Chapter 151: Let’s Get to Work
Li Xiaonan and Sister-in-law Lu discussed some details carefully. Sister-in-law Lu left the tea house and hurried back with a spring in her step.
Li Jinzhu and Li Xiaonan came out and got into the cart. Li Jinzhu frowned and said in a low voice, “A Nan, how much work do you have? Can you…”
“Shush!” Li Xiaonan put a finger to her lips and glanced at the cart driver in front.
Li Jinzhu immediately pursed her lips and made no further sound.
Back on Academy Street, A Wu handed the reins to Wang Yuting and was about to rush towards Li Xiaonan. Wang Yuting grabbed A Wu back, “What are you rushing for! Go back and discuss it first, then go talk later!”
A Wu took back the reins and sullenly went into the tea house.
Li Jinzhu and Li Xiaonan returned home and entered the courtyard gate. Li Jinzhu subconsciously looked back, closed the courtyard gate, and frowned, “How much work do we have? One tael of silver a month, A Nan, you really don’t treat silver as money!”
“Eldest Sister, you said that money should be spent on the blade’s edge, and Sister-in-law Lu is our blade’s edge.
“First, Sister-in-law Lu was the first to help us. Second, look, the whole village has turned to other families, only hers hasn’t moved, and she said people shouldn’t be like that. This person has excellent character. Third, we need someone to speak for us on behalf of the weavers. Sister-in-law Lu is the most suitable, and she can go online and teach people weaving. She knows how to weave those patterns just by looking at them, which will be very useful in the future.
“For someone like this, one tael of silver a month is not expensive, it’s too cheap. We should increase her wages later, or let her take a commission.”
Li Jinzhu listened intently and after a while, gave a low hum.
“Also, we always hire carts. Are those cart drivers sent by other families, or could they be bribed by people like Matchmaker Miao? We can’t be sure,” Li Xiaonan continued.
Sister-in-law Lu mentioned Shopkeeper Yu, and besides Matchmaker Miao, there was indeed no one else.
Li Jinzhu thought about the marriage between the Yu family and the Wu family, and then thought of Matchmaker Miao, and sighed.
“Eldest Sister, we need to have our own cart. We can just buy one. A Wu’s two horses can be used, and A Wu can drive the cart. She knows how to drive,” Li Xiaonan continued.
Li Jinzhu frowned tightly, and after a moment, nodded.
The cart indeed could not be left unbought.
“We need to call Third Sister over. Now that the Yu family is coming to snatch business, our business can officially begin. We don’t have enough capital. Now we can let Third Sister invest money.”
Li Jinzhu stared at Li Xiaonan’s eager expression, raised her eyebrows, and after a moment, sighed.
A Nan always thought differently from others!
“Is Eldest Sister here?” With a greeting, A Wu and Wang Yuting entered the courtyard gate one after another.
“You’ve come at the right time,” Li Xiaonan stood up and greeted them.
“Is something wrong?” Wang Yuting asked with a smile.
Li Xiaonan looked at Wang Yuting’s beaming smile, then at A Wu, who was looking at her with resentment, and chuckled, “You have something to say, right? You speak first.”
“We don’t have anything, you speak first, you speak first!”
“Of course we do!”
A Wu and Wang Yuting spoke at the same time.
“Let A Nan speak first!” Wang Yuting slapped A Wu hard.
“You speak first!” A Wu grabbed a small chair and sat next to Li Jinzhu.
“I want A Wu to go and buy a cart, about eighty percent new is fine, we need to have our own cart,” Li Xiaonan said unceremoniously.
“Just buy a cart? Then who will pull it?” A Wu reacted quickly, her back straight.
“Don’t you have two horses?” Li Xiaonan slanted a look at A Wu.
“You want to use my horses to pull a cart!” A Wu shrieked and jumped up, “How could you think of that! Those are warhorses! Do you understand what warhorses are? Horses for fighting, heroic horses, to pull a cart? You actually thought of that!”
