marketing cooperative is allowed by national policy.”

Yu Xiuyou responded, “But I feel a bit uneasy…”

Lin Qingqing said, “What’s the problem? I’ll accompany you tomorrow. I need to go to the carpenter’s house first, and then we can go to the supply and marketing cooperative together.”

She wanted to ask if they could consign her braised dishes there.

After all, saving up her monthly salary of 15 yuan to pay back Lu Cheng would take a long time, especially since the sewing machine and bicycle cost a total of 330 yuan.

“Alright then,” Yu Xiuyao agreed, happy to have someone accompany her.

She felt confident in Lin Qingqing, especially after seeing how she handled Zhang Hongping and Yang Mailian. “But there’s one more thing…”

Yu Xiuyao continued, “To pickle salted duck eggs, you need white wine and salt. If the supply and marketing cooperative buys salted duck eggs, I won’t be able to buy that much wine and salt. Plus, it’s not easy to buy that many duck eggs either.”

Lin Qingqing thought for a moment and said, “I’ll think about it tonight and come find you tomorrow to discuss. Actually, Sister, I also want to send my braised dishes to the supply and marketing cooperative to make some extra money.”

She felt a bit shy mentioning it.

Upon hearing this, Yu Xiuyao realized why Lin Qingqing was so proactive.

She felt quite happy: “That sounds good! Let’s brainstorm together.”

Since she had felt shy before, it was nice to see Lin Qingqing taking the initiative.

Lin Qingqing replied, “Then I’ll come by tomorrow.”

Lin Qingqing returned home with eight salted duck eggs.

In this era, there were certainly salted duck egg factories, but salted duck eggs were likely not widely available.

At least in her memories, she hadn’t eaten salted duck eggs yet.

If Yu Xiuyao’s salted duck eggs had a market, then her braised dishes could also be sold at the supply and marketing cooperative…

Thinking of this made Lin Qingqing feel quite pleased.

Even if the cooperative offered a low price, she would still be happy and feel at ease.

When Lin Qingqing got home, she saw Lu Cheng standing at the kitchen door, glancing in her direction.

“You’re back.” Seeing Lin Qingqing, Lu Cheng let out a sigh of relief. “The water in the pot is boiling. I filled the thermos with hot water, but I wasn’t sure when you’d be back, so I added some cold water to the pot.”

He usually didn’t say much, and when he did, it was seldom lengthy.

Only when interacting with their son would he loosen up a bit; otherwise, he had a rather reserved personality.

Lin Qingqing replied, “I chatted with Sister Xiuyao for a while and lost track of time. It’s okay that you added cold water; we can just drink it as cool boiled water later. By the way, Lu Cheng, I need to tell you something.”

She felt it was important to share about the braised dishes as a form of mutual respect.

Lu Cheng asked, “What is it?”

Lin Qingqing explained, “We common folks can sell our eggs to the supply and marketing cooperative, right? Do you think my braised dishes would…”

“Is it possible to sell to the supply and marketing cooperative? And this… this is the salted duck egg made by Sister Xiuyou. Do you think this is feasible?”

Lu Cheng replied, “It’s not feasible. You don’t have the pig intestines needed for making braised dishes, and Sister Xiuyou doesn’t have the duck eggs needed for salted duck eggs either. If it’s just for personal use, that’s fine, but the supply and marketing cooperative definitely requires a larger quantity, and that’s not available.”

Lin Qingqing said, “We understand this issue, so I thought of a solution.”

Lu Cheng raised an eyebrow, “Let’s hear it.”

He hadn’t expected Lin Qingqing to have already thought of a solution.

Lin Qingqing explained, “How about we have the supply and marketing cooperative provide the materials? Then they can supply us with the ingredients, and we can make them ourselves. It would be equivalent to the cooperative providing the materials and us providing the skills.”

Lu Cheng thought for a moment, “That’s actually feasible. We can give it a try.” Although they had enough money at home, he supported Lin Qingqing’s interests. Everyone has their own dreams and should strive for them.

Lin Qingqing said, “Then I’ll go to the supply and marketing cooperative with Sister Xiuyou tomorrow.”

…

When Lu Haici came back, the family happily had dinner together—braised pig intestines, stir-fried greens, and loofah soup.

After dinner, Lin Qingqing took Lu Haici out for a walk to aid digestion and also visited the Qin family to discuss her ideas with Yu Xiuyou, while Lu Cheng stayed home to wash the dishes.

They left Yu Xiuyou’s house an hour later.

As Lin Qingqing and Lu Haici returned home, they prepared to take a bath.

Lin Qingqing said, “Lu Haici, take off your clothes; it’s bath time.”

“Okay,” Lu Haici replied, quickly starting to undress.

“I’ll wash him,” Lu Cheng said, bringing back two buckets of water and hearing Lin Qingqing’s words. “The small room is already partitioned off, and I have nothing else to do.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Qingqing wondered if it meant he would be going to bed earlier from now on.

“No, no, no…” Before Lin Qingqing could think it through, Lu Haici loudly rejected his father, saying, “Dad, if you wash me, my back will hurt.”