376. The Creeping Figs
Manager Qin laughed and thanked her.
He was not going to steal the fruits from Young Master Xie and Young Master Yuezheng.
They had a small chat and after that Qiao Xuan went shopping.
She went to the cloth shop first, and bought a lot of fabrics suitable for cutting clothes in autumn and winter. The ones she had bought in the province were not meant for winters.
After that, she paid pageboys to deliver them to Mingren Tang, which the pageboys agreed to.
She also bought some skin care products at the cosmetics store.
Lipsticks were already very popular, and Qiao Xuan overheard some rich ladies and madams talking about lipsticks at the store.
The women were greedy for the lipsticks, and they kept urging the manager to see if she could get some samples from the province.
Even paying seven liang for one lipstick was okay for them!
Their housekeepers had been to the province many times but they all failed to buy even one!
The manager smiled helplessly. She would very much like to buy the lipsticks which were famous everywhere by now, but it was the Third Young Master of the Yuezheng Family who ran the business. Moreover, they always ran out of stock as soon as they were placed on the shelf. Where was the chance for finding spare ones for the outsiders?
The lipsticks were precious and extremely short in supply. The manager just could not get the chance to get even one.
Qiao Xuan was quite surprised. She had not expected that such highly-priced lipsticks could be sold in this small town, but the truth was that all women loved to look pretty.
Her lipsticks were the only existing products in the whole world and no one would be able to resist the charm.
They still had many spices prepared at home, and those things did not go bad so quickly. She had bought them from the province.
She walked around the market and decided to take some pork home.
Fresh pork would last a few days under such weather.
She bought ribs, pork ribs, pork belly, hind legs, pork knuckles, as well as pork liver, pork belly, spending nearly 300 wen at one go. The butcher sold her the meat with an enthusiastic smile and gave her a pig heart as a present.
Qiao Xuan thanked the butcher with a smile, and began to think about what to cook in her heart. She thought about making stewed pork ribs, deep-fried pork ribs this evening, sweet and sour braised pork the next day, and half of the pork belly would be made of twice-cooked pork and half steamed with noodles. She decided to make stir-fried hind legs, and salted pork knuckles for the day after tomorrow.
Pork belly, pork liver, and pork heart were all prepared for tonight. After processing the remaining ones, she could fry the hot and sour pork belly, pork heart, and pork liver with pickled vegetables. Ginger slices would be used to remove the strange smell from the meat.
Scallops and eels would be added to make it more delicious...
She was drooling for pork which she had not eaten in a long time!
After delivering the meat back to the pharmacy, Qiao Xuan went to the market and bought a few more things. Then she went into a restaurant, ate one bowl of noodles before heading back to Mingren Tang, where she waited for Shao Yunduan.
Shao Yunduan met her at the scheduled time. They went to fetch the agent, rented a wagon and headed straight to Zhang Village.
The agent did not turn down such a huge business deal, though he was very curious about what they wanted to do with so much land. But he knew that he should not ask them about this.
The Land Officer of the Zhang Village did not hesitate to sell them the mountain land which was not that valuable anyways.
Shao Yunduan expressed that he would like to hire someone to clear up the land, which pleased the Land Officer as well. He promised that as long as the staff were properly paid, they would work hard and well.
The villagers had run out of farm work after the autumn harvest. They could do some extra work and save a little money for the New Year. No one would turn such an offer down..
377. Tea Mountain
After the agreement was reached, Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan went to visit Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou.
The couple were very pleased to see them, and received them in the main room.
Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan had paid a visit to them during the autumn harvest, which was a month ago.
Ms. Zhou poured some tea for them and Ding Erzhu talked about what was going on with them these days.
Hearing that they were going to open up the barren mountain, Ding Erzhu became serious and attentive.
"We already spoke with the Land Officer about this. Uncle Erzhu, you can decide regarding who to hire and how to manage it well. It would be best if we can sort out at least 500 mu of tea mountains before the New Year. 300 mu of it should be ready for the planting of tea trees."
"Apart from these lands, there will be another land as large as 100 mu, which would be for other plants."
Ding Erzhu nodded constantly. "Okay, okay, I will speak with the Land Officer in the afternoon and take over the job. The tenants are available right now, and with the help from the Zhang Village, we can definitely clear through 300 to 500 mu of land."
"That's good." Qiao Xuan smiled. "If anyone asks about the salary, we are offering 30 won a day and lunch included. The lunch will be meat and vegetable steamed buns or rolls."
They could not specify the dishes because there should be at least more than 100 people working together when the project starts, so steamed buns made everything easier.
"Aunt Zhou, you can make some steamed buns with a few women at the village, and they should be paid 20 won a day. You can buy the fillings from town and at least 1/3 of the fillings should be meat."
Qiao Xuan believed that labor should be well-served so that they could be full of energy to work harder.
30 won a day was considered to be a high payment.
Ding Erzhu felt concerned on their behalf, so he said, "The salary is too high, and the competition would be fierce. That would be quite troublesome..."
