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Chapter 296
“Auntie, there are still four days off each month, but those who haven’t been scheduled can be pushed back.” Wanxia, who was chopping vegetables, reminded without lifting her head.
At Auntie’s home, she spoke much more freely, knowing Auntie wouldn’t scold her outright or vent her frustration for no reason. If her mother were here instead, she might scold her for not speaking, saying no one would think she was mute, or worse, lash out in anger. After several such incidents, she learned it was better not to speak at all.
Auntie was different. When mistakes were pointed out, she wouldn’t scold them. Instead, she encouraged them to think more and come up with solutions. She would say that if they encountered similar situations in the future, they would know how to handle them properly.
Sure enough, upon hearing this, Shuiqing looked at Wanxia and praised, “Yes, Wanxia has thought it through. Let’s push it back.”
Then she looked at Yan Qiu and Xing Hui and casually asked, “Regarding personnel arrangements, do you have any other suggestions or ideas?”
These were not major issues, precisely because they were not major, allowing the children to participate. If they came up with good suggestions that could be implemented, they would follow their opinions, increasing their motivation.
After all, in the future, they would have to walk their own paths. Those with abilities could thrive anywhere, so accumulating experience was crucial.
And where did experience come from? It came from various things in life. If they didn’t handle small or unimportant matters well, how could they handle important matters when they arose? That would be a fantasy.
She hadn’t been a mother and didn’t know how to get along with children, but she could learn. She could try to make her children confident, lively, and capable.
Yan Qiu and Xing Hui began to think.
Shortly after, Yan Qiu spoke up, “Mother, there are only three people cutting medicinal herbs, but each group of five is washing them. I thought maybe the women cutting herbs don’t need to participate?”
She found that this task wasn’t tiring and could be completed indoors without exposure to wind and sun. It wasn’t dirty either, but it did take time and required concentration; otherwise, the thickness might vary, affecting the quality.
There were already plenty of cooks. With shifts every ten days or so, it wouldn’t hurt if special positions didn’t participate, Dani and Erni, who were responsible for steaming and cooking.
Yan Qiu and Wanxia admired their older sister, thinking how smart she was. Auntie had just asked the question and she was already offering suggestions.
Shuiqing, who was cooking, was very satisfied.
It was always pleasing when the children actively thought of solutions, and she nodded in approval. “Okay, very good. I’ll announce this rule at lunchtime.”
Yan Qiu smiled gently and continued to chop vegetables.
Xing Hui and Wanxia exchanged delighted looks, as if they had been praised by Auntie.
With the four of them working together and coordinating well, the kitchen soon filled with the aroma of food.
The workers building the factory didn’t need to worry about meals because they were wage laborers.
However, there were over thirty people working in the workshop, and with their own family adding up to over ten people, cooking for forty to fifty people wasn’t an easy task.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a grand banquet where a dozen or twenty dishes were needed. Even ten or eight dishes weren’t necessary—two dishes and a pot of soup were enough, as long as there was enough for everyone!
No one was picky. As long as the food was enough and they could eat their fill, it was considered very good.
Shuiqing thought about how everyone was doing tough work, so they couldn’t eat poorly. If they did, how would they have the energy to work?
And in recent days, the midday meals at home were no longer prepared separately; the women working at the workshop ate together. Each person had plenty of work waiting for them and couldn’t afford to idle, so the meals couldn’t be subpar.
Earlier, knowing they were going to build the medicinal herb workshop, she deliberately “bought a lot of pig fat to render into lard.” When the time came, they would put this lard in the workshop kitchen. They couldn’t eat meat, so it was good to supplement their diet with lard.
In the process of rendering a large amount of pig fat into lard, they also accumulated a lot of pig fat residue.
This pig fat residue came in handy during this period.
The September Chinese cabbage grew particularly well and was in season. They fried a large pot with pig fat residue, even the broth was infused with oil.
The yardlong beans were almost mature and some were old. Shuiqing steamed them on the rice rack after frying, making them soft and fragrant with rice.
The soup was the most common loofah, sliced thinly and cooked until tender. They added over thirty eggs, whisked them, and poured them into boiling water, making the soup look particularly rich in eggs.
The main dish was rice, but not just any rice—it was mixed rice. They could afford to eat rice every day, but it would attract too much attention, so they could only eat mixed rice.
Shuiqing chose a mixture of polished and unpolished rice. Even though unpolished rice was cheaper in the shopping mall, they had to add some. However, within their means, Shuiqing increased the proportion of polished rice. Firstly, in these times, refined grains were better for poor people; secondly, polished rice was better-looking and more delicious than unpolished rice!
At midday, the women on the mountain, led by Ding and Li, harvested the first batch of fruits. Each of them had a happy face, carrying large baskets of fruits without feeling tired, and returned to the yard full of spirit.
Meanwhile, the workers in the yard, under Qin Yilin’s guidance, had finished washing the medicinal herbs.
Eldest Niece and Second Niece, who were in charge of steaming and cooking, watched Ding Jiajia explain while operating, looking tense, afraid of making mistakes.
Zhao Lan, Li Tiantian, and Zhang Xiaocao, who were responsible for cutting medicinal herbs, didn’t have work, but they didn’t slack off either. Instead, they helped chop and split a pile of firewood neatly along the wall with a hatchet and axe.
For the subsequent steaming and cooking of medicinal herbs, a large amount of firewood was needed. They prepared it in advance so they wouldn’t panic or delay progress.
Qin Yilin was very satisfied when she saw Zhao Lan and the others preparing the firewood. They had good vision and hands-on skills. People like them were easy and reassuring to use.
All was well.
On the first day of work, at midday, everyone was working hard and learning on the job.
When Shuiqing called for lunch, they suddenly realized how quickly time had passed. How had the morning gone by so fast?
Qin Yilin, however, thought it was great. These women in the village were doing better and quicker work than the workers from her family in the past!
Most of those workers were men, but they weren’t as diligent, nor were their hands and feet as quick.
Indeed, women could get things done. Men would only move when they were pushed, otherwise they wouldn’t. But these women in the village didn’t need reminding. They were used to doing farm work and household chores at home, and they washed and scrubbed skillfully and quickly.
Thirty or forty people lined up to wash their hands and entered the kitchen.
Inside the kitchen, a long table was set up temporarily. Two large wooden tubs were filled to the brim with dishes. Next to the table was a half-person-tall large water bucket filled with luffa and egg drop soup.
The lid of the stove had been lifted, revealing the steaming hot rice in the large iron pot, emitting a steamy heat.
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