Xiaomi Heavy Industry, its first entrepreneurial venture!

Chapter 553 Preparing for the New Year! (Second Update!)

As soon as his wife walked into the kitchen, Qin Chao, who had been hunched over, immediately sat up straight, picked up two peanuts with his chopsticks, popped them into his mouth, and then pointed the chopsticks towards the kitchen:

"You talk too much every day!"

He heard a noise from the kitchen, and immediately shut his mouth, bent over, and frantically stuffed peanuts into his mouth.

And so, Lin Yi watched as he picked up a peanut covered in salt and stuffed it into his mouth.

Finding the peanuts too salty, he quickly rinsed his mouth with the wine. Seeing his flustered state, Lin Yi stood up and poured him a glass of warm water.
"Actually, everyone in the world knows you're afraid of your wife!"

In short, Qin Chao stopped drinking water and then began to go berserk:
"What do you mean by being afraid of your wife? That's called love, that's called mutual respect..."

"What are you afraid of!"

"I'm not afraid at all!"

He emphasized that he was not afraid. As soon as he finished speaking, a hand reached out from the side, holding a plate of stir-fried green peppers and pork.

After the stir-fried green peppers and pork were placed down, the person who served the dish turned and walked back to the kitchen, as if they hadn't heard what had just been said.

Qin Chao gave an awkward laugh, trying to change the subject, but Lin Yi leaned over and whispered, "I mean, are you that scared?"

Your body was shaking just now!

Lowering his head and stuffing another peanut into his mouth, Qin Chao whispered:
"My wife wants me to quit drinking because I almost died from drinking once!"

"It's been many years!"

"Of course!" Lin Yi picked up his glass, clinked it against Qin Chao's, downed the drink in one gulp, and quickly poured himself another.
"Speaking of the new year, are there any new policies?"

"Policy..." Qin Chao paused for a moment, then gently shook his head:

"Some new policies will be introduced after the New Year, but these new policies will not have much to do with your company."

"These funds were all used to support small and micro-sized enterprises, but you've already become giants!"

"Basically, no support is needed!"

"If you want policy support, or if you want to expand, you can go to Jiang Daqiao."

"That guy has always been envious, especially of that shipyard. He still feels heartbroken when he thinks about it!"

After popping two more peanuts into his mouth, Qin Chao looked up and said with a smile, "Actually, you can go out and visit more people these next few days, and wish those older comrades a Happy New Year."

"If you don't know, I'll make up a list for you later!"

Knowing that Qin Chao was trying to get him to expand his network, Lin Yi seized the opportunity and quickly picked up the wine bottle to pour Qin Chao a glass: "Thank you very much, Uncle Qin!"

Picking up the full glass, Qin Chao waved his hand: "Call me brother! Calling me uncle makes me sound old!"

"Come on, let's finish this bottle together!"

"From now on, we'll each keep our own accounts!"

Qin Chao chattered on and on, and while Lin Yi wasn't looking, he opened another bottle. Looking at the open bottle, Lin Yi sighed, took the bottle, and filled Qin Chao's cup to the brim.

After a few drinks, Lin Yi felt completely numb.

When he woke up again, he was back in his room. Ji Shuangshuang was sitting at the desk not far away, wearing thick pajamas, her hands gently tapping on her laptop.

The sound of waking up made the person who was busy in front of the computer stop what they were doing.

Looking back at Lin Yi, Ji Shuangshuang walked to the water dispenser, poured a glass of warm water, added a little glucose, and then brought the water to Lin Yi: "Big Brother, it's time to take your medicine!"

"You've become addicted to playing Pan Jinlian, haven't you?"

"If you drink any more, I won't even need to drug you, you'll be finished!"

"Drink more?" Lin Yi took the water, drank it all in one gulp, and then looked at Ji Shuangshuang with a puzzled expression: "I remember... the two of us drank a bottle, and then each of us drank a glass. That's not much!"

After hearing Lin Yi's explanation, Ji Shuangshuang just sneered: "Is it really two bottles?"

She raised her right hand and gently tapped Lin Yi's brow with her index finger: "Use your brain and think carefully, are you sure there are only two bottles?"

Just as he was about to say yes, some images flashed through Lin Yi's mind.

It seemed, it seemed, that there was someone nearby opening drinks for them, but they couldn't remember who it was.

Just as he was puzzled, Ji Shuangshuang held up four fingers on her right hand: "You two drank four bottles!"

"In Madam Qin's words, they were two drunkards who couldn't drink at all, but they just picked up their glasses and started downing them, and then they got completely drunk!"

"Do you know what Secretary Qin said when Madam Qin took him to the hospital?"

