Unlimited Resources: Raising a Minister with a Space Supermarket-Chapter 496 - 443: Red Sausage Factory (Part 2)

"Cut the selected lean pork into diamond shapes the size of a thumb, without tendons or fat.

During the curing process, in a low-temperature environment, it needs to be cured for about three days.

The cured meat should be cut open to reveal a bright red color; fatty pork needs to be cured for three to five days to ensure the fat becomes hard, not soft, with a uniform color inside and out."

Yu Xiaolian saw that the workers around her had formed a circle, so she explained again.

Wang Dafen was no longer afraid of Yu Xiaolian. She thought Yu Xiaolian was easy to talk to. Upon hearing "low-temperature environment," she immediately said, "Madam Su, it’s still midsummer now, where can we find a place that’s cold?"

Just standing here talking for a while made her sweat profusely without doing any work!

Yu Xiaolian smiled, "I prepared an ice chamber a long time ago; the cured meats can be stored there!"

The nitre used for ice-making was actually brought back from a recent trip to Wuyuan Mountain with Su Jingchen. At first, she was just tagging along with Su Jingchen for a stroll, but she didn’t expect Wuyuan Mountain to be full of treasures, with large chunks of nitre everywhere. Yu Xiaolian was very excited and brought back two cartloads of nitre.

The method for making ice with nitre couldn’t be simpler: fill a container with water, place it in a large jar filled with water, and continuously add nitre to the jar. The water in the container will freeze into ice.

Using this method, Yu Xiaolian made a lot of ice and then stored it in the cellar of the food factory. This way, the ice blocks wouldn’t melt, and the cellar became exceptionally cool. By placing fewer ice blocks, the cellar served as a cold storage; by placing more, it became a frozen storeroom.

"Oh my gosh, where does the ice come from in the middle of summer?" Wang Dafen exclaimed in surprise.

Wang Dafen’s sister-in-law tugged at her, whispering, "Why do you care where it’s from? People of wealth have their methods; you better not pry!"

Wang Dafen’s sister-in-law’s name was Li Dayan. Though not biological sisters, they were closer than real sisters.

During the famine years, their husbands got separated from them during a riot and never returned home. The villagers said the two brothers probably died outside and wouldn’t be coming back.

But Li Dayan and Wang Dafen stayed loyal to their husbands and children and didn’t leave.

When their husbands were still alive, their in-laws favored their third son but had some reservations. After the two sons passed, their in-laws’ favoritism intensified and they shamelessly showed it.

The farmland belonging to Li Dayan and Wang Dafen’s husbands still allowed them to cultivate, but during the autumn harvest, they had no share, not even a penny.

They were not officially separated from their in-laws, but it was as if they had; when they earned money from embroidery work, it had to be handed over to the family.

When it came to meals, they were given husked brown rice, which was tolerable, but the amount was pitifully small. Li Dayan and Wang Dafen, with their children, barely had enough to eat.

The in-laws ate with the third son daily, occasionally buying some meat to satisfy their cravings.

Why did Wang Dafen, with her straightforward hot temper, endure such bullying from her in-laws?

It all came down to the household registration: as long as a family didn’t split, there was only one household head. Without the head’s consent, others couldn’t establish separate households. Wang Dafen’s household head was her father-in-law, Wu Laohan. As long as Wu Laohan held the registration, Wang Dafen, Li Dayan, and their children were controlled by others.

When it came time to actually separate the household, their in-laws didn’t agree, but Wang Dafen and Li Dayan, repressed for years, decided to take drastic measures. "If you don’t agree, I’ll take the kids and jump into the river," they threatened with death, finally managing to open their own registrations and establish individual households.

However, since both of them had sons, the registration was under their eldest sons’ names, not their daughters’.

Li Dayan and Wang Dafen had always had a good relationship; after their husbands died, they supported each other even more, discussing everything and their relationship improved further.

This time, the government called for workers, but since their eldest sons were under sixteen and couldn’t work, the two women teamed up and came.

Compared to Wang Dafen’s reckless nature, Li Dayan was much more cautious.