The sisters-in-law who were following the captain all turned red with excitement when they saw Xia Li's enthusiastic smile.
A somewhat thin-looking sister-in-law wearing patched gray cloth looked at Xia Li with shining eyes, and said in an urgent voice: "Xia Zhiqing! We will definitely learn from you!"
The other sister-in-law next to her also nodded crazily, her dark and bony hands tightly grasping the trouser line, her face full of expectations for the future, and she looked at Xia Li with burning eyes.
"That's right! Xia Zhiqing, if you want us to do anything, just say it! If we do something bad, just scold us.
We have absolutely no complaints! "
The other sisters-in-law also nodded in agreement.
Xia Li has been in the brigade for such a long time, and has been in a strange cycle of finding ways to be lazy, trying to make money for his parents, dealing with spies, and being arrested for interrogation. This is the first time he has been in such close contact with the team members. Take a closer look at these people. Current status.
To be honest, there isn't a good one.
In the past, she had not really realized how poor the First Brigade of South Island was, but now she could truly see this "poverty" in her eyes.
All of them were as skinny as a stick, their hair was dry and tanned, and their clothes were patched one on top of another.
Although her parents had a hard life after they were sent down to the countryside, she was fed and fed well. Although she was haggard, her physical condition was much better than that of these people.
At least he's not as skinny as a stick.
Xia Li felt that it was a bit stressful to face their burning gazes.
It was the eager and somewhat frightened look of a person who was about to die in the last days when he saw the life-saving straw.
They regarded her as their life-saving straw.
Xia Li didn't say much and just nodded to these people.
"First bring some sugar cane, including machetes, graphite, and a big iron pot."
The captain was naturally happy when he saw that Xia Li was so happy and willing to teach. He was not like those old masters who were good at crafts and refused to teach because they had skills.
He immediately put up a big smile, and every criss-crossed fold on his face looked amiable.
"Okay, Xiaoxia, I will ask someone to bring you all the things."
In a short time, four strong laborers from the village moved the huge stone mill at the entrance of the village.
No matter how heavy the thing was, these people didn't complain at all.
Xia Li's mouth twitched when he saw the huge stone mill.
She originally thought that the captain would bring a small one and let her demonstrate it. After teaching these people, she could let them go.
After all, making sugar is really not difficult.
As a result, the brigade captain brought over the stone mill from the village that was used to grind wheat for the whole brigade. Wouldn't it be a lot of trouble to move it away in the future?
If she had known this, she would have taken her sisters-in-law to the entrance of the village.
There was too much commotion here, and everyone in the village was particularly interested in building a sugar factory. After a while, a large circle of people gathered outside Xia Li's yard.
Everyone stretched their necks to look at the situation inside, full of expectations, and whispered in low voices.
"Do you think our sugar cane can really be made into sugar? Isn't sugar always in small grains or strips? It doesn't look like sugar cane, and there is no sugar cane flesh in it."
"I heard that other sugar factories use sugar cane to make sugar. Although I don't know how to make sugar, it is correct that sugar cane should be used."
"What's there to be suspicious of?
Since Xia Zhiqing came to our team, is there anything he wants to make that he has not yet made?
I don’t know if other people can make candies. Anyway, if Xia Zhiqing says he can, he can definitely make them! "
…
The team members stood at the door of Xia Li's house and whispered, looking a little excited.
According to the captain, if the sugar factory is really built, their income by the end of the year will definitely increase several times.
They, the farmers, face the loess every day and their backs are turned to the sky, and they cannot make much money in a year.
How could they not be excited about suddenly having an income that could make them not go hungry?
The educated youths who gathered around looked in the direction of Xia Li, and their expressions were not very good.
Ma Xiaofang asked Li Liqun in a low voice, "Do you think Xia Li can really make sugar?
They are all children from the city, and they are not taught this in school, but she knows everything, why don’t I believe it? "
Especially when Xia Li was praised by all the team members, it made them, educated youths who knew nothing, even more embarrassed.
Now there are children from the brigade running to the door of their educated youth home, throwing stones at them, rolling their eyes and mocking them.
Li Liqun's face didn't look very good either.
He went to the countryside earlier than others, and he has always been the leader in the entire educated youth academy. The educated youth who came after him would all respect him no matter what their family conditions were.
But since Xia Li came, this harmonious environment was completely broken.
Ever since Xia Li refused to obey his orders, others no longer respected him as much as before.
"Who knows if she can do it? This woman is very evil. Anyway, even if she does it, it won't be as good as our Educated Youth Institute."
He hoped that Xia Li wouldn't do it, and then those idiots in the brigade wouldn't compare them with them every day and trample the people from the Educated Youth Institute to death.
Xia Li didn't know their little thoughts. Now that the stone mill had been moved, she stopped talking nonsense.
I directed several sisters-in-law to peel the sugar cane, then cut the sugar cane into small pieces and put them in the stone mill to grind the sugar cane pieces into pulp.
Yellow syrupy water flows out of the stone mill, and every member of the team is working very energetically.
Xia Li directed people to place the large pot holder brought from the production brigade canteen.
"Put water in the pot, make a basin on top of the water, and then pour the sugar cane water filtered with gauze into the basin."
She turned to look at one of the women who was holding a large spatula in her hand and keeping her eyes on the pot.
"Sister-in-law He, when the sugar cane juice is almost boiled, use a shovel to keep stirring to prevent it from sticking to the pot."
Hearing this, Sister-in-law He looked at Xia Li and nodded solemnly, saying solemnly: "Xia Zhiqing, don't worry, I will absolutely guarantee to complete the task!!"
The syrup on the cauldron began to simmer, and the color became darker and darker, gradually turning from earthy yellow to dark brown, and the liquid became more and more viscous, turning from a silky liquid to a paste.
Xia Li looked at the state of the syrup in the pot and nodded, then raised his head and said to the others: "It's almost done. Just pour the syrup out and put it in the container."
Everyone in the team's heart suddenly rose to their throats when they heard this. They all pulled each other's sleeves or arms on the people next to them, and their bodies trembled slightly nervously.
He stared closely at the brown syrup poured from the cauldron into the container, his heart was beating fast, and he could even hear a faint buzzing in his ears.