If it was 15 won a day, that would be a relatively average price for those who craved to earn some money, and those who were selected to work for them would not protest.
But 30 won a day would be really appealing for everyone to come and join them. It would be very difficult to choose whom to hire.
And those who could not be hired would definitely complain.
After all, 70% of the villagers were surnamed Zhang and Qiao Xuan and her husband were outsiders.
They just could not be a match against those who were local residents.
High payment and one lunch which served meat steamed buns... that would be so tantalizing for anyone.
Hearing Ding Erzhu's thoughts, Qiao Xuan was startled.
She had just felt that the work would require a lot of energy and 30 won per day was something within her budget. But Ding Erzhu knew more about how those farmers were thinking.
Shao Yunduan looked at her gently and smiled. He knew pretty well what his wife was thinking.
"30 won a day is a bit much, what about 20 won plus lunch. But we need to set a rule, like two steamed buns with fillings and two pure steamed buns, one steamed roll for each worker. Those who don't take lunch would get extra pay. The size of steamed buns with fillings can be as big as that available in the market while the steamed buns and rolls can be larger.
It should be enough for one adult for lunch.
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Okay, that sounds great! As for the workers, each tenant's family can offer one person and we would hire them all.."
378. Hiring
"Apart from the tenants, there should be at least 100 households in Zhang Village, right? Just see how many of them want to join the project. If everyone wants to be part of it, then we can only divide them into two batches, one for every other day, and only one person is hired from each household."
Shao Yunduan added. "We only need strong young men, and other people can join if a family doesn't have strong, young men."
Ding Erzhu nodded and said with a smile, "Okay, okay, I understand what I should do after hearing your plan. 20 won a day with lunch, that is tempting for everyone, except for those who are too lazy to work."
The three of them talked more in detail, regarding how to separate the groups and exclude those who were lazy at work but active in eating and getting money...
Gradually, everything was sorted.
Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan would come to them again after three days, when Ding Erzhu and the Land Officer completed the final deal.
If all went well, the project could start real soon.
Qiao Xuan looked at their house and smiled. "This house is okay for the moment, but not for the winter. We need to have someone watch over the tea land, and to have grains stored and the creeping figs planted. We will need to have one place for that. When the tea trees are done, we will build a huge house here and both of you can move in."
Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou had been thinking about going into the town and buying some paper to add to the walls of this wooden house. They even thought about saving some money to buy coals and blankets and make some thick winter clothes, but Qiao Xuan started to talk about building a house.
Qiao Xuan had mentioned it once before, but she and Shao Yunduan never mentioned that again, so Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou did not take it seriously.
Maybe they had some other plans and decided to leave this one aside.
After all, Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan did not owe them anything. They needed to solve their problems themselves rather than wait for the new house to be built.
Hence, they were both shocked upon hearing what Qiao Xuan said.
Shao Yunduan added his view as well. "It is time to have it built, otherwise it would be inconvenient."
"Yeah, I want to dig a pool to raise fish and plant lotus roots too."
Ding Erzhu felt quite embarrassed. "Alright... then, we will move into the new place, thanks to you again... when we have more money in the future, we will build two more rooms."
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Just live here if you want to and we will build the house next to ours, which is very convenient!"
They had a son and they could not possibly just live in the house which Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan built. So for a long-term plan, they still needed to build one for themselves.
Ding Erzhu smiled brightly and nodded.
Ms. Zhou was very glad as well.
Before the couple left, Ms. Zhou asked Qiao Xuan. "Dear Niece-in-law, can I ask my mother to help me with steaming buns? Shitou is still too young to go about by himself, and I need someone to watch out for him in case he runs into something unpleasant."
Ms. Zhou was a mild person but her mother was not so gentle.
Ms. Zhou needed her mother to back her up.
If the women who worked took them at will, or their children came to fetch them, or even the children from the village offered the eagerness to fetch the steamed buns, Ms. Zhou would be too timid to say no.
Qiao Xuan smiled. "That is a good idea. I was worried whether you could spare more time and energy into it. It would be good that your mother comes over. The Land Officer's wife could help as well. Both your mother, and the Land Officer's wife can earn 30 won a day and you will be paid monthly, which is not included in this.."
379. Uncaring
Ms. Zhou let out a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "I don't work that much and I am still getting paid. Now that I have work to do, I can't get extra payment this time."
Qiao Xuan laughed. "You have helped us a lot! Without your help, we would not have harvested the rice so smoothly."
The tenants had no idea who on earth Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan were, except that they were from outside the village. But for the couple who watched them doing the harvest, they might not have been honest in their efforts. Some might even have harvested some to their own home first.
But during the harvest, there was always someone who was watching them work.
Ms. Zhou and Ding Erzhu were both quite embarrassed. "That is what we ought to do!"
After Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan left, Qiao Xuan still believed that the payment was quite low. She smiled at Shao Yunduan. "If all goes well after we are done, we can even give the red packets to each laborer. I think 50 won should be good enough, what do you think?"
