Chapter 61: Towels and Black Tea

According to her old friend, there is a translator at their city-level bookstore who can only translate one magazine in over twenty days, and the accuracy rate is barely passing.

"That's easy to handle. I still have quite a few magazines in the back. How many are you planning to take this time?" Chen Shao asked.

Through multiple contacts, he had learned a lot about An Yinan's temperament and character. This little girl never did anything without preparation. Since she proposed taking more materials, she would naturally be able to finish translating them. Moreover, not many people could achieve the one-hundred-percent accuracy rate of her translations—or rather, it seemed no one could do it yet.

"Take them all?" An Yinan asked tentatively. Actually, the more the better; she could translate them as quickly as possible. She didn't plan to make many clothes; in the future, she would make at most five woolen coats at a time. It wasn't that there was a lack of fabric, but that she wanted to spend more time on translation.

"There are over twenty!" Chen Shao revealed the bottom line directly.

"Only over twenty?" An Yinan's question left Chen Shao stunned. In fact, An Yinan was also a bit surprised; she had thought there would be at least a hundred volumes of materials, not expecting there to be only twenty-something.

Chen Shao almost rolled his eyes. "Do you think translations are radishes or cabbages? Our entire county only has you as a translator. The city was only able to send over this many translation materials because of your one-hundred-percent accuracy rate."

An Yinan pressed her hands toward the air. "Calm down, calm down!"

Where was his gentle and refined demeanor? Where was his scholarly air? How could he ruin his image like this?

Chen Shao had heard her, so he went to the back, registered all the translation materials, and handed them to An Yinan.

Even with An Yinan's great strength, she still felt the books had some weight. Sure enough, there is a house of gold in books; it was heavy.

Twenty magazines; the thinnest one was a centimeter thick, and the thickest one was actually three or four centimeters. Ahem, she was still too young!

"That... I'll have to translate them slowly and bring them over bit by bit." An Yinan didn't overpromise this time. Although she planned to use a large amount of time for translation and a small amount for making clothes, she still had to go up the mountain to hunt. Hunting was secondary; it was mainly to practice the accuracy and force of Shitou, and even more so to practice speed.

"You must ensure accuracy." Although Chen Shao knew An Yinan's temperament, he still gave a word of advice. After all, her age was what it was; pursuing speed too much and losing accuracy would not be worth the gain.

After An Yinan gave her assurance, she returned to the State-run Restaurant. At this moment, diners were sitting here and there, and most had already finished eating and were rushing off to work.

"I asked Ershu. It just so happens no one has ordered a meal today, but if we start the steamer, it's best to steam four hundred at once, otherwise it will increase the cost and the price will be hard to calculate. Can you take that on? If not, I'll go discuss it with Ershu," Liu Meijie asked.

Four hundred? Even better!

"Then let's make it four hundred." An Yinan nodded and settled it, which would make it convenient for her to take out meat buns in the future.

"Alright then, I'll tell Ershu directly and have them steamed for you right now." Liu Mei said as she headed to the back kitchen.

An Yinan thought for a moment and reached into her backpack. Six soft towels instantly appeared in the backpack, each a different color.

There was also half a jin of black tea, wrapped in white paper, then wrapped in newspaper on the outside, and finally tied with a paper string.

These things had been prepared last night. After all, she was asking for favors. There was a transaction with Liu Meijie, but neither Liu Meijie's Ershu nor the kitchen helpers had any connection with her; it was all based on Liu Meijie's face.

If she kept troubling people without giving them any tangible benefits, why would they keep helping? Besides, Liu Meijie would lose face. Human relationships are all about give and take.

Most of the people in the Main Hall had left. When Liu Mei came out to clean up the leftovers, An Yinan took out the six towels and the half jin of tea for Liu Ershu, placing everything on the table.

"Liu Meijie, this tea was specially mailed to Ershu by a friend, but the place is quite far, so it took a long time to arrive. It just so happens I can bring it to Ershu today."

"These towels are for everyone. I've really caused you trouble this time."

Liu Mei felt pleased inside. She had already promised benefits to the kitchen staff, but her own little sister giving her such face made her even happier.

It showed that her sister cared about her, which was why she cared about her reputation.

"I won't stand on ceremony with you, sister will accept these things. I can't guarantee other things, but whenever you need food, come directly to the State-run Restaurant. As long as you can make it, the back kitchen will definitely make it for you." Liu Mei didn't stand on ceremony either and responded solemnly.

Taking the towels to the back kitchen to distribute them, Liu Mei realized that these towels were too soft; they felt light and fluffy against the face, just like Yun Duo.

"Meizi, aren't these towels too nice? Even the most expensive towels at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative aren't this soft." A kitchen helper elder sister touched the towel, reluctant to take her hand away.

A plump kitchen helper walked out and chuckled, "Big sister, stop touching it, you'll ruin the towel."

The elder sister glared at the plump helper unhappily, but she obediently put her hand down. They were people who cooked and often worked with water; their hands were full of cracks and calluses, and she was truly afraid of ruining the towel.

There was also a little girl who helped collect money who received a towel. She was full of joy because the one she received was bright red, just right to save for when she got married. This was also something Liu Mei had specifically set aside for her.

"These towels are from Shanghai; our Supply and Marketing Cooperative doesn't have them. My sister specially brought them to thank everyone. Everyone, please hurry and make those buns," Liu Mei laughed and looked at everyone.

Where was the laziness of their usual workday? With the towels as motivation, the plump chef chopping dumpling filling had afterimages on his double knives, the elder sister kneading dough had her wrists flying, and even Xiaomei, who usually complained of being tired after doing a little work, was now helping Ershu tend the fire.

Hmm... that was quite sudden.

Three towels remained. Liu Mei kept two and left one towel and one pack of tea for Ershu.

Ershu secretly opened it and took a sniff. "This is top-quality black tea. I only drank it twice back in the day at my master's place. Are these all for me?"

Ershu confirmed it again, and Liu Mei quickly repeated An Yinan's words. Ershu was very moved when he heard them.

"In the future, when that little girl comes, you must tell me. I'll take the ladle."

"Then my little sister will have a good treat." Liu Mei smiled. With the cooperation of the two sisters, everyone who was originally unwilling to take on extra work was now getting along harmoniously.

Of course, An Yinan didn't know any of this. An Yinan found the deserted woods from before and entered her space.

She packed a sack of coarse grains, and also packed half a bag of white flour and half a bag of rice. She felt bad just eating coarse grains.