Siheyuan: Yan Jiekuang's carefree life

When Tian Dazhuang heard that he could get the cash tomorrow, his eyes lit up immediately and he agreed, "Okay! I'll take people to the town to get the money tomorrow." Then he asked, "By the way! Lao Meng, isn't the New Year coming soon?! As the president of the supply and marketing cooperative, can you get us some tickets?!"

Meng Yongsheng patted his chest and said, "That's no problem. I'll take care of the tickets. I'll apply for them when I get back. If I can't get special tickets, I can still get food coupons, cloth coupons, etc." Then he asked, "When will your next batch of sugar arrive?!"

Wu Haiwang said: "The weather is right now so we can produce two batches. The weight of each batch will be about the same."

Meng Yongsheng said, "Here's how! Once you've produced enough sugar, call me and I'll send someone over. It'll save you from having to make an extra trip."

"Old Meng!" Just then Gao Junsong came and said, "It's time to eat. I've asked my wife to go back and prepare. Come on! Let's go home and eat."

"Okay! Today I'm going to beat you up as a local tyrant, the team leader!" After saying that, Meng Yongsheng called the people he brought with him and followed Gao Junsong, Tian Dazhuang and Wu Haiwang out of the warehouse.

When they arrived at Gao Junsong's house, they invited everyone into the living room, where the food was already on the table. Meng Yongsheng looked at the food on the table and said jokingly, "Old Gao, you've brought out all the New Year's dishes. What do you eat during the New Year?!"

"You can't stop eating even if you have something to eat? As the saying goes, live by the mountain, eat by the mountain; live by the water, eat by the water. We are backed by the mountain, so it is easier than your town. Come on, sit down!" Gao Junsong asked everyone to sit down. Meng Yongsheng was not polite and sat down next to Gao Junsong.

After everyone sat down, Gao Junsong took out a jar of Sanbai and said, "We don't have any good wine at home, so as the president of the supply and marketing cooperative, you have to make do with this!"

Meng Yongsheng said: "It's not easy to drink good wine. I'll get you two bottles of good wine later."

"It's settled then!" After saying that, Gao Junsong smiled and poured a bowl of wine for everyone, then invited everyone to eat.

After three rounds of wine and five kinds of dishes, it was probably because the wine was enough. Meng Yongsheng also talked a lot. Meng Yongsheng took Gao Junsong's hand and said, "Lao Gao, you have helped me a lot this time. You don't know that last time I reported to the higher-ups about your brigade's establishment of a sugar-making workshop. The higher-ups were both surprised and worried! They were surprised that the sugar for the cannery was settled and they didn't have to close down. They were worried that you were a small workshop after all, and they were afraid that your production and hygiene would not meet the standards. I didn't expect it! Today you gave me a big surprise. Although you have only been in operation for three months, with these three months as a foundation, we will be much more relaxed." Then he asked, "How did your brigade come up with the idea of ​​opening a sugar-making workshop?!"

Gao Junsong, Tian Dazhuang and Wu Haiwang looked at each other, and Tian Dazhuang and Wu Haiwang nodded silently. Gao Junsong said, "There is a capable person among the educated youth who came to our brigade to work in the countryside. He taught my son Gou Wa how to assemble a bicycle. Other brigades have opened vermicelli workshops and tofu workshops. I wondered if I could open a second-hand bicycle assembly workshop. I thought he had the ability, so I went to ask him. As a result, he told me that our place is not suitable for manufacturing workshops. Then he pointed out a clear way for us to open a sugar workshop. You know, in addition to growing grain, our brigade also grows some vegetables for wintering every year. A large part of them are sugar beets. These sugar beets can be used to make sugar."

Meng Yongsheng was stunned for a moment and said, "I've only heard of sugar being made from sugarcane, but I've never heard of sugar being made from sugar beets?! I didn't expect this educated youth from your team to be so capable?!"

Tian Dazhuang went on to say: "Not all beets can be used to make sugar. Some beets are not sweet enough to make sugar. In our entire commune, there are more than a dozen brigades, but only a few of them grow beets that can be used to make sugar."

Meng Yongsheng hesitated for a moment and asked, "Lao Gao, can this be promoted?!"

Gao Junsong said: "There are only so many beets. Maybe we can stop growing food in the fields and use all of them to grow beets?!"

Meng Yongsheng's heart skipped a beat. If the idea of ​​making sugar from beets spread, people would stop growing crops and plant beets instead. If there was a disaster and food was running out, the higher-ups would hold him accountable. The consequences would be something that he, the president of a small town supply and marketing cooperative, could not bear. Meng Yongsheng sobered up instantly.

Tian Dazhuang saw Meng Yongsheng's reaction and said, "Meng, what restricts our workshop's output now is raw materials. You are the president of the town supply and marketing cooperative. We would like to ask you to help us purchase sugar beets in the name of the supply and marketing cooperative."

The three buyers nearby were a little eager to make a move after hearing what Tian Dazhuang said. Meng Yongsheng said, "Didn't you just say that not all beets can be made into sugar?!"

Gao Junsong said: "If it can't be used to make sugar, can't it be used to make pickles?!"

Meng Yongsheng thought about it and nodded, "Okay! I'll help you with this later. I'll help you buy the beets as soon as possible before the weather gets completely cold."

After lunch, Meng Yongsheng and his men followed the truck carrying the goods and left Qingshan Brigade. Looking at the truck gradually going away, Tian Dazhuang said: "I earned more than 1,000 yuan in one go. The hard work in the past half month has not been in vain."

Gao Junsong said, "Tomorrow you and Lao Wu will take a few militiamen to the supply and marketing cooperative to get the money back. Thank you Lao Wu for your hard work. The day after tomorrow, we will distribute the food to the team members. By the way, we will also pay the wages for this half month."

Wu Haiwang said, "Lao Gao, I have to warn you! Your salary is too high. If you pay out the salary, you may end up spending more than you earn!"

Gao Junsong said: "I'm selling horse bones for a fortune, so it's okay to lose a little at the beginning. We can slowly make it back later. I'm also trying to prevent the commune from taking advantage of me."

A little after 2800 p.m., Meng Yongsheng personally delivered more than kilograms of sugar to the warehouse. At the same time, the news that the sugar workshop of Qingshan Brigade had produced sugar spread like wildfire. Ge Yunfei thought that the sugar workshop of Qingshan Brigade was at most a small-scale business and would not become a major enterprise. However, when Ge Yunfei learned that the first batch of sugar was kilograms, his face changed. After hesitating for a while, Ge Yunfei left his office, walked to the door of Dai Aimin's office, and knocked on the door.

Dai Aimin heard a knock on the door and shouted, "Come in!"

Ge Yunfei pushed the door open and walked into the office, asking, "Old Dai, have you heard about what happened at the Qingshan Brigade?!"

Dai Aimin replied: "I have heard about it."

Ge Yunfei said: "A small sugar-making workshop earns more than 1600 yuan in half a month. I just calculated that after deducting the cost, they made a net profit of more than yuan."

Dai Aimin answered directly: "They don't make any money! They pay the team members one yuan a day. Each household in their team contributes one person, which is about 120 to 130 people. It costs more than yuan a month just to pay these people's wages. Where do you think they make money?!"

Ge Yunfei was stunned for a moment and asked, "If they don't make money, then what are they looking for?!"

Dai Aimin smiled and asked, "Where did the money go?!"

Ge Yunfei answered without thinking: "Of course it fell into the hands of the members of Qingshan Brigade." At this time, Ge Yunfei reacted.

Dai Aimin saw Ge Yunfei's expression and knew that he had understood. He said, "Come with me to Qingshan Brigade in a few days."