Everyone walked in and into the workshop behind the courtyard.
Xiao Liu had helped Qiao Mei build this workshop. It was very sturdy and spacious.
Currently, there were many baskets in the workshop. The way the baskets were stacked on top of one another made it look very spectacular.
“There are so many baskets!” Auntie Dong was the first to speak.
She stared at all the baskets in the courtyard. She had never seen so many before and furthermore, they were all the same size.
It was a grand sight to see the baskets stacked together.
With so many baskets of green beans, a day’s work here would not be any easier than working with the brigade.
“Let’s start now!”
With that, Qiao Mei rolled up her sleeves and started working.
As she began, she explained every step very clearly with the precautions to be taken for each step.
Anyone who was not a fool would be able to understand the instructions.
The women gathered around immediately changed their impression of Qiao Mei. Initially, they had heard that Qiao Mei had a bad temper, but right now it seemed that her personality and temper were both very good.
Qiao Mei soaked the portion of beans alloted for today and then watered the beans that were soaked a few days ago.
These were the steps of making bean sprouts. After soaking the beans, they would be put into the baskets based on the volume and then watered. As time passed, the bean sprouts would start growing.
There was also a technique for watering. One could not just water the beans casually. One had to ensure that each and every bean in the basket absorbed enough water for the beans to grow quickly.
She busied herself watering hundreds of baskets of beans.
After half a day of hard work, the women who came to learn how to grow bean sprouts could not even stand up straight any longer. They squatted on the ground and panted from exhaustion.
This job was not fit for humans at all.
As they rested, they sized up Qiao Mei and their impression of her changed even more. Before they came by, Qiao Mei was the only person watering so many baskets.
Wasn’t this too tiring?
They wondered who had said that Qiao Mei was lazy. The way they saw it, there was probably no girl in the village who was more hardworking than Qiao Mei.
They had really misjudged her in the past.
…
After returning home, a few women started to grow their own bean sprouts. They followed Qiao Mei’s instructions and managed to start growing some.
But whenever they were free, they still came over to help Qiao Mei.
They found it quite pitiful that she had to do so much work alone every day and did not have any help at all.
Besides, they could continue to learn things when they helped her.
However, Qiao Mei did not constantly work in the courtyard in the way she had taught them. Instead, she only watered the beans once a day and used energy to maintain the rest of it.
Otherwise, she would not be able to finish watering so many baskets by herself even if she worked herself to death.
However, she was also very happy when the women came by to help.
After all, given that she was now pregnant, she must build a good relationship with the villagers so that her children would not get bullied in the village in the future.
Four days later, Qiao Mei finally made a few friends, namely six aunties and two sisters-in-law..
This was also the day when their bean sprouts grew out.
Since they all still had green beans at home now, they took some out to try for themselves. It would be best if they succeeded in growing them. Otherwise, even if they fail, it would still be within expectations and they would not have lost much.
To everyone’s surprise, there were a bunch of tender bean sprouts growing out in each basin. The sprouts looked especially pleasing to the eye and good enough to eat.
Qiao Mei was secretly happy when she saw these basins of bean sprouts.
These bean sprouts were naturally similar to hers. After all, she had personally taken care of these bean sprouts. Every time she passed by these women’s houses, she would go in to take a look and do an exchange of energy. She could then ensure that the bean sprouts were exactly the same.
If not, some people might think that she was being selfish with her instructions.
Otherwise, why would they fail when she succeeded in every basket? It must be because she hid some information and did not teach them everything.
Therefore, she needed to personally ‘take care’ of them now. Whoever was growing bean sprouts at home, she would ‘take care’ of them whenever she passed by. For those who had no interest or were in a bad mood, then she would not care about them.