Chapter 384: Opportunity
Chapter 384: Opportunity
Jiang Xia walked into the kitchen.
The entire kitchen was filled with steam.
Tian Caihua was cutting rice sheets, and the strips of rice sheets resembled rice noodles.
"Mom, are you making rice noodles?"
"In my hometown, we call it rice vermicelli soup, and it's similar to rice noodles. They're both made from rice pudding."
"Is there anything I can help with?"
Zhou Mu lifted the lid of the large iron pot, and a rush of steam surged forth: "No, the steam is too much in here. You shouldn't have come in. After being out all day, are you tired? If you're tired, go back to the room and rest for a while. You don't need to help."
"I'm not tired. I took a nap at my parents' house before coming back." Jiang Xia noticed a round, hole-less sieve in the iron pot, steaming a thin layer of transparent rice sheets.
Steam rose, and the moment the lid was lifted, the rice sheets puffed up into a small mound from the steam.
Zhou Mu quickly picked up the sieve from the pot and placed it vertically on a large wooden basin on the ground, leaning it against the edge of the stove to stabilize it.
Two sieves were already leaning against the edge of the stove, each with rice sheets on them.
"We're having seafood vermicelli soup tonight. Do you want it with soup, dry, or stir-fried?" At Zhou Mu's feet was a wooden bucket with a bit of almost-finished white rice pudding. She picked up another empty sieve, scooped some rice pudding into it, and held the sieve with both hands, rotating it to evenly spread the rice pudding. Then, she placed it in the large iron pot to steam.
It would be ready in a minute or two.
Jiang Xia said, "I'll have the dry vermicelli! I'll take care of the seafood."
Zhou Mu replied, "No need, it's almost done. I can handle it."
"Mom's seafood vermicelli soup is delicious. You should try it." After cutting three rice sheets, Tian Caihua picked up another sieve and carefully peeled off the cooled rice sheet.
After peeling off about a quarter of it, she used a rolling pin to support the rice sheet and then carefully peeled off the entire sheet.
She placed it on the empty round sieve next to her and stacked them like blankets, creating three layers for easy cutting later.
After finishing one, she moved on to peel another rice sheet.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law worked seamlessly together, one steaming and the other peeling.
Jiang Xia stepped forward to help with cutting and then took the cut rice noodles to hang them on bamboo poles to dry.
The scraps were very short and difficult to dry, so they would be part of tonight's dinner.
Zhou Chenglei arrived at the production team's entrance to queue for rice tub, and the villagers surrounded him with questions.
"Alei, didn't your mom make three large bags of rice tub? Isn't that enough?"
"Hmm."
"Alei, are you using refined sugar to make rice tub? Tsk, you're so generous!"
"Alei is so capable, earning so much money, and it's just a little bit of refined sugar. It's not like he can't afford it, so why is he being stingy?"
A small amount of sweetener was enough, and refined sugar wasn't as sweet as sweetener, so more was needed, and it was also more expensive. That's why no one was willing to buy refined sugar to make rice tub.
If it weren't for Jiang Xia's suggestion, Zhou Chenglei wouldn't have thought of using refined sugar either.
"Alei, how much did your family's new tractor cost? Can you lend it to us after the New Year to plow our fields?"
As soon as these words were spoken, a crowd rushed forward to borrow the tractor.
"Alei, remember to lend it to us for plowing too! We're second in line!"
"Alei, we want to borrow it too! We're third!"
"I'm fourth, Alei, I also want to borrow the tractor. I'm fourth!"
...
An hour ago, Zhou Chengxin drove a new tractor back, causing a sensation among the people at the dock.
A tractor!
Every household yearned for a tractor.
It could transport fish for sale, carry grain, transport people, and plow fields—how convenient! Every family wanted one.
For the villagers, this was an even more practical means of transportation than motorcycles.
Previously, the villagers had already gathered around Zhou Chengxin and Tian Caihua, marveling at the new tractor.
