Beautiful beauties in the 80s courtyard

Chapter 226 Taking Too Big a Step

How could Lu Qiaoge not make preparations?

With the grain arriving soon, the food factory can expand production, and naturally, it will need to hire workers.

She doesn't plan to get involved in this.

Director Hu and Deputy Director Huang both knew exactly how to recruit workers and what kind of workers to recruit.

Lu Qiaoge brought out her notebook and began to report her ideas to the two leaders.

The desks, chairs, benches, and even the buildings at the night school have all been repaired by the volunteers.

It's at the level where classes can start as soon as the doors are open.

Recruitment is not a problem; the main issue is finding teachers.

But because it's a night school, the kind where classes are held in the evening.

Lu Qiaoge and Lao Hu said, "...As long as the other party's qualifications are up to standard, we will hire them as private school teachers. If they perform well, we will be responsible for transferring them to public school. As for their salary, our street office will be responsible for it."

Old Hu frowned, feeling a pang of regret even as he took out money.

The key issue is that the neighborhood committee doesn't have much money either.

Lu Qiaoge said, "We have a food factory, so we should be able to afford the salaries of several teachers. Actually, in rural areas, privately-run teachers don't get salaries. Apart from a little subsidy, they make up for it with supplies. But our food is more important than money, so I think it's better to use money."

“But now that the higher-ups aren’t allocating funds, it’s very difficult for us at the grassroots level to do things on our own,” Lao Hu said with difficulty.

"If you really don't have the money, just ask retired teachers to continue contributing their talents. I think they would definitely agree."

Huang Juan said, "This is better than the previous one. There are quite a few retired teachers in our residential compound, and even some who have to stay at home. As far as I know, there are dozens..."

Lu Qiaoge had been waiting for their suggestion.

These veteran teachers are all treasures.

With them at the night school, the students' skills will improve by leaps and bounds.

“Yes, we can do it similarly to a food factory, where in the early stages it’s all voluntary service, with no salary or subsidies,” Lu Qiaoge said, looking at the two directors.

They all like this approach.

Don't underestimate the spirit of dedication of the older generation; they really don't need a single penny.

Deputy Director Huang said, "We can't go too far; there will definitely be subsidies."

The problem with night school was resolved quickly.

Next was the food factory's recruitment. Lu Qiaoge said, "I don't recommend recruiting. What I want to say is, should the handicraft group be separated and set up as a small factory on its own?"

Are they setting up another factory?

Huang Juan and Lao Hu exchanged a glance.

I really want to say, isn't this step too big?

Old Hu asked, "A craft factory that weaves melon seed baskets?"

Lu Qiaoge smiled and said, "That's right, it's an arts and crafts factory. It's not just about weaving melon seed baskets; it can develop other arts and crafts. It's all under the jurisdiction of the street office, but it still belongs to the food factory. We'll give them the warehouse to use as the factory area, and we can build a wall to separate it from the food factory area."

As for the future, there's no rush.

The current situation means we can only take it one step at a time. Even with her causing trouble, what's coming will still come.

Besides, food factories can be scaled up, but craft factories are not so easy to run, though they should be fine for the next ten years.

There are currently seven people in the handicraft group, and they are actually just as busy as the people in the food factory.

Moreover, it's still the factory's main source of profit.

There's always a feeling of being ignored.

That's why Lu Qiaoge decided to set up a small factory on her own.

In any case, during this period, any business with five or more people could be called a factory.

"You can temporarily take over as factory manager. As for the deputy factory manager..." "It's alright, just use Chang An for now. He can speak in short, broken sentences now. Besides, handicrafts can't be taught by talking. It's mainly about hands-on practice. And even when we recruit workers, we should recruit those with a foundation."

"If Chang'an really is Old Master Lin's biological son, then if he passes away, we can just pick up Xiaoyu."

This arrangement seems pretty good.

"We occasionally get orders from the Foreign Trade Bureau. We also have a cooperative relationship with Sister Su in the district, who is in charge of handicrafts. The main thing is to develop our own unique products. For example, the raw materials for the melon seed baskets are our specialty. I'm just about to report this to the leaders."

I asked Secretary You at the trade fair, and he said that people in the port city really like sunflower seed baskets; almost everyone buys one or two. The first batch of sunflower seed baskets is already sold out.

Old Hu and Old Huang were overjoyed when they heard this.

"Will the second batch be completed on time?"

Lu Qiaoge nodded: "It should be fine."

Next up is the issue of instant noodles.

Lu Qiaoge said, "There's no rush. First of all, we don't have a factory yet, and the equipment is still in transit. Also, we still need to study and learn the technology for making instant noodles."

Huang Juan hurriedly asked, "Do you have a plan in mind?"

Lu Qiaoge said, "Yes, this is my plan. Please listen to it, leaders."

Therefore, Lu Qiaoge focused on talking about instant noodles.

The noodles, oil packet, and seasoning packet are all included. Since beef is hard to find right now, we'll temporarily develop two flavors: chicken stew with mushrooms noodles and braised pork rib noodles.

Upon hearing the aroma of those two noodles, both Lao Hu and Lao Huang swallowed hard.

No, the more we listen, the more confused we get!
Mushrooms are easy to find; they're available now, growing everywhere on the mountain.

But chicken and ribs, if you put this in, it will definitely taste delicious, but who can afford it?

Lu Qiaoge patiently explained it to them, and the two finally understood.

The taste is what it's supposed to taste like, but it has to be made with real ingredients.

After Lu Qiaoge said that, it seemed like everything made sense.

The three of them talked for a while longer, and then Lu Qiaoge returned to her office and compiled all of this into a written form, which she then handed over to Lao Hu.

Old Hu looked at it once, then showed it to Huang Juan. After Huang Juan finished looking at it, she said, "Let's do it the way Qiao Ge said. Qiao Ge and I will go and see Ya Ya."

Old Hu hurriedly got on his bicycle and headed towards the factory.

Huang Juan and Lu Qiaoge went to the finance department and withdrew a sum of money. Then they went to the department store and bought canned chicken cakes and a box of malted milk powder, spending twenty yuan in one go.

On the way, Huang Juan said to Lu Qiaoge, "You need to attend night school, but there's a training course at the provincial cadre school in October. Lao Hu and I both recommended you, and the higher-ups have agreed. The problem is that you need to reach junior high school graduation level within a month. What do you think? If it's too difficult, we can go next year."

Lu Qiaoge said, "No problem, I have a foundation, I can still give it a shot."

Huang Juan smiled, saying that as long as you have confidence, that's all that matters.

Zhang Zhuliang has completely calmed down, and Ya Ya is much better than when I saw her the day before yesterday.

When she saw Lu Qiaoge, she softly called her "Sister Qiaoge".

Huang Juan and Li Cuibo said they had applied for medical subsidies for their child in accordance with regulations.

There is also a three-month subsidy of ten yuan per month.

Zhang Zhuliang and Li Cuibo never expected to be able to get the subsidy.

For a moment, I was so choked up that I didn't know what to say.

As Lu Qiaoge left the Zhang family's house, Aunt Sun was waiting at the door and asked, "Did you find it?"

Lu Qiaoge shook her head: "No, the security department is investigating."

Grandma Sun clenched her hands, feeling very uneasy.

Yesterday, my eldest daughter-in-law came back and secretly told me that on the day Yaya had the accident, the big black dog still had blood on its mouth, but she didn't pay attention and thought it had eaten a rat. But now, it seems that's not the case.

(End of this chapter)