Chapter 233: Discussion
After those few women left, Li Shi called over Li Daniu, who was standing nearby in a daze.
“Daniu, tomorrow go to the marketplace in town and inquire when Ma Huang Gou will start land reclamation!”
“What? Mom, what did you just say?” Li Daniu was still immersed in some emotion, unable to extricate himself!
Li Shi said irritably, “I’m telling you to go early tomorrow to scout news about Ma Huang Gou!”
“Ah? Mom, I still need to wait, wait… hehe!” Li Daniu said with eyes full of affection, in a daze.
Li Shi said hatefully,
“What was that? This woman is just a scourge. If it weren’t for continuing the Old Li Family line, I wouldn’t want a loose woman to hook away you this fool!” Hook away, wouldn’t Daniu be out of her control then?
The next day, before dawn, Li Sanmao and his family of three were already on the road to town.
“Wife, I finally know why you bought the foundation near Luojia Village.” Li Sanmao suddenly said.
“Husband, you only realize it now!” Luo Zhi’er said amusedly.
“It’s close to Ma Huang Gou, with few people nearby. Later, we can directly build a road leading to Ma Huang Gou. That way, it’ll be convenient for us to farm!”
There was one point she didn’t mention: mountains on both sides, with land reclaimed in the middle, passing through several barriers—this wouldn’t it be just like the back mountain garden of their courtyard?
“Yeah, in leisure times, sip tea and listen to flowing water; in the early morning, birdsong wakes the family.”
So his wife liked such days.
“Hehe, husband, you’re not dumb. Tell me, how can we recruit people today?” Luo Zhi’er furrowed her brows and said.
They were still going to the marketplace in town today to recruit labor force for land reclamation at Ma Huang Gou!
Land reclamation here is not like modern mechanized operations; it’s basically axe, chopping with a knife, hoe digging—pure manual labor, with extremely low productivity.
Actually, many farmers are unwilling to reclaim and farm wasteland themselves. Why? Because fertile land is mostly in the hands of rich people, and the village can allocate some relatively good ones.
For households that can’t get any or not enough to farm, they’d rather rent from rich people to become tenant farmers than go reclaim land.
First, the remaining mountain land is relatively remote and barren; just relying on people to climb there can take a whole day. Then chopping down the dense trees, digging the ground, removing roots, burning the trees, and cleaning up takes a lot of effort.
Second, after you’ve reclaimed it and finally planted the crops well, they might yield nothing the next year, which is fatal for a poor family.
Third, even if you’ve reclaimed it well and grown good crops, since you’re far away, they might get stolen. The land might also catch the eye of rich people, and there are plenty of cases of strong seizure and plunder—it’s just living day to day without security.
For the wasteland at Ma Huang Gou, it has both points: one is it’s too far from homes with no road; two is that terrifying creature, the leeches. Everyone shudders at the mention of this place. For reclaiming land, one mishap and you lose your life, and the death is gruesome!
Recruiting people for her is also a difficult matter; after all, everyone fears death.
After recruiting for several days, she only got one man who wasn’t afraid of death!
And that was under her repeated guarantees that there would be no accidents…
“Wife, husband thinks first, the wages can’t be low; they must be fifty percent higher than market laborers.”
“Mm, I know. Today we’ll raise the price.”
She had originally wanted to contract it out, but as soon as those foremen heard Ma Huang Gou, they all backed off! And it spread quickly in the circle; no foreman was willing to take her job.
She could only hire people individually in private.
For money, some people are willing to risk their lives; it just depends on whether the price is worth it.
“Second, how about we pay half their commission in advance, and if there’s an accident, sign for high compensation.” Li Sanmao thought for a moment and said.
“Husband, I think you’ve considered it very thoughtfully—to address their two biggest concerns: commission and personal safety.”
Li Sanmao changed the subject: just reclaiming land requires a large sum of silver. Although his wife always has ways to make silver, spending it like running water—where does she get the silver from? And who knows how the harvest will be next year?
“Eh, but all this costs a lot of money; husband feels it’s not cost-effective.”
“However… speaking of this, I have my own idea.” Luo Zhi’er had it all figured out.
“Oh? Tell me.”
“Actually, yesterday at the market, when I ran into Second Uncle’s wife and them from Luojia Village, I got an idea.” Yesterday at the market, not only did she run into Second Uncle’s wife and them, but also some familiar villagers from Luojia Village. She pulled Li Sanmao and them to hide, but it still aroused doubt.
Second Uncle’s wife and them chased her for several streets.
She figured that hiring people for land reclamation at Ma Huang Gou had spread in Zhao Li Village too. If people found out she bought this land, it would definitely cause a lot of trouble.
For now, it still couldn’t be known to everyone—just one word: hide.
“Let’s buy a few household servants!”
“Ah?”
Miaomiao and Li Sanmao both dropped their jaws.
“Anyway, the employment agency has many men who do laborer work for sale. Since they’re going to reclaim land and we can’t hire people, they can do the work too. Plus, with their deeds of sale in our hands, it’s much more convenient for them to handle things on our behalf than us doing it ourselves.”
“In the future, for farming, maintenance, management, we’ll need people. This land is quite large; relying just on you and me or hiring people is also quite troublesome.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Don’t worry about the silver. Didn’t I sell a few recipes earlier? Besides renting the shop, there’s still a bit left, but buying a few people plus the budget for building the house will leave almost nothing.”
Hearing this, Li Sanmao immediately felt the urge to hurry and go hunting to earn silver—his wife had no money left! “Wife, use the money from selling our wild game the day before yesterday to buy people too!”
“Good!”
“But where will the bought people live?” They couldn’t bring them home…
“That’s a problem. Looks like we still need to build houses. For now, first build a few large flat rooms for the household servants to live in. Before it’s built, we’ll have to find another place.”
The two discussed it on the road first, and upon arriving in town, they went to Foreman Wu to check.
At the shop, the old and outdated decorations that needed to be removed had all been taken out, the layout was mostly revealed, and inside it was empty—now just needing renovation.
According to Luo Zhi’er’s requirements, the inside would be in a simple and elegant wooden material style. Upon entering, bread display areas on both sides against the walls, a long counter in the center for ordering and paying, with display items inside the counter too. She planned to develop small desserts, pastries, beverages then, and above, carve the product names for sale, prices, etc., with appropriate small icons. In the front near the windows, custom rows of wooden long tables; near the central display area, also wooden long tables where people could sit to rest and eat. Overall warm tones, raw wood with clear varnish…
This renovation style was the first Foreman Wu had seen. Renovation wasn’t difficult, but very novel. He planned to learn it; maybe when Taoyuan Town’s merchants saw this shop’s renovation, it would become popular.
Then it would be him alone with the experience, and he personally led the work—this would make Foreman Wu’s name famous.
So, the workmanship was also very diligent.
