Chapter Nine: Without Leadership Skills, You're Doomed to Slave Away Forever

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Standing outside Aunt Ma’s house, Liang Yunqing noticed it was much better than her own home; at least the courtyard gate remained intact. She reached out and knocked.

“Coming, who is it?”

A young woman appeared inside. From memory, Liang Yunqing recognized her as Aunt Ma’s third daughter-in-law.

“Auntie, I came to borrow your steamer,” Liang Yunqing said straightforwardly.

This third daughter-in-law had married into the family from afar. She was warm and cheerful. Though a village woman, her father had been educated, so she recognized many characters.

“Sure, come in and wait,” she said, opening the door to welcome Liang Yunqing inside. Although the events of that afternoon had already spread throughout the village, she didn’t think Liang Yunqing had done anything wrong.

Looking at Liang Yunqing’s thin frame, Auntie Ma felt a pang of pity. After inviting her in, she even handed her a wild vegetable cornbread.

“Here, big girl, take this and eat. I’ll go get the steamer for you.”

After saying this, she went into the kitchen. Liang Yunqing stuffed the small piece of cornbread into her mouth, but it choked and stuck in her throat.

Still, in times like these, someone willing to share food was a rare kindness; Aunt Ma’s family truly were good people.

“Oh, big... no, no, no, Yunqing is here!” Aunt Ma came out cheerfully, holding a baby born recently to the third daughter-in-law.

Though not especially fond of children, Liang Yunqing found herself wanting to tease this little human cub.

“Yunqing, girl, what do you need to borrow the steamer for?” Aunt Ma looked at the steamer held by her daughter-in-law with some confusion.

“Auntie, my own pot is broken. I’d like to borrow yours for a couple of days. Here’s some brown rice for you,” Liang Yunqing said, passing over the brown rice she held. Both Aunt Ma and the daughter-in-law hurriedly declined.

“I can’t take your rice. You need it yourself,” Aunt Ma refused repeatedly, the baby in her arms nearly spilling milk.

Seeing this, Liang Yunqing had no choice but to place the rice on the ground.

“Consider this a gift for the baby from me. Auntie, I’ll leave now. I’ll return the pot in a couple of days.”

Without waiting for their calls, she picked up the steamer and walked out. Aunt Ma had no choice but to accept the brown rice. To her surprise, the bundle weighed a full half a kilogram. She looked at the receding figure of Liang Yunqing with astonishment.

“What exactly is this child up to?”

The two exchanged puzzled glances, but it was the daughter-in-law who first took the baby back inside.

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Aunt Ma watched the figure disappear from sight before returning indoors.

At home, Liang Yunqing placed the steamer on the stove, instructing Liang Youyong to stoke the fire higher.

She poured soy sauce into the washed glutinous rice, then mixed the glutinous rice with brown rice since using only glutinous rice was too costly.

She added some oil and mixed it all together until the rice gleamed with a glossy sheen.

Spreading the rice evenly in the steamer, under the hungry gazes of the others, she began chopping the pork finely, seasoning it with salt before frying it in a pan.

The aroma of cooking meat filled the room, making everyone’s mouth water. Even Liang Zhiyan, lying in the main room, sat up.

“Sister, it smells so good.”

A Yan and Xiao Hong leaned at the doorway, their mouths watering though they weren’t very hungry after devouring two large meat buns in town earlier.

Wang’s mouth had swallowed her saliva several times by now. She hadn’t tasted meat in so long. Beside her, Li Pinghua kept inhaling the savory aroma.

Since being beaten, none had eaten anything, and their hunger was near unbearable.

“Make the dough,” Liang Yunqing said, placing the meat in a ceramic bowl. She wasn’t skilled at kneading dough, so she handed the task to her mother, Chu Shi, and Li Pinghua.

After washing their hands, the two began kneading the white flour bag with warm water. In a few motions, the dough became elastic and strong. The others couldn’t understand what they were making.

Liang Yunqing noticed their puzzled looks but simply picked out several larger pieces of meat with chopsticks, placing them in a bowl and handing them to the group.

“Eat some meat first to settle your stomach. The glutinous rice will take a little longer.”

She wasn’t being kind-hearted; using people was like flying a kite—too much pressure and the line snaps, too little and it flies away. One had to maintain firm control while offering a sweet incentive so that subordinates would obey willingly.

Not knowing how to lead a team meant working oneself to death; that had become Liang Yunqing’s motto.

Sure enough, everyone savored the meat carefully. Wang, abandoning her usual grace, slurped the meat, reluctant to swallow.

Li Pinghua held the meat in her mouth, passing the leftover piece to Liang Zhiyan.

Liang Youyong chewed the meat with shining eyes, exclaiming repeatedly, “So fragrant, so delicious!”

Liang Mingxue passed his meat to A Yan, but she was too sensible to accept it, so he handed it to Chu Shi instead.

“Mother of my child, you eat it,” he urged.

A flicker of emotion crossed Chu Shi’s face, but when she glanced at the old scars on Liang Yunqing’s arm, the warmth vanished immediately.

“Mingxue, you eat it,” she said.

After some hesitation, Liang Mingxue ate the meat, savoring its flavor while growing curious about what Liang Yunqing intended to make.

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After the meat was eaten, the bitterness from the beating had lessened considerably. Everyone watched her every move.

Liang Yunqing took the glutinous rice with the steaming cloth out, folding the fried meat bits into the rice, then rolled the dough into small pieces.

She then wrapped the rice in the dough like making buns, deftly pinching pleats with her right hand, leaving a small opening to reveal some grains inside.

The result was a vase-shaped shaomai.

“What kind of food is this?” Wang asked, convinced she had seen much of the world but never encountered such a thing.

Liang Yunqing quickly made more than a dozen and placed them in the steamer to cook again. Only after finishing her tasks did she speak.

“This is the basic way to make shaomai. If you find it tasty later, we’ll start selling them at the stall the day after tomorrow. But...”

She deliberately paused. Li Pinghua immediately asked,

“But what?”

“It’s just that, as you can see, this costs a lot of rice and meat. The capital is right here, and I don’t have that kind of money,” Liang Yunqing replied.

Hearing this, Li Pinghua instinctively covered her pocket.

“Yun... Yunqing, business has its risks. You can’t gamble away our family’s savings.”

“What nonsense is that, Second Aunt? Am I some kind of gambler? After you’ve tasted it, then we’ll talk about money,” Liang Yunqing said firmly.

When she opened the steamer again, the mixed aroma of soy sauce, meat, and wheat filled the room, making everyone salivate uncontrollably.

She picked up several shaomai with chopsticks; the dough was translucent, the rice glistening with oil, all highly appetizing.

“Everyone, try some. A Yan, Xiao Hong, you too.”

No sooner had she spoken than Li Pinghua and the others pounced on the shaomai like famished tigers, burning their mouths but stuffing them eagerly inside.

“This is so delicious! So fragrant!” Liang Youyong exclaimed despite the burn.

Wang kept tossing them into her mouth eagerly.

“Fragrant, so fragrant.”

Liang Mingxue’s eyes sparkled as the flavor engulfed his senses. Such a product would surely sell well.

“Does anyone have any objections? Today, someone put up money to support us; I promise to pay back double after we make a profit.”