Someone brought over several tables and chairs, and Jinyi and Jinxiu took their seats.
Jinyi picked up the account book.
“Wu Erniu’s family earned one hundred and thirty-three wen for ten days of work. Check whether the amount is correct. If it is, come and collect your money.”
A man cautiously stepped forward.
“Co… correct… yes, it’s correct.”
In reality, he had no idea whether the amount was correct or not.
All he knew was that Jinyi had said she would give him one hundred and thirty-three wen.
Given the conditions his family lived in, if they managed their money carefully and had the children go out in the morning and afternoon to gather some wild vegetables to cook together with their coarse grains…
One hundred and thirty-three wen worth of food could feed the entire family for a month.
And that was only ten days’ wages!
Then couldn’t they save everything they earned during the remaining twenty days?
How much could they save in a year?
How long would it take them to gather enough money to marry off their eldest son?
Jinxiu took the money pouch, counted out one qian of silver and thirty-three copper coins, and handed them over.
“Next: Liu Gouwa, one hundred and forty-one wen. Is the amount correct?”
The man named Gouwa was thirty years old, but he looked closer to fifty.
He also stepped forward excitedly.
As he passed by, he raised his eyebrows and exchanged a few meaningful looks with Wu Erniu, who had just received his money.
Apparently, the two were quite close friends.
The meaning was obvious:
What’s wrong with you?
You earned less than me!
Wu Erniu glared back at him.
When the time comes, my son will marry your daughter.
My family will have one more mouth to feed, while yours will have one less.
We’ll see how proud you are then!
As expected, the two were such good friends that they understood each other perfectly without saying a word.
Gouwa immediately understood what he meant and glared back.
Don’t even think about it, bastard!
My daughter is never marrying a poor man like you!
The wages of the ten families amounted to only a little over one liang of silver.
For the Zhao family’s income, that couldn’t exactly be called an insignificant amount, but neither was it much of a burden.
“Jinxiu, from now on, you’ll be responsible for managing this liquor factory. I need to keep an eye on the construction work.”
“Big Sister, don’t worry. I’ll make sure to manage it properly.”
“You don’t need to spend too much time here either. The production work is already fixed. You only need to come and check on things from time to time, and every ten days, come here to pay the workers.”
“The things most likely to cause problems are the food and firewood supplies. Pay attention to those.”
“Yes, yes, Big Sister. I’ll make sure everything is properly managed.”
Jinxiu was extremely excited.
At last, she could help Sir with his work, just like her Big Sister.
She was so happy!
Jinxiu’s father, who had come along as their escort to give the group a little more presence, was even more excited.
Was his own daughter going to be put in charge of things too?
From now on, whenever other people saw him, they might even say:
“That’s Miss Jinxiu’s father!”
What an honor!
The four girls left the liquor factory.
The moment they were gone, the place erupted into noise, with one voice following another.
“Woman! Since there’s still some daylight left, go into town and buy some food. Oh, and cut a few liang of meat while you’re there. And bring me a jar of rice wine! What do you mean, the wine here? Are you trying to get me killed, woman?”
“Eldest Daughter, go with your aunt into town and buy some food too. Forget about the rest. We still have debts that haven’t been paid off.”
Before long, a group of more than ten women and children left the compound together.
In reality, Jinyi and the others hadn’t gone very far.
They were outside the walls, checking whether there was any damage that needed to be repaired.
Because of that, Jinyi heard everything that was happening inside the courtyard.
“Since we can produce our own liquor now, there’s no point making everyone travel all the way into town just to buy it at a higher price.”
“Jinxiu, tomorrow, choose a few people from the liquor factory. Hang a sign at the entrance and start selling liquor here as well. Set the price at the same level as in town.”
“We’re not trying to make much money from it. What’s important is making things more convenient for everyone.”
“And once the commercial street Sir is planning is finished, we’ll move the business there.”
“Oh, and as Sir said, we need to offer incentives. We have to establish a guaranteed minimum amount and then calculate the commission rate properly. It can’t be too high or too low. Otherwise, problems could arise.”
“We should encourage small businesses and street vendors. We mustn’t allow large merchants and tycoons to appear.”
“Big Sister, I’ll remember. When I get back, I’ll think carefully about all of this.”
Jinxiu quickly took out her notebook and wrote down the tasks she needed to take care of.
That was something Sir had once said:
“A bad memory is no match for a bad pen.”
That way, they wouldn’t forget the things they needed to do.
“Let’s go. The walls are fine. Let’s head back.”
At the entrance to the valley, several people carrying firewood on their backs encountered a group of more than ten people—men, women, elderly people, and children—all dressed in rags.
“Excuse me. I wanted to ask you something. Is Sir Zhao’s residence just ahead?”
