Chapter 181 Task Assignment and Room Configuration

A long line of rickshaws stopped at the entrance of the Wutong Courtyard. Yao Xiaoyu unlocked the door with a brass key and led the hired workers inside.

Wutong Courtyard is the name Yao Xiaoyu gave to her new house. The house has its own address, but when Yao Xiaoyu came here before, she saw that other houses had nicknames such as "Ju" or "Wu" or "Lu". She did not intend to be different.

But Yao Xiaoyu was terrible at naming things. After thinking for several days, she could only come up with a bunch of names like Linqinju, which literally translates to "Little Apple's House." Compared to meaningless names like Yunshuiju, taboo-sounding Qinglonglou, Yaogongguan (which sounds like a forced attempt to elevate a name), and Xiaoyuwu (which sounds like a naive and innocent name), Wutong Xiaoyuan was the most suitable name she could think of.

Although it doesn't have any profound meaning—planting a phoenix tree attracts a phoenix.

"I haven't been here for a while, so things are a bit messy."

Yao Xiaoyu looked around the yard, feeling embarrassed on one hand, and at the same time, shamelessly relieved that she didn't have to do this work.

Wutong Xiaoju is a standard house with an outer wall and a middle room. After Yao Xiaoyu bought it, she raised and thickened the outermost wall and inserted many porcelain fragments at the top. From the outside, it looks quite decent, but the courtyard inside is left unattended, and the vitality of the plants is on full display.

"Aunt Wang, this yard will be under your management from now on."

As Yao Xiaoyu walked, she began arranging the work, thinking that she should write it down on a piece of paper later. Clearly defining responsibilities would make things easier in the future. If she slacked off now, she might cause a big mess at any time.

At this time, the most common way for younger employers to address older female helpers was by their surname plus "Mom". For example, a certain literary figure called the female helper who bought him the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Chang Mama, and another example is Song Mama from Xiao Yingzi's family. However, Yao Xiaoyu really couldn't come up with a name for her, so she chose the least offensive one among her sister-in-law, eldest sister, and aunt. [1]

"Ten days from now, I want to see a clean and tidy yard."

Yao Xiaoyu likes clean and tidy environments, but that doesn't mean she's a exploitative and oppressive person. Although the Wutong Courtyard isn't particularly large, it's been neglected and is almost as difficult to maintain as a post-construction cleaning, so the time spent on it is naturally less than that of routine maintenance.

"yes."

Upon hearing the timeline provided by Yao Xiaoyu, Wang Yuesheng's tense expression immediately relaxed. Given the condition of the courtyard, it would be impossible to clean it up in a day, even if she worked herself to death. But in ten days... as long as she wasn't helping ants move house one by one, she could even wipe the bricks on the walls clean.

"Aunt Ge, remember to cover the rickshaw with a tarpaulin when it rains, and park it over there in the future."

Yao Xiaoyu pointed to the side, and Ge Dali looked in that direction and saw a simple carport. He immediately nodded. Cars, like people, are afraid of being exposed to the sun and rain. Having a fixed place would be more than just a little convenient. If anyone from the car factory dared to tell her that their car was worn out, she would just pull them in front of the carport and they would be rendered speechless.

With this rented rickshaw following her around, she was finally enjoying herself. However, she needed to choose the rickshaw carefully. A monthly rental with a live-in driver meant the rickshaw would be with her day and night. If a rickshaw couldn't be used at night, she would have to pay extra.

"Lawan'er" is a colloquial term for driving a rickshaw at night. In the rickshaw driver profession, apart from a few people who have their own rickshaws and can drive whenever they want, most rickshaw drivers are divided into early and late shifts, just like factories. From 4 pm to dawn is the exclusive time for driving at night.

Similar to modern food delivery drivers, because there is a higher chance of encountering danger at night, coupled with a relatively smaller number of rickshaw drivers, drivers who work at night earn more money. The difference is that the rented electric bikes do not increase in price at night, and the manufacturers strongly support this – the rental fee is always higher at night than during the day!

Yao's daughter is a good person, and her wages follow the rules of other companies. But the car factory is a heartless scoundrel. As soon as she receives her wages and pays the car rental fee, a large portion of her silver dollars and coins are taken away before she can even enjoy them!

If only she had her own car, even if she bought it with borrowed money. Even if the price was higher and the interest was heavier, as long as it was cheaper than the car manufacturer's, it would be a good deal... Right, she's already using a monthly rental service, why doesn't she just buy her own car!

Ge Dali's eyes lit up instantly. She wasn't particularly close to the other rickshaw pullers. Although it was unlikely she could make a quick buck without interest, she could still find more people and organize a low-interest group.

Once the idea of ​​borrowing money to buy a car took hold, it was impossible to shake off—once the car was bought, it was truly yours, and even if something happened later and you couldn't keep it, you could still get real money. A rented car, on the other hand, was like a morning fog; you wouldn't have a car when you ran out of money. The more Ge Dali thought about it, the more convinced he was of this idea. He even started breathing rapidly, and only when he saw his daughter did he gradually calm down.

The matter of borrowing money needs to be planned slowly. We need to wait until the status of the monthly rickshaw driver is stable, and we are sure that the Yao family can stay for a long time. We also need to find suitable guarantors and creditors... Ge Dazhuang was planning what he needed to do to raise the money, and his eyes lit up like light bulbs when he looked at Yao Xiaoyu.