Before Lin Yi could speak, Ji Shuangshuang started exaggerating, gesturing wildly, "I didn't drink it, I drank water!"

"What wine? We don't have any wine, we're using tea instead!"

"That's called brotherhood, as deep as the sea, a cup of water as strong as liquor..."

"Alright, stop acting!" Lin Yi covered his head, leaned back, and lay back on the bed, squinting at the ceiling.

After a long while, he asked in a low voice, "By the way, what are your plans for the New Year?"

These words made Ji Shuangshuang stop what she was doing. After hesitating for a moment, she blushed and whispered:
"I don't understand the customs of Suzhou!"

The voice was very soft, but the meaning was very clear.

Having received a response, Lin Yi slowly closed his eyes and mumbled indistinctly:
"Then I'll stay!"

The next morning, Lin Yi continued to visit relatives and friends to offer New Year's greetings, while Ji Shuangshuang stayed in the office and continued to send money.

I've been busy from morning till noon, and I finally have a break. I've just received my favorite lunchbox, and before I can even put my chopsticks in, the phone on the table rings.

Two words were flashing on the screen.

Ji An

Seeing her younger brother's name, Ji Shuangshuang was somewhat taken aback. She didn't quite understand why her younger brother would call her at this time.

Has something happened at home?
Thinking this, she quickly answered the phone and hurriedly asked the person on the other end:

"Xiao An, has something happened at home?"

No sooner had the question been asked than Ji An's terrified voice rang out:
“My mom has gone crazy. It’s almost Chinese New Year again, and she thinks you’ll definitely bring your boyfriend home this year. So now she’s dragging me along, and she wants to redo the whole house from top to bottom, inside and out!”

"Unlike last year when we just wiped it, we'll now apply plaster putty to the damaged areas before putting on the wallpaper!"

"Sister, I'm begging you for one thing. For all these years I've been your slave, please, please call Mom!"

"Tell her if you're going to bring your boyfriend home this year. If you're not, tell her now. I can still survive. I don't want to work myself to death only to end up with nothing."

"I beg you!"

Hearing her younger brother's wails, Ji Shuangshuang sighed and whispered amidst Ji An's despairing voice, "That guy who brought back might not be a boyfriend, he might be a husband!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Ji An's wailing rang out, "Ji Shuangshuang, I'm going to kill you!"

"I'm severing all ties with you now. From today onwards, you're no longer my sister, and I'm no longer your brother. Don't even think about ordering me around to do chores for you anymore!" "My hands are blistered and bleeding from all these past few days!"

"If Mom knew you brought your husband home, she'd throw all those beds away right now and make me do all the hard labor to carry them all back!"

"I just want to know when she'll realize that I'm her son, not a beast of burden!"

Before Ji Shuangshuang could even comfort her, a roar came through the phone, followed by her mother Fang Hui's voice:
"Ji An, come here quickly, the paint smell here is too strong, come and adjust the paint!"

"I called you, and you didn't move, did you!"

"Come on, you think you're all grown up now, huh!"

Amidst a flurry of noise, the siblings' call was abruptly ended. Ji Shuangshuang sighed in relief and turned back to continue checking the payroll and bonus sheets.

She didn't want to have a proper holiday and then be pressured by others.

On January 25, 2011, the 1nd day of the twelfth lunar month, after watching the last batch of trucks deliver the last shipment of goods out of the factory, Lin Yi turned around and shouted to the group of people behind him:

"Thank you all for your hard work. Please check the workshop thoroughly, shut down all the equipment that needs to be turned off, and turn off all the power switches that need to be turned off."

"We'll be on holiday starting tomorrow and continuing until the seventh day of the Lunar New Year!"

"Everyone except those who stayed behind can go home today!"

"Your salary and bonuses for this month have been paid in advance. When you go back, please check your accounts."

"Also, on the way back, don't talk about your job in public, and don't mention how much money you've earned. Just carry enough cash for your fare; don't carry too much, or you'll easily attract attention!"

"Alright, it's holiday time!"

After saying this, Lin Yi hummed a song and slowly walked towards the telecommunications company's office building.

Upon reaching the top floor, the finance office staff had already left, and the door was locked.

Pushing open the door, I found Ji Shuangshuang sitting under the computer, her brows furrowed, staring at the screen with a puzzled expression.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up and pointed to the computer screen with her right hand:
"You steam rice cakes here... why do you have both sweet and savory flavors?"

"Are you Suzhou people really this outrageous?"

Lin Yi had nothing to say, but simply pointed to the door: "I'm going out to buy something, do you want to come with me?"

"buy what?"