Upon learning that Zhou Chenglei had purchased it, the villagers couldn't help but sigh in awe.
"He's so rich!"
Zhou Chenglei knew that the villagers would gather around, which was why he had just asked Jiang Xia to queue up for the rice noodles.
He replied, "Sure, it's two yuan to plow an acre of land."
Instantly, many villagers fell silent, no longer mentioning borrowing. Those with frugal and gossipy tendencies couldn't help but speak up:
"You're charging money?"
"Two yuan per acre, that's too expensive! Why not just use the production team's tractor instead?"
"It's still expensive at two yuan per acre. Can you lower the price a bit? Two yuan per acre is too much, how about two yuan per day?"
...
Zhou Chenglei: "Renting the tractor for plowing costs twenty yuan per day, for eight hours, not including fuel costs."
Zhou Chenglei didn't plan to make a profit from this; he was too busy for that.
When his older brother has time, he'll let him handle it. If not, he'll find someone else.
He bought the tractor for the convenience of delivering dried fish to the city, not for making money.
Someone whispered, "The richer they are, the more stingy they become. We're all from the Zhou family, we're all brothers, and he's charging for the use of the tractor."
"And the price is so high! Two yuan per acre, it's better to use the production team's tractor."
...
Zhou Li walked out of the production team and overheard several well-known lazy and gossipy women gathering and complaining about Zhou Chenglei. She spoke up, "Isn't it normal to charge money? He spent three to four thousand yuan to buy the tractor, and he's lending it to you for free? Of course, he bought it to make money."
"If it's free, everyone will come to borrow it, and he'll lose money on fuel costs! What if it breaks down, who will bear the cost? Tractor maintenance and repairs aren't free either! Who will pay for the repairs?"
After Zhou Li finished speaking, she walked towards Zhou Chenglei and smiled, "Alei, thank you for calling the ambulance to send Xiao Wan to the hospital. Guo Hua had wanted to take Wen Wan away from the hospital, but he didn't expect her to almost faint as soon as she left."
"He just called to say she needs to stay in the hospital for a night. The doctor said she has severe malnutrition. That child has been vomiting so much, and she still dared to go to the city by herself, causing trouble for others. What if she faints on the way? Fortunately, we met you today, thank you for your help!"
Zhou Chenglei: "As long as she's fine."
"That child has been vomiting a lot recently. She eats and then vomits, unable to keep anything down, which led to malnutrition. Guo Hua and my sister-in-law have been trying various ways to feed her."
Zhou Chenglei remained silent, turning his head towards the sea.
Zhou Li noticed Zhou Chenglei's silence and quickly changed the topic, "I heard that Xiao Xia is also pregnant. How is she doing? Is she experiencing morning sickness?"
"She's doing okay, no morning sickness for now."
"That's good. Pregnancy is especially hard for women. In the early stages, there's morning sickness, vomiting constantly. As the belly grows, bending over, walking, and even breathing become difficult. In the later stages, the feet swell, and sleep becomes elusive..."
Zhou Chenglei remained silent, hoping in his heart that Jiang Xia wouldn't have to go through all this.
Zhou Li was skilled at reading the room, and seeing that Zhou Chenglei seemed to be listening, she continued, "The closer to giving birth, the more painful it becomes. When it's time to give birth, the pain is unbearable! Each contraction feels like it's taking your life. When I gave birth to my first child, I was in labor for two days and one night before finally delivering! Even if it's painful, you can't scream loudly; you have to conserve your strength. If you scream too much, you won't have the energy to push later..."
"After giving birth, the postpartum recovery is even more challenging. The baby cries, you can't sleep well, and your body suffers, making it easy to develop postpartum illnesses..."
...
Zhou Li kept talking until Zhou Chenglei finished making rice noodles and left.
Zhou Li watched as Zhou Chenglei carried two large bags of rice noodles and thought about bringing some fruit to Jiang Xia the next day to express her gratitude.
(End of Chapter)
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