Sun Lanlan’s father was the head of the production brigade in the village, and after the household responsibility system was implemented, he became the village chief, commanding immense prestige in the village.
The Sun Brothers were numerous, yet they weren’t the sort to throw their weight around; instead, they were well-liked in the village.
Such people were suitable not only for finding help but also for keeping things in order.
“Make sure to discuss with your oldest and second brothers to plan out next year’s farm work well. Raising chickens will more or less affect the fieldwork, so try to plant something simpler. As for wages, I will talk to them in person. It’s just that with the current cold weather, we’ll have to wait until spring next year to bring in the first batch of chicks.”
“I understand, my oldest and second brothers know all this.”
Since everything was settled, Lin Chuxia asked Sun Bingnan to go back to the village to sign the contract.
Originally, renting mountains and land in the village did not require a lease contract, but just to be safe, Lin Chuxia still drafted one which at least specified the rent, lease term, and their absolute right of first refusal upon lease expiration.
The contract was handwritten in two copies. After finishing the contract, Lin Chuxia handed 1,000 yuan to Sun Bingnan.
This 1,000 yuan was what she had received yesterday.
The mechanical factory had ultimately approved the design proposal she submitted.
This time, in addition to providing her with two finished vacuum-sealed packaging machines as a reward, they also gave her 1,000 yuan as a design fee.
They hoped that if Lin Chuxia had more designs in the future, she would prioritize working with their mechanical factory.
With her affairs concluded here, Lin Chuxia went to the prepared food courtyard.
If the vacuum packaging machines were produced, it would be a turning point for their prepared food industry – and especially since the Spring Festival was approaching, she needed to plan the next steps with Su Wensong.
As soon as she entered the courtyard, the two people standing around the meat stewing pot stood up to greet her.
“Mr. Lin!”
“Manager Lin!”
Lin Chuxia nodded slightly, looking at Chen Chunhua somewhat unexpectedly.
Chen Chunhua quickly explained, “Manager Lin, it’s my day off from the Bun Shop today, and I didn’t have anything to do at home. I thought I’d come and keep Yingzi company for a while. I didn’t hold her up from her work, just watching from the side…”
“It’s okay, you two chat.”
She was just surprised to see Chen Chunhua here, but she wasn’t that unsociable.
Chen Chunhua had been introduced by Ma Yingzi, and they seemed to have a good private relationship.
She walked past them and called Su Wensong, then returned to the office.
After hearing Lin Chuxia’s plan, Su Wensong nodded in agreement, “Right now we’ve just entered the winter month, and our prepared food business is already in high demand. I was just about to talk to you about this; the supply of chickens from the poultry farm is already at its limit, and we indeed need to add another poultry farm.”
Pork was easy to resolve; their county had a meat processing plant that could meet any demand they had.
It was the fresh chickens that were the issue – these were raised by individual poultry farmers, of varying scales, mostly centered around families, and not many met their standards.
“Hand this matter over to you then. As always, while you can negotiate on price, we cannot be negligent with food hygiene standards.”
“I know.”
In terms of work, Su Wensong and Lin Chuxia had already developed a significant tacit understanding.
Everything was resolved, and Lin Chuxia sat in front of her desk looking at the letter paper on the table.
Calculating the time, Qin Yang should have received the letter by now. It would take a few more days to wait for his reply. For some reason, Lin Chuxia suddenly felt anxious.
She drank a cup of water but still couldn’t sit still and decided to go to the bun shop to ask Qin Han whether Qin Yang had been injured at work before, and if there really was such a situation, would he hide it from the family.
At this time, it was the peak dining hour at the bun shop, and there was a long line at the window—one queue for buns and another for cooked foods.
The main hall was almost full of customers; Zhang Guilan was so busy she barely touched the ground, and customers were calling out for things now and then.
Seeing the situation, Lin Chuxia, without saying a word, donned an apron and started helping Zhang Guilan.
“Sister-in-law, is Lihua not here either?”
She already knew that Chen Chunlan was off today. If Qin Lihua was also absent, it would be inappropriate for both of them to be off.
Zhang Guilan picked up a tray of buns and lifted her chin slightly, “Lihua is over there. Ma Suyun came over just now, I don’t know what she’s been pulling Lihua aside for, they’ve been talking for quite a while now. I’ve called her once, and she didn’t budge.”
Lin Chuxia also saw the person next to the wall, Ma Suyun was the wife of Qin Wen, who was the third cousin from Qin Yang’s eldest uncle’s family.
It is said that the three brothers in the eldest uncle’s family dote on this eldest son, Qin Wen, the most.
Qin Wen also lived up to expectations. After graduating from high school, he was admitted as a sales clerk at the county hardware company and is still working at the hardware company’s counter.
In the past, being a sales clerk was a job envied by everyone. Even up to now, the couple Qin Wen and Ma Suyun still have a certain sense of superiority among the several brothers.
Lin Chuxia had recognized the couple when she got married and had a deep impression on them.
Not to mention Qin Wen, Ma Suyun even carried herself more than Xu Yun, who was an elementary school teacher.
To the uninformed, they might think she was a miss from some high-status family or a daughter of a major leader.
It’s just that the sisters-in-law usually didn’t see each other much, and Lin Chuxia had even less contact with her.
After the rush was over, Lin Chuxia went straight to Ma Suyun’s table.
Ma Suyun saw Lin Chuxia coming over first, and Qin Lihua, following her gaze, saw that it was Lin Chuxia and subconsciously got up, only to be pulled back by Ma Suyun.
She greeted Lin Chuxia with a smile, “I’ve long heard that fourth sister-in-law opened a bun shop. I didn’t have the time to come over and have a look until today. Now that I see it, it’s quite impressive. This must be the one and only bun shop of this size in Quan’an County, right?”
Qin Lihua greeted with a nod, “Fourth auntie.”
Ma Suyun gave her a glance and said with a smile, “Oh, are you afraid that your fourth aunt will see you not working and blame you? I am telling you, Lihua, you are being distant. We’re all family. Even if you don’t do anything today and just sit here chatting with your sixth auntie, your fourth auntie won’t criticize you.”
Then she looked at Lin Chuxia, “Isn’t that right, fourth sister-in-law?”
Qin Wen was two years younger than Qin Yang, but he married early. Ma Suyun had been part of the family for two years, but they still had no children.
Lin Chuxia responded to her remarks, “Of course, did sister-in-law specially come here today?”
“Not really, I was just strolling around in the city. Now, since Qin Wen got his salary, he asked me to buy a new piece of clothing. With the twelfth lunar month approaching and the end of the year nearing, if you wait any longer to buy, not only will it be crowded and hard to get the goods, but many styles will probably be out of stock.”
“Did sister-in-law buy anything?” Lin Chuxia noticed her empty bag.
Ma Suyun waved her hand, “Not yet. I left home late, so I thought I’d check out your bun shop first and then head to the department store.”
“Okay then. Lihua, there isn’t much happening at the shop this afternoon, why don’t you go shopping with your sixth aunt? I think your sixth aunt may miss you, so spend more time with her.”
After Lin Chuxia finished speaking, Ma Suyun’s expression clearly stiffened, “Oh, there’s no need. I’ll just go shopping by myself. Lihua is still working, isn’t she? If she accompanies me, wouldn’t her wages be docked?”