Mr.
Wang returned to the construction site brimming with enthusiasm.
Jinyi and Jinwen had come with him as well.
“Everyone, come over! I’ve got some great news!”
“Big Uncle, what kind of good news? Tell me first.”
“Third Brother, you talk too much nonsense! Go call everyone over and bring them here!”
“What if that holds up the construction work?”
“You damn—!”
“Why are you cursing my mother? My mother is your mother too.”
Jinyi and Jinwen approached from behind.
Wang Laosan immediately shut his mouth.
He didn’t dare say another word and hurried off to call the others.
Before long, some sixty or seventy people had gathered around them.
Mr.
Wang waved his hands and shouted,
“This is excellent news! Lord Zhao has agreed! From now on, we’ll all be working for Lord Zhao!”
Wang Laosan chimed in,
“Big Uncle, aren’t we already working for Lord Zhao?”
Mr.
Wang ignored his younger brother and continued.
“From now on, we won’t be working for Lord Zhao as contractors anymore. We’ll officially become part of his people!”
“From now on, we’ll all be able to earn wages just like the workers at the liquor factory! Each person will receive between six and ten wen a day, and Lord Zhao will provide food for us as well!”
Wang Laosan immediately became excited.
“Big Uncle! Really? Then I want to earn ten wen!”
“Get lost! If you interrupt me again, I’ll make you eat shit! And you still want ten wen? You wanna go straight to heaven, too?!”
Honestly, if the man hadn’t been his own younger brother, he would’ve beaten him half to death by now.
Jinyi took half a step forward.
The entire place fell silent instantly.
“Listen, everyone. From now on, all of you will be part of the Zhao household. You’ll work for Lord Zhao, and Lord Zhao will pay you a wage.”
“Lord Zhao is a kind man. You can bring your family members from home. It doesn’t matter whether they’re old, young, women, or men. As long as they come here, they’ll at least have something to eat.”
Someone worked up the courage to ask,
“Miss Jinyi, is that really true? My mother is almost sixty. What could she possibly do here?”
“There are plenty of things she can do. As long as she’s still able to work, she can help with things like cooking or cleaning. She could even keep watch over one of the various entrances or, in the future, help manage the community. Any of those jobs would at least guarantee her food.” You are reading on novelping(.)com, the official source.
The man only understood part of what Jinyi had said, but as long as he understood that there were plenty of different jobs for them to choose from, that was enough.
“Then I’ll go home in the next few days and bring my mother here.”
“There’s no need to rush. Anyone who comes will need a place to live, right? If they come now, they’ll have no choice but to squeeze into the front courtyard of the Zhao residence or the sheds at the liquor factory.”
“That’s fine. I don’t mind. My house isn’t much better than a shed anyway.”
Mr.
Wang felt his head throb with anger.
How could his younger brother be so incapable of keeping his mouth shut?
Jinyi smiled.
“Lord Zhao won’t let everyone live and eat in terrible conditions forever. That’s why I’ve come today to tell you about a second matter.”
“We’re going to take some of the workers and have them build houses near the Zhao residence.”
“For the first stage, we’ll build eighty-one houses. Once they’re finished, they’ll be available for all of you to live in.”
“We’re building houses for ourselves? And we’ll get paid for building them, too?”
“Those are two separate matters. Your wages will continue to be paid as usual. But the houses won’t belong to you. You’ll only have the right to live in them. You won’t have to pay rent during the first year. After that, if you want to continue living there, you’ll have to pay rent.”
Zhao Baihui could already foresee many potential problems, such as what might happen to housing prices in the future.
That was why he had decided to eliminate some of those problems before they could even arise.
“Supervisor Wang, select twenty people and put them in charge of building the houses. Build them one at a time. Once one is finished, a family can move in.”
Mr.
Wang took a moment to realize that he was being addressed.
Then he quickly replied,
“Yes, sir!”
He had gone from being the village chief to becoming a supervisor.
The feeling was difficult to describe.
He couldn’t exactly say it was good.
But he couldn’t say it was bad, either.
It was simply complicated.
“Also, Lord Zhao knows that all of you have had a hard time. That’s why he has decided to advance part of your wages. Each person will receive three hundred wen. Have everyone line up and come forward one at a time to collect the money.”
This…
They had only just become Lord Zhao’s people, and they were already receiving money.
Everything had happened far too quickly.
Zhao Baihui understood perfectly well the idea behind ‘buying a thousand-li horse for a thousand pieces of gold so others will follow the example.’
A table was quickly brought over.
Small silver pieces, each about the size of a fingernail, rolled in every direction.
The group of farmers, who had never seen so much money in their lives, were completely stunned.
Even Supervisor Wang felt his breathing quicken.
“Don’t push. Everyone will receive three qian of silver. If you keep pushing, you won’t get anything.”
Supervisor Wang hurried to maintain order, using kicks and shoves whenever necessary.
More than twenty liang of silver had completely won over everyone’s hearts.
“Supervisor Wang, this is for you.”
“I get some too?”
“How could you not?” Jinyi said with a smile.
“We supervisors have to eat too, don’t we? Even Jinwen and I are now receiving three hundred wen in wages each.”
“Oh, oh… Then I’ll take it.”
“Also, these five liang of silver are the payment Lord Zhao is giving you to take charge of his construction crew.”
A one-liang silver ingot was roughly the size of two thumbs placed side by side.
It was cast in a shape resembling a small boat or a little ingot, and in any case, it was quite beautiful.
Five beautiful silver ingots were placed into Supervisor Wang’s hands.
“Keep them somewhere safe. Don’t let anyone see them.”
“This… I can’t accept this.”
“Lord Zhao always keeps public and private matters completely separate. You have to accept this money. Lord Zhao doesn’t want to owe you anything.”
“Supervisor Wang, you’d better take some men and start building the houses today. Also, keep a record of each person’s workload, establish the different levels of daily wages, and bring the list to me for review and approval.”
“Miss Jinyi, don’t worry. I’ll take care of both of those things!”
“Make sure you set the wages properly. I don’t want any unpleasant problems coming up later.”
“Don’t worry. I can handle it. We’re all members of the same clan. I know exactly how much each person can do and how much they should earn.”
“Distribute the work fairly. If they want to earn six wen, let them do six wen’s worth of work. If they want to earn ten wen, let them do ten wen’s worth. I won’t stop them. There won’t be any problem.”
“Very well. Then I’ll head back for now. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
On the way home, Jinyi said to Jinwen,
“For the next few days, come with me to the construction site and familiarize yourself with everything here as quickly as possible. Later on, I want you to take charge of everything related to construction.”
“Big Sister, can I really do it?”
“Why wouldn’t you be able to? I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to handle it when I first started, too. And yet, haven’t you persevered all this time?”
“Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. What matters is that you don’t end up doing nothing just because you’re afraid of getting something wrong. Don’t worry. Lord Zhao has our backs and will deal with any problems that come up.”
“Yes, Big Sister. Don’t worry. I’ll do my best to do a good job!”
“If you’re really afraid you won’t be able to handle it, take Jinyuan with you. That way, he can gain some experience, too.”
“Okay.”