Chapter 292 Year-end Bonus

"A thousand coins, does everyone have one?"

"Oh my goodness, a thousand coins."

“…”

Everyone in the crowd asked questions one after another, thinking they were dreaming. Xiao Jiuyue stood on a stool, raised his hand and made a gesture of silence. The excited and noisy voices just now quieted down in an instant.

"One thousand coins are a year-end reward for everyone, so that everyone can have a happy new year!" Xiao Jiuyue once again confirmed the news of one thousand coins, and thunderous applause broke out from the audience!

"Thank you, Miss Xiao!" Aunt Shi shouted loudly.

Aunt He followed closely behind: "Thank you, Miss Xiao!"

"Thank you, Miss Xiao."

In the entire workshop, there was only this neat voice, loud and excited.

Xiao Jiuyue raised her hand again, and everyone fell silent as if a switch had been turned off. However, the blush on their faces, flushed with excitement, remained. Xiao Jiuyue looked at the happy faces and said, "In addition to the thousand coins, everyone will receive two pounds of meat and two bags of snacks!"

"good!"

Thunderous applause broke out in the workshop again.

"Everyone, have a good time eating and playing today. The Chinese New Year is just a few days away. I wish you all a happy new year in advance." Xiao Jiuyue's crisp voice reached everyone's ears.

"I wish you all a peaceful life, a soaring dragon, a prosperous goat, prosperity in all four seasons, a bountiful harvest, flourishing livestock, friendly neighbors, great fortune in eighty-eight, longevity in ninety-nine, and everything perfect."

Xiao Jiuyue's blessings in one breath made the villagers extremely excited. When Xiao Jiuyue left, everyone had already started to eat lunch happily.

After lunch, everyone looked at the meat and snacks that were delivered. No one was in a hurry to take them. Instead, they cleaned the workshop inside and out. The men who had nothing to do started adding firewood to the workshop.

To cook canned food, a considerable amount of firewood is needed. After half a day, the firewood pile is already full.

When leaving the workshop, everyone was carrying meat and two bags of snacks from the candy shop.

"That's great. I don't have to buy snacks for the New Year."

"Miss Xiao is so kind. The snacks in the candy shop are so expensive that I can't bear to eat them."

"Next year, let's work hard for Miss Xiao."

Similar conversations were heard everywhere in the village.

"Miss, the people working in the workshop are so happy." Luo Kui had just come out of the workshop and said to Xiao Jiuyue, "Also, everyone says that you are worthy of being a rich lady. The words of blessing you say are more beautiful than others!"

"Also, they said that the young lady was generous, and that she would work hard for the workshop in the future. Anyway, she was willing to go through fire and water for the workshop." Luo Kui rubbed her hands excitedly. She grinned and looked at Xiao Jiuyue. Her eyes were shining and she looked at Xiao Jiuyue brightly.

"Why, you want a year-end bonus too?" Xiao Jiuyue saw through Luo Kui's little thoughts at a glance, and her eyes were almost filled with the words "year-end bonus".

"Yeah." Luo Kui nodded rapidly, looking at Xiao Jiuyue expectantly, and said, "Miss, do we have any too?"

"No." That's impossible.

Before Xiao Jiuyue finished speaking, Luo Kui's eyes dimmed instantly. She consoled him, "It's okay if you don't have any. The young lady usually gives us a lot of tips. It can't be compared with the workshop."

"I believe everyone has the same idea as me." Luo Kui said comfortingly. She turned back to look at Lian Xin and said, "Lian Xin, am I right?"

Lian Xin glanced at Xiao Jiuyue and could hardly hold back her laughter.

"Oh, so you don't want the year-end bonus?" Xiao Jiuyue nodded as if she understood and said, "Lianxin, when calculating the year-end bonus, Luokui's share doesn't need to be included."

Luo Kui's eyes instantly widened like bells, and she jumped up like a rabbit, hugged Xiao Jiuyue's hand and said, "Miss, you were just teasing me."

"Lianxin, you can't exclude me from the year-end bonus. I am also the young lady's man." Luo Kui looked at Xiao Jiuyue proudly. The proud and complacent little eyes seemed to say: The young lady can't abandon me.

"Luokui, that's not what you said just now. Didn't you say that you can't compete with the people in the workshop?" Xiao Jiuyue smiled and raised his eyebrows. Every time he teased Luokui, he always felt an indescribable happiness.

…

After the Little New Year, every household in the village is buying New Year's goods, and there are more bacon and sausages hanging at the door than before.

Xiao Jiuyue gave each of the servants who worked for the Xiao family a year-end bonus of one thousand coins. The servants worked harder than before and were eager to keep the Xiao family spotless.

"Sister, take a look at the couplet I wrote. What do you think of it?" Xiao Jiayuan handed the couplet he had written to Xiao Jiuyue to read. "The teacher said that we should all write a pair of Spring Festival couplets. Pick the best one and post it at the entrance of the academy. The second best one will be posted in the kitchen."

"I must work hard!" Xiao Jiayuan puffed out his cheeks, exerting all his strength, wishing he could use all his power to write the Spring Festival couplets.

Xiao Jiuyue stood aside and looked at it, then said, "How about I give you a couplet?"

"Okay." Xiao Jiayuan said without hesitation, "The couplet written by my sister is definitely the best."

"You haven't even listened, yet you're praising me." Xiao Jiuyue raised her hand and poked him in the face. Xiao Jiayuan was praising her sister without thinking. She thought for a moment and said, "When seedlings meet the rain, hundreds of flowers bloom; when new trees meet the spring breeze, all the trees compete for glory."

Xiao Jiayuan said excitedly: "Sister, the Spring Festival couplets you thought of are better. I will use this one and teach it to the teacher. He will definitely praise me."

Xiao Jiayuan said as he picked up his brush and began to write. Xiao Jiuyue, who was still preparing other Spring Festival couplets, saw this and said nothing more. She stood aside, watching Xiao Jiayuan writing the couplets seriously, and said, "Jiayuan, your handwriting has improved a lot. This study has not been in vain."

"Hehe." Xiao Jiayuan grinned. Besides his teacher, he also had his third brother teaching him. He learned even more skills when he went to Jing'an Bookstore. When the fifth day came, Xiao Jiayuan would go to Jing'an Bookstore without fail.

Xiao Jiuyue watched Xiao Jiayuan go to school, and she followed him. She saw Mr. Jiang, who was setting the table and preparing to write Spring Festival couplets.

"Miss Xiao, I was just about to ask you, I want to write Spring Festival couplets for the villagers for free." Mr. Jiang told Xiao Jiuyue his idea as soon as he saw her: "Students can write one for themselves, and I will give you another one."

"That's great. If you are willing to write, the villagers will definitely be happy." Xiao Jiuyue looked at the tidy school. After half a semester, the school looked even more prosperous. There was not even a single grass on the ground in the yard.

Not to mention the kitchen, Aunt Jiang is a hardworking person, and the kitchen is as clean as new.

Soon, the news that Mr. Jiang would write Spring Festival couplets for everyone for free spread like wildfire to every corner of the village. The previously bustling school became even more lively.

Xiao Jiuyue was chatting with Aunt Jiang in the kitchen when a girl came in. "Aunt Jiang, I brought you some winter bamboo shoots. They'll make a delicious bone soup!"