Chapter 19: Establishing a Food Factory

Ye Fan didn’t learn much at the supply and marketing cooperative over the years, but she fully embraced the principle of “policies from above, countermeasures from below.”

“Then we’ll make sausage from the pork, sell the pig bones to the military, and make marinated chicken, duck, and goose, or dry them to sell. After earning some money, we’ll buy machines to process the food. We can also sell it to large state-run cafeterias,” Ye Fan said.

Su Yuanhang had another concern: “What if the government insists on doing it themselves?”

Ye Fan had no worries in this regard: “Let’s not talk about how many places in the whole province can grow oranges and peaches; just look at Yong City, with its islands—there must be at least seven or eight, if not ten. Will they support Hengshan Island and ignore the others?”

Su Yuanhang suddenly understood.

“When your father talked to the higher-ups, he said it’s like farming—after making money, you give a portion to the government, and the rest is divided among the collective, similar to earning work points. Work points can be exchanged for money and food, right? If the higher-ups hesitate, your father can ask them for relief funds. Human lives are more important than anything. In these times, who dares to disregard human life?”

“Even with clean hands, someone could still bring you down by using personal grievances. Let alone if there’s already a handle to hold. Thinking of this, Su Yuanhang unconsciously nodded.

Ye Fan continued, “Once we have the food factory, the dried shrimp and dried eel you’ve sun-dried will be easier to sell.” Considering the ongoing reforms, she added, “I don’t know how long I can help you, but five years should be no problem. After five years, my husband might be transferred. He might also be reassigned to another island for duty. Five years will be enough for the food factory to establish a market.”

Su Yuanhang asked, “Is it really that simple?”

Ye Fan replied, “If there’s a stable supply, the biggest issue for a food factory is finding a market. It’s no exaggeration to say that I could have your father apply for a food factory as soon as you go back. If you want to make money before the New Year, you need to make sure you’ve collected enough by the end of November in the lunar calendar. Your father has been the party secretary for over a decade, and he frequently goes to the city. Renting a train car should be no problem, right?”

“I—don’t understand. I need to consult with someone first.”

Ye Fan nodded, “I understand. But now is the most opportune time. Your father will definitely have to go off the island to report the post-disaster situation. He can use that chance to appeal for help, and it’s almost a sure thing. From what I know, the finances everywhere are quite tight.”

Su Yuanhang, intrigued, asked, “What if I hadn’t come to see you today?”

Ye Fan said, “I’ve heard from my husband that there are typhoons every year. Continuous rain also makes it impossible to go out to sea. Your father will come. Unless I’m mistaken, I wouldn’t dare to help someone like him.”

Su Yuanhang thought to himself, no wonder she wasn’t in a hurry at all.

Su Yuanhang asked, “Should I talk about the specific situation of each production team?”

Ye Fan nodded slightly, signaling for him to continue.

Su Yuanhang replied, “The seafood, fruits, and chicken and duck you mentioned, we have all of those in each production team. But to gather enough for a train car, that’s not realistic this year.”

“By saying that, it’s clear you don’t understand the outside world. Are there winter-ripening oranges on the mountain?”

Su Yuanhang, who had been accompanying his father to check the disaster situation in the afternoons these past few days, said, “There are some that ripen by the end of the year, and others that ripen by November in the Gregorian calendar. But if it doesn’t snow, they can last until November in the lunar calendar.”

Ye Fan nodded. “Oranges could fill half a train car. Doesn’t every household have dried bamboo shoots?”

“Dried bamboo shoots can be sold?” Su Yuanhang exclaimed in surprise.

Ye Fan was startled and raised her hand, signaling him to stay calm. “If you don’t know how to eat it, of course no one will ask about it. But if the supply and marketing cooperative included a recipe—like bamboo shoot and old duck soup, or dried bamboo shoots stewed with meat—someone would definitely buy it. Pork has a purchase limit, and one pound per household isn’t enough to even get a toothful. People will have to buy side dishes. Dried shrimp can be used in noodles, it’s a way to improve the family’s meals. Shrimp skins and seaweed can be used in soups…”

Su Yuanhang couldn’t help but ask again, “Are you talking about the seaweed we give to the kids as snacks?”

