Chapter 264 The People's Style Competition

"Ooh ooh ooh!"

The crowing of roosters woke up Dahe Village.

Zhao Sanniu and Zhao Sidan got up early, washed up, and went to He Xiao's place to learn kung fu.

When the two children returned from their studies, Cheng Wanwan had just gotten up and was boiling eggs. After the eggs were cooked, they were cut open so that each child could have a little.

The little girl inside the room started wailing, and Wu Huiniang gently comforted her while pacing back and forth in the room.

Zhao Dashan had already gone to work in the fields. In early winter, there was little work to be done in the fields; it was just weeding and loosening the soil, which wasn't tiring but took a lot of time.

Ms. Wen got up early to wash the diapers she had changed in the middle of the night.

Cheng Zhao and Shen are reading.

The sound of reading aloud fills the air, and wisps of smoke rise from the chimneys; a brand new day begins.

After breakfast, the village head's voice drifted over from afar: "Everyone, assemble! Assemble under the big locust tree!"

Every time we gather, something big is bound to happen.

Cheng Wanwan put down her work and went to join in the fun.

"Our Ping'an County and the seven neighboring counties jointly held a talent competition. Except for those who want to pursue a career in government, everyone else can sign up to participate," the village head said in a loud voice. "There are quite a few events to sign up for: cooking competition, abacus competition, embroidery competition, wrestling competition, grain identification competition... Everyone in the village can sign up. The three best people in each event will be selected to go to the county to participate in the finals."

The villagers were starting to have doubts.

"What's the meaning of this competition?"

"What will happen if we win? Will the magistrate assign us any tasks?"

"Isn't this a bit of a delay in work? You get dozens of coins a day working for Aunt Dashan."

"Quiet down, everyone!" the village headman shouted. "It's early winter, the off-season for farming. The county magistrate wanted to do something practical for us common people, so he joined forces with seven other counties to hold this competition. The top three winners will all receive prizes: one hundred taels of silver for first place, fifty taels for second place, and ten taels for third place. Moreover, the winner will be invited by the county to teach embroidery and cooking. The monthly salary is quite substantial."

The crowd below gasped in shock.

One hundred taels of silver was a huge sum of money that they never dared to dream of, but even getting first place was difficult.

If you can get third place, you can also get ten taels of silver, which is not a small amount of money.

"Uncle Village Chief, I'm signing up!"

"I signed up too, and my son signed up as well!"

"Everyone, don't rush," the village head shouted. "Those who want to sign up, go to Tiezhu to register. Each person can only choose one project."

Zhao Tiezhu had already moved a table and chairs to sit under the big locust tree. He was in charge of registration, while Zhu Huzi was in charge of grinding ink. The two worked together seamlessly.

Many people signed up, but they all lined up in an orderly manner.

Most people signed up to participate in grain identification because it is a specialty of the villagers.

Strong men signed up for wrestling competitions, women who could cook signed up for culinary competitions, and some elderly ladies and wives who were good at needlework chose to participate in embroidery competitions... Anyway, there was no registration fee, and who knows, what if you won an award? Everyone would want to take a gamble on such a stroke of luck.

Wang Damai and Zhao Xiaohua signed up for the embroidery competition. Neither of them had much confidence; they just wanted to try it out for fun.

Zhao Ergou walked over and said calmly, "Zhao Jingcheng, sign up for the abacus competition."

"Brother Er Gou, your name is too literary. I still prefer my original name," Zhao Tiezhu said, blinking his eyes. "But could you help me ask Aunt Zhao when she'll give me a nicer name too?"

"You little brat, what nonsense are you spouting?" the village head scolded irritably. "I had someone specially choose your name, Tiezhu, which means I hope you will stand tall and upright like a pillar made of iron."

Zhao Tieshuan leaned closer: "Grandpa, what does my name mean?"

"this……"

The village head didn't know how to answer. He just thought it sounded good, so he chose this name: Tiezhu (Iron Pillar) and Tieshuan (Iron Bolt). It sounded like a family name, which was nice. Changing it to something more literary would feel strange. Besides, all four sons in Dashan's family had changed their names, but everyone was still called Dashan, Ergou, Sanniu, and Sidan. So, changing it or not made little difference.

After Zhao Ergou signed up for the abacus competition, all the children who originally wanted to give it a try gave up.

The school often holds in-class tests, and all the children know that Zhao Ergou is first in arithmetic, Zhao Dawang is second, and Zhao Tiezhu is third. As long as the three of them sign up, the others have no chance.

Wu Huiniang also squeezed in from the crowd.

In the village, there are generally no special customs regarding postpartum care. People usually start working after lying in bed for five or six days. She lay in bed for more than half a month and had already recovered completely.

Seeing her carrying her child to register, Cheng Wanwan quickly took the child from her: "It's windy outside, why did you bring the baby out? You too, you haven't even finished your postpartum confinement yet."

"Mother, I also want to sign up. I want to participate in the cooking competition." Wu Huiniang smiled shyly. "Didn't you say before that you were a little short of money for the shop? I'll help you raise the money."

If you can get first place, that's a hundred taels of silver, which will save you a lot of trouble.

Cheng Wanwan originally wanted to say that her eldest daughter-in-law didn't need to worry about these things, but she saw a glimmer in her eldest daughter-in-law's eyes. Cooking was something Hui Niang enjoyed, and she was shining brightly in her favorite field, finding her own value.

She nodded and said, "Then you should go and register quickly."

The talent competition registration has come to a successful close.

Before everyone left, Old Mrs. Zhao walked to the big rock, cleared her throat, and said, "My eldest daughter-in-law's soap workshop is going to be expanded. We need to hire strong men to help build the house because it needs to be completed in five days. We need to hire at least eighty people this time. Those who have worked at my mother's house in the mountains before can just register. Those who haven't worked before need me to check them out. Those who are lazy, cunning, weak, or trying to take advantage of the situation... don't come here and embarrass yourselves."

Previously, we would only hire a maximum of forty people to build houses, but now we need eighty.

While everyone was pleasantly surprised, they were also astonished and began to ask questions.

"Well, it's because the soap workshop needs to be expanded. After the expansion is completed, we'll need to recruit workers, and everyone will have a chance," Grandma Zhao said loudly. "We'll talk about the specifics of recruiting after the workshop is built."

As soon as she finished speaking, the old lady was surrounded by a group of men.

"Grandma Zhao, I'm strong, I'll help build the house!"

"And me too, I'm quite strong too!"

Grandma Zhao was so jostled that she almost fell to the ground.

Cheng Wanwan quickly stepped forward to rescue the old lady and said, "Sign up and find Dashan, he will arrange the work."

The crowd surged toward Zhao Dashan.

Zhao Dashan was registering his name over there, with Afu assisting him.

Cheng Zhao is currently working on the final drawings for the soap factory's upgrade and expansion plan. The plan was dictated by Cheng Wanwan, and he is drawing it.

The workflow was further subdivided and refined, with the entire soap workshop divided into three main parts: the first part was the initial collection of materials, the second part was the synthesis of the active ingredients, and the third part was the molding, packaging, and warehousing... These three parts were completely separated, forming three independent small workshops... The outermost part was enclosed by a wall, and inside the main gate was a main room used for meetings and such. A toilet was also built, but villagers generally did not use other people's houses for sanitation, as this natural fertilizer was to be reserved for their own fields...

The gate was leveled to make it easier for horse-drawn carriages to drive in and transport goods...