Chapter 27: Building an Oil Mill

After dinner, they all went to work. Xia Ning’an and Lu Zecheng stayed home, one listening to the radio and the other knitting.

She was knitting a cable-knit vest for Lu Zecheng. The original owner was good at knitting and sewing, and she learned quickly. It was probably inherited from Li Fang. Li Fang was very good at knitting sweaters, and some people in the village who couldn’t knit would ask her for help in winter.

As for her own sweater, she asked Bond to help her. She chose a high-necked style, using a blend of mohair and wool yarn, and the largest knitting needles. The sweater she knitted was a loose, lazy high-necked sweater. The collar was a turtleneck, and she paired it with a maroon corduroy wide-leg pants and a pair of small leather shoes. It looked very nice.

She chose the style, and Bond directly produced the finished product. She thought it was good to travel to this era. She had a family who loved her, a caring Bond, a powerful but unreliable Xiaomiao, and most importantly, a fiancé who met her aesthetic standards and had a profession she admired. She thought she was coming to suffer, but she found out that she could completely win without even trying.

“Zecheng Ge, I see your beard is getting long. How about I shave it for you?”

Xia Ning’an looked at Lu Zecheng, who hadn’t shaved in a few days. She thought he looked better with a clean shave, and she decided to quickly shave off the annoying beard.

“How about I wait for Second Brother to come back and help me?”

“He’s so clumsy. I’m afraid he’ll cut your chin. Let me do it. I’ll be careful.”

The rooms on the farm were equipped with disposable razors, which were safe and convenient to use. They were much better than the razors used now.

She said as she took out the razor, applied shaving foam to his face, and carefully shaved the beard on his chin and cheeks.

When Xia Ning’an got closer, Lu Zecheng held his breath nervously. His heart started to race, and his ears turned a faint red.

Xia Ning’an saw his innocent look and couldn’t help but sigh. People were really conservative in this era. It was so rare. She mischievously wanted to tease him.

“Zecheng Ge, don’t be nervous. I won’t leave any cuts on your chin. Hee hee!”

Hearing Xia Ning’an’s teasing, he relaxed his body. But the faint fragrance of the girl wafted into his nose, making it difficult for him to control his emotions. This was something he had never experienced in his twenty-plus years. All his self-control was insignificant in front of this girl.

He longed for her closeness, but he was also worried that he wouldn’t recover and would ruin her life. He tried to stay calm, but his heart was still racing. This emotion felt strange to him, but he didn’t dislike it.

Finally, after a few minutes, she finished shaving his beard. Xia Ning’an helped him wipe it clean and applied aftershave.

“Zecheng Ge, you’re so handsome. You’re the most handsome soldier I’ve ever seen.”

“Have you seen many soldiers?”

“No. I’ve only seen you, hehe.” She had only seen him in this era.

At noon, Xia Ning’an prepared a plate of braised pork, a plate of garlic-flavored pork ribs, and a drawer of rice. These were taken from the farm.

She made a carp and radish soup and stir-fried an onion and potato dish.

Just as she brought the dishes into the hall, Xia Ninghao and Xia Changhai came back.

After dinner, they all went to work. Xia Ning’an and Lu Zecheng continued to stay home, one listening to the radio and the other knitting.

She was knitting a cable-knit vest for Lu Zecheng. The original owner was good at knitting and sewing, and she learned quickly. It was probably inherited from Li Fang. Li Fang was very good at knitting sweaters, and some people in the village who couldn’t knit would ask her for help in winter.

As for her own sweater, she asked Bond to help her. She chose a high-necked style, using a blend of mohair and wool yarn, and the largest knitting needles. The sweater she knitted was a loose, lazy high-necked sweater. The collar was a turtleneck, and she paired it with a maroon corduroy wide-leg pants and a pair of small leather shoes. It looked very nice.

She chose the style, and Bond directly produced the finished product. She thought it was good to travel to this era. She had a family who loved her, a caring Bond, a powerful but unreliable Xiaomiao, and most importantly, a fiancé who met her aesthetic standards and had a profession she admired. She thought she was coming to suffer, but she found out that she could completely win without even trying.

“Zecheng Ge, I see your beard is getting long. How about I shave it for you?”

Xia Ning’an looked at Lu Zecheng, who hadn’t shaved in a few days. She thought he looked better with a clean shave, and she decided to quickly shave off the annoying beard.

“How about I wait for Second Brother to come back and help me?”

“He’s so clumsy. I’m afraid he’ll cut your chin. Let me do it. I’ll be careful.”

The rooms on the farm were equipped with disposable razors, which were safe and convenient to use. They were much better than the razors used now.

She said as she took out the razor, applied shaving foam to his face, and carefully shaved the beard on his chin and cheeks.

When Xia Ning’an got closer, Lu Zecheng held his breath nervously. His heart started to race, and his ears turned a faint red.

Xia Ning’an saw his innocent look and couldn’t help but sigh. People were really conservative in this era. It was so rare. She mischievously wanted to tease him.

“Zecheng Ge, don’t be nervous. I won’t leave any cuts on your chin. Hee hee!”

Hearing Xia Ning’an’s teasing, he relaxed his body. But the faint fragrance of the girl wafted into his nose, making it difficult for him to control his emotions. This was something he had never experienced in his twenty-plus years. All his self-control was insignificant in front of this girl.

He longed for her closeness, but he was also worried that he wouldn’t recover and would ruin her life. He tried to stay calm, but his heart was still racing. This emotion felt strange to him, but he didn’t dislike it.

