If Su Ye was the only one working, he could do without a penny of salary. Helping villagers to sell tea leaves to raise money is different from helping students. It is not right to ask those students to help with the work and not even give them a tip.
Su Ye began to contact the factory to print tea packaging boxes. Su Ye still had the contact information of the last advanced person selection meeting. She made several calls and took several detours to finally get the contact information of the printing factory.
However, Su Ye's plan failed. She underestimated the efficiency of machines in this era. The cost of printing a packaging box was staggering! A packaging box printed by a machine cost 2 yuan.
Find someone to paint it, it probably won’t be more expensive than printing it!
Su Ye had an idea. Machines are expensive, so why not hire a human? Purely handmade paintings are not bad. In later times, anything with the word "purely handmade" would mean it was expensive, but nowadays, human labor is cheap, like cabbage.
Su Ye then wanted to go to school to find a few college students who could draw.
It happened that the next morning, Ning Xingdou came to the family building early and asked Su Ye and his wife to go to Ning's house for dinner in the evening.
Ning Xingdou's father is called Ning Qian. In the original text, the character of a national treasure-level boss cannot be completely fictional. He used the prototype of Su Ye in the real world. Ning Xingdou's father Ning Qian has a different name, but his family background and education experience are similar to that of a national treasure-level boss.
"Brother Xiang Qian, don't cook tonight. Come to my house for dinner. My mom has prepared everything. Just bring two mouths to eat!" Ning Xingdou said in a loud voice.
Gu nodded forward, "Okay, thank uncle and aunt for me."
Su Ye was a little stunned when he heard the news, and was stunned for a long time. However, thinking about the relationship between Gu Xiangqian and Ning Xingdou, it was normal for them to go to the Ning family for dinner. But this was personally invited by Professor Ning and his wife, which was different!
Here's your chance to meet the boss!
After get off work that day, Su Ye took out her meat ticket and planned to go to the canteen to exchange it for a pound of pork. However, before leaving, she remembered that Ning Xingdou had come to her house twice, once to bring wine and once to invite people to dinner. He was so cautious and polite. The old couple in the Ning family must not want to owe more favors to others. Her act of sending pork might be a burden to them.
Su Ye brought a pound of rice to the door, neither more nor less, referring to the standards of other people who came to eat.
However, although they are both one pound of rice, there is a difference between brown rice and polished rice. However, Su Ye is used to eating refined grains, and there has been no trace of coarse grains in the house for a long time.
At six o'clock, Ning's mother steamed the rice, cut thin slices of sausage and bacon, and made steamed rice with bacon. She used three eggs for the first time, chopped up chives, and made delicious chive and egg pancakes.
Eggs are also a rare and precious commodity in such a difficult period! Three eggs are already a university professor's nutritional allowance for a month. Fortunately, Ning Xingdou's nutritional allowance for the patient is not bad. He can receive six eggs every month, otherwise he can't afford such a waste!
Ning Qian's graduated students would send him some local specialties from time to time, such as red dates, peanuts, and beans, which were grown by the farmers themselves. So Ning's mother, who was careful and skillful, chopped the peanuts and used a little flour to make crispy and fragrant peanut cakes.
The red dates are cut into puree-like shapes and soaked in water. They taste sweet as if they were mixed with sugar. This is a purely natural sugar drink.
Su Ye and Gu Xiangqian arrived at the Ning family. As soon as they entered the door, Ning's mother said angrily, "Kid, didn't you say you are not allowed to bring anything?"
The Ning family's suite was obviously larger than Gu Xiangqian's. It was a large rectangular suite, separated by a screen in the middle, and kept very neat and tidy. Housing was tight these days, and only leaders at the regimental level and above could live in suites. However, because of Ning Qian's high position, his family was assigned a suite that was no less than the size of two suites.
Before the meal, Ning Qian asked about Gu Xiangqian's health. After a few pleasantries, Ning Qian looked at Su Ye carefully, and after a while asked, "I heard from Xingdou that you have a question for me."
When Su Ye said this, he was just being polite!
She could rack her brains and come up with a difficult question that interested him, but she couldn't lie in front of her idol. She only had an "primary school education" now, and if she really wanted to discuss profound issues with a big shot, it would be really thought-provoking.
Finally, she thought for a while and said honestly, "I want to find a student who is proficient in painting. I wonder if Uncle Ning knows anyone who can recommend me."
As a university professor, it is much easier for Ning Qian to find a student than Su Ye. Besides, anyone who has a name with the boss must have good skills.
Ning Qian did not reply immediately, but said to Su Ye: "I can't think of any student who is proficient in painting at the moment. I will ask someone to ask for you. You can give me the answer tomorrow."
Su Ye was very happy, "Thank you, uncle!"
Ning Qian nodded and said gently, "No need to thank me. You and Xiang Qian often help Xingdou, which makes us feel ashamed. I heard from Xingdou that you are studious. If you encounter any difficulties in your studies in the future, feel free to come here and ask uncle and aunt."
Although his words were full of regret, Ning Xingdou at the side could actually hear a hint of relief and joy in his tone.
Ning's mother called out, "Come and have dinner, stop chatting and forget about time."
