No one mentioned the assault again, and it was considered a closed story.

Not long after, Xia Shiyang returned to the capital with his men, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Tianxiang County has returned to its former tranquility, with a constant stream of people coming and going, and business is still booming.

But now that winter has arrived and the river is frozen over, merchant ships can no longer sail down the river. Otherwise, the dock would be even more bustling once it opens.

However, Tianxiang County has certainly made a name for itself.

Song Ning has been busy doing the accounting lately. It's almost the end of the year, and he needs to calculate how much he's earned in the past few months so he can pay everyone's salaries and give them benefits.

The garment workshop rushed to meet the deadline and finally completed the task within the stipulated time.

Everyone was worried that once the cotton-padded coats were finished, there would be no more business, but shortly after the first batch was completed, orders came in again.

The news spread, and military camps in the surrounding areas came to them to order cotton-padded clothes. Even people from more distant places came after hearing the news.

Most of them were pre-ordered for next year.

The garment workshop has produced a total of 60,000 sets of cotton-padded clothes in the past few months. Everyone has been working from dawn till dusk, putting in extra hours, and they've been exhausted these past few months.

There are now over a hundred people in the workshop. Each person has to make several cotton-padded coats a day. Some people's hands are worn out and stiff, and their hands even shake when they hold a needle.

It's a good time to take a good rest during the Chinese New Year.

The garment workshop made a lot of money. After deducting costs and labor expenses, Song Ning planned to use half of the remaining money to provide welfare for his employees.

As the New Year approaches, everyone in the Jin Dynasty is making new clothes and accessories, and Yu Niangzi's cloth is in short supply.

She didn't even need to think about sales channels; merchants from outside came automatically because of her reputation.

Now she just waits for her monthly dividends.

In addition, the soap workshop is now receiving more and more orders for soap from her. So, in just two or three months, she has not only earned back all the money she had spent before, but has even made several times more than before.

When she got home that evening, she told her parents what had happened, and neither Song Dahai nor Liu Yuelan had any objections.

"Then let's prepare early, otherwise we might miss the New Year."

That evening, Liu Yuelan quickly informed Li Daniu, asking him to haul more pork when he went to haul pork these next few days.

They called on Song Xiu'e, Aunt Zhao, and Sun to come and help.

Two people were in charge of handing out red envelopes, and two were in charge of cutting pork.

While busy with her work, Aunt Zhao said, "Why did you buy so much meat? Ten pounds per person, that's too much."

Song Ning, who was helping out, laughed and said, "It's not much. Everyone has worked hard for me for so long, so ten catties of pork for the New Year isn't much."

"Ten pounds of pork may not seem like much on its own, but there are so many people! Look at how many pigs that would take, and how much money would that be?"

Song Ning smiled, pursing her lips: "These are for a select few; the people in the garment workshops don't get them."

Mrs. Sun laughed and said, "We may not have pork, but we have money."

Song Ning did indeed spend a lot this time, but she felt that it would all be useful.

As long as the salary is right, nothing else matters.

Her primary goal in doing business was to make money, the more the better.

But she wasn't the kind of person who wouldn't get up early for nothing. Just making people work without giving them benefits wouldn't work. As long as the money was right, the people under her would work even harder.

Why not use these things to gain the trust of her employees and achieve greater profits?

So far, her subordinates have all been good. Since her employees treat her well, she should treat them well in return; it's a win-win situation.

Aunt Zhao sighed, "I was thinking of starting my own business before, but what's the point now? Following Er Ya makes me much more money than if I were doing business on my own. Look, we don't even need to buy meat for the New Year."

Song Ning's benefits were calculated per person, so the more people in a family worked for her, the more she would receive.

Aunt Zhao's family of three all worked for her, and they could get at least thirty catties of pork. Add in the money, and they were really going to get rich.

“My aunt is now helping us look after the braised food business, and she also helps us with many other things on a daily basis. She deserves all of this.”

Aunt Zhao's family and Song Xiu'e's family were her right-hand women; they would go wherever she was needed.

Aunt Zhao was in charge of the braised food, Li Daniu was in charge of purchasing, Li Xingwang was in charge of Xiangyunlou, and her aunt and mother were in charge of the kitchen of Xiangyunlou. Her uncle took over Li Xingwang's business in the soap workshop. There were quite a few people in the business.

Song Ning also sighed, "We've worked so hard for so long, isn't it all so we can have a good New Year? This year is a good omen."

Sun grinned: "You know what, my mother-in-law has been nagging at home. She's envious of us working and earning money with Er Ya, and she's been getting restless."

"Don't worry, sister-in-law, it will be soon. I have already spoken with the county magistrate, and our school can start enrolling students no later than the end of the first month of the lunar calendar."

Upon hearing this, Madam Sun's expression brightened: "Are you really going to open a school?"

"Of course, our school is all built, and we're just waiting to start enrolling students after the New Year. Then, my sister-in-law can send her child there, and my aunt can come out and earn money."

"That's great, it saves me from worrying about how to raise my children in the future."

"Alas, we missed the good times. Otherwise, we old folks could also go and listen to the teacher's lectures."

Song Ning chuckled: "Aunt Zhao, the magistrate said that the school is open to both boys and girls, regardless of age. Anyone who wants to go can enroll. If you really want to learn, just enroll when the time comes."

"Girls can go too?"

"Yes, any child who isn't too young can go."

In the kitchen, the group was chatting animatedly. Meanwhile, Song Xiu'e, while wrapping red envelopes, kept exclaiming in surprise, "Sister-in-law, can Er Ya really manage to spend money like this?"

As I handed out each and every red envelope, my heart trembled.

That's a lot of money, they're really generous.

"Er Ya said that those people work for her, so she can't let them suffer. It's almost Chinese New Year, so she has to show her some appreciation. As their aunt, you'll definitely get a share too."

Song Xiue sighed, "I just don't feel at ease right now. I always feel like this life isn't real, and I'm afraid that I'll wake up one morning to find it's all a dream."

Liu Yuelan chuckled: "Your older brother said the same thing, so don't worry, it's all true."

"Think back to when I was in my husband's family, I did all kinds of heavy and tiring work, and I didn't have a single good day. Now look at me? I'm living the high life."

We used to struggle to get enough to eat and wear, so who would have thought we'd have such good days?

All of this is thanks to Er Ya.

After working on it for several days, Song Ning gave everyone a holiday a few days before the Lunar New Year.

Since the soap workshop was nearby, Zhu Shun and Jiang Yongshou were put in charge. The person in charge of making braised food was given to Aunt Zhao. As for the garment workshop, she, along with Sun and three other managers, were in charge.

They had people move the items into the workshop. Everyone was still busy with the pre-New Year's work and was quite puzzled when they saw several boxes being carried in.

Now, including the Sun family, there are four managers in the garment workshop, and each manager is responsible for about forty people.

Each manager arranged their team members into a line, waiting for Song Ning to speak.