1952: Walking through Nantongluo Alley

"Da Zhuang, do you want a bicycle?"

Looking at Qin Dazhuang stroking his bicycle, Qin Huaiguo knew that he liked it very much.

"I'm afraid I can only dream of buying one in this lifetime. A bicycle costs more than 100 yuan. There's no way my family can afford it."

After saying this, Qin Dazhuang's expression instantly dimmed.

He was not as lucky as Qin Huaiguo, who had a good brother-in-law.

They are just ordinary farmers, and they are content as long as they have enough food and warm clothes.

"Your family couldn't afford it before, and it's hard to say now." Qin Huaiguo looked at Qin Dazhuang with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" Qin Dazhuang looked doubtful.

"My brother-in-law wants you to go to the city to help out. He'll pay you 20 yuan a month. Do you want to go?"

"How much is it? A monthly salary of 20 yuan?" Qin Dazhuang shouted directly.

"Yes, 20 yuan a month. Just tell us whether you want to go or not. If you do, we can leave now."

"Go, of course I can go. Can I ask what they do?" Qin Dazhuang was cautious, as he was afraid that Qin Huaiguo and his brother-in-law were not doing legitimate business.

"Don't worry, it's not some shady business. It's about making snacks."

After hearing this, Qin Dazhuang felt relieved and prepared to run back to the house to pack his luggage.

"Huaiguo, wait for me, I'll go pack my clothes."

Qin Dazhuang was just about to run back to the house to pack his luggage when Qin Huaiguo grabbed him.

"No need to clean up, I have everything where I live."

Qin Dazhuang is the only one left in his family. His parents and grandparents were all martyrs who died gloriously many years ago.

Qin Dazhuang then locked the door and sat directly on the back seat of Qin Huaiguo's bicycle.

......

It was already noon when the two returned to Sijiu City.

The whole family is here today, so Chen Xiao directly packed a table of food from Donglaishun.

This cost him dozens of dollars. If it were in the past, Chen Xiao would have felt sad for a while, but now, he really has money.

The assets he has in his space now, not counting the antique, amount to 2100 yuan in cash alone.

Today, Chen Xiao specially brought Qin Huairu over.

Since everyone had not arrived yet, Chen Xiao and the others did not pick up their chopsticks, but sat on the chairs and chatted.

During this period, Qin Huairu told Chen Xiao that his job was transferred to the purchasing department.

"Chen Xiao, we have a distant relative who works at a grain station. Do you want me to ask someone to contact him?" Qin Tieniu said.

Chen Xiao's eyes lit up when he heard this.

I didn't expect that Qin Huairu has a distant relative who works at a grain station. Isn't this a perfect match with her job?

However, Chen Xiao really doesn't need that. There's no need to curry favor with him by giving gifts and treating him to meals.

After all, he has a space farm and can get as much food as he wants.

However, in order not to offend Qin Tieniu, he still asked a question.

"Dad, which of our relatives works at the grain station?"

"Let me think..."

Qin Tieniu thought for a while.

Then he pointed his finger at the table and said.

"It seems to be the cousin of your cousin's son's daughter-in-law's aunt's cousin..."

Chen Xiao: “…”

What's the difference between having this relative and not having one...

......

At this time, Qin Huaiguo's voice came from outside the courtyard.

He brought Qin Dazhuang back and walked into the yard. Qin Dazhuang was shocked by the scene in the yard.

The yard was densely packed with peeled konjac, and next to it were six large iron pots constantly steaming konjac.

"Huaiguo...what are you doing with all that konjac in this yard? And you're cooking it in a big pot?"

"Are you going to boil konjac and sell it? Does anyone eat this stuff? In our village, even the pigs would look down on it if they fed it to them."

Qin Huaiguo pursed his lips and smiled.

"You don't understand this, do you? I'll give you some cooked konjac later. I guarantee you'll drool after you take a bite!"

Qin Dazhuang was a little skeptical, as it was not like he had never eaten konjac before.

At this time, Zhang Cuilan heard voices in the yard and knew that Qin Huaiguo had returned.

She said to the two of them.

"Da Zhuang, you're here. Hurry up and wash your hands and come inside to eat."

"Hello, auntie." Qin Dazhuang greeted.

After washing his hands, he went into the house with Qin Huaiguo.

As soon as I walked into the house, I was shocked by the huge table of dishes.

The table was filled with various meat dishes and even two bottles of Moutai liquor.

Smelling the faint aroma of food in the air, Qin Dazhuang's saliva began to flow in his mouth.

This was the first time in his life that he had seen so many meat dishes.

As for Moutai, I dare not even think about it.

He had heard villagers say before that a bottle of Moutai cost more than two yuan. Now there were two bottles of Moutai on the table, and these two bottles of Moutai alone were worth five yuan!

Sure enough! He came to the right place this time.

"Da Zhuang, this is my brother-in-law." Qin Huaiguo introduced him to Qin Da Zhuang.

Qin Dazhuang leaned forward to greet him.

"Hello, sister...brother-in-law."

He has called Qin Huairu "sister" since he was a child, so it's nothing to call her brother-in-law.

"The food is getting cold, please sit down and eat."

Chen Xiao asked the two to sit down.

Just by looking at his appearance, Chen Xiao could tell that Qin Dazhuang was a simple and honest person.

Of course, you can’t rely solely on appearance; the most important thing is character.

But you have to get to know these things slowly.

Chen Xiao was preparing and decided not to let Qin Dazhuang get in touch with the ingredients and methods of making Konjac Soup during this period.

After all, you have to be on guard against others, in case he learns your skills and then goes it alone.

Then Chen Xiao would suffer a great loss.

After eating and drinking, Chen Xiao arranged work for Qin Dazhuang.

"Da Zhuang, from today on, you will be responsible for these three big iron pots. Remember, the steaming time is one hour, then take it out and replace it with the next batch of konjac for steaming." Chen Xiao said, pointing to the three big iron pots that Qin Tieniu was originally responsible for.

"Don't worry, brother-in-law. I'm good at cooking and there will be no accidents." Qin Dazhuang patted his chest and promised.

After saying that, he ran to the three big iron pots. Seeing that the firewood under one of the big iron pots was about to go out, he hurriedly added new firewood into it.

At the same time, he kept sighing in his heart.

I can’t believe I can earn such a high salary of 20 yuan a month, and all my job is to cook.

He originally thought it was some kind of physical labor, harder than digging coal in a mine, but he didn't expect it to be so easy.

Afterwards, Chen Xiao arranged work for others.

Qin Dazhuang and Qin Huaiguo were responsible for peeling and steaming the konjac every day, while Qin Tieniu and his wife were in charge of making the konjac cake and mixing and bagging it.

However, a new problem has now arisen.

That means the weather is getting warmer day by day, and spring is coming soon.

The temperature at night is getting higher day by day, almost reaching above 0 degrees.

The steamed konjac needs to be frozen overnight, otherwise it will not have that chewy and refreshing texture.