newbobooks Chapter 231
Chapter 231
Zhong Ruyi didn't dare to agree to such a big deal immediately. "When is your next trip to Jinzhou?"
"It's the twelfth of next month, you better hurry up!" said Mrs. Yu.
Gritting his teeth, Zhong Ruyi chose to agree. There was still more than a month left, so he had to hire a few people and get it done as soon as possible.
When Zhong Ruyi told this in the evening, the table suddenly became quiet except for the sound of Tiedan munching on steamed buns.
After a long while, Li Guihua asked in a trembling voice, "So many? Can we, can we finish it?"
Zhong Ruyi said seriously, "Okay, but we have to recruit people. Sister-in-law, think about which aunts and sisters-in-law in our village are more diligent and keep their mouths shut."
"...Your Aunt Zhao, Aunt Wu, and the village head's wife and daughter-in-law are all good. Aunt Tian is also OK. She used to be a bit of a nag, but after the incident with Tian Lao Er, she has become much quieter and doesn't like to talk as much."
The story of Aunt Tian’s second son stealing watermelons.
"Then let Aunt Zhao talk to them tomorrow to see if they are willing to come. Also, they must make it clear that they must not be careless when doing things for me. This is going to be sent outside to sell, so they must pay attention to hygiene!"
Li Guihua nodded, "Okay, I'll tell them."
The next day, Aunt Zhao called everyone over, and they were all well-known capable people in the village.
"My dear sisters-in-law, I have just negotiated a deal with Mr. Yu's family in town. The goods will be delivered in a month. I am looking for you to come here to rush this batch of goods out so that we can deliver them."
Zhong Ruyi looked at everyone and continued, "It's eighty coins a day, not including meals. You have half an hour to rest at noon. Work starts at 3:30 pm and ends at 3:30 pm."
Chenshi 3:45, go to work at 7:30 in the morning. Youshi 3:45, get off work at 5:30.
When everyone heard it, it was Chenshi. They had already gotten up at this time. They all got up early to make breakfast and wash clothes. At this time, they had already finished their work, so it was just the right time for them to come and work.
I can get home from work at You time and cook, which is neither too early nor too late.
I live in the same village, close to home, and I can earn eighty cents a day, which means more than two taels of silver a month!
"Will you do it at your home?" asked Aunt Tian.
Zhong Ruyi shook her head. Although the house could accommodate so many people, it was very inconvenient. Besides, her second sister-in-law was a pregnant woman. If she accidentally bumped into someone, it would be troublesome.
"Don't we have a few empty houses in our village? I asked the village chief yesterday. Those houses were left behind by people who moved out of town. They can all be rented. I found a house with a larger kitchen and rented it for a month."
Aunt Wang and her daughter-in-law from the village chief's family had heard about this from the village chief. Some houses were good, some were bad, but the rent was the same, two taels of silver per month.
After that, Zhong Ruyi took them to the house she had rented.
When the door was opened, there was dust and cobwebs everywhere because no one had lived there for a long time. However, what Zhong Ruyi valued most was that this house had two kitchens. At that time, two families lived there and cooked separately. Later, when the family became rich, both families moved out.
"Today, I'd like to trouble you all to clean up the place. Of course, you will be paid for your work today, so you must clean it up. Sister-in-law, please check after you finish cleaning. Make sure the environment is clean and tidy, so that the food you make can sell well."
Li Guihua nodded and arranged for everyone to fetch water and sweep the floor.
This family has a large yard, and the pork jerky can be placed in the yard to dry.
You can also buy winnowing baskets for drying dried pork. Many elderly people in the village know how to weave them.
Ask Cuicui to go along, so she can help get it back.
She went to her sixth uncle's house. He happened to be sitting under a tree at the door weaving a cage. When he saw the two of them coming, he smiled, but his words sounded a little unclear through his toothless mouth.
"Sixth Uncle! Have you eaten?" Zhong Ruyi asked.
The old man nodded cheerfully, "We've eaten. It's so sunny, why are you two girls out here? I have two straw hats here, take them and go back quickly!"
Zhong Ruyi took the straw hat and sat down beside him. "Sixth Uncle, how long does it take you to weave a cage?"
Sixth Uncle said proudly, "I am the fastest cage weaver in our village! I can weave dozens of cages a day!"
"So awesome!" Zhong Ruyi applauded him enthusiastically.
After clapping, Zhong Ruyi talked about the purpose of coming here, "Sixth Uncle, it's like this, I need twenty winnowing baskets, preferably big ones, I wonder if you can weave them?"
How could Sixth Uncle stand up to her provocation? He stood up swiftly and said, "Who said I can't? Come with me!"
The old man took her back home. A woman was chopping wood in the yard. Her husband was now building a house for Chen Dongzhi.
Zhong Ruyi smiled and called her "Auntie".
The lady wiped the sweat off her head and said with a smile, "Ruyi, how come you have time to come here? Come to the main room quickly, I'll pour you a cup of honey water."
"No, no, auntie, I came to look at the dustpans with my sixth uncle. I want a lot, and my sixth uncle asked me to take him to look at them."
The old man had already gone to the warehouse, opened the door, and there were a lot of miscellaneous things inside.
He pulled out two large winnowing baskets from the corner. Judging from the size, two people holding hands and forming a circle could barely reach them.
"So big?" Zhong Ruyi was surprised when she saw it at first, but then she thought, it's good to be this big, as it can hold more air.
Sixth Uncle raised his chin slightly, "I spent a whole day making these two. It took me a lot of effort!"
Zhong Ruyi wanted to buy them with money, but the old man kept refusing, "How can I charge you money for two dustpans, you little girl?"
The woman followed suit and said, "Yes, Ruyi, if you want these two dustpans, take them back. They are not worth much."
"No, Sixth Uncle, Auntie, I need more than these two. Could you please make twenty of them for me according to this size?"
"Twenty?" The woman was a little surprised. "Why do you want so many?"
Zhong Ruyi tried to tell them as much as possible about the pork jerky. "That's right. The pork jerky needs to be dried in a winnowing basket before being steamed, so a lot of winnowing baskets are needed. Then I remembered that my father told me that my sixth uncle was a famous craftsman in the village, so I thought of coming here to ask him."
The Sixth Uncle held his head high, looking proud, "My girl, your uncle has helped you!"
The woman was still a little hesitant. She was afraid that the old man's body wouldn't be able to handle doing so much.
"I'll give you the price you get for a winnowing basket at the market. How about twenty coins each?"
Twenty cents!
Four hundred coins!
The woman was a little hesitant at first, but when she heard about the several hundred coins, she was immediately tempted.
What's twenty winnowing baskets? At worst, she could ask her husband to come back from work and continue making winnowing baskets. She had to make these few hundred coins!
She agreed immediately and went back to the kitchen to get a plate of steamed cakes. "Ruyi, take this and eat it. You see, I don't have much to treat you since you came here. Eat two more steamed cakes to sweeten your mouth. Cuicui, you can have some too!"
With the woman's warm hospitality, Zhong Ruyi and Cuicui stuffed their mouths with steamed cakes and each carried a large winnowing basket back home.
After the people left, the woman stood there, thinking that she would soon receive several hundred coins, and she couldn't help laughing out loud.
"Eh? Why are there copper coins here?" Sixth Uncle's voice was filled with confusion.
The woman turned around and saw a handful of copper coins on the seat where the two had just sat. She counted them and found that there were exactly forty coins.