Ye Fan nodded. “And dried kelp, dried eel, squid—those too. With a food factory, you can approach factories to custom-make paper boxes and cartons. If the supply and marketing cooperative doesn’t need packaging, in the first year, you’ll only need to cover the taxi fare. If the city helps out, you won’t even have to pay for the rent of the car. You should visit Hangcheng and Yong City’s districts more often to check with the supply and marketing cooperative about whether they need capital specialty products. If you bring back a truckload, it’s all profit.”

Su Yuanhang thought for a moment and had to admit that what Ye Fan said made sense. No matter the step, they all depended on the food factory. Even a collection station couldn’t manage, as it could only buy locally. The food factory, on the other hand, could deal with units nationwide.

“I’ll tell my father when I go back.”

Ye Fan replied, “When you collect the goods, I hope you can personally oversee it.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Those who don’t like me won’t risk losing out on money,” Su Yuanhang assured her.

Ye Fan believed him. “You don’t need to send back goods that don’t look good. Just sort them into three grades: high, middle, and low. For small pieces of dried bamboo shoots and seaweed, you can ask the supply and marketing cooperative to sell them at a special price.”

“Does the supply and marketing cooperative have special-priced items?” Su Yuanhang couldn’t help but say, “The capital truly deserves to be the capital.”

Ye Fan thought to herself that the supply and marketing cooperative didn’t have such things before, but after she came, they started doing it. In the past, when the vegetables were wilted or the pastries were broken, the salespeople would give them to regular customers as extras. Ye Fan suggested to the director that they should sell these items at a special price during the last half hour of the workday. At first, the director wasn’t happy, but because her last name was Ye, he reluctantly agreed to let her try it.

That afternoon, leftover vegetables and pastries, even the crystal sugar crumbs, were all snapped up.

Before, regular customers would accept these extras with a thank you, but they didn’t think much of it. Some even said that if they didn’t get them, the supply and marketing cooperative staff would just take them. Ye Fan heard this from her mother-in-law. Once the special pricing started, by 4 p.m., there were already many people loitering outside. Usually, they were polite even to temporary workers like Geng Zhiqin.

The supply and marketing cooperative didn’t sell cherries that were expensive or difficult to store and transport, so neighbors with cherry trees would pick some and bring them over.

The director had become a kind person within a five-mile radius.

Speaking of which, Ye Fan felt she had said everything that needed to be said, so she asked Su Yuanhang where he was going next.

Su Yuanhang instinctively wanted to say he would tell his father, but then suddenly realized he had deceived Ye Fan. His father didn’t think Ye Fan had a solution and was probably at home waiting to watch the joke unfold. He felt embarrassed and couldn’t bring himself to mention his father. “I’ll head home and wait, not sure when I’ll be back.”

Ye Fan stood up, and Su Yuanhang followed, only then realizing Ye Fan was “seeing him off.” “No need to see me out, you stay,” he quickly said.

A habit formed in her past life, Ye Fan smiled without much care, escorting him to the door. She watched him ride away under the eaves before returning inside.

Dabao ran out. “Mom, are you going to do business again?”

Ye Fan picked up her eldest son. “Mom’s not doing business. Mom is going to spend time with you and your little sister.”

Erbao reached out. “Mom, hug me.”

Dabao started to go down. “You hug little sister, not me.”

Ye Fan put him down and pinched his cheek. “If it’s too hot for me to hug you, don’t come looking for me when it’s cold.”

“I won’t!” Before, he could go to grandma or his other grandma, but now he could go to his dad. Dabao climbed up onto the bench. “Mom, I heard it! You were talking about the supply and marketing cooperative.”