“Yes. What are you planning to do?”
“We heard that Sir Zhao is a man of great kindness and compassion. They say that no matter who comes here, they’ll at least be given a bowl of food. That’s why we’ve come.”
“Yes, I’ve heard that too. Apparently, Sir Zhao needs quite a lot of people to cultivate wasteland. Afterward, they can stay here and work the land.”
“And what about you gentlemen? What are you doing here?”
“We’re from the nearby villages. Sir Zhao needs firewood, so we bring several bundles here every day to sell.”
“You can sell firewood for money too? How much do they pay you?”
The man hesitated for a moment.
He didn’t want to say anything because he was afraid they might take away his business, but in the end, he decided to answer honestly.
“There’s not much work in the fields right now, so I spend half the day gathering firewood. When I bring it here, I can earn around three wen a day.”
“Three wen for half a day? Then that’s six wen a day! That would be one hundred and eighty wen a month!”
“This… this is enough to feed a family until they’re full! We have a way to survive!”
“Yes, Uncle. We have a way to survive. If we stay here and help Sir Zhao cultivate the wasteland, perhaps they’ll even give us a few mu of land to work.”
“Everyone, hurry! Let’s go!”
Those people quickly reached the construction site and asked whether Sir Zhao’s residence was located there.
Mr.
Wang heard the commotion and came over.
He looked at the group.
All of the more than ten people were visibly malnourished.
Only two or three of them looked physically capable of joining his construction crew.
So he had no choice but to abandon that idea and lead everyone to the entrance of the Zhao residence. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
In a guest room that had been specially prepared in the central courtyard, he met Zhao Baihui and the four girls.
“Sir Zhao, these people have come to seek refuge with you. I also had something I wanted to discuss with you, so since I was already coming this way, I brought them along.”
“I understand. Thank you for bringing them, Mr. Wang.”
“Jinyi, take care of this. Have them stay in the front courtyard for now.”
“Since Mr. Wang is here as well, let’s take this opportunity to discuss something. Take some people from your construction crew and build several houses near my residence so that anyone who comes here looking for an opportunity will have somewhere to stay.”
“Oh, and Mr. Wang, you said you had something to discuss with me. What is it?”
Mr.
Wang had been thinking about this for many days, but he had never managed to make up his mind.
Now that these people had arrived, he decided to gather his courage and speak once and for all.
“Sir Zhao, I know you’re a good man, so I want to bring the people who work with me here and have them join you.”
“Join me? What does that mean?”
Mr.
Wang’s expression darkened.
“Sir Zhao, you don’t know this, but all of us come from the same village. We’re relatives. We’re all members of the same clan, brothers and kinsmen.”
“Back then, our village suffered a calamity, and everyone was left without any means of survival.”
“At that time, I was an apprentice in the village. I had no way to help my fellow villagers, but I couldn’t simply stand by and watch them starve to death.”
“So I went from place to place, begging everyone I could, until I managed to find some construction work. Then I brought the men from each family with me to build houses and raise walls.”
“As long as we had something to eat, we worked.”
“And that’s how we’ve lived for more than ten years. I went from being a mere apprentice to becoming a middle-aged man.”
“This trade is truly difficult. We work until we’re completely exhausted every day, and even then, we can barely keep ourselves fed.”
“Last year, in order to finish a job on time and get paid, we had a small accident. One man died, and two others were left disabled. They were all brothers from my clan…”
“The one who died was my own nephew…”
“Mr. Wang, I’m sorry for your loss.”
After hearing this, Zhao Baihui understood Mr.
Wang’s difficulties.
There weren’t nearly as many construction projects in this era.
Making a living in this trade meant working harder while earning less.
And there were certain risks involved as well.
Now that Baihui’s own business had begun to grow, he would have more and more construction work to do.
But if Mr.
Wang continued working for him merely as an independent contractor, he could only receive the usual market wages.
On the other hand, if he became part of Zhao Baihui’s organization, the conditions would naturally be different.
Mr.
Wang had seen the conditions given to the families of the girls and the workers at the liquor factory with his own eyes.
“Mr. Wang, I accept.”
“From now on, you’ll continue managing the construction crew, but you’ll have to work under the supervision of Jinyi and the others.”
“As for the workers’ wages, they’ll depend on the specific work they’re doing. For now, the men will receive between six and ten wen a day, depending on how physically demanding the work is.”
“As the person in charge, your provisional wage will be ten wen a day.”
“Your work is quite demanding, so I’ll give you an additional benefit: your food will be provided. As for what the meals will consist of, we can discuss that later.”
Mr.
Wang dropped to his knees with a heavy thud.
“Thank you, Sir! The great kindness you’ve shown me, Sir, I will never forget for as long as I live!”