Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

"Brother Wang Feng, you said the factory's quota reduction will only last for three months, is that true?"

Qin Jingru never expected that even the factory's quota would be reduced, making life increasingly difficult.

Fortunately, she became Wang Feng's wife, and her family is now well-off with plenty of money and food. If she hadn't married Wang Feng and were still living in the rural countryside, this year would have been the most difficult year for her family.

After all, without Wang Feng, she wouldn't have been able to learn such good cooking skills, her brother Qin Dashan wouldn't have been able to work in the factory, and her father wouldn't have been able to store a large amount of grain in advance.

Wang Feng sighed and said, "Li Huaide said he was unsure, saying that he would set a three-month limit for now and then decide based on the situation. However, I estimate that three months should be about right. After all, the steel rolling mill is a key state-owned enterprise. If the quota is not restored for a long time, the output will definitely be severely affected."

Qin Jingru nodded and sighed softly, "That's good."

After finishing the meal.

Qin Jingru brewed tea, while Lu Banxia was in charge of boiling water for a bath. The two had a clear division of labor, and by the time Wang Feng finished drinking a pot of tea, the hot water was ready.

Lou Xiao'e's relatives came today, and Qin Jingru's relatives also came, which made Qin Jingru very disappointed and also made her feel particularly anxious.

Having not conceived Wang Feng's child for so long, not only was she anxious, but her parents were also extremely worried, especially her mother.

When she last went back to Qinjiazhuang, her mother taught her a lot of techniques, but she tried them and they didn't work. She didn't know what to do.

After taking a shower, the three of them went to bed.

Now that Qin Jingru has come to visit, Lu Banxia is left to bear the brunt of Wang Feng's onslaught alone, which puts her under immense pressure.

The main problem is that Wang Feng is too strong; he can go on for one or two hours at a time. Fortunately, she has been eating top-quality rice and drinking top-quality tea every day recently, so her health has improved a lot. Otherwise, she really wouldn't have been able to keep up.

Lu Banxia is no longer an innocent little girl. After living and eating at Wang Feng's house for so long, she has discovered many of Wang Feng's secrets.

Take this premium rice for example. As an adult, it's impossible for her to only eat half a bowl and then be unable to finish it. Moreover, the premium tea was simply too delicious. After drinking a cup of tea, she clearly felt that her spirits immediately improved.

She absolutely did not believe that the premium rice and tea were genuine, but she also knew that this was definitely Wang Feng's secret, and she would never reveal it.

After her parents were framed and murdered by that damned Duan Tiande, who plotted to seize her family's property, her mind became less innocent than before.

If outsiders knew about the rice and tea that Wang Feng's family ate, countless people like Duan Tiande might try to force Wang Feng to hand over the goods under various pretexts.

She's not stupid. How could she not understand such a simple truth? Her father used to tell her the saying, "A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime." But after her parents' accident, she realized the true meaning of those words. People really can be this bad.

......

The next day, early in the morning.

Qin Jingru got up at six o'clock this morning. She was going to mix elm leaves into cornmeal to make steamed buns. In order not to delay Wang Feng's time, she had to get up early.

She went to the kitchen, boiled water, and then put a pound of elm leaves into the pot to blanch them. She boiled them for less than two minutes, taking the leaves out before they became mushy.

Then she put the elm leaves into the prepared cool water and soaked them for twenty minutes.

Then she took the elm leaves out, placed them on a cutting board, and rubbed them repeatedly to extract the green liquid from the leaves. After rubbing them back and forth several times to make sure that no more green liquid could be extracted from the elm leaves, she chopped the elm leaves into small pieces, mixed them into cornmeal, and started steaming cornbread.

By the time Wang Feng and Lu Banxia got up, Qin Jingru had already steamed the cornbread.

She picked up a cornbread, broke off a piece and put it in her mouth. Sure enough, she could only taste a slight bitterness, which didn't affect the overall flavor much. However, it still wasn't as delicious as the cornbread she usually made.

But there was nothing she could do about it. She followed the proportions Wang Feng told her, using 40% elm leaves and 60% cornmeal, and it was already quite good that it was still edible.

This time, she used one pound of elm leaves and one and a half pounds of cornmeal to make a total of 10 steamed buns.

After Wang Feng and Lu Banxia finished washing up, Qin Jingru brought the shredded pork noodles to the table and said with a smile:

"Brother Wang Feng, the steamed buns you asked me to make with elm leaves are ready. Would you like to try some?"

"Hmm, bring one over here, I want to try one."

This is meant for Li Huaide to eat; if it's really too awful, then it definitely won't do.

"Sister Jingru, give me one to try too," Lu Banxia said with a smile.

Qin Jingru rolled her eyes: "Banxia, ​​do you think this cornbread is some kind of delicacy? You and Wang Feng are lucky if you can finish one."

As she spoke, Qin Jingru went to the kitchen, took out a cornbread, broke it in half, and gave one half to Wang Feng and one half to Lu Banxia.

"Brother Wang Feng, Banxia, ​​you guys should try it. I just tried it. It's not as good as regular cornbread, but it's not too bad either, you can still eat it."

Wang Feng nodded, took the steamed bun, took a bite, chewed it a few times, and swallowed it.

Just as Qin Jingru said, the cornbread made with 40% elm leaves was indeed not very tasty. But cornbread is not tasty to begin with. In this year, as long as we can fill our stomachs, that's enough. What more could we ask for?

Lu Banxia also took a bite, and soon her brows furrowed, but she didn't spit it out.

After taking one bite, Wang Feng stopped eating. He figured he knew what it tasted like anyway, since it wasn't made for him.

"Jingru, this cornbread is perfect, it tastes just right. You've done a great job. I'll go to the steel mill later and take the remaining cornbread to Li Huaide and the factory's cadres to try."

"Okay, Brother Wang Feng, I'll heat up the steamed buns first, so they don't get cold and affect the taste later."

Qin Jingru smiled sweetly; she was happiest when Wang Feng affirmed her.

"Um."

After finishing breakfast, it was only 7:45. Lu Banxia had just left home when Wang Feng put the steamed buns into his spatial storage, pushed his bicycle, and went out as well.

Upon arriving at the steel rolling mill, Wang Feng first went to the Purchasing Department III. Finding no one there, he then went to the factory manager's office.

"Knock knock knock".

After knocking on the door for a while and seeing no response, Wang Feng pushed the door open and went inside.

Seeing that Li Huaide was not in the office, Wang Feng walked to Li Huaide's factory manager's desk, sat down, took out a Zhonghua cigarette and smoked it, waiting for Li Huaide to return.