So he pulled Meng Zhao inside even more enthusiastically, and the village head, hearing the commotion, also came out.

"Qing'an's wife, has something happened?"

"Sir, there is something I would like to ask you to advise me on."

The village head nodded and beckoned her inside. "Come in and let's talk."

After sitting down, Meng Zhao mentally organized his thoughts and said, "You should have heard that I've been setting up a stall at the docks these days, and business has been pretty good. This is all thanks to a recipe I found earlier, which is very suitable for food."

“A few days ago, a manager of a restaurant wanted to cooperate with me and purchase goods from me. But as you know, my family is just a widow and her children, and we really can’t afford it. I thought you were always out and about and had a lot of experience, so I wanted to ask you for help.” As he spoke, he handed over the contract he had brought from Chunfeng Tower.

The reason why the old man was able to become the village head was not only because of his advanced age and high moral standing, but also largely because he was literate and had been a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations.

He carefully examined the paper in his hand. It stated that Chunfenglou was purchasing a substance called starch from Meng Zhao, requiring a monthly delivery of 2,000 catties at a price of 25 wen per catty for a period of one year. This indicated that the contract in his hand was worth 600 taels.

The village head stared at Meng Zhao in shock. He knew this girl was smart and resourceful, but he never expected her to be so capable. Six hundred taels of silver—many people couldn't earn that much money in their entire lives.

The village head asked Meng Zhao in surprise, "Qing'an's wife, how do you want me to help you?"

"As you can see, the monthly delivery volume in this contract is enormous, and it's not something we can handle alone, so I want to cooperate with the village."

If it was just about hiring people, she didn't need to show the contract to the village head.

“I have roughly calculated that, after deducting all costs, the profit margin of starch can be maintained at around 50%. I provide the starch recipe and this order, with the requirement that I will take 20% of the gross profit from all starch sold in Shenjia Village in the future.”

For Meng Zhao, this was a huge financial drain. The contract in her hand, an order worth 600 taels, would only earn her 120 taels after all the orders were delivered. If she were the boss herself, she would definitely earn more than that.

However, she also has more to consider. With modern laws being more comprehensive and her being a blogger with some influence, she basically doesn't have to worry about anything.

Although the laws of the Zheng'an Dynasty were strict, it was not a modern era. If he jumped too high and stood out too much, he would inevitably attract jealousy.

For those in power and influence, dealing with a widow is incredibly easy, but dealing with an entire village is a different story.

What Meng Zhao wants to do is to make more people the beneficiaries, so that when she encounters trouble, everyone's interests will be affected, and naturally more people will stand by her side.