Ye Fan said, “I’m talking about the capital’s supply and marketing cooperative. Go get the stationery and pen from my room, I’m going to write a letter to Uncle Director.”

Dabao was too young, and before, he wasn’t allowed to touch this or that. It seemed that the restrictions had made him eager to do things now, and he took great pride in it. As soon as Ye Fan finished speaking, he went down, shuffled into his shoes, brought back the stationery and pen, and asked Ye Fan if she needed anything else.

Ye Fan placed Erbao next to him. “Watch Erbao, don’t let her fall.”

Dabao took Erbao’s hand. “Little sister, are you silly?”

Erbao wasn’t silly. “Mom is silly, Erbao won’t fall.”

Ye Fan said, “Then you and your brother play, but don’t interrupt mom while she’s writing.”

Erbao thought that writing only involved the hands, not the mouth, and asked, “Doesn’t mom like to play?”

Ye Fan answered without thinking, “I don’t like to play.”

“Do you like Erbao?”

Dabao answered first, “Mom likes me.”

“Mom likes me!” Erbao said loudly.

Ye Fan was startled and helplessly glanced at her daughter before changing to a fresh sheet of paper to continue writing.

Dabao, noticing his mother’s expression, worried that if she got angry, she might even scold him. “Do you dare to go with me?”

Who’s afraid of you! Erbao immediately turned around and crawled onto the long bench, sliding down a little at a time.

Dabao went to the bedroom and took out his dad’s chess set. “Do you know how to play?”

“I don’t know.” Erbao didn’t understand; the chess set wasn’t even Mom’s, so what did that have to do with whether Mom liked her or not?

Dabao said, “I know more than you, Mom likes me.”

“I—teach me!” Erbao insisted.

Dabao’s goal was to play chess with his little sister. He didn’t say it directly because Erbao liked to cause trouble. When she saw that Dad or older brother were angry and wanted to scold her, she would laugh gleefully. There was one time when Ye Fan was in the kitchen, and her laughter made her want to give the child a good spanking.

Dabao said, “You won’t learn!”

“I will learn!” Erbao shouted, raising her voice.

Ye Fan almost made another mistake in her writing. “Dabao, my head hurts.”

Dabao hurriedly said, “Got it.” He glared at his sister. “Quiet down. If you scare me, I won’t teach you.”

Erbao covered her mouth and looked at him eagerly.

Dabao actually couldn’t recognize all the characters on the chess pieces, but he knew to separate the pieces by color first, then arrange them according to their shapes. He silently recited the mnemonic his father taught him: “The horse moves in an ‘L’ shape, the elephant moves in a square… the king and general don’t leave the palace, and the two advisors stay next to the king.”

Dabao was sure he had remembered it correctly and let his little sister go first. Erbao picked up a piece and collided it with Dabao’s. “Capture!”

“You can’t do it like that!” Dabao was about to scold his sister.

Ye Fan heard the tone wasn’t right and put down her pen, coming inside. “Dabao, how did Dad teach you? Erbao, if you want to learn, you have to listen to your brother, not do whatever you want. Otherwise, we won’t teach you anything. If we all know things and you don’t, don’t blame us.”

“Don’t want to!” Erbao cried to show her displeasure.

Ye Fan pointed at her. “Hold back your tears. The jar’s empty, Mom has to fetch water, I don’t have time to teach you.”

Since acting pitiful didn’t work, Erbao decided to pretend the earlier incident hadn’t happened, grabbed her pieces back, and said, “Brother, teach me.”

Ye Fan watched her daughter change her expression so quickly and thought, Did you forget to drink the Meng Po soup?

Dabao waved his little hand. “Mom, go ahead and be busy.”

Ye Fan closed the door behind her, and Erbao covered her mouth, whispering, “Mom hit me.”

“Stop making things up!” Dabao moved a pawn one step forward. “Your turn.”