Shao Yunduan nodded and said to her, "You can spread the news around, so they may work harder for that goal."
Qiao Xuan's eyes brightened as she chuckled. "Yeah, they should be motivated enough not to cause any trouble or allow anyone else to cause trouble."
Shortly after Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan were gone, Ding Erzhu went to visit the Land Officer of the Zhang Village.
The Land Officer always believed that Ding Erzhu was Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan's relatives, so he treated him very politely. They had a very smooth and happy conversation during the deal.
Qiao Xuan knew that the local hooligans had some reputation in the village, and the Land Officer of the local area should be given some extra benefits for containing them.
When the Land Officer got the benefits, Qiao Xuan would get him to hire the villagers to work for him so he could be pleased too.
Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan went back to the town, fetched what they left at Manager Qin's place and headed home.
Bull cart was a bit slow and Qiao Xuan smiled. "When the new house is built, let's buy a donkey cart for faster traveling."
Shao Yunduan nodded.
When the new house was built, they would have a lot of space to put the donkey cart as well.
They could not think about buying a wagon, since it was quite difficult to obtain.
Even those rich people in town would not be able to afford a horse sometimes.
When they went back home, they shared the presents with the whole family. Those presents were of different categories, including clothes, food, and daily necessities.
Ms. Fang smiled with a sigh. "We all have savings, and we can buy what we need ourselves. You don't have to buy us anything. You and Yunduan should save money for future use."
Ms. Fang firmly believed that her son would make it to the next level and his studying would cost a lot of money.
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Don't worry, Mom. We barely spend any money, and we have savings as well. Also, we are making a lot of money too, right?" Ms. Fang chuckled. "True, and that is all because you helped us with it!"
Ms. Xu was very delighted. She had been thinking about making winter clothes, either with her own money or the shared savings. But Qiao Xuan had brought so many materials home, even cotton! That saved her a lot of money.
Yang Xiaoni was glad too. She placed the garment on herself, asking her husband if she looked nice..
380. Unwatchable
Shao Sanlang nodded and kept speaking highly of his wife's good looks.
Yang Xiaoni felt bashful. Her cheeks were flushed but her eyes were sparkling, and she smiled brightly.
Ms. Fang did not look at them while the rest pretended not to have seen the whole episode.
The couple had always been like this and the rest of the family was used to it by now.
Three days later, Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan went to the Zhang Village with the required money.
They finalized the deal with Ding Erzhu, Ms. Zhou, Ms. Zhou's mother, Land Officer and his wife regarding opening the barren land.
All the villagers at the Zhang Village were glad about this project and almost every household applied to work on it. So, they were divided into two batches and took turns in doing the labor work.
The Land Officer received a huge red packet and he was highly motivated. He said that he was going to watch over everybody so that nobody would get lazy during the work hours.
Hearing that there would be an even bigger red packet after the project was done, the Land Officer became even more delighted.
Qiao Xuan smiled. "We would need many more laborers for our tea mountains. Work hard and we will hire more people! Those who don't work hard would have to be excluded, and we would hire people from other villages..."
The Land Officer nodded. "Don't worry, we are all down-to-earth people and we will work hard. I will get rid of those sneaky ones for you!"
The Land Officer and his wife felt energized and devoted when he heard that there would be more money to make in the future. The wife was going to be in charge of making steamed buns, and she would be able to take a few more since she was in charge.
That was such a great deal that should not be let go of.
No one would allow anyone to make trouble about this.
Most of the workers were those who needed such temporary tasks.
Seeing that Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan were able to afford the land, they suspected that they had some mysterious and powerful supporters behind their back, thus not daring to cause trouble for them.
So soon, the work started full-fledgedly at Zhang Village.
The first morning was a bit chaotic, but at noon everyone queued up and got to eat steamed buns. Not only were they big, but the meaty buns were really full of meat when they took a bite. Everyone finally believed that the owner didn't lie, and the wages must be the same. So they were definitely going to work hard to earn the extra red packets of bonuses!
They worked obediently and occasionally, there were a few who got lazy but before Ding Erzhu and the Land Officer's son reprimanded them and everyone slowly straightened out.
Everything went well. No chaos appeared, generally speaking.
Steamed buns were steamed on a temporary stove in front of Ding Erzhu's house. Needless to say, the seven working women and their children who came to have fun ate together at noon. Also, the other children came to the stove as well around lunchtime.
They were all drooling for the steamed buns by the time they were cooked.
Not every household was able to afford to eat steamed buns like these.
Qiao Xuan wasn't an unscrupulous person. Although the flour used to make steamed buns was not the best, it was still quite good. The authentic flour was steamed in a big steamer, and it gave out a strong fragrance.
The Land Officer's wife did not want to offend the fellow villagers, so she could not do anything about the situation. She could not even drive away people who were queuing up for the steamed buns.
Ms. Zhou was not capable of turning them down alone.
But Ms. Zhou's mother used a huge basket to hold steamed buns and rolls and gave them to each child until the basket was emptied. Those who failed to get the steamed buns could queue up the next day..