Finally, after a few minutes, she finished shaving his beard. Xia Ning’an helped him wipe it clean and applied aftershave.

“Zecheng Ge, you’re so handsome. You’re the most handsome soldier I’ve ever seen.”

“Have you seen many soldiers?”

“No. I’ve only seen you, hehe.” She had only seen him in this era.

At noon, Xia Ning’an prepared a plate of braised pork, a plate of garlic-flavored pork ribs, and a drawer of rice. These were taken from the farm.

She made a carp and radish soup and stir-fried an onion and potato dish.

Just as she brought the dishes into the hall, Xia Ninghao and Xia Changhai came back.

Recently, the food at home has been good, and Xia Ninghao has been coming home on time after work.

“Father, you’re back for dinner today? Now that our food is good, you don’t need to eat bread at the village committee. It’s much better to come back and eat something warm.” Xia Ninghao said to Xia Changhai while washing his hands.

Xia Ning’an also said, “Yes, Father. Now that Zecheng Ge is at home and needs nutrition, we’re eating good things. No one will say anything. You should come back for lunch in the future. You can also rest for a while.”

“I know you’re filial. I’ll come back when I have time. I came back today to discuss something with you. I’ve selected two larger homesteads. One is near the foot of the mountain in the back mountain. It’s a large area. If you choose that one, you can enclose a large vegetable garden. The other one is near the village entrance, close to the village committee. Xiaolu, An’an, see which one you like.”

“I’ll listen to An’an.”

“I think I prefer the one near the village entrance. It’s close to the village committee, and it’s convenient for Father to go to and from work. Also, it’s close to the village entrance, so we don’t have to pass by the old locust tree. I think it’s good. Otherwise, during the slack season, everyone who enters and leaves the village will be pointed at by the women under the old locust tree. The village entrance is much better.”

“By the way, Father, is there any space left there?”

“Yes, there’s a large piece of land there. What’s wrong?”

“Zecheng Ge and I have been discussing it. We have an idea to start a collective enterprise in the village.”

Xia Changhai stopped eating, his chopsticks frozen in mid-air.

“What idea? Tell me quickly. The commune is going to hold a meeting to mobilize the village to start collective enterprises after we hand in the grain in a few days. We old guys are worried. I was thinking that if nothing else works, we’ll have the whole village grow mushrooms. That’s a good idea too.”

“Zecheng Ge has a friend in the provincial capital who can buy machines for making white sugar and pressing oil. Zecheng Ge and I originally planned to choose one to open. These past few days, I’ve made a plan. I think our village’s first factory is more suitable for opening an oil mill. This kind of factory doesn’t require many workers, the machines are cheap, and the raw materials are more abundant and easier to buy.”

She said as she handed Xia Changhai the plan she had compiled these past few days.

“That’s great. I’ll go talk to the team leader right away.” He said, not even having time to savor the delicious food. He quickly finished a bowl of rice, took the plan, and left.

After discussion among the village cadres, they finally chose an oil mill as the village’s sideline business because the raw materials were easier to purchase, and the machines were relatively cheap.

Corn and soybeans were high-yield crops here. After handing in the public grain, there was a lot left of these two crops. In the past, they were distributed to the villagers as coarse grains. Now that the oil mill was open, all of them would be used to press oil. The money from selling the oil would be used to buy some fine grains and mixed with sorghum to eat. The village also had a lot of peanuts. Next spring, they would open up more wasteland to plant peanuts, rapeseed, sunflowers, and sesame seeds. These crops didn’t take up good farmland. They would plant more of them to press oil. These were all ideas Xia Ning’an gave to the village committee cadres.

The oil mill would initially purchase ten oil presses. Xia Ning’an spent 10,000 gold coins to order them from the system. She asked the system to issue a receipt for 20,000 yuan to the village at the price of the 1970s. This type of oil press could press 20 jin of beans per hour. The oil yield of soybeans was lower than other crops, about 15%. It would take 200 jin of soybeans for ten hours a day. The purchase price of soybeans was 3 cents per jin. The raw material cost was 3 yuan per day. They could produce 30 jin of soybean oil per day. The purchase price of soybean oil was 75 cents per jin. The daily turnover was yuan. Subtracting the raw material cost of 3 yuan, the daily gross profit was yuan. Not counting labor and factory rent and other indirect costs, the oil mill would have a gross profit of 585 yuan per month for finished oil. There was also 170 jin of soybean residue per day, which could be sold as soybean cake for 5 cents per jin, generating a daily sales revenue of 8.5 yuan. This was a very valuable thing to feed pigs and chickens. No village in the area could afford to buy soybean residue to feed pigs. If they pressed corn oil, the oil yield would be higher, and the profit would be higher. Sesame oil had a yield of 70%, but the locals preferred soybean oil, so the oil mill would mainly use soybeans.

However, the village didn’t have that much money at the moment. Several village cadres discussed it and decided that the Xia family would provide the capital to buy the machines. They would repay the money after the oil mill made a profit. Before the machine loan was repaid, they would give the Xia family a subsidy of 300 work points per year. Xia Ninghao would be in charge of the oil mill, and the village would be responsible for building the factory and handling the construction procedures. Now, all the communes encouraged villages to start collective enterprises, so the procedures and electricity were very fast.

Although the autumn harvest hadn’t ended yet, the team leader still assigned five skilled bricklayers and several apprentices to start building the oil mill.

Xia Ninghao was appointed as the factory manager and sales manager.

This was Xia Ning’an’s suggestion. She wanted to use the village’s small factory to train her second brother’s management and sales skills, so he could accumulate experience for doing business after the reform and opening up.