Reborn in the ’80s as a Group Favorite Bigshot – Chapter 21

Chapter 21: You Can Make the Decision?

Guo Dong was displeased, but he didn’t show it on his face.

He put down his teacup and asked with a faint smile, “Why are you here?”

Guo Chun smiled and replied, “Second Brother, Chu Chu went to the mountain yesterday and killed a large snake. She brought some snake meat for us, so I brought her here to give you some too.”

Then she gave Song Chu a look.

Song Chu reached out and took out the vegetables and snake meat from the basket. “Second Brother Guo, take these home and try them.”

Guo Dong was surprised to see such a large piece of snake meat, and even more surprised by Song Chu’s attitude.

Their family had always known that Old Lady Song liked to take this daughter to her sister’s house to sponge off them, always taking and never giving. This was the first time they had seen the Song family give something away.

“Do you need something?” He felt that they wouldn’t come without a reason, especially since they brought such a large piece of meat.

If it was a small matter, he would help for his sister’s sake. If it was something big, he would refuse, and then consider whether to accept the snake meat.

Song Chu realized that this Second Brother Guo was much shrewder than her Third Sister-in-Law. “When I was hunting snakes on the mountain yesterday, I found some oil tea trees, so I picked a lot of oil tea fruit. I’d like to ask if your factory can help me press some oil.”

“I can pay for the labor.” She had brought more than twenty yuan of her own savings with her.

Guo Chun smiled and said, “Just let my Second Brother help you. There’s no need to pay.”

It was just pressing some oil, not a big deal.

Guo Dong: “……”

No wonder his sister was always being taken advantage of by Old Lady Song and Song Jianye. With this level of intelligence and wit, she really didn’t seem like she came from his family.

“We are relatives, there’s no need to pay for pressing some oil.”

Guo Dong looked at the two large bags of tea fruit on the ground. “It’s just that we mainly press soybean oil here. We’ve never pressed tea oil before, and I don’t know how to do it.”

He had heard of tea oil, but they didn’t have it around here.

Song Chu smiled and said, “I know how to press it.”

“That’s good then. Come with me.” Guo Dong nodded.

Song Chu took out a bag from her backpack, put the snake meat and vegetables in it, and left it in the office. Then she carried the two bags of tea fruit and followed him out.

They went to the oil pressing workshop, where there was an unused oil press.

Guo Dong called over an old worker and said to Song Chu, “Tell him how to press it, and let him try.”

Song Chu nodded. “Okay!”

She first looked at the model of the oil press. As expected, it was similar to what she had read in the materials.

The most common type of oil press used in the 1970s was the screw press, which used the pressing method to extract oil.

So she said to the worker, “Shelling, crushing, rolling, steaming, stir-frying, and pressing.”

The experienced worker understood immediately. “Alright, I’ll try.”

Song Chu helped with the shelling and crushing.

After that, the old worker started the remaining steps.

Light yellow oil with a fragrant aroma was extracted. The old worker smiled and said, “I’ve heard that tea oil is fragrant, and it’s true. This oil is really good.”

“Thank you,” Song Chu said politely to the old worker.

The old worker waved his hand. “No need to thank me, no need to thank me.”

Song Chu had brought about two hundred catties of tea fruit. Normally, one catty of tea fruit yields about one tael of oil. However, since her tea fruit hadn’t undergone post-ripening, the oil yield was relatively lower. They extracted a large barrel of oil, about seventeen catties.

◈◈◈

Guo Dong asked her how she wanted to package it, and she asked him to bottle it in one-catty bottles.

Guo Dong arranged for a worker to bottle it. Song Chu used the bag she brought to collect the oil residue, which she could take back to use as fertilizer.

Back in the office, Song Chu put two bottles of oil on the desk. “Second Brother Guo, Third Sister-in-Law, take a bottle each to try. I heard that this tea oil is good for the body and has a pure and fragrant taste.”

Guo Dong noticed that Song Chu was very tactful, not at all like the greedy little sister-in-law his sister had described.

He was happy to see this. After all, their family didn’t owe the Song family anything. Reciprocity was more comfortable.

“Then we’ll take some to try. Thank you.”

Song Chu waved her hand. “We’re family, there’s no need to be polite.”

She thought for a moment and then asked with a smile, “Second Brother Guo, may I ask if your factory has any unused or old oil presses that are about to be retired?”

Guo Dong paused while reaching for his teacup. “You want an oil press?”

“I found a large area of tea trees on the mountain, and there’s still a lot of oil to be pressed. The villagers all have difficulty getting oil, so I was thinking of having the village buy a few oil presses to press the oil and distribute it to everyone,” Song Chu said truthfully.

Guo Dong looked at Song Chu. He hadn’t realized that this girl had such big ambitions.

After a moment of thought, he said, “We do have three unused oil presses, but they are old and have been retired. The parts are a bit worn out. They can be repaired and used, but they won’t last long.”

“And the person who repairs the machines isn’t from our factory. We always have to call in a specialized technician. These retired machines are troublesome to repair, and they might not be willing to do it,” he added.

“That’s not a problem. We have someone in our village who can repair machines. We can buy them and have him repair them for use,” Song Chu immediately thought of Gu Yue.

Even if that guy couldn’t repair them, it wouldn’t be a problem. She had information about screw oil presses in her laboratory. Once he read it and understood the structure and principle, he should be able to repair them.

Guo Dong chuckled at her confident look. “Your village wants to buy oil presses. Can you make the decision?”

Song Chu shook her head. “No, but I can persuade the Production Brigade Leader Wu.”

Their village was poor and had no special industries. If they wanted to make money, they had to find their own way. She thought of oil pressing.

Her Third Sister-in-Law had connections here, so she naturally made use of them.

Of course, another important reason was that her Eldest Maternal Uncle Tang Min was the Production Team Leader, and she had a way to persuade him.

“I just don’t know how much these three oil presses cost?” she asked.

Guo Dong saw that she was quite sincere and was curious to see how far she would go. He tapped his fingers on the desk. “I’m not in charge of purchasing machinery. I’ll go ask for you.”

“Thank you, Second Brother Guo.”

Guo Dong went out for a few minutes and came back. “I talked to the person in charge of purchasing. Originally, these machines are not for sale. But for my sake, if you want to buy them, they can sell them to you for one hundred yuan each.”

These old and retired machines were basically useless and just gathering dust. After his persuasion, the factory agreed to sell them and gave a minimum price.

Song Chu smiled sincerely. “Thank you so much, Second Brother Guo. I’ll go back and talk to the village. I might have to trouble you again then.”

“No problem. Just come back when you’re ready to buy.” This was a small matter for Guo Dong.

Under the current state-owned system, generally speaking, they would rather let the machines rust than sell them.

Song Chu realized that having connections really did make things easier. One hundred yuan for an oil press, this price was really a great deal.

11:30, to be continued~