Expanding the recruitment of female workers

A group of noble ladies drinking all the wine outside without paying—what kind of talk would that be? "How can this be? How can I take advantage of you?" With that, Zhou Miaosi gestured to the maid behind her to take out some silver.

Fu Zhiqiao: "Miss Zhou, why are you being so formal? I am honored that the plum wine has received such praise from you ladies. It is fate that we are all gathered here today. Consider this wine my treat to you all."

Seeing that she was generous and straightforward, Zhou Miaosi stopped refusing.

"However, the shop's stock of plum wine is running low, so please hurry if you want some!"

Upon hearing that there wasn't much wine left, Zhou Miaosi immediately told her that it was settled and asked her to send some wine and green plums to the governor's mansion later.

Tang Yuying also looked like she hadn't had enough. Although she was a bit spoiled, she wasn't an unreasonable person: "Your wine is indeed good, but whether it can beautify the skin and improve complexion remains to be seen."

"Such a small cup is far too little; it's not enough to drink!" A slightly plump noblewoman's words amused everyone.

The first order for plum wine has been received. Fu Zhiqiao coughed lightly and reminded, "Plum wine is good, but it should be consumed in moderation. Too much of a good thing is bad."

These words made Zhou Miaosi nod in agreement, and she felt even more favorably toward Fu Zhiqiao. Although she was a merchant, she didn't have the air of money about her and was someone worth befriending.

Fu Zhiqiao smiled slightly, knowing that with the help of these noble ladies, the plum wine would surely cause a stir in the women's circles of Qingzhou.

She has done everything she could; now it's just a matter of time before she proves it.

*

Upon returning from the Flower Festival, she immediately had a gift box of plum wine prepared and delivered to the governor's residence.

During this period, they also received orders from other wealthy ladies.

In short, the plum wine was launched very quietly.

Unlike Taibai wine, which was promoted to the general public, the reputation of plum wine only spread within a small circle of noble ladies.

Taibai liquor needs to become an instant hit and widely known.

What plum wine needs is to accurately target its demographic and quietly make a fortune.

Considering that most of the customers who come to buy plum wine are wealthy and leisurely ladies, the furnishings in the shop are extremely luxurious and elegant. Gauze curtains are used instead of screens to divide the shop into two rooms, the inner room for receiving ladies and the outer room for the maids to rest. The gauze curtains do not take up much space and can create a hazy atmosphere.

Some noble ladies have a grand style, and they are always surrounded by three or five maids whenever they go out. In order to avoid the maids causing trouble for other customers in the shop, the wine shop stipulates that each customer can bring a maximum of two maids, while the rest of the people wait in the outer room.

The initial trial of plum wine has been successful, and she wants to take advantage of this year's plum season to brew more plum wine to ensure that it can be sold all year round.

Fu Zhi Qiao was a little troubled. It was April now, and July and August would be the season for plums to ripen. She needed to make plans as soon as possible.

A new production line is to be set up in the winery. Old Gao is in charge of the production of Taibai wine. Who should manage the plum wine production line?

Suddenly, a bold idea popped into her head: since plum wine is positioned as a drink for women, why not put women in charge of the production line as well?

The production and sales of Taibai wine have matured, so she no longer needs to oversee it all the time. Right now, she has the time to manage matters related to plum wine.

When Taibai wine was being produced, the winery needed to hire strong men who could carry heavy loads. However, brewing plum wine does not require steaming grains or mixing yeast, which are physically demanding tasks. As long as you are skillful and know how to control the proportions of ingredients, even women with less strength can do it.

Having decided to hire female workers, Fu Zhiqiao immediately sent an order to Wen Jiang, instructing him to clean out an empty room to serve as a production workshop for plum wine.

Because the process of brewing plum wine involves trade secrets, Fu Zhiqiao plans to only hire women from the village. As the owner of the place, she has a lot of control over the tenants in the village. Besides, she doesn't trust anyone else to come in.

A job posting was displayed at the entrance of the winery.

The winery hires female workers under the age of forty, paying them fifty coins a month. Those who are nimble and strong, as well as family members of winery workers, will be given priority.

When Fu Zhiqiao first set the age, she wondered if forty was too harsh. But then she thought that the average lifespan of people in ancient times was not long. Due to the impact of war and famine, and the lack of advanced medical methods, living to fifty was considered a long life. Forty was just right, so she decided on that age.

The villagers are illiterate, but some people at the winery are literate.

Wenjiang had a subordinate named Liu Yongchang who failed the imperial examination for over ten years. After emptying his family's savings, he finally realized that he wasn't cut out for it, so he gave up and stayed at the winery as Wenjiang's assistant, responsible for recording workers' files and writing documents, which was equivalent to the position of secretary.

Since posting the job notice at the winery, he has been specifically responsible for answering questions from villagers who come to inquire at the entrance.

The news caused an uproar throughout the entire winery.

Men till the fields and women weave; men are in charge of external affairs and women are in charge of internal affairs. This has been how people have lived for thousands of years. I never imagined that, in addition to silk weaving and embroidery, there would be people who would hire female workers.

This is truly a rare thing, especially in the countryside, it's extremely rare!

After spending so much time together, Fu Zhiqiao saw the hardworking and simple qualities of the villagers in Liujia Village. Her recruitment notice for female workers was meant to show everyone that women can not only do laundry and cook at home, but also earn money to support their families outside.

She doesn't care how everyone was before, but now that she's here, she'll be the one to start the change! Starting with her winery!

