“A little.” Song Nianchu buried her head in the pillow, her voice sounding a bit muffled.

“Then I’ll be gentler,” Mu Shi’an said, lightening his touch.

Although his movements were a bit clumsy, he controlled his strength perfectly. As he massaged her, Song Nianchu’s tense body gradually relaxed, and eventually, she drifted off to sleep without even realizing it.

It wasn’t until Mu Shi’an noticed that Song Nianchu’s breathing had evened out that he leaned over to look, only to find that she had long since fallen asleep.

A faint smile appeared on Mu Shi’an’s lips. He gently helped Song Nianchu roll over; sleeping on her stomach like that would leave her aching all over the next day.

After tucking her in, Mu Shi’an lay down beside her, his large hand warmly enveloping hers.

She slept soundly through the night. When Song Nianchu woke up the next morning, she felt completely refreshed.

Her previously aching shoulders and waist felt incredibly loose. Suddenly remembering that she had fallen asleep while enjoying the massage last night, she quickly threw off the covers and got out of bed.

“You’re awake. Come have breakfast.” Mu Shi’an had just set down the bowls and was about to go wake her, not expecting her to be up already.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t even know when I fell asleep last night,” Song Nianchu apologized.

“You’ve been too tired lately. Go to bed earlier from now on, and I’ll give you a massage every day,” Mu Shi’an said.

“Okay,” Song Nianchu agreed with a smile.

After breakfast, Song Nianchu went to the workshop. Next to it, a brand-new bamboo room had suddenly appeared.

Song Nianchu quickly walked over. Wu Gang was still busy inside.

“Brother Gangzi, did you guys really build this all in one night?” Song Nianchu asked, her tone filled with amazement.

“We only built half of it last night. Once it got dark and we couldn’t see, we went back to rest. The rest was done this morning. What do you think? Is there anything that needs to be changed?” Wu Gang asked with a chuckle.

Song Nianchu looked around and was very satisfied.

“You did a great job. We’ll do the bottling here when the time comes,” Song Nianchu said.

“As long as you’re satisfied. I was worried that because we were rushing, some parts might not meet your standards,” Wu Gang said, breathing a sigh of relief.

“It’s already very good. Have someone bring out the generator and the bottling machine,” Song Nianchu said gently.

“Will do,” Wu Gang replied, then went to find people to help move the machines.

After Song Nianchu finished setting things up there, she returned to the main workshop. Meng Yingying had already arrived and quickly got up to greet her when she walked in.

“A’chu,” Meng Yingying said, her eyes smiling.

“You’re here really early,” Song Nianchu remarked.

“I haven’t worked for days.” In truth, Meng Yingying had woken up at dawn and forced herself to wait at home for a long time before coming over.

“If you’re so eager to work, you’re going to be very busy from now on,” Song Nianchu warned her in advance.

“I’m not afraid! As long as there’s work to do, I’m not afraid of anything!” Meng Yingying quickly replied.

“Alright, come with me.” Song Nianchu led Meng Yingying to a stove inside.

The stove was still empty and situated some distance away from Aunt Wu, Hua, and the others.

“The new product I need you to be in charge of is called fish maw soup. It’s a bit complicated to make, but I’ll explain it to you step by step. If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me,” Song Nianchu explained.

“Okay!” Meng Yingying nodded emphatically.

For the rest of the time, Song Nianchu carefully taught Meng Yingying the entire process of making the fish maw soup from start to finish, and even personally simmered a pot of it to demonstrate.

Meng Yingying watched the whole process very attentively, taking notes in a small notebook the entire time. She asked questions whenever she didn’t understand something, until she had grasped everything completely.

However, making fish maw soup was much more difficult than stir-frying regular dishes. Over the next few days, Song Nianchu kept Meng Yingying by her side to learn, and it wasn’t until three days later that Meng Yingying slowly began to try it herself.

Song Nianchu watched her throughout the process, immediately correcting her whenever she noticed something wasn’t quite right.

The others knew they were developing a new product, so no one came over to disturb them. They even deliberately softened their own movements to keep the noise down.

Since Meng Yingying was now in charge of the new product, the ingredient prep team was left without a leader. Song Nianchu promoted an auntie from the village to be the new team leader.

She also assigned two people specifically to handle the bottling, both of whom were from the same village.

Although the newly arrived refugees felt that Song Nianchu’s actions were a bit exclusionary, no one dared to say anything. After all, they had only been there for a short time, so it was perfectly normal for her not to trust them yet.

At least they now had a place to live, food to eat, and work to do. They were already very satisfied.

Just as Meng Yingying was gradually getting the hang of things, Wu Zhengui suddenly came looking for Song Nianchu.

“A’chu, come out for a moment. I have something to tell you.” Wu Zhengui looked rather serious.

“Yingying, keep an eye on things yourself for now. Call me if you’re unsure about anything,” Song Nianchu instructed Meng Yingying.

“Okay,” Meng Yingying nodded.

Only then did Song Nianchu step outside the workshop with Wu Zhengui.

“Uncle Zhengui, what happened?” Song Nianchu knew it wasn’t good news just by looking at his expression.

“I went to the production brigade a few days ago to apply for electricity for our village. The brigade captain agreed readily enough, and I’ve been following up on the progress these past two days. He kept saying the application was in process. But when I went over today, he told me our application was rejected because we haven’t met the standards for electrification yet.” By the end of his sentence, Wu Zhengui could hardly suppress his inner anger.

“What kind of standards do we need to get electricity?” Song Nianchu frowned.

“I ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‍asked the same thing, but he couldn’t give me a clear answer. I think he’s deliberately targeting us,” Wu Zhengui said through gritted teeth.

“He is targeting us,” Song Nianchu said in a deep voice.

“What’s his problem? His daughter-in-law is from our village. Why is he targeting us like this?” Wu Zhengui was so angry his chest felt tight.

“Maybe if it weren’t for that daughter-in-law, we wouldn’t be targeted like this,” Song Nianchu murmured.

“What?” Wu Zhengui didn’t quite catch that.

“Nothing. Aside from saying the application was rejected, did the brigade captain say anything else?” Song Nianchu asked.

“Anything else? He didn’t say much, just asked about how our village’s canned goods were selling, but I gave him a vague answer,” Wu Zhengui recalled.

Song Nianchu lowered her eyes, not responding immediately.

“A’chu, is there a problem?” Wu Zhengui asked, watching Song Nianchu as she kept her head down in thought.

“It’s nothing. If the brigade captain won’t approve it, we’ll bypass him. We’ve already bought a generator anyway, so I’ll figure out another way,” Song Nianchu said, looking up.

“Where else can we apply if not through him? We can’t just go straight to the power supply bureau, can we?” Wu Zhengui sighed.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep