At Zhang Hulan's house, Aunt Tao, Chuntao and Zhuer got up early to cook breakfast.

When they were maids in other mansions before, they didn't do these things. They just had to serve their masters well. The main tasks were dressing, folding quilts, serving tea and pouring water.

Now that there are no other servants in the house, they have to do the cooking.

When Zhang Hulan woke up, Nanny Tao and the others had already prepared breakfast.

As soon as Zhang Hulan and Zhang Xinyao got up, Aunt Tao and the others immediately brought them hot water.

Zhang Xinyao and Zhang Xinyi were a little uncomfortable being served like this.

Madam Tao said to Zhang Hulan, "Madam, I only cooked breakfast for you and Miss. I will cook when the old master and the old lady and Guo Ali are having breakfast."

Zhang Hulan said, "You don't have to cook breakfast for them, they can eat at home."

"Yes, ma'am."

We had just finished breakfast when Zhang Hujun and his team came over.

Tao and the others watched Zhang Hujun and his men put barrels of braised meat on the donkey cart and sent them away. The three of them understood that the family must be doing business.

After breakfast, Zhang Hulan took out the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone and gave them to Chuntao and Zhuer, saying, "Chuntao, Zhuer, from now on you will teach the eldest and second young ladies how to write and recognize characters. If they teach well, I will reward them."

"Yes, ma'am!" Chuntao and Zhuer responded quickly.

"Madam Tao, let's go to the farm."

Aunt Tao asked, "Madam, do you need a carriage?"

Zhang Hulan waved her hand, "No, it's only a few steps away, we can just walk there."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Zhang Hulan took Nanny Tao to the farm, and Chuntao and Zhuer began to teach Zhang Xinyi and Zhang Xinyi how to write and recognize words.

People are already working on the farm.

Luo Changqi arranged some people to plow the fields, and some servants to choose a place to build a house. He also arranged some people to plant lotus roots on the reclaimed wasteland.

The old men were the ones who plowed the fields and dug ditches; building a house was relatively more physically demanding, so Luo Changqi let the younger people do it.

The remaining old women and children were all growing lotus roots.

The land was already cultivated, and the old women dug holes with hoes, and the younger ones threw the lotus root spores into the holes, just one in each hole. This job was easy, and even children as young as five or six could do it.

The older ones would use a dustpan to pick up the dry manure soil, and then throw a handful of dry manure soil into each nest to cover the lotus root spores. There were also old women behind them who used hoes to scoop up soil to cover the holes.

The scene was well organized and everyone was concentrating on their work.

Those who came yesterday were worried that the work would be too hard. This work was much easier than they thought. Even the old men who were plowing the fields did not feel tired. Most people were relieved.

Those who came yesterday felt at ease, but those villagers from other villages who came here to work and earn money did not feel at ease.

They knew in their hearts that they would not be able to work for many more days.

They were happy a few days ago because Zhang Hulan had bought so much land and they thought they could keep doing it. But they didn't expect to find so many more people when they arrived today.

Some people felt unhappy. They were doing a good job, so why did Zhang Hulan bring back so many beggars?

…

Nanny Tao followed Zhang Hulan to the farm. When they came back yesterday, the work was over and all the workers had gone home.

Seeing so many people working for Zhang Hulan, Aunt Tao was indeed shocked.

The new house is changing day by day and will soon be built with beams and tiles.

But Zhang Hulan still felt that it was a bit slow. Laying down the wall was easier, but the carpentry work afterwards was a slow process.

She thought she needed to find a few carpenters to do the work, and it would be best if it could be completed by the end of the month or the beginning of next month.

Zhao Guoliang was still in charge of the house for Zhang Hulan. When he saw Zhang Hulan coming over, Zhao Guoliang asked with a smile, "Hulan, do you want to open a bar when the beams are put up?"

Zhang Hulan shook her head. "No, I'll buy some good food and treat everyone to a meal. But there won't be any banquets."

Zhang Hulan doesn't like to hold banquets. She is disgusted by all other banquets except those for weddings, childbirths and the death of an elder.

Buying a house requires a wedding banquet, and so does getting admitted to a university. This is mainly because some people's children are admitted to junior colleges.

They have a party for birthdays, not to mention the one-month-old party. They have a party for the hundredth day, the first birthday, and the tenth birthday. I don't know how those people have the nerve to ask others for this.

Zhang Hulan once heard something even more bizarre: when a sow gave birth, they would hold a banquet...

Zhang Hulan then said to Zhao Guoliang, "Uncle Lizheng, do you know any other carpenters? Help me find a few more. I want the house to be finished sooner."

Zhao Guoliang said: "I don't know many, but those carpenters should know some, but they may not be willing to tell."

Those carpenters were paid by the day, so if they worked one more day, they would earn one more day's wages. If they hired more people, they would earn less.

Zhang Hulan was thinking about outsourcing the work to the carpenters, but some of the work had already been done, and there was no standard for acceptance afterwards, so it would be difficult to handle.

Finally, Zhang Hulan said, "Uncle Lizheng, please tell the carpenters to come in earlier in the morning and leave later at night, and try to finish the work for me as soon as possible. I will pay them for the work. Do you think they are willing to do that?"

"That should be possible. I'll talk to them later."

Zhang Hulan nodded, "But we have to make it clear to them. I'll pay them more for the extra time, but they have to show that the work is done. Otherwise, it will be hard for them to talk."

"Oh, Uncle Lizheng, please ask the carpenter to build two cages under the eaves. They should be bigger, like a crib."

Zhang Hulan made a bird's nest for Xiaohua and Xiaohui. These two little guys are also members of her family, so she needs to make a house for them.

After Zhang Hulan finished giving the instructions, she went to see the children planting lotus roots.

Zhang Hulan found that the children were working very enthusiastically. They were all laughing and playing, and sometimes even fighting.

Someone reminded them, "Stop making trouble, the lady is here."

The fighting children immediately stopped smiling, lowered their heads and worked obediently.

Zhang Hulan sighed in her heart. She didn't want to exploit child labor, but she couldn't raise these children for nothing. The main reason was that there were too many of them and she couldn't afford to support them.

And that's not good either. Raising them in vain will make those children feel that it's their duty for others to help them. It's better to let them fend for themselves.

Zhang Hulan walked along the way and saw her children and the elderly all greeted her, "Hello, Madam..."

Zhang Hulan nodded at them and said, "If you feel tired, take a break."

“Not tired, not tired, not tired at all…” The people working waved their hands repeatedly.

Zhang Hulan continued walking forward. A house was being built here.

When Luo Chang saw Zhang Hulan coming over, he stepped forward and said, "Madam, I will still build the house the same way as before, and also arrange three people in one room. Is that okay with you?"

Luo Changqi and the other three had discussed it last night and decided that from now on they would no longer call Zhang Hulan "niece". Instead, they would follow the servants and call her Madam Zhang Hulan.