Chapter 62 : Going to the Commune Workshop Again

Su Mo rode her bike directly to the commune’s collective workshop. Compared to the first time she came, the workshop was now very lively.

Especially from the oil mill, bursts of bean fragrance wafted in the air. It was probably because the quick-moving production team had already started pressing oil.

These days, unlike in cities, rural areas have a fixed amount of oil coupons every month.

The oil in rural areas is entirely dependent on the production teams growing their own peanuts, sesame, rapeseed, and other crops, pressing the oil themselves, and then distributing it to members every year.

When Director Qi saw Su Mo arriving, he greeted her with a smile, “Su Zhiqing, what can I do for you?”

He had heard that Su Zhiqing was Secretary Geng’s niece.

“I want to ask, can you still make bedding? I have relatives at home who want it,” Su Mo said, pretending to be embarrassed.

“Yes, of course. We are serving the people. If members have needs, we must solve them,” Director Qi said with a smile.

Their commune is not a major cotton-growing area and has no assigned cotton tasks. Instead of selling the cotton to purchasing stations at low prices, it would be better to use it to generate income for the commune.

As long as you don’t use it for speculation and the relative needs it, it doesn’t matter who you do it for.

The cotton has grown well this year and there is plenty of it.

“Thank you, Director Qi. I’ll order another quilt, the same as the one I made before. The quilt weighs 7 kilograms, and the mattress weighs 3 kilograms.”

Su Mo had two considerations when making another quilt. First, if Grandpa Zhang needed it, she would give it to him directly if not, she would just leave it at home. Although it wouldn’t be exposed if it was covered with a quilt cover, it would be exposed if someone found it when she took it off to wash it.

Director Qi narrowed his eyes and immediately wrote out a bill, “The cotton price plus labor cost, a total of 14 yuan.”

Su Mo paid the money and said, “I also want to order a large wooden rack for storing grain, and a few flat wooden basins.”

“A flat wooden basin? Is it a bathtub for children to take a bath?” Director Qi didn’t understand what a flat wooden basin was.

“No, it just needs to be square and about 20 centimeters deep. It doesn’t have to be very fine, as long as it can hold soil,” Su Mo explained.

Su Mo borrowed Director Qi’s pen and drew a simple picture for him.

Director Qi understood it, but still didn’t quite understand what it was used for.

“Su Zhiqing, what are you going to use this for?”

“Put it in the house in the winter to grow vegetables, otherwise, there will be nothing to eat in the winter,” Su Mo explained. At that time, there was no concept of greenhouse vegetables, and she wasn’t sure if he could understand it.

After listening, Director Qi had an epiphany.

Yes, it’s very cold in the Northeast. If we get some wooden basins like this and put them indoors, wouldn’t it be possible to grow vegetables? This way, we wouldn’t have to eat cabbage and potatoes every day in winter.

“Oh, Su Zhiqing, your idea is great. It’s worth promoting. I’ll order a few and ask my wife to plant them when I get home,” Director Qi said, pleased.

Su Mo: …

“Director Qi, this is just an idea of mine. It may not work. We have to try it to know.”

She dared to do this because she had supernatural powers, brother! She couldn’t guarantee he would succeed.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. The Chairman said we should try everything more often,” Director Qi said. “Come on, I’ll take you to the carpenter’s shop and ask the craftsmen how much wood and labor are needed, and then we’ll calculate the cost.”

Director Qi took Su Mo to the carpenter’s shop, where only two or three carpenters were working inside. The others had disappeared.

“Old Li, where are the others?” Director Qi asked, his face not looking very happy. This was laziness.

“Oh, Director Qi, they all have diarrhea. The cafeteria put too much oil in the cooking these two days, and those guys can’t keep their stomachs full,” said Old Li.

Director Qi was speechless. For someone who hasn’t eaten much greasy food for many years, they would indeed have diarrhea if they suddenly ate too much greasy food.

When pressing oil, there are always some oil residues left. Director Qi was reluctant to waste it, so he asked Old Song to use it when cooking. Who knew that the guy would put so much oil in it? The rice smelled good, but it was unbearable.

After Old Li finished speaking, he cried out “ouch” a moment later, holding his stomach and ran out, muttering as he went: “Putting so much oil, the rice smells good, but it’s a pain in the ass.”

Director Qi smiled awkwardly at Su Mo, “These people are used to a rough life and can’t afford to eat anything good. I’m sorry to make you wait for a while.”

Su Mo smiled and said, “It’s okay.”

Suddenly, she felt a little sad. Life these days isn’t much easier than in the end times, but fortunately, they still have hope.

After a while, a middle-aged man came back. He was probably the person in charge of the carpentry shop. Director Qi quickly waved him over: “Dasheng, come here.”

Director Qi quickly explained Su Mo’s needs. The man, named Dasheng, calculated and said, “It can be done in two days.” He also gave Director Qi an estimate of how much wood would be needed.

Among these items, only the wooden shelf needed to be a little more delicate. The square wooden frames only consumed some wood but didn’t need to be finely crafted, nor did they require much labor.

After returning to the office, Director Qi asked Su Mo how many she wanted to order. Su Mo calculated the space in the hall and ordered four.

Director Qi wrote out a bill: “One large wooden frame, four square wooden frames, wood and labor, a total of 7 yuan.”

The large wooden frame that Su Mo ordered had three layers, was 1.5 meters long, and about 1 meter wide, so it was a bit expensive.

When Su Mo came out of the collective workshop and passed by the supply and marketing cooperative, she saw that there were not as many people inside as before, so she stopped and went in.

Lu Xiaolan was very happy to see Su Mo “Third sister-in-law, you’re here! What do you want to buy?”

“I want to buy a few sacks to store grain and mountain products,” Su Mo said.

“Okay.” Lu Xiaolan responded, then quickly went to the grocery counter, took a sack, and spread it out on the counter. “Third sister-in-law, which one do you want?” She also told Su Mo their respective prices.

The price of sacks ranged from eight cents to thirty cents depending on their size. The thirty-cent ones were very large, and would probably take two strong men to carry when fully filled. Su Mo’s arms and legs were too small to lift them, so she chose the ones that cost ten cents each.

“I want the kind that costs ten cents each, and I want ten of them,” Su Mo said.

She then asked for 2 bars of soap, 2 rolls of toilet paper, a tube of toothpaste, and a pack of matches. These were consumables, but necessary for both ends, so she decided to buy more when she could.

A piece of soap cost 0.38 yuan, a roll of toilet paper cost 0.23 yuan, a tube of toothpaste cost 0.36 yuan, and a pack of matches cost 0.2 yuan. In total, she spent 1.78 yuan on these items.

Su Mo paid the money and took the sack to pack her things. As she was about to leave, Lu Xiaolan stopped her.

“Third sister-in-law, wait a moment and bring some things back for me.” After Lu Xiaolan said that, she hurried to the back and came back with a bag of things in a short while.

“Third sister-in-law, I bought two bags of milk powder and two cans of yellow peaches for our grandfather. Please bring them back for me. I was thinking of going home tonight, but the director just said he had a meeting.”

When the family business was divided, Lu Boming gave the couple 100 yuan, and they felt very bad about it. Yang Jingming managed to get two milk powder tickets two days ago, so he quickly bought some milk powder .

As a result, she had to work overtime these two days, and Yang Jingming was also very busy. Su Mo happened to come to buy something, so she took it back.

“Okay, I’ll take it back for you.” Su Mo smiled and accepted the things.