Seventies Sweetheart: From Breakup to Billionaire

Chapter 338 - 38: The Bun Workshop’s Big Order

"Girl, today when I went to the pork company, there happened to be some extra, nice pork belly. I got a bit for you. And these eggs are all laid by the hens at home after the New Year, so they’re fresh. You and your mom take them and enjoy.""Auntie, you don’t have to..."

"I’ve got food cooking at home, so I’ll head back first. Come over some day when you have time, and I’ll cook for you!"

Lin Xiang looked at the meat and eggs in her arms, then at the auntie’s retreating figure, pondering, when another sister-in-law came over.

...

An hour later, what was once an empty yard was now piled with plenty of things.

Mrs. Lin and Lin Xiang looked at each other in amazement.

"Mom, as far as I remember, we never had such a good relationship with these aunties in the village."

Could it be just because she’s a college student now and has a bright future, that the aunties are trying to curry favor?

But that wouldn’t make sense!

After all, the aunties were giving chickens, ducks, and meat, which are the best things for rural people with little income.

Moreover, the aunties can’t be certain she’ll return in the future, so rushing to build ties now seemed unrealistic.

Plus, the reputation of Lin Xiang and her mother in the village wasn’t great until Lin Xiang took some actions that gradually changed the villagers’ perceptions.

The aunties’ enthusiasm left Lin Xiang unsure of how to respond.

The answer to this question came after meeting the team leader.

Lin Xiang looked at the things the team leader was holding and said numbly, "Team Leader Uncle, don’t tell me you’re here to bring us things too?"

"I figured you just came back and probably didn’t have time to prepare New Year’s goods, so I brought some. I didn’t expect your New Year’s supply to be richer than the rest of the village’s."

The team leader said almost the same things as the aunties.

Lin Xiang said helplessly, "These were all brought by the aunties in the village, and each of them started by saying that since we’re back from Beijing, we didn’t have time to prepare New Year’s goods, so each household prepared a share for us as well."

The team leader looked at Lin Xiang’s helpless expression and laughed, "It’s said that good deeds lead to good rewards, these are all things you deserve!"

"Team Leader, please stop beating around the bush. Do you know why the villagers are bringing us so much stuff?"

"Because of the bun workshop."

"Bun workshop?"

If it wasn’t for the team leader bringing it up suddenly, Lin Xiang would have almost forgotten about the bun workshop!

She had been in Beijing for more than half a year, and only spoke to the team leader a few times on the phone, each time mainly to assure him that she was safe before he’d hurriedly hang up due to the high cost of phone calls.

Lin Xiang really didn’t know the current status of the bun workshop.

"So, is our Li Hua Team’s bun workshop doing quite well now?"

"It’s not just good, it’s fantastic! Do you know how many buns our workshop needs to supply each day now?"

Lin Xiang guessed tentatively, "Six hundred?"

The last time she was back, they were already at more than four hundred. A few more months, definitely an increase of at least a hundred, right?

The team leader shook his head with a smile, "Six hundred? That’s not even the supply for the cotton spinning factory!"

Just the Cotton Textile Factory alone needed six hundred?

From the team leader’s description, Lin Xiang realized the workshop’s recent situation.

Yesterday, Lin Xiang had already found out from Director Chen that the Cotton Textile Factory had renewed Wilson and John’s big orders. Additionally, during the Sui Trade Conference in Beijing, Lin Xiang had also snuck in some side work, pulling in several foreign exchange orders for the Cotton Textile Factory. Though not matching the demands of Wilson and John, it summed up to over a million.

Currently, the Cotton Textile Factory exclusively supplies foreign exchange orders.

Even so, all production lines combined were barely enough to operate, implementing a three-shift system for workers. On top of all this, the Cotton Textile Factory was being even more generous with meals.

After all, health is the primary production factor. If the workers’ bodies can’t handle the high intensity work, problems will inevitably arise.

There’s a mandatory requirement for everyone to have at least one bun for breakfast, and there’s also a nighttime snack.

With over a thousand employees in the Cotton Textile Factory, the kitchen’s large chefs could only make a couple of hundred buns per day, which wasn’t enough. Thus, the entire bun supply was outsourced to the Li Hua Team’s bun workshop.

"Every morning and evening, 1,200 buns are needed, with each family in Li Hua Team at least sending out two people to work in the bun workshop, similar to a factory, utilizing a shift system."

The team leader asked Lin Xiang mysteriously, "Do you know how much bun workshop employees earn each month now?"

Lin Xiang guessed tentatively, "At least thirty or forty, right?"

"Pretty much, last month they were mostly between thirty to thirty-two."

Thirty some yuan—you might say it doesn’t sound like much, but this is the countryside!

Moreover, with each family sending at least two people, that’s at least sixty yuan a month, which adds up to seven hundred and twenty a year!

As long as the Cotton Textile Factory’s foreign exchange orders keep coming, and Li Hua Team does nothing to upset Lin Xiang causing a fall out, the bun workshop could continue operating.

The villagers could continue to have work.

Who doesn’t know that it’s because of Lin Xiang’s good relationship with the Cotton Textile Factory that they could get this large order, otherwise there are plenty of others out there trying to earn money!

And it’s not just the Cotton Textile Factory orders; there’s also the food factory, the paper factory, and now a glass factory and a rubber factory have been added to the mix.

Though the demand from these factories is only a couple of hundred each, they add up to quite a lot.

"Our Li Hua Team was finally rated advanced! You don’t know, a few days ago at the commune meeting, the town’s big leaders and several commune directors all repeatedly praised me!"

The team leader, who had been hunched for a lifetime, finally stood tall with Lin Xiang’s help.

So, for the villagers, just bringing two chickens and a few kilograms of meat couldn’t even begin to express their gratitude towards Lin Xiang.

"So the cleaning of my house was done by the villagers as well?"

The team leader’s smile faded a bit, "Actually it’s not, it was your uncle and his family who did the work."

"My uncle?" Lin Xiang frowned, "But I only gave the keys to you, he didn’t have keys to my house!"

The team leader, fearing Lin Xiang might misunderstand, quickly explained, "The keys were always with me, I never gave them to anyone! It was your uncle and your cousins who climbed over the wall to clean up."

Poor men, who never did house chores at home, took several days to clean Lin Xiang’s house thoroughly.

For the bedding they couldn’t wash, they took it over the wall to their wives for dismantling and washing.

After drying to about half, they climbed back over and hung them on the Lin Family’s clothesline.