Erbao felt disappointed that even her brother wasn’t helping her.

It’s okay, she still had Dad.

In the evening, Geng Zhiyé came home, and Erbao rushed over, shouting, “Dad! Dad!”

Geng Zhiyé grabbed her little hand. “Dad smells bad. What’s wrong?”

“Mom hit me.” Erbao pointed to her face.

Geng Zhiyé thought, If you were pointing somewhere else, maybe I’d believe you.

Although Ye Fan didn’t bother with every little detail, she always believed in giving others a way out, never hitting the face when scolding. The harshest words she ever said were to her biological parents. Those two were nothing—how could they even compare to her daughter?

“I’ll take a look. It seems a little red.” Geng Zhiyé carefully examined her face.

Erbao widened her eyes. Dad is so easy to fool!

Dabao was in the kitchen, watching the fire on the stove. “Mom, Dad believed it.”

Ye Fan said, “I don’t believe it.”

Dabao wanted to say, Didn’t you hear what Dad just said? Then he heard his father say, “You probably need medicine. I’ll take you to the hospital.”

The siblings, two meters apart, both gasped in shock.

Dabao couldn’t believe it. “Mom, what did Dad say?”

Erbao asked, “Dad is going to the hospital?”

Geng Zhiyé shook his head. “Dad will take you to the hospital. Let the doctor uncle and doctor aunt check if you hurt your bones. If you hurt your bones, you’ll need to stay in the hospital and get injections.”

Erbao, frightened, pulled her hand away from him. “Mom didn’t hit me. Erbao won’t go to the hospital.”

“Don’t be scared, Erbao. Dad will go with you,” Geng Zhiyé said, holding his daughter’s small hand.

Erbao, terrified, took two steps back and ran to the kitchen. “Mom, Mom didn’t hit Erbao, Mom, you say!”

Ye Fan replied, “Didn’t you say so? Dad believes you, but he doesn’t believe me.”

Erbao was stunned. “Brother, brother, brother, you say!”

Dabao, now understanding everything, thought, This is exactly what Sister Huihui meant by playing along. His dad, after all, had been in the military.

Dabao, unable to do anything, said, “Dad loves you, Dad believes you.”

“But—” Erbao was truly about to cry in panic.

Dabao said, “You should ask Mom what to do.”

“Mom, Erbao doesn’t want to take medicine, doesn’t want injections.” Erbao grabbed Ye Fan’s sleeve and shook it.

Ye Fan nodded to show she had heard: “Your dad loves you. If you admit you were wrong and explain it to him, he’ll believe you. If you don’t dare admit it, he’ll think you’re still sick and don’t want to take medicine like before.”

Erbao looked at her brother, wondering if that would work.

Dabao nodded, thinking, Let’s see if you still dare to say nonsense.

Erbao pressed her little lips together and, with a sense of determination, went to apologize to her father.

Dabao whispered, “How did Mom know Dad would say that?”

Ye Fan replied, “Your dad knows kids shouldn’t be spoiled. If you dare to say that, your dad will also take you to the hospital.”

“I’m not afraid of injections!” Dabao’s expression seemed to say, That trick won’t work on me.

Ye Fan laughed and asked, “Did I call your dad?”

“You’re just scaring me!” Dabao wasn’t afraid. “Grandma says medicine shouldn’t be taken randomly.”

Ye Fan saw that the water in the pot was boiling and began adding the noodles, shrimp, clams, and amaranth in turn: “Your grandma didn’t say you can’t get an injection.”

Dabao poked some firewood into the stove with a stick: “I’ll wash my hands. You can play by yourself.”

“Your dad’s by the water well? You can ask him.”

“Ask if you want.” Once outside, he would say he wasn’t sick, and that Mom would also take him to the hospital for an injection.

Geng Zhiyé instinctively wanted to say Ye Fan was being silly, “Isn’t it time for the vaccination?”

