"Mother, you don't need to sign up. I want you to help me supervise everyone's work. I'll pay you ten coins a day." Xi Chun shook her head. She didn't have many people around her right now, and making canned goods required keeping a close eye on everyone. So Xi Chun had already decided to ask Wang Shi and the village chief's wife to manage the people who came to work.

"It's better to have a daughter. Look, she can earn ten coins to work right away. I wish my daughter was as capable as that." The people around didn't have any objections to this. After all, she was Xichun's own mother. Did they want to outshine her?

"Really? Xichun, I will definitely study hard." Hearing this, Wang felt very proud.

Once the manpower was selected, Xichun began to teach Wangshi and the village chief's wife how to manage the manpower. The most important thing was to guard the rock sugar and salt, both of which were not cheap at this time.

Then Xichun invited the village chief and Uncle Zhang to come and weigh the peaches for the villagers. This time, Xichun brought a lot of copper coins and settled the money on the spot.

When the earthenware jar arrived the next day, everyone sprang into action: some washed the jar, some tended the fire, some washed the peaches, and some peeled them—all took their places.

Wang and the village chief's wife also got to experience being in charge, and finally, three days later, all the peach trees in the village were completely devoured by these people.

"Xichun, there are quite a few peaches in the other villages too. Are you still going to buy them? If so, we'll go pick them." Someone asked, still unwilling to give up, after hearing that Xichun had stopped buying them.

"I'll stop collecting for now and come back when the other fruits are ripe." Xi Chun calculated that he didn't have much money left and dared not continue collecting.

"Sigh, this business has fallen through. If only the fruit could ripen every day." They were all somewhat disappointed.

However, some clever people, after working with Xichun for a few days, bought sugar and salt themselves, and went to other villages to pick unwanted wild fruits to learn how to make canned goods.

"Xichun, I don't want any money. I feel much better these past few days working. It's even more enjoyable than working at home." Xichun calculated the wages for Wang, but she refused to accept them. She used to think that only by marrying a man could she live a good life, but Xichun showed her that she could support herself.

“Everyone has some, so it’s not like you’re my mother and you don’t have this money. Take it back, and your family will respect you more when they see you earn money.” Xi Chun continued to hand her the money.

“Since Xiaofeng came along, my status at home has improved a lot. And with you becoming successful, I feel more confident. Xiaofeng’s grandma has stopped scolding me and even reminds me to bring you food from time to time. It’s like she’s become a different person.”

"So only when we stand up for ourselves will others respect us. If we can't stand up for ourselves, we'll only be bullied." Xi Chun nodded in approval.

"That's right. You can keep this money yourself. I see you spend money like water. You've spent so much in just a few days. You must not have much left. Here's a little bit of it. Take it back and keep it for now."

Xichun didn't want to put her in a difficult position, so she insisted on giving her the money before continuing, "Mother, there's one more thing I'd like to ask for your help with. Please keep an eye on my jars. I'm not home, and I've already asked Uncle Zhang to keep an eye on them at night, but he has other things to do during the day. Now the whole village knows I've made a lot of canned goods, and I'm worried that someone might try to take advantage of me."

"Don't worry, even if you didn't say anything, I would still keep an eye on it. So much money was spent on these things; we can't let them get stolen." As soon as Wang heard about this, she immediately agreed. These were all made with Xichun's money; how could she dare to be careless?

“Okay, I’ll pay you five coins a day from now on until all those things are sold.” Xi Chun nodded. She also gave Uncle Zhang five coins, but Uncle Zhang refused. In the end, Xi Chun argued and got it down to three coins.

“Why give me money? It’s just a side thing. Anyway, I’m in the village. Your money doesn’t grow on trees. You’re just giving money away every day. I don’t want it.” Wang also refused.

“That won’t do. You have to keep an eye on it for me every day. If this goes on for too long, Uncle Ma and the others will definitely start to have their own opinions. But if there’s money every day, they might not have anything to say and will still insist that you keep a close eye on it.” Xi Chun had already thought about this matter in her mind. Three or five days was fine, but having someone keep an eye on it for three or five months was definitely not going to work.

“I’m your mother. If I’m going to pay you for looking after things, what kind of society would that be?” Wang Shi still disagreed, but in the end, with Xi Chun’s insistence, she lowered the price to three copper coins, the same as Uncle Zhang’s, and the two finally reached an agreement.

After giving her the key, Xichun went back to the city with Qiangzi.

Wang took Xiaofeng home. Grandma Ma saw it but didn't say anything. Ma Dawei and Ma Xiaobao were eating. The two of them had been picking peaches for the past few days.

"Xichun went back? Why didn't you invite her to stay for dinner?" Ma Dawei asked while eating.

“They’ve already eaten at the village chief’s house. This is their wages for the past few days. I told Xichun I didn’t want it, but she kept giving it to me. Mother, you keep it.” Wang took out the wages Xichun had given her from her bosom and handed them to Old Lady Ma.

"Oh my, so much! Xichun is so kind." Old Mrs. Ma looked at the silver with a happy expression, but seeing her son's eyes, she didn't take it. Instead, she said, "Keep this money yourself. From now on, you can manage your own money. You don't need to give it to me anymore."

"Mother, then I'll use this money to buy some meat for the family. I can't leave right now, so I'll trouble you to go and get some meat so our family can have something good to eat." Of course, Wang Shi wouldn't refuse. Since her mother-in-law had said so, she kept the money, but she took out another twenty coins and gave them to Old Lady Ma.

"Alright, alright, but you two should also save some money yourselves. You have two children, and Xiao Bao has already been arranged to marry. He'll be getting married next year." Old Mrs. Ma took the silver and smiled.

"Yes, yes, Mother is right. I will go to Xichun's courtyard every day to look after those jars. Xichun paid for them." Wang Shi readily agreed and then told her her plans.

"Would anyone still steal it? Why do we have to go every day?" Grandma Ma asked, puzzled, because no one had told her what was inside; she only assumed it contained peaches.

"Yes, Xichun was worried when the village was robbed before, so she paid me three coins a day to keep an eye on things for her. I only need to go a few times a day."

"Is this for real? Just helping to watch over a yard and you can earn three coins a day? This money is too easy to earn." Not only did Grandma Ma look on in surprise, but even Ma Dawei and Ma Xiaobao were astonished.

"Yes, that girl Xichun, I told her I didn't want any money, but she insisted on giving me more. I'm her own mother, how could I accept it? She said that giving money would be like giving it to us elders as a token of respect, so I accepted it." Wang said this with a touch of Versailles.

"That's wonderful!" Grandma Ma was genuinely envious.