"Aunt Liu, this is where you wash clothes. It's cold now, so we use the hot water from the kitchen to wash them."

Yao Xiaoyu quickened her pace and introduced the work area to the woman washing clothes. Yao Xiaoyu mainly placed the washing and drying area in the backyard, and even took over the water tap. Even though she didn't see any other odds and ends, it didn't stop Liu Zhi, who was in charge of washing clothes, from nodding repeatedly with shining eyes.

Washing clothes with hot water was a luxury Liu Zhi never imagined she could be so extravagant, even during her best years. It was worth it, even if she had to buy her own washing sticks and other such items!

After walking around the workplace, Yao Xiaoyu naturally opened the door of the house. The workers looked up expectantly and saw... a mountain of miscellaneous items?

"Be careful, don't bump into it."

Yao Xiaoyu was also a little embarrassed. There were quite a few things to buy for the new house. Because her energy was limited, and there would be hired help later, Yao Xiaoyu only took charge of the shopping process, intending to let the hired help handle the rest. But she hadn't expected there to be so many things. However, Yao Xiaoyu bravely kept her composure and turned to look at the housekeeping staff as if nothing was wrong:

"Tie Feng, everyday items like soap and brooms are in there. You need to organize them."

Pan Tiefeng's job duties did not actually include this, but Yao Xiaoyu had the financial means, so calculating a middleman wouldn't be a problem.

Upon hearing this, everyone looked back at the mountain of miscellaneous items and realized that it contained brand-new daily necessities. However, the large quantity and variety of these items, along with their stacked arrangement which obstructed the light, made the mountain appear messy and dusty.

"But there's no rush. Let's find the rags and things first, and then put things away slowly after we've cleaned Xiaoxiao's and my room."

Yao Xiaoyu did not hide her special feelings for Tao Xiaoxiao. Rather than causing dissatisfaction later due to the so-called "not so much worrying about scarcity but about inequality," she set the tone from the beginning, and naturally got used to it later. Tao Xiaoxiao was the same, and so was Aunt Pang.

"Auntie Pang, these are the only items in the kitchen for now. If you need any changes or to add anything, just let me know."

Although Yao Xiaoyu had enough savings to eat and drink in the modern world, she was still far from being able to buy a house. The kitchens in her home and the rented place were pitifully small. She was fed up with the feeling of working in a cramped space. After buying a house here, the first major renovation she made was to add a large kitchen to the Wutong Courtyard without affecting the load-bearing capacity!

Auntie Pang and her apprentice are inside, and they don't need to practice their agility at all. Even if they dance Su Beichen's political commissar dance inside, they don't have to worry about tripping each other!

"We'll figure out what we're missing once we start doing it."

Auntie Pang was clearly very satisfied with the large kitchen that Yao Xiaoyu had provided. After taking a stroll around inside, she couldn't suppress the smile on her face. If Yao Xiaoyu hadn't had something else to say, Auntie Pang would have already taken her apprentice out to buy ingredients.

Seeing that Aunt Pang looked anxious, Yao Xiaoyu didn't delay. She led everyone around the pile of clutter and, together with Tao Xiaoxiao, pushed open the doors of each room on the first floor.

The downstairs area originally consisted of a large hall and a few rooms. After Yao Xiaoyu bought the property and counted the number of employees, she began a major renovation, building a row of small single rooms with windows without compromising the stability of the building.

These single rooms are basic modern rental apartments without kitchens or bathrooms. Each room is a little over 20 square meters and contains only two large items: a wardrobe and a wooden bed that is 1.5 meters wide and 2 meters high.

"These rooms are all about the same size, so you can choose one to stay in."

The rooms were slightly different due to the angle of the sun, and Yao Xiaoyu didn't care how everyone assigned the rooms. She just led Aunt Pang and Fan Jinxiu to the side.

“Auntie Pang, this room is for you; Jinxiu, this is for you.”

Aunt Pang's room faces south and is the largest one. In addition to the wardrobe and bed, there is a storage cabinet, a set of table and chairs, and a bedside table.

Fan Jinxiu's room was in a slightly worse location and was less spacious, but it had a large table, which was quite convenient for her sewing. Yao Xiaoyu did not hide her intention to let Fan Jinxiu use the room as her workspace. Fan Jinxiu was prepared when she saw the size and furnishings of the room, and after hesitating for 0 seconds, she readily accepted.

Her shop was very small, with the front for selling goods and the back for living. She still had to work in the room. Yao Xiaoyu's conditions here were much more comfortable than at home!

Everyone noticed the difference between the two types of rooms and looked at Aunt Pang and Fan Jinxiu with envy, but they didn't think it was unfair. You get what you pay for, and it's normal for craftspeople to be treated better.

They wouldn't even consider the two best rooms, but for the rest, it was up to each person to decide – that's what they said, but they didn't argue for long. It wasn't that they didn't know that even seemingly identical rooms could have good and bad ones, but the worst room Yao Xiaoyu was in was still much better than the ones they had stayed in before!

The bottom line is already above the ceiling. If we really argue fiercely over that little difference, what if we anger the Yao family girls and they stop letting them do their jobs?

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Author's Note: ————

【1】Wu Ma: From "Old Tales of South City".

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