Dabao paused for a moment: “Vaccination? I’ve had it. But little sister hasn’t.”

Erbao, frightened, clung to her father: “Erbao isn’t sick.”

Geng Zhiyé, caught off guard, almost got knocked over: “Erbao, let go. Daddy’s pressing water. Big brother’s just teasing you.”

Dabao nodded: “Just like Mom scares me.”

Ye Fan served the noodles into a bowl, worried that the pot was too hot and would break the noodles. No one in her family liked noodles too soft: “Dinner’s ready.”

Dabao shook the water off his hands as he came in: “Mom, Dad says you’re scaring me.”

Ye Fan replied: “Your dad forgot that at the hospital, they can give glucose injections. Because when your dad needs it, he drinks it directly.”

Geng Zhiyé really hadn’t thought of glucose. As he held his daughter and entered, he heard Ye Fan’s words and laughed, nodding: “Dabao, if you don’t listen, Mom will give you a glucose injection. It won’t harm your body, but whether it hurts when it’s given in your butt, I don’t know.”

“Of course it hurts!” Dabao, upset, asked loudly, “You’ve never had an injection, have you?”

Geng Zhiyé raised an eyebrow: “Do you really want a glucose injection?”

Dabao immediately stopped yelling, muttering softly: “You and Mom are one family.”

Ye Fan picked up a big shrimp, peeled it, and brought it to his mouth. Dabao instinctively wanted to laugh, but remembering how Mom had scared him, he straightened his little face: “I can do it myself.”

Ye Fan: “Isn’t it better when someone peels it for you? You don’t know how to enjoy your blessings!”

Is it really worth holding onto face and suffering? Dabao wasn’t like that; he opened his mouth and ate it.

Erbao pushed her small bowl in front of her dad. Geng Zhiyé, pretending not to know, asked: “For Daddy to eat?”

Erbao pointed at the shrimp: “Daddy, peel it.”

Geng Zhiyé peeled it and didn’t give it to her: “Then what?”

Erbao didn’t understand why there was a “then.” Dabao taught her to say thank you. Erbao listened to her brother and said thank you, then Geng Zhiyé put the shrimp in her mouth, removed the shell from the clam, and returned the small bowl to her.

Erbao had a bite of noodles and a shrimp, but didn’t touch any clams. Seeing this, Ye Fan asked Dabao if he wanted some. Dabao shook his head, saying the clams weren’t tender or tasty enough.

Ye Fan then asked Geng Zhiyé: “We’re not buying them anymore?”

Geng Zhiyé replied, “If you want to eat them, we can buy them.”

Dabao rolled his eyes, and before his parents could notice, he lowered his head to eat his noodles.

Ye Fan commented, “They’re not as good as conchs.”

Geng Zhiyé said, “Then buy what you like.”

Dabao couldn’t help but look at his mom.

Ye Fan ignored him.

The next morning, when Ye Fan went out to buy vegetables, the two kids were awake and playing in bed. She asked Dabao if he wanted to go to the market.

The market didn’t seem far to Geng Zhiyé, but Dabao thought it was a long way. He asked his dad if he was going.

Geng Zhiyé came in carrying a washbasin: “If I go, will you go?”

Dabao was getting dressed while saying, “If you go, I’ll go.”

Ye Fan wasn’t comfortable leaving Erbao alone at home, so she changed Erbao into clothes: “I’ll carry Erbao, you follow your dad.”

When they left, Dabao held his dad’s finger. On the way back, he asked his dad to carry him. Geng Zhiyé sighed, picking up his chubby son: “No wonder you asked me if I was going.”

“I’m still young,” Dabao said, hugging his dad and acting cute.

Geng Zhiyé smiled and nodded, “Dabao is the most well-behaved at times like this.”

Dabao leaned on his dad’s shoulder and greeted his sister, who was in his mom’s arms, pretending not to hear his dad’s teasing.

