Chapter 225: Hiring Help
Luo Zhi’er made tofu, and Miaomiao helped, first filtering the residue, then curdling the tofu. By two or three in the afternoon, the tofu was pressed solid.
Taking Miaomiao and the sickle, she went to climb up the back mountain and gathered some pine tree branches before coming back.
Upon returning, she lit the fire in the bread kiln, added pine tree branches, cut the pressed tofu into pieces, and put it in the bread kiln to bake.
While baking, she controlled the heat and turned it over to avoid making it too hard…
By the time Li Sanmao came home, it was dinnertime.
Seeing Li Sanmao drenched in sweat from exhaustion, Luo Zhi’er said, “Husband, how about tomorrow we hire a few people from the village to pull up all the summer beans in the field and replough all the farmland?”
“Hire people? Pull up all the summer beans?”
Li Sanmao paused…
“Yeah, anyway, those summer beans have all been spoiled. Might as well replant some other crops!”
Yeah, speaking of which, he had two mu of fertile land and one mu of paddy field. What his parents gave them was the poorest slope land at home, which never yielded well before.
Waiting for those spoiled summer beans to mature, that one mu wouldn’t yield much…
Since his wife said to replant other crops, then they would replant.
“Alright, but hiring people costs silver… Better for husband to pull them up himself…”
“Hey, how much silver could it be? Just listen to me! Once we’re done with the farmland, we have other things to do.”
“Alright then, after dinner, I’ll go find people!”
“Good!”
The two reached an agreement and casually discussed during dinner what exactly to plant in the field.
This season, it was usually corn, soybeans, sorghum…
“How about planting summer beans after all?”
Li Sanmao thought for a moment and said.
“Husband, let’s plant some vegetables in the field, and sweet potatoes on the slope land on the mountain.”
She had originally wanted to plant rice, but it wasn’t suitable now. This area was in the northwest, where rice needed to be transplanted in the fourth or fifth lunar month, and now it was too late.
“Vegetables, sweet potatoes? Wife, vegetables can be planted, but no need for so many. We can’t eat them all, and besides, if you want to eat them, we can buy them in town anytime. Are you planning to sell vegetables for a livelihood from now on?”
“As for sweet potatoes, no one would buy them if sold?”
Sweet potatoes were only loved by rural people for making congee or feeding pigs… He felt they had little value.
Seeing the man before her looking so serious with wide eyes, Luo Zhi’er found it amusing. “You’re right about selling vegetables for a livelihood, but as for no one buying sweet potatoes, that’s because they haven’t made them into food that the market needs for selling!”
“Oh?”
Li Sanmao frowned.
“To tell you the truth, I plan to smoke the vegetables in the bread kiln into dried vegetables to sell. As for sweet potatoes, they can be made into dried sweet potatoes, sweet potato starch, sweet potato vermicelli… Still afraid they won’t sell?”
“Dried vegetables?”
“Yeah, fresh vegetables can’t be stored long, but dried vegetables can. They’re very suitable as dry rations for people traveling long distances, for students to eat daily at school, and even as snacks for children.”
Li Sanmao’s eyes lit up. “Heh heh! Then we’ll do whatever wife says.”
His wife was still the smart one.
He had actually never seen the dried vegetables or dried sweet potatoes she mentioned, nor did he know if they were edible.
Early the next morning, Luo Zhi’er first checked the smoked dried tofu and, feeling it was about done, collected it into the house.
Seven or eight men came to Li Sanmao’s house early in the morning. Luo Zhi’er got up before dawn to prepare, making sweet congee, stir-frying a few vegetable dishes, and baking cakes…
The ox from Zhao Maogen’s family was also hired, and it wasn’t cheap for a day. Just the round trip from town was at least forty wen, and for a full day of ploughing plus labor, it couldn’t be done for less than sixty wen.
Old Li Tou saw so many people at the door and, seeing Li Sanmao and Luo Zhi’er greeting them enthusiastically, was puzzled.
He ran over to ask and learned they had hired people to replough the land.
He quickly pulled Li Sanmao aside and disapproved, “Sanmao, this isn’t good. Pulling up the summer beans in the field isn’t that spoiling crops?”
“If there’s work in the farmland, just do it yourself. Why spend silver to hire people?”
Zhou Shi also ran out. Hearing it cost silver, she was frantic. “Hmph! I see you lazy bones have so much silver you’re burning it. You talk about having no silver to show filial piety to us two elders, yet you have the mind for these fancy tricks!”
“One after another, all lazy bones. Hiring people—do you know if they’ll slack off or do shoddy work for that bit of silver?”
She swept her gaze around, cursing Chen Shi, Xiao Zhou Shi, and even the workers.
Her harsh words hit Old Li Tou’s heart.
“Mom, if you’re going to curse, curse those who have silver to hire people. Why curse us indirectly?”
Xiao Zhou Shi eyed Zhao Maogen’s old ox with red eyes. Hmph! This third family hires people but doesn’t hire the oldest brother, giving silver to outsiders for nothing.
Chen Shi said, “I would like to work diligently, but who among you is willing to give our second son’s family a piece of the farmland!”
“Right, third brother, how about including second sister-in-law too? Whatever you pay them per day, pay her the same per day?”
“Second sister, I say you can’t carry or lift anything. Are you helping or just eating, drinking, and taking silver for nothing? Better stand aside!”
“You…”
Xiao Zhou Shi quickly interrupted, nose in the air. She wasn’t afraid of Chen Shi; with no man to back her now, what did she think she could do?
Her eyes darted as she said,
“Third brother, tell me, why hire anyone? Your oldest brother is home—you could give him two hundred wen to do it all!”
Luo Zhi’er looked at them with an “I knew it” expression. This was exactly the reason she insisted on building a separate house.
“Right, all of you go back. Heh, go back.”
Xiao Zhou Shi, fuming, started shooing them away clawing at the air. We’re doing this for your third family’s good!
The hired men looked at each other, especially Zhao Maogen, who was fuming.
“Sanmao, you say you’re not doing it anymore? Tell us ahead of time—this isn’t wasting uncle’s trip to town to earn silver?”
Li Sanmao was a bit embarrassed. “No, uncle…”
“Uncle, don’t be angry. Since it’s our third family that hired you, we call the shots!”
Luo Zhi’er said loudly, coldly eyeing the troublemakers before her.
“Dad, Mom, eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, since we’ve already divided the family, please don’t interfere in our third family’s affairs. If you want to talk, unless you’ve paid the silver.”
“Since we’ve made the decision, we won’t change it. Dad and Mom, rest assured that at the end of the month, we’ll hand over the monthly stipend without missing a single portion.”
Old Li Tou’s face flushed green then white. In front of all these people, this third wife was making him lose face again.
“Hmph! I see you’re stubborn. Don’t regret it later. Perfectly good summer beans, and you hire people to pull them up—clearly wasting silver. Sixty wen for one ox, not worth it anywhere!”
Zhao Maogen was furious to death. Luo Zhi’er said, “I think it’s worth it. Hiring Uncle Zhao for ploughing costs sixty wen, but if using manpower, Dad, how long would it take you, oldest brother, Sanmao, and the others together to replough the land?”
All the farmland, with all the household’s labor force, would take at least a month at minimum, and everyone would be exhausted.
“Isn’t this time plus labor silver?”
Old Li Tou was at a loss for words.
“I’m old, what business is it of mine?”
“Old woman, let’s go!”
Old Li Tou’s face was ashen. He flicked his sleeve and left.