"The ingredients for those two flavors of rice cakes you just mentioned!"

"Huh? Seriously?"

"seriously!"

"Let's go then!"

The two went out, but instead of driving, they went directly into the urban village opposite the factory.

As the Lunar New Year approaches, markets have sprung up in urban villages, with vendors selling all kinds of New Year's goods crowding the streets. Some people, oblivious to the danger, insist on driving into the market at this time, further exacerbating the congestion.

Looking at the dazzling array of little things, Ji Shuangshuang transformed into a tycoon: "This, these boneless duck feet, give me two pounds!"

"Give me two pounds of these lemon-pickled chicken feet!"

"Is this... freshly baked hawthorn cake? Two more pounds, please!"

"Hawthorn candy? That's great, I'll take it all!"

"Is this fine glutinous rice flour? Give me 10 jin!"

"Why are they selling glutinous rice ball fillings? Do you make them yourself? They look good, but why is there pork crackling in them? Does adding pork crackling make them taste better? I think I'll just go buy the meat myself!"

"I'll take the whole cow's back!"

"I only want this piece of pork belly. I can only have two ounces more at most. I won't pay for anything more. That's forced buying and selling!"

After wandering around the market for two hours, Lin Yi, who had been empty-handed, now had a handcart used on construction sites to push cement and gravel. The small cargo box of the handcart was filled with all kinds of snacks.

Many of them are spicy.

After glancing at these things, Lin Yi resignedly closed his eyes. He couldn't eat them; he absolutely couldn't eat them. He would die from the spiciness.

Next to him, Ji Shuang also had a shopping cart in his hands, except it was a supermarket cart.

And so, the two of them each pushed a cart back to the factory.

Back in her room, Ji Shuangshuang immediately went into the kitchen, washed and chopped the pork belly, and then started rendering pork cracklings.

After rendering the pork cracklings, she started making bread and glutinous rice balls.

Half an hour later, she stared blankly at the glutinous rice ball that felt crumbly and couldn't be kneaded back together.

An hour and a half later, the fresh glutinous rice balls were ready. When the fist-sized glutinous rice balls appeared in front of Lin Yi, he began to wonder if he would die if he ate them.

After hesitating for a moment, he picked up a glutinous rice ball with chopsticks and carefully brought it to his mouth, much to Ji Shuangshuang's anticipation.

Because the filling contains brown sugar, white sugar, and pork cracklings, the filling becomes extremely hot after these three ingredients melt, just like a "pissing beef ball".

So Lin Yi bit very carefully, taking a small bite without breaking the skin.

I just bit off the soft outer layer of the glutinous rice ball, took a deep breath, and carefully extended my teeth again, but I still couldn't break it open.

But it was undercooked!
With revolution looming, he opened his mouth once more and gently bit off the outer layer of the glutinous rice ball.

This time, I bit into it, but the filling inside the glutinous rice ball didn't dissolve. I could still clearly see the sesame seeds and the granulated white sugar.

Eating this will really kill you!

Lin Yi put down his chopsticks, stood up, comforted Ji Shuangshuang, and went into the kitchen.

Boil water, knead dough, and prepare filling.

In less than an hour, a bowl of exquisitely shaped glutinous rice balls, all wrapped in the shape of ingots, appeared in front of Ji Shuangshuang:
"Eat, and then start cleaning! Also, use chopsticks to break the food first, otherwise it will be very hot!"

Hearing this, Ji Shuangshuang, who was about to take a big bite, quickly stopped, picked up the bowl with both hands, and placed the bowl and chopsticks in front of Lin Yi: "You help me pick some food!"

Lin Yi pushed the bowl back: "Help yourself! The filling is a bit hot. After you break it open, add some of the original soup to lower the temperature so you won't burn your tongue."

The next second, the bowl and chopsticks were pushed back in front of Lin Yi. Ji Shuangshuang lay on the table with her mouth open, looking like she was waiting to be fed. Seeing that Lin Yi didn't move, she started to whine, "Help me pick some food!"

Unable to resist her, Lin Yi dragged over a chair, sat down next to Ji Shuangshuang, broke open a glutinous rice ball, dipped it in the sweet and oily filling, blew on it to cool it down, and then fed it to Ji Shuangshuang's mouth.

"Aww!" Ji Shuangshuang took a bite of the cooled glutinous rice ball, chewed it a couple of times, and her eyes lit up immediately.

Her beautiful eyes narrowed as she slowly savored the rich aroma of glutinous rice, the fresh scent of sesame seeds, and the sweet and oily flavors of white and brown sugar and pork cracklings.

A few seconds later, she opened her eyes: "Delicious, one more!"

(End of this chapter)