Geng Zhiyé was making breakfast, while Ye Fan was in the living room with the children, doing exercises to strengthen their bodies.

The breakfast was simple. Geng Zhiyé had already started cooking the porridge, washed the vegetables, and had nothing to do for the moment. He leaned against the kitchen doorframe, watching Dabao practice his movements. When Ye Fan stopped, he asked, “During those days of the typhoon when you couldn’t go outside, did you three just practice Tai Chi indoors?”

Ye Fan shook her head. “With the wind and rain so heavy, who could focus on practicing that?”

“It wasn’t for long, though,” Geng Zhiyé said, surprised. “Son, do it again so I can see.”

Dabao thought his dad was purposely making things difficult for him. “Don’t you think I’m tired?”

“Dad thinks you have great talent,” Geng Zhiyé crouched down in front of him, coaxing, “Let me see your skills.”

Dabao was clever, but easily coaxed. He immediately started from the beginning.

Ye Fan never intended to turn her son into a martial arts expert. Seeing him practice made her think he was doing it quite well. As long as he didn’t injure himself, she didn’t interfere. It was the first time she saw Dabao complete the whole routine. If he wore a practice outfit, he really would look like a little master.

Ye Fan couldn’t help but glance at Geng Zhiyé, truly impressive, he really does have talent.

Geng Zhiyé slightly nodded. Dabao stopped, and Geng Zhiyé patted the child’s leg, “Dabao, kick towards Dad’s hand.”

“Hit you?” Dabao couldn’t believe it. His dad’s request was so strange.

Geng Zhiyé stood up, demonstrating a sidekick, then another flick kick, “Try it.”

Dabao curiously asked, “Dad, are you teaching me martial arts?”

Geng Zhiyé replied, half-seriously, half-joking, “You’re still young, too easy to fall. You can start learning in a couple of years. For now, practice Tai Chi with your mom. In these two years, I’ll find you a teacher. If I’m busy, I’ll have the teacher teach you.”

Dabao stepped back, and Ye Fan reminded him to take his time and stand steady first. Dabao nodded, then mimicked his dad, clenched his little fist, and used all his strength to strike his dad’s hand. Geng Zhiyé didn’t move, and Dabao, surprised, kicked his dad’s side. Again, Geng Zhiyé’s arm remained still.

Dabao exclaimed, “Dad, is your arm made of stone?”

“Now you realize that being in a rush doesn’t help, does it?”

Dabao obediently nodded.

Erbao, seeing her dad and brother playing, felt envious: “Daddy, I can do it too.”

Geng Zhiyé froze for a moment, giving Ye Fan a glance. Ye Fan moved behind her daughter, reminding Erbao, just like she did with Dabao, to steady herself before kicking. Erbao, just like her brother, nodded obediently, clenched her little fist, but her foot didn’t reach her dad. Her body tilted backward, and despite Ye Fan being prepared, she was a step too slow, and Erbao fell to the ground.

Ye Fan quickly picked her up, brushing the dust off her pants. Erbao was still dazed, not understanding how she fell. Ye Fan asked if her bottom hurt, and the child shook her head, wanting to try again.

This time, Ye Fan crouched down. Dabao was on the other side of his sister, and the mother and son caught the unsteady child just in time. Erbao was about to cry from frustration. Her dad’s hand moved, reaching forward to meet her leg, but her foot still missed.

Seeing this, Geng Zhiyé decided to console her, “The porridge is ready. I’ll warm up the steamed buns.”

Dabao didn’t want to console his sister so early in the morning. “Dad, I can tend the fire.”

Ye Fan carried her daughter to the bedroom and asked Erbao how old Dabao was. Erbao held up four fingers. Ye Fan removed two of them and said, “You’re two years old. You’ll be as big as your brother soon enough.”

“Why do I have to be like my brother?” Erbao wiped her tears, her eyes red as she asked.

