Chapter 92 - Don’t you have some guesses?

Mother Xiao didn’t expect her daughter-in-law to let her manage the team.

She raised her head and asked hesitantly, “Can I do it?”

She had a soft personality, so she knew her limits.

She was just afraid that if she didn’t manage it well, she would delay her daughter-in-law’s plans.

Shi Qingluo looked at her placatingly. “Mother, you will definitely be able to do it.

“There are only a few of us in our family. When the workshop expands in the future, we must be careful that someone might steal the recipe or break the rules, so we still have to let someone with trust to oversee the production. Mother, you can give it a try first.”

She was rather patient with her mother-in-law.

To change her personality, Shi Qingluo had to take it slow.

Eating a lot in one go wouldn’t make her a big fatty.

Mother Xiao shall first be given some trust.

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Then, she would throw her a little responsibility. She believed that with her personality, she wouldn’t reject it.

As expected, Mother Xiao also felt that it made sense when she heard it.

After thinking for a while, she encouraged herself. “Alright, I’ll give it a try then.”

Shi Qingluo smiled and said, “When the time comes, let Baili come and help you to manage it.”

It would be fine if she had the courage to take the first step out.

Shi Qingluo was afraid that she would always be cooped up in her shell.

Hearing that her daughter would help, Mother Xiao was more assured. “Alright, we’ll definitely work hard and do it well!”

After eating, Shi Qingluo and Xiao Hanzheng went to the chief’s house.

Not long after, the chief beat the gong at the village’s entrance.

The gong’s sound wasn’t soft. When he beat hard enough almost everyone in the village could hear it.

It also meant that the chief wanted to gather all the villagers for a meeting.

Other than those who had already brought tofu out to sell, or had to run some errands, the remaining villagers were all here.

When everyone arrived, the chief announced, “Today, Dalang’s wife has something to say, so I called all of you over.”

Because of tofu, saltpetre, and popsicles, the villagers’ income had been constantly increasing in the past two months.

Because of this, everyone respected Shi Qingluo very much.

Other than a few ungrateful people, everyone else knew that the fruits they were enjoying now were all because of Shi Qingluo, so they were also grateful.

Of course, those few ungrateful people were gradually excluded from others in the grand plan for the entire village to prosper.

A woman smiled and said, “If you have anything to say, feel free to say it.”

Shi Qingluo did not beat around the bush. “I’ve developed a type of incense that can repel mosquitoes, so I intend to hire people to make the mosquito incense in the sugar mill now.

“But all of this is delicate work, and it won’t take much effort, so I’m planning to hire only women for this.

“Any women above the age of 12 can sign up. I’ll select from the list later.

“Those who are shortlisted will start work in the morning and finish before dinner in the late afternoon. You can have your breakfast and lunch at the workshop.

“100 wen per month.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the villagers were shocked.

“What? 100 wen per month and even includes breakfast and lunch.”

“My husband used to work at the county town, but he only had 100 wen per month. It was very tiring, and he had to wake up early while the sky was still dark every day.

“I heard that the food in the Xiao family’s workshop is quite good. Anyway, it’s much better than the food at home.”

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“The key is that we are working in the village. If anything happens at home, we can still take care of it.”

The women, grannies, and young girls in the village couldn’t help but feel excited.

Previously, be it repairing the houses at the entrance of the village, the workshop, or the Taoist temple on the mountain, the Xiao family had hired men.

Only the tofu workshop and the cookhouse had hired a few women. They were paid a lot and meals were also provided.

Everyone saw that those who had gone to the Xiao family to work had ruddier faces.

They had also gained weight, so many women were envious.

They didn’t expect that there would be a job just for women. To them, this was an opportunity.

In such a poor village in this era, every household wished they could split a wen into half.

100 wen per month, and only women were recruited.

This was something that no one dared to think about in the past.

As long as their family members weren’t stupid, they wouldn’t stop the women from working.

“Dalang’s wife, is this true? Then you can see if I’m suitable for it!”

The woman who spoke first couldn’t wait any longer and asked.

Shi Qingluo smiled and said, “Of course it’s true.”

“Aunty, you’re a hardworking person. Of course you can do it.

“But in a while, you’ll still have to come to my house to register with my younger sister.” Nothing could be accomplished without any expectations or standards.

That aunty said excitedly, “I’ll register, I’ll go and register in a while.”

A man could not help but ask, “Are you not hiring for other work?”

Shi Qingluo replied, “Not for the time being, but when the paint workshop opens, we will still be hiring. We’ll need men for that.”

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Painting required a lot of manual labour and effort, and men were more suitable for it.

Many of the men in the village were initially disappointed, but when they heard this, they happily said, “Alright.”

The weather had been too hot recently, and the tofu would get sour if it was carried too far away for sale, so they could only sell it nearby.

Once the sellers gathered, there was more competition, so their businesses weren’t as good as before. They shall wait for the weather to cool down.

In addition, they weren’t busy with farming recently, so many people wanted to find a job with the Xiao family.

After all, the work location was closer to their house.

The salary was not bad, and food was also provided. They wouldn’t be able to find this even when they were at the county town.

In particular, they could also network with Elementary Scholar Xiao and good fortune from an old immortal’s disciple. Everyone was happy.

Next, those who wanted to register went to find Xiao Baili.

Shi Qingluo didn’t delay it further. She got the name list on the spot and pointed out the people she wanted.

After interacting with the villagers for this period of time and asking from Xiao Erlang and Xiao Baili, she had a good understanding of all the people in the village.

She had a basic grasp of those who were hardworking, those who were lazy, and those who liked to gossip.

On this name list, all the hardworking women in the village had mostly signed up.

There were about 200 people.

Now, they had to make more mosquito incense, and with more manpower, they could do it faster.

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After all, they had to rush to make it during summer, else who would want to buy mosquito incense in the winter.

Thus, those who were lazy or had bad character were eliminated, and Shi Qingluo let the remaining 100 over workers to report to the sugar workshop tomorrow.

At that time, she planned to expand the scale or allocate some territory to do other things, so these workshops were larger.

Those who weren’t selected were either disappointed or a little unhappy, but they didn’t say anything.

After all, this group of people were more problematic, such as being lazy or unhygienic.

And when a family saw that none of them were selected, their old lady couldn’t take it anymore.

“Dalang’s wife, why isn’t anyone from my family selected? Our family is famous in the village for being diligent.”

This family was indeed quite hardworking in the village.

Everyone was a little surprised that their family wasn’t selected.

Shi Qingluo knew that this person would jump out and ask.

Why did she have to ask the chief to call everyone in the village over?

She even asked the villagers to register for the selection in public.

Of course she was waiting for this to happen.

It wasn’t a problem for her to bring the village to prosperity, but she couldn’t do it too gently on the surface either.

There was a limit to how gentle she could be.

When she needed to be, she would be, when she needed to be strict, she would also be strict.

As the Chinese saying goes, she had to warn the monkeys by killing the chickens.

She looked at this old lady and asked instead, “Why didn’t your family get chosen? Don’t you have any guesses?”

This old lady was a little confused. “What guesses? My family has never offended you.”

However, after saying that, she felt a little guilty.

Shi Qingluo did not beat around the bush and went straight to the point. “Your son is a waiter at the Wu family Inn.

“Previously, when he returned to the village, he asked you to instigate Old Lady Xiao to go against my family. And you went there.

“Since your family stabbed us in the back, why should I choose your family?”

Today, she wanted to let everyone know that those who betrayed or stabbed her in the back wouldn’t be allowed to join the fun.

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