Ning's mother made scrambled eggs with leeks, sauerkraut and bacon, steamed rice with Chinese sausage, crispy peanut cakes fried in lard, and a light and healthy sweet soup with red dates. It was obvious that she put a lot of thought into it, with two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, a snack and a sweet soup, it was very elegant to eat.
The sauerkraut is crispy and refreshing, having absorbed the greasiness of the bacon, making it refreshing and appetizing, fatty but not greasy.
Su Ye had never eaten rice made with pure Chinese sausage. The sausage was cut into thin slices and steamed with rice. The oil and aroma of the sausage entered the rice grains, making it taste delicious and lingering.
The meat was pork given by Su Ye, so it was particularly fragrant. Professor Ning felt like it was Chinese New Year, and it was even better than Chinese New Year! The host and the guests were all happy during the meal, except for Ning's mother who felt sorry for wasting so much meat.
Professor Ning acted quickly, and the next day he indeed found a student who was “proficient in painting”.
After get off work, Su Ye saw a tall, thin boy wearing a white sweatshirt and linen pants. He raised his thick glasses and asked stiffly:
"Excuse me, is this Comrade Su? Teacher Ning asked me to draw for you. My name is Feng An."
Su Ye nodded and took out a piece of paper from her bag. "Did you bring paint and brushes? I want to see how you paint."
Feng An took out a pencil and quickly drew a sketch. Su Ye frowned, "Wait, I want to see your Chinese paintings and gouache paintings."
He said nothing, and took out a brush from his schoolbag. In just a few minutes, he quickly drew a simple ink painting of bamboo, orchid and chrysanthemum.
Su Ye was very satisfied with his solid skills. Although his clothes were clean, there were faint traces of mending on his pants and his shoes were also worn.
Su Ye said straight to the point: "Professor Ning may not have told you that I want to hire you to paint, and I will give you a certain amount of compensation."
Feng An suddenly felt awkward after hearing this. He put away his brush and tools, "Teacher Ning is a very nice person. He introduced me to you. I don't need any payment."
Su Ye shook his head and said jokingly: "The task is not easy at all. Don't rush to refuse. Let me tell you what you need to do."
Fortunately, Su Ye acted quickly. She had already gone to the paper box factory to get samples of tea boxes.
It is a rectangular box of 60*40*15 in size, with a hard texture. Because Suye has no money to print patterns, he can only order a batch of pure white paper boxes from the paper box factory. However, Suye made a circular hollow interlayer on the front of the box to facilitate the addition of painted patterns later.
She pulled out a piece of cardboard from the front of the paper box and handed it to Feng An. "I want to make a batch of paper boxes for tea. I want to incorporate elements of Chinese painting and strive for beauty. You have to paint on this piece of paper and I'll make the box for you. Go back tonight and think about how to make it look good, and bring it to me tomorrow to see."
Feng An was surprised when he heard this. The thing in his hand was like a hot potato. He rubbed his hands nervously and said, "Is this... okay?"
After a long while, he raised his head and looked at Su Ye. How could someone ask to do such a thing? It didn't sound like he was doing serious work.
Su Ye could hear his caution and worry. She was afraid that in his eyes, she was going to do something that might be considered as speculation.
She said with a mixture of laughter and tears: "Just keep painting, I promise I won't hurt you."
She saw Feng An's distrustful look and thought for a moment, "Even if you don't trust me as a person, you should trust Professor Ning."
The next day, Feng An brought the box over. He also made several pieces of cardboard of the same size, in different colors, such as pink, moon white, cinnabar, and bamboo green. On them were paintings of the bright moon in his hometown, red-crowned cranes stretching their necks, green bamboos, and ladies dressing up...
He inserted the painted cardboard into the front of the paper box, and an exquisite Chinese-style tea box was ready.
He decorated the pure white box with gold powder. His strokes were so delicate that there was almost no visible trace of paint. In the blank space, he wrote a poem in small cursive script: "I have no reason to hold a bowl to send to tea lovers", which made good use of the blank space and created an indescribable poetic and pictorial feeling.
The cursive script he wrote was also beautiful, making the entire tea box look even better than if it were printed. Su Ye was at a loss for words to praise him for a moment.
Boss Ning is indeed a boss, and the talent he introduced is so talented! Unpaid work can be done so meticulously, which is beyond Su Ye's psychological expectations. Su Ye looked at Feng An, who looked malnourished and frail. It was hard to imagine that such a thing came from his hands.
People of this era really relied on their own strength and worked hard. If it were displayed in later generations, it would simply be a work of art!
Su Ye happily paid Feng An: "Your painting is very good. If you can maintain this level, I can give you 0.5 yuan for each paper box."
Such a beautiful thing deserves a beautiful price.
To be honest, Feng An didn't expect to get paid for drawing such a small thing. He was shocked and said after a long pause, "No need for payment. How can Teacher Ning ask for money for helping me?"
But it was obvious that he had no confidence in what he said. It was not easy to come to the city from the countryside to study in college. Although there were subsidies for studying in college these days, Feng An's family was too poor. There was famine in the countryside, and studying art was expensive. If it weren't for Professor Ning's financial support, Feng An had planned to drop out of school and become an art teacher in a high school...
If he accepted the job of drawing a box for fifty cents, did that mean he could continue to study art with dignity
Feng An was still struggling fiercely, but Su Ye had already made the final decision, "I'll go get a hundred boxes, you can take your time drawing."