Ye Fan replied, “Your legs are short. Your brother’s legs aren’t long because he’s special or grew fast, it’s just that he ate two more years of meals than you.”

“I eat a lot.”

Ye Fan shook her head. “Even then, you can’t catch up to your brother. Eating too much makes you uncomfortable, and you won’t want to eat at noon or dinner, plus you won’t grow as tall as him. So, Erbao, don’t cry. In two years, I’ll remind your dad to teach you.”

Erbao extended her little hand. “Mom, let’s pinky swear?”

Ye Fan did the pinky swear with her and said, “Just like your brother learning to write, you can’t hold a pen yet. You need a spoon to eat, right?”

Erbao could use chopsticks. When Ye Fan put vegetables in her bowl, she could eat them. But when she tried to pick food up from the dish and put it in her mouth, it fell halfway. Unless the food was placed where she could reach it easily. Her brother didn’t need help; he could even pick up peanuts and pigeon eggs. It really made him feel proud.

“Mom, I’m not Dabao?”

Ye Fan thought to herself, You’re Erbao. Seeing her daughter’s confused expression, Ye Fan seemed to understand. “You’re asking why you’re not the older sister and why Dabao isn’t the younger brother?”

Erbao nodded. “Why?”

A person who was good at nonsense was at a loss for words. After a brief silence, she asked Erbao if she was hungry.

Erbao wasn’t hungry.

Ye Fan said, “Mom’s hungry. Let’s eat first. After we’re done, I’ll tell you.”

While eating, Ye Fan reminded Dabao to take his sister to play. Dabao deliberately asked, “Mom, aren’t you going too?”

Ye Fan glared at him. “Your dad won’t be home for lunch, so are you going to cook?”

Dabao didn’t dare to test his mother’s patience.

He put down his bowl and ran outside, jumping up to grab a towel. He wiped his and his sister’s faces and hands, then pulled her to the Liao family’s house.

There was no one to play with at home, so Erbao, still remembering what her mother said, decided to go outside first. But she forgot she didn’t remember much. By the time it got hot and they returned home, Erbao had completely forgotten about the events from the morning.

When Geng Zhiyé arrived at the military base, he received instructions from headquarters. They approved of his idea and allowed him to act as he saw fit. Geng Zhiyé ordered the quartermaster to drive a three-wheeled vehicle and ask the team leaders who had large fishing boats.

Large fishing boats were akin to large landowners and were also targets of criticism during this time. The first team leader they found assumed the fishing boat owner had offended Geng Zhiyé. Before the quartermaster could finish explaining, he promised to call the person over immediately.

The quartermaster stopped him and clarified the purpose—going out to sea for fishing.

If they had a chance to operate their own boats and fish, the boat owners would certainly be happy. But the problem was that the Ning City acquisition station didn’t lack seafood. They couldn’t even feed it to pigs if they couldn’t finish it themselves, and pigs didn’t eat crabs, sea urchins, or sea snails.

Geng Zhiyé said it wasn’t mandatory. The quartermaster still had to visit the next production team, so he didn’t have time to explain the follow-up to the team leader. He wasn’t sure why the regiment leader had arranged it this way, so he just said it was up to them whether they went or not.

The team leader immediately borrowed a vehicle to find the secretary. The secretary had gone to the city to report on the post-disaster situation. Su Yuanhang was at home and asked if he was in a hurry. If so, he could tell him, and he would think of a way. The team leader thought it wasn’t a big deal and said the army was planning to take them out to sea.

The commune secretary had mentioned at breakfast that there weren’t many oranges on the island. Even if they took out all the stocks from every household, it wouldn’t be enough to fill a train. Su Yuanhang told his father to go to the city to inquire and said whether it would work was still up in the air.

Hearing the team leader’s words, Su Yuanhang couldn’t help but sigh, “No wonder she was so confident.”

The team leader asked, “Who?”

Su Yuanhang shook his head, “You don’t know her.”