Beautiful beauties in the 80s courtyard

Chapter 486 Lucky Star Xiao Lu
Meng Qingshan felt a little embarrassed and said, "I was thinking too narrowly."

Lu Qiaoge smiled and said, "Brother Meng, your hard work and achievements have been seen by me and the leaders. You've done a great job."

Although Lu Qiaoge was younger than him, she was his boss.

Meng Qingshan was completely convinced by Lu Qiaoge's assessment, which reassured him greatly.

After reporting a few things to Lu Qiaoge, he continued working with renewed vigor.

Lu Qiaoge drove to the Shangen Brigade.

Before going there, we stopped at the commune and checked on the branch factory. It was operating normally, and the second batch of orders would be completed soon.

Now their main weaving material is corn husks.

The other materials were supplied to the main factory.

The main factory has developed some very beautiful straw hats.

However, it cannot be called a straw hat; it should be called a cool hat.

It has a ribbon tied in a bow on it.

These are goods that Lu Qiaoge bought from the textile factory; they come in all colors.

We now have over two thousand straw hats in stock.

Straw hats may not be able to be exchanged for foreign currency, but they can be sold domestically.

Seeing Lu Qiaoge arrive, President Zhu hurriedly ran over from his office: "Oh, Director Lu, you're here to inspect the work again."

"Hello, President Zhu. What inspection is it? I'm just going to check on the purchasing point in Shangen Brigade and stopped by to say hello. I hope I haven't bothered you?"

"What do you mean by disturbing us? You're just too busy. I really wish you could come over here more often and give us some pointers. By the way, Director Lu, do you have any good side hustle opportunities these days?"

Lu Qiaoge glanced at President Zhu, who had a very serious expression, and after considering it for a moment, said, "The side business with low cost and low risk is knitting."

"So your branch factory isn't hiring either?"

Besides, even if you're hiring, you can't hire hundreds or thousands of people.

The craft factory produces high-quality goods. If there are no orders, how can a large number of people be supported here?

To be honest, nobody in China buys these so-called handicrafts.

Of course, President Zhu couldn't say these words to his face.

Lu Qiaoge said, "President Zhu, you can organize idle laborers to weave straw hats. They don't need to be high-quality, but the quality must be up to standard."

After thinking for a moment, Lu Qiaoge took off the straw hat she was wearing. "We don't need to put this ribbon on it. The specifications are uniform. If you can weave the style I have now, I will buy it as long as it meets the standards. The specific price will be based on the domestic market price. This will not be exported for the time being."

President Zhu was just asking casually; it would be best if he could answer, but it wouldn't matter if he couldn't.

Spring plowing is in full swing, and everyone is very busy, but there are still some people who have some free time.

Besides, all the production teams in the communes are now engaged in sideline businesses, and they have indeed tasted the benefits of doing so. They certainly won't let any opportunity slip by.

I never expected this unexpected surprise.

He immediately replied, "No problem. To be honest, although we're all from the countryside, we still need our fellow farmers to weave straw hats. As long as you're willing to buy them, I can get started right away. We don't need to find a special place. Just assign the task, find the materials yourself, and weave them yourself. Then we can take them to the commune and have them inspected one by one. Those that pass will be exchanged for money, and those that don't will be kept at home."

To put it bluntly, the least valuable thing for these rural people is their time. Lu Qiaoge readily agreed: "Then I'll have Shao Le come and sign an acquisition agreement with you tomorrow."

Although Shao Le is still working at the subdistrict office, he has become Lu Qiaoge's assistant without his knowledge, and he handles many things for her.

President Zhu said excitedly, "Okay, I'll start the meeting now and issue the notice shortly."

Great! By the end of the year, this will be another achievement of my work.

Besides, Director Lu agreed to the purchase and even signed an agreement, which proves that as long as qualified straw hats are made, it can be a source of income from a side business.

President Zhu thought of the large reeds in the low-lying area and asked Lu Qiaoge, "If we were to weave mats, could we sell them? Some farmers do cut reed stalks and weave them into mats to sell at the market, but not many people buy them. After all, these aren't consumables; some families can use one mat for over ten years. People in the city also buy them, but fewer and fewer are doing so now. Many people live in apartment buildings and sleep on beds; without a kang (heated brick bed), they can't use these mats."

Lu Qiaoge thought for a moment and said, "How about we hold another market for exchanging goods? We don't need to bring out straw hats yet, but we can bring reed stalks, sorghum stalks, or straw-woven household items, or even dried vegetables from home. By the way, dandelions and shepherd's purse are already in season, those would be fine too."

President Zhu slapped his thigh and pointed at Lu Qiaoge, saying, "You're such a lucky star! I'm so grateful to you. I'm going to the meeting now."

President Zhu happily ran towards his office.

Lu Qiaoge smiled too.

President Zhu is an exceptionally good president; he's almost completely dedicated to his work.

Zhao Xiaoman's eyes also lit up, and she asked curiously, "Factory Manager, do you also like dandelion?"

"Of course I like to eat it. You can wash it clean and dip it in sauce, or you can blanch it and use it to make dumplings or buns. It tastes very good."

Zhao Xiaoman never expected that city people also liked to eat wild vegetables.

Lu Qiaoge said, "It's not about whether I like eating wild vegetables or not. You see, it's the lean season now, and some of the fresh vegetables in the fields have only just been planted. If you want to supplement your vitamins, then eat more wild vegetables."

Suddenly remembering something, Lu Qiaoge asked Zhao Xiaoman to take him to see the warehouse where corn leaves were stored.

The sun was shining brightly today, and the room was well-lit. Lu Qiaoge pointed to the soft-colored, clearly defined, yet supple and elastic corn leaves and asked Zhao Xiaoman, "Do you know who handled these?"

Zhao Xiaoman also noticed the unusual thing about the corn leaves; these bundles of corn leaves were placed separately on a wooden shelf.

Zhao Xiaoman said, "I haven't had a chance to ask Tan Ying yet. These were collected last time. Some of them were taken to the main factory by Comrade Xiao Shao, who said that they wanted to use Jinjin grass and corn leaves to weave plum blossom handbags."

Lu Qiaoge knows this.

Lu Qiaoge got them a batch of dyes, specially approved plant dyes, and planned to make a batch of high-quality products.

Lu Qiaoge saw the design drafts and also saw how Fan Xiaoyu wove a plum blossom, which made her workers all very skillful.

Zhao Xiaoman quickly added, "I smelled it, it seems to have a medicinal fragrance."

Lu Qiaoge also smelled it, otherwise she wouldn't have noticed it.

"Okay, I'll go check on the Shangen brigade. You go ahead with your work."

Zhao Xiaoman watched the jeep drive away. She had a large basket of wild vegetables she had dug up yesterday, which she had intended to give to Qiao Ge, but she didn't know if she would like to eat them, since they were wild vegetables.

Now it's great, Qiao Ge likes to eat it too.

I need to get up early tomorrow and go to the fields with my husband to dig up more dandelions and shepherd's purse. Then, I'll deliver them to Brother Shao Le at the family compound tonight so he can give them to Lu Qiaoge.

She always wanted to repay Qiao Ge, but she really didn't know how to do so.

(End of this chapter)