Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

The next day, early in the morning.

As usual, Qin Jingru got up early to make breakfast.

However, after breakfast today, she went to work with Lu Banxia.

The "Remembering the Bitter Past and Appreciating the Sweet Present" meal will be launched in the cafeteria at noon today, and she has to go to the cafeteria to keep an eye on it to prevent any accidents from happening.

She had already taught several cafeteria staff members what she was supposed to teach yesterday afternoon, but she was still a little worried.

After Qin Jingru and Lu Banxia left, Wang Feng thought for a moment, then pushed his bicycle out the door as well.

He didn't go to Courtyard No. 28, nor did he go to Ninth Master's place to learn traditional Chinese medicine. Instead, he rode his bicycle to the moat.

He had only searched one-fifth of the moat before, and he planned to search the entire moat to avoid wasting any time.

Now that his spiritual sense has reached sixty meters, he can collect items weighing up to six hundred kilograms from a distance. It is much easier for him to search for treasure in the moat now, and he no longer needs to go down into the river to search blindly as before.

It took Wang Feng about twenty minutes to ride to the place he had searched for before, along the moat. He then began to use his spiritual sense to search along the river.

As he rode his bicycle, he probed every part of the river with his spiritual sense, collecting anything of value into his spatial storage.

......

at the same time.

When Qin Jingru arrived at the canteen kitchen, she instructed the staff to start boiling water to process the elm leaves. Seeing that the people in the third canteen were quite skilled, she then went to check on the second and first canteens.

After confirming that the kitchen staff of all three canteens could prepare the "bitter memories and sweet memories" meal, she returned to the third canteen.

......

It was a few minutes to 11 a.m.

Lu Banxia's sweet voice rang out on the radio.

[Hello, fellow workers, good morning. This is your announcer, Lu Banxia. The following is an announcement.]

[Due to a decrease in the grain supply from the grain depot to our factory, after a meeting of factory cadres, it has been decided that for three months, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the canteen will offer a "bitter-sweet meal" to commemorate the past. All workers are advised to take note.]

[The "bitter-sweet meal" is a type of cornbread made from elm leaves and cornmeal, with a texture similar to regular cornbread. We urge all workers to understand the hardships our country is facing, not to believe or spread rumors, to persevere through this difficult time, and to work hard to contribute to the nation's development.]

At the same time, we hope that while enjoying this meal to remember the hardships our predecessors endured, we should also appreciate how much we cherish our improved lives and remember how hard-won our current happiness is.

The broadcast was repeated three times in a row. Lu Banxia's sweet voice spread throughout the entire steel rolling mill, and the workers who were working hard in the workshop could clearly hear the content of the broadcast.

Most of the workers were very dissatisfied with this matter.

Their original ration was reduced by 30%, and now the factory's ration has also been reduced. They even have to mix tree leaves into cornmeal to make cornbread for them to eat. They are already working so hard, who can stand it?

Despite their dissatisfaction, they dared not cause trouble. This was an arrangement made by the factory leaders, and the rations were reduced by the grain station. Even if they caused trouble, they wouldn't be able to do anything, and might even be punished. They weren't so foolish as to cause trouble at this critical juncture.

Shortly after Lu Banxia's broadcast, Minister Ma of the Logistics Department arranged for banners to be hung at the three canteen food serving windows. The banners read:

Remember the bitter past, cherish the present happiness, never forget the hardships, and treasure the good life we ​​have.

11:30 a.m.

The workers gradually arrived at the canteen for their meals. When they saw that the cornbread was smaller than before and that at least half of it was made of elm leaves, they were quite dissatisfied.

Just then, Li Huaide, who was sitting in the center of the canteen, along with a group of factory leaders, picked up a loudspeaker and shouted to the workers in the canteen:

"Hello, fellow workers, this is factory manager Li Huaide. I know you're all unhappy about having to eat 'bitter memories' meals, but the grain station has reduced our factory's grain quota. It's not just our factory that's getting a reduced quota; all the factories are getting a reduced quota. There's nothing we can do about it."

"I, Li Huaide, assure you all that these difficult days will not last long. I hope you can persevere. We will definitely overcome this challenge. At the same time, we leaders will eat this bittersweet meal with you. We will work together and we will definitely overcome all difficulties."

As they spoke, Li Huaide and the factory leaders picked up cornbread made from elm leaves mixed with cornmeal and began to eat it.

When the group of workers heard what the factory director Li Huaide said, and saw that Li Huaide and the factory leaders were eating the same "bitter-sweet meal" as them, they were angry but said nothing.

What else is there to say? Even the factory director ate this "bitter memories meal" with them, and it's not just the steel mill that's experiencing a reduction in food rations. Even if they want to blame someone, they can't blame the factory.

Seeing that the workers had started eating and there was no arguing, Li Huaide exchanged a glance with Minister Ma, smiled slightly, and then split up with a group of leaders to go to the second and first canteens.

Qin Huairu did not come to the cafeteria with Wang Mazi today, nor with Tieguai Li. She came to the cafeteria alone and started queuing at Qin Jingru's food serving window.

When it was her turn in line, she handed over the money and said expressionlessly:

"I'd like two steamed buns."

This time, Qin Huairu didn't even call Qin Jingru by her name, which surprised Qin Jingru.

However, she didn't say anything. She took two steamed buns and put them in Qin Huairu's lunchbox. This time, she didn't stir-fry them for Qin Huairu. Instead, she specially chose two of the smallest steamed buns for Qin Huairu and simply took two normal-sized ones.

Now that Banggeng has been kidnapped by Paihuazi, Qin Huairu is quite pitiful. Qin Jingru has stopped targeting her specifically. After all, Qin Huairu is already in such a miserable state, it would be too much for her to continue targeting her.

Not long after Qin Huairu left, Liu Guangtian also arrived at Qin Jingru's food serving window.

"Sister-in-law, give me two steamed buns and a serving of cabbage," Liu Guangtian said with a smile.

Qin Jingru nodded, took the money and tickets, put two steamed buns into Liu Guangtian's lunchbox, and then gave Liu Guangtian a spoonful of cabbage.

She didn't hit Liu Guangtian too hard, nor did she flip the wok; she just hit him in a standard, conventional way.

"Hehe, thank you, sister-in-law."

Liu Guangtian chuckled, not complaining that Qin Jingru hadn't given him enough food. He picked up his lunchbox, smiled, and found a place to eat.