“You drive the cart, and your horses pull it, that’s perfect!” Li Xiaonan stood with her hands on her hips, facing A Wu.
“What!”
“Don’t yell!” Wang Yuting slapped A Wu on the chest, “Shut up! A Nan, that horse really can’t pull a cart. The horses that pull carts are different from the horses people ride. That horse is very precious, it really can’t pull a cart. What if the horse gets damaged? What if the horse loses its spirit, its pride, then the horse is ruined!”
“Hmm?” Li Xiaonan looked at Li Jinzhu.
“A Wu’s horse is her treasure. Since she’s reluctant, let’s buy a donkey,” Li Jinzhu said with some heartache.
The cart and the donkey would cost a lot of silver.
“It’s better to buy a mule. Donkeys are not strong. Mules are a bit expensive, but they are cost-effective,” A Wu said, relieved, and quickly suggested.
“Mules it is,” Li Xiaonan decided.
“I’ll get you the silver,” Li Jinzhu stood up, took out two silver cakes, and handed them to Wang Yuting.
“Then we’re going,” Wang Yuting took the silver cakes and pushed A Wu outside.
“We haven’t talked about wages yet!” A Wu was pushed out the door by Wang Yuting. She remembered her important business and was about to turn back, but Wang Yuting forcefully pushed her out, “Now is not the time to talk about wages. What if she makes you pull the cart again? We’ll talk about it next time, let’s go buy the mules first.”
Li Xiaonan stood in the doorway and snorted, listening to their conversation.
They still dared to ask her for wages! Whenever A Wu was idle, she would practice martial arts and jump around. Her clothes and shoes, Sister Mei could make three pairs of shoes a month, but it still wasn’t enough for her to wear shoes!
………………………………
The men in black who were fierce as tigers in the middle of the night had their upper garments stripped off after dawn. Each person had a rattan cane tied to their back and knelt in rows before the foreign porters, who had been bewildered from midnight to dawn, begging for forgiveness and punishment.
Spectators were packed three layers deep, and the wharf was as lively as a New Year’s celebration.
Gu Yan was not present, and Yang Qifan had already set off to survey the terrain.
The person left in charge by Gu Yan was still the good-natured Steward Zhu. The person left in charge by Yang Qifan was Commander Shi, who was tall and strong, with a fierce and menacing expression. Behind Commander Shi were more than a dozen guards, all looking ferocious, with their hands on their sword hilts, glaring menacingly.
Commander Shi stood with his legs apart next to the bare-chested men carrying rattan canes, and continuously roared, “Kneel! Kowtow! Hit! Get out!”
Rows of men in black trousers ran back, their backs bleeding from the lashes, heads bowed.
Steward Zhu stood on the other side, doing his best to appease them, “Slowly, slowly, oh my, this blood! Wash it clean when you get back, and find a doctor to look at it. I have medicine.
“Everyone needs to be careful from now on. Look at those soldiers, you can’t afford to provoke them!
“Slowly, slowly, don’t cause trouble again, look at this beating.
“…”
In the shadow of a corner of the Maritime Tax Bureau, He Chengzhe stood with his hands behind his back, watching the lively scene at the wharf.
“Father,” He Ruiming hurried over.
“Where is Young Lord?” He Chengzhe asked his son.
“He went back to the villa. He told me to wait here for the fishing boats to return and buy some shrimp and crab to take back,” He Ruiming looked somewhat dejected.
“Did you tell Young Lord about the matter at the wharf?” He Chengzhe asked.
“I told him. Young Lord just listened and didn’t ask. He listened very carefully, but in the end, it was still the same,” He Ruiming said with a wry smile.
“Mm. Go and pick out some good shrimp and crab, and do your duty well,” He Chengzhe said calmly.
“Father?” He Ruiming looked at his father in confusion.
“A person of great ambition and great treachery must be as cunning and suspicious as a fox listening to ice. Go and do your duty,” He Chengzhe patted his son’s shoulder.