The male workers at the winery were also dumbfounded, unable to understand why the owner would hire female workers at the winery.

However, this was not their concern; they needed to hurry home and tell their wives the news.

Hiring female workers? And paying them fifty coins a month? This is much better than farming and watering the fields at home, and they get the same treatment as the men in the family! The women in the village were thrilled and gathered at the entrance of the winery to ask, "Is this true?"

Liu Yongchang: "It's written in black and white, how could it be fake?"

"Really? I need to hurry home and tell my wife the news. Maybe my Lotus will get the job!"

"Mr. Liu, my wife is forty-one. Is she still able to come and answer the call?" asked a worker mixing yeast at the winery.

"Is your wife strong?"

"Yes, I can do everything, from chopping wood to carrying water."

"Okay, then ask her to come over and register later."

"Great, great, what a kind employer!" The worker hadn't had any hope; he had just come to ask. He was overjoyed that it actually worked out and kept thanking the employer.

For the villagers, hiring female workers at the winery was an absolute stroke of good luck.

Taking the workers as an example, if two people from a family work at the winery, their family will earn at least 200 coins a month. Add to that the grain distributed from the farmland and the year-end bonus, and I believe that the villagers of Liujia Village will be able to escape poverty and become rich soon.

Everyone's joy was palpable.

Liu Yongchang: "Alright, alright, if you have any women of marriageable age in your family, hurry up and register. Don't blame me if you miss it!"

With precedents of distributing rewards before the Lunar New Year, the villagers had a very good impression of the new employer.

In just a few days, more than fifty people came to apply.

After a simple assessment, apart from three or four people who were not very hygienic, basically all the people who volunteered were hired.

Yuan Jinhua was also on the list of fifty people. She took the initiative to approach Wen Jiang and said that she was hardworking and would rather work in the winery than cook in the kitchen.

Seeing that she was ambitious, Wenjiang took her in as well. Fu Zhiqiao didn't care about these details and let him make the decisions.

Once the female workers were selected, Fu Zhiqiao devised a work process and wrote it into a booklet for the female workers to study in advance. They could officially start work two months later when the plums ripened.

The production process for plum wine is the same as that for Taibai wine, with all workers having clearly defined roles and not interfering with each other.

Washing the green plums, removing the stems, soaking them in salt water, adding sugar, and pouring wine—each step is performed by different people.

Picking and washing the green plums in the early stages are not technically demanding tasks. Fu Zhi Qiao only needs to control the proportions when brewing the wine. Therefore, she wrote a winemaking manual at home in advance, had Yin Xing memorize it, and then taught it to the workers.

Yinxing stayed by her side every day. When she first started making plum wine at home, Yinxing and Granny Cui were the ones helping her. Granny Cui was training the waitresses in the wine shop, so the task of training the female workers in the winery had to be left to Yinxing.

That day, Fu Zhiqiao was checking Yinxing's notes on the key points of brewing plum wine.

Gatekeeper: "Miss, there's a young woman at the gate who says her name is Chen Xiaoyue. She's come looking for her benefactor. Would you like to see her?"

Who is Chen Xiaoyue? Fu Zhiqiao's mind went blank for a moment.

“Girl, it’s that girl who sells fermented rice on the street, don’t you remember? We even bought some from her,” Ginkgo reminded her.

Fu Zhi Qiao remembered that there seemed to be such a thing. She had met Xie Zhuo because she helped Chen Xiao Yue drive away the person who was harassing her.

Speaking of Xie Zhuo, the last time the two met was at the Lantern Festival.

I wonder how he's been lately...

A knock at the door snapped Fu Zhiqiao back to reality.

As soon as Chen Xiaoyue entered the door, she knelt down before Fu Zhiqiao, repeatedly expressing her gratitude.

Fu Zhi Qiao quickly waved her hand to help her up: "It was just a small favor, how could I accept such a big gift from you?"

"What was a small favor to you was a life-saving grace to me. I have come today hoping that my benefactor will allow me to stay at your residence..."

According to Chen Xiaoyue, her father recently passed away from an illness. The family had spent all their money on his treatment and were now heavily in debt. She was the only woman left in the family, and her relatives looked down on her for being a woman, considering her a burden. No one was willing to lend a helping hand, and she was desperate.

The only way for her to avoid the pain of separation is to sell herself into slavery.

Thinking of Fu Zhi Qiao, who had once helped her, Chen Xiao Yue decided to try her luck. She found the Fu residence based on the information she had left on the street last time and begged her to take her in.

"Please take me in, my benefactor! I can do any kind of work, I'm willing to be your slave to repay you!" Chen Xiaoyue knelt on the ground and kowtowed, her eyes filled with tears, her head thumping loudly.

Yinxing glanced at Fu Zhiqiao's expression and stepped forward to help Chen Xiaoyue to the side.

Chen Xiaoyue's cheeks were thin and her face was pale. Her clothes were also patched in many places. She looked really pitiful. Since we've already helped her, let's help her to the end!

Perfect timing! Chen Xiaoyue knows how to make fermented glutinous rice, so she must have some basic brewing skills. I can let her handle the miscellaneous tasks of developing new wines in the future.

“It’s not a problem to support another person in the family. How about this, you can work with Ginkgo from now on.”

Overjoyed, Chen Xiaoyue wept, "Thank you so much, Miss!"

Fu Zhi Qiao ultimately kept her with him and gave her some money to help her pay off her medical debts.

Ginkgo said with a grin, "From now on, I'll call you Xiaoyue."