Seventies Sweetheart: From Breakup to Billionaire-Chapter 171: Steamed Bun Workshop

She added half a scoop of white sugar to both bowls. Drinking a bowl of hot sugar water on a cold winter morning warms you up completely.

"Auntie, what do you need from me?"

The women’s leader hadn’t responded yet, but Yang Lihua interrupted her, "Mom, I’ve already said that I don’t want to get married. Can you stop making decisions on your own?"

"Sit back, there’s no place for you to speak!" The women’s leader swiftly brushed Yang Lihua’s hand aside, but faced Lin Xiang with a particularly amiable smile, "Don’t you have contacts at the cotton spinning factory? Could you help auntie inquire about someone?"

"Who is it?"

"He’s a young man named Chen Tieyuan from the third workshop. Someone previously introduced him to my Lihua, and I think the guy is decent—healthy, has a good job, comes from a good family. If his character is solid, I’m thinking of letting Lihua have a good interaction with him and naturally settle into marriage when the time is right."

Lin Xiang instinctively glanced at Yang Lihua.

The young girl was almost crying, her eyes brimming with tears, which welled up and started rolling down her cheeks with a blink.

She seemed quite unwilling to accept this arranged marriage.

"Auntie, should you maybe discuss it more with Lihua?"

"Discuss what? The guy she likes is decent, but his family is destitute, without even a house. Wouldn’t I be pushing my daughter into a pit of fire if I let Lihua marry him?"

The women’s leader was very animated, "I understand you young folks value feelings, having gone through this age myself. But the problem is, love alone can’t feed you; you have to consider practical factors, right?"

"That lad doesn’t have a stable career, relying solely on earning full work points daily to trade for grain, with no parents at home. Who will take care of the children when they come along? Won’t it be hardship for you?"

"Lihua, from childhood till now, Mom’s always adored you the most just because you are a girl. I’m afraid your married life might be tough at your husband’s home, so I’ve pampered you more while you’re at home. But you can’t choose hardship for yourself. Which mother doesn’t want their child to have a good life?"

"But I... I don’t want to marry someone I don’t know!"

"That’s why Mom asked Lin Xiang to first dig into his character. If it checks out, won’t it be better for you to get to know each other? Rest assured, in picking a spouse for you, Mom will carefully consider all aspects to ensure you won’t suffer in the future."

The women’s leader feigned sincere concern, and eventually, Yang Lihua stopped refusing.

Lin Xiang: "Alright then, if I have time in the next few days to go to the town, I will definitely inquire thoroughly at the cotton spinning factory."

Only then did the women’s leader feel at ease, "Let’s go home now, let’s not hinder Lin Xiang from her own important work."

Yang Lihua reluctantly left, turning back every few steps.

Just after her mother and she left, Mrs. Lin came out of the bedroom, giving Lin Xiang a resentful look, "Look, Lihua is about your age and is already talking marriage, why aren’t you anxious at all?"

"Mom, how about we have buns for breakfast? I’ll make them for you?"

"I’d like ones with lots of meat filling."

Lin Xiang rolled up her sleeves and went into the kitchen.

She preferred working harder rather than listening to Mrs. Lin nagging about marriage.

Is marriage good?

Isn’t she free on her own?

All she wants is to earn more money and live in a siheyuan!

Today Lin Xiang made three different flavored dumplings: plain meat dumplings, sauerkraut meat dumplings, and wood ear mushroom and egg dumplings.

After steaming them, she reserved some for herself and Mrs. Lin, and took a few to the team office.

Even during New Year, someone is still on duty at the team office.

The team leader was chatting with Accountant Xu. Seeing Lin Xiang carrying buns over, he waved his hand repeatedly to refuse, "Lin Xiang, you shouldn’t do this, take them home to eat yourself."

"Uncle, taste them first. After you eat the buns, I’ll talk to you about a moneymaking venture."

When he heard this, the team leader immediately grabbed a bun and stuffed it into his mouth, devouring it ravenously.

"Uncle, slow down, you need to taste the flavor to give me some feedback. Eating like this won’t let you taste anything."

The team leader struggled to swallow the bun in his mouth, then slowed down to savor it deliberately.

"I must say, these buns are quite good, comparable to those at state-owned restaurants."

Accountant Xu said nothing, but kept giving Lin Xiang thumbs up, "So what do you think about opening a bun workshop for our team?"

"A bun workshop?" The team leader looked at the bun in his hand and then at Lin Xiang, "Are you saying to let the people in our team make buns?"

Seeing Lin Xiang nod, the team leader knitted his two thick, dark eyebrows tightly, "It won’t work; a bun workshop is simple to start, but where can we sell the buns after they’re made?"

At least tofu has a market, but buns are expensive and capable cooks can make them themselves. Who would buy their buns?

A day’s unsold, left in hand, and they’d perish.

"I’ve already figured out the market; we’ll connect with various factories to let their kitchens accept and sell our buns."

Take the cotton spinning factory as an example, it currently employs over a thousand workers, even if only half have breakfast there and half of those choose buns, they’ll need at least two hundred buns a day.

There are five large-scaled factories like the cotton spinning factory in Mianyang Town, and the leaders of three of those factories have good relations with Lin Xiang.

As long as Lin Xiang is willing to run errands, there’s a good chance it’s workable.

On thinking it over, the team leader started feeling this plan could indeed work.

"Is this affair tough to handle?"

The team leader asked cautiously, "Will it cause you any trouble?"

"I’ll try to work on it; if it works, great. If not, we can think of other methods later."

Having said this much, naturally, the team leader couldn’t refuse foolishly. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

If three factories’ kitchens require buns, that’s at least six hundred buns daily, which is quite a substantial income for the Li Hua Team.

It’s undoubtedly better than the neighboring team’s tofu workshop’s revenue.

Originally, Li Hua Team was ranked last in the entire commune, and after the Smartie Huang incident, their reputation further worsened, affecting many young people in the village and their marriage prospects.

If the bun workshop could be established, folks would have additional income aside from work points, making marriage proposals easier.

As for the advanced ratings, the team leader no longer harbors such ambitions.

Watching Lin Xiang ride away on her bicycle, the team leader and Accountant Xu remarked, "Now I understand why those factory leaders regard Lin Xiang as a mascot."

The words fell, but no response came from Accountant Xu, with only the sound of chewing and swallowing answering the team leader.