Thanks to Uncle Si's efforts, the harvest that year increased by half a percent, and the rewards were all paid out, resulting in a prosperous year for the tenant farmers. However, this mechanism was only temporary. In the end, Uncle Si discussed with the head of the estate and decided that every tenant farmer in the estate would receive a reward.

Prizes were distributed according to demand: first place received 2 taels of silver, second place 1 tael, and third place 500 cash. Don't underestimate 500 cash; during the off-season, even a farmhand could only earn a dozen or twenty cash a day. If someone had the lowest sales for two consecutive years, their land leased to them would be halved; if they were last in sales for the third year, they wouldn't get any land leased to them at all. The first-place winner in every village received a large, fat pig weighing 200 jin and five bolts of hemp cloth. All the prizes from Uncle Si came from the village and the shop, which the farmers appreciated most.

In addition, the family's cloth shop and jewelry store were also thriving under the management of Fourth Uncle. Originally, the two families together could only earn a maximum of one thousand taels a year, but in five years, Fourth Uncle made that number more than ten times.

The two shops have been combined into one, now called "Wanbaohang". It sells not only jewelry and fabrics, but also ready-made clothes, shoes, and various embroideries. It is no exaggeration to say that this shop is the brainchild of Fourth Uncle. Fourth Uncle once traveled all over the country with his employees to run trade and negotiate business. He often went to Jiangxi, Shandong, and Jiangnan.

Even the madams of the two brothels along the Qinhuai River were acquainted with him.

There are two embroiderers in the shop now who were poached from there. After all, the Qinhuai River is the local fashion trendsetter. Uncle Si not only poached embroiderers from other places, but also poached several girls from other places, although they were all older.

Some of these girls were once very popular, especially skilled at matching clothes and jewelry. They were recruited to teach the shop's shop assistants and maids. Fourth Uncle was the best at dealing with people; he promised them that as long as they served the shop for 5 years, he would return their indentures.

A fox is a fox; he has the most accurate grasp of people's hearts. Those girls don't have to think about serving those stinky men every day. They have food and drink, and they don't have to worry about not having enough for tomorrow. Naturally, they are grateful to Uncle Si.

Two years later, Uncle Si selected two girls to try working in the private room, where they could help with clothing matching, truly live in the sunlight, receive dividends at the end of the year, and be protected by the shop. Only then did they truly live like human beings.

After all, not everyone is willing to become a prostitute. Some of them were sold by their families because they couldn't afford to eat when they were young, and some were trafficked. After the five-year service period, most of the girls chose to stay. Although they knew that Uncle Si had ulterior motives for bringing them here, after a few years of living in the sunshine, who would want to go back to the mire?

Aside from this reason, they were all alone in the capital.

As they grew older, it became increasingly difficult for them to protect themselves. Except for a girl named Furong, all the others remained.

This girl, Furong, didn't have a good ending. She met a conman who swindled her out of all her money and then sold her to a prostitute. She was tortured to death within two years.

Upon hearing about this, the group of girls all felt a little sad.

Those who stayed all signed separate contracts of servitude; only after signing these contracts did they feel at ease.

I admire my fourth uncle for this.

My fourth uncle was sweet-talking and worldly-wise, making friends from all walks of life. He was also very righteous, seemingly born for the business world. However, merchants had low social status in the Qing Dynasty, and as a member of the Eight Banners with the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the imperial examinations), obtaining an official position would not have been difficult for him.

His father helped him buy an official position, securing him a real post. In Shandong, he got a position as a county magistrate, and the 26-year-old fourth uncle, carrying his fourth aunt's belongings, went to take up his post.

His family had no relatives or acquaintances in Shandong, so they couldn't even ask someone to take care of him. Before he left, his grandfather and father gave him 10,000 taels of silver.

However, there are still two years before my fourth uncle takes office. He is currently 24 years old and not at home. This time, he went to Mongolia to deliver festival gifts for my grandmother and second aunt.

I estimate I'll be going home in a couple of days.

Fourth Aunt was the eldest illegitimate daughter of the Jiangjia clan of the Lower Five Banners. Although she was an illegitimate daughter, she was raised by her stepmother from a young age and showed no signs of timidity or pettiness. She was also capable of bearing sons; Fourth Uncle has four sons in total, three of whom are his children. Fourth Uncle's name was also well-chosen: Shuowengkeluo, meaning gyrfalcon.

My fourth aunt's eldest son is named Genggantuji, which means "blue clouds" in Manchu. He is the same age as me, seven years old this year.

The second and third children are identical twins, and they look very similar. They are only four years old.

The second son was named Jing Guji (meaning "a respectful person" in Manchu).

The three sons are named Jing Gu Le (meaning "respectable" in Manchu), all of which are auspicious names.

Fourth Uncle's fourth son was born to Aunt Luo, who was her niece from her maternal family. He was only a few months old.