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"Mrs. San, should we keep the new cloth in the warehouse or bring it here?"

Wang Sanniang hurriedly said, "Bring it here, we're running out of cloth!"

The other party responded and brought over several pieces of cloth and piled them in the room.

This room is dedicated to making clothes. Many tailors are busy with their heads down. Wang Sanniang, the supervisor, is much busier. Not only does she have to teach her subordinates how to cut and make clothes, but she also has to hand over the fabrics to others and register the quantities. She is so busy doing two things at once that she is often too busy to even have time to eat.

However, Wang Sanniang did not find it hard. To be able to climb from an ordinary tailor to the position of manager of a tailoring room, not to mention the effort it took, the luck was also rare for ordinary people.

Now my annual salary is ten taels, which includes food and accommodation, and my daughter even has a nursery to take care of her. I can save all this money, and after working for a few years, I can buy a house.

Thinking of the good days in the future, Wang Sanniang rolled up her sleeves and continued to work.

Today's cloth workshops are not just about spinning and weaving, they also do printing, dyeing, embroidery, tailoring and other tasks, all with their own division of labor.

Of course, printing, dyeing and embroidery cannot be done in a short time. Even the fabrics used for cutting are often shipped back by sea ships. But looking at this bright and clean workshop, Wang Sanniang feels full of energy. How can an ordinary weaver and seamstress work in such a good house?

Like the big house where the loom is placed, this tailoring room is also built with red bricks. The walls in the room are covered with putty, and look pink and white, very refreshing.

There are about ten tables neatly arranged in the room, and there is a basket next to each table. Cloth scraps and sundries can be thrown into the basket, making cleaning more convenient.

There are several windows on the walls on both sides, all of which are now open. Even in the evening, there is no need to turn on the lights, and it does not strain the eyes at all.

If it rains, just close the window and the rain won't get in. It's very convenient.

Such a spacious house is only for wealthy families to live in. For servants like them, there is no need to even think about it. Now that they can move in, their work becomes much easier.

Not to mention those who could enter the weaving workshop, even the lowest-ranking spinners were provided with two meals a day and a penny a month. Who wouldn't be scrambling to get in? It was precisely for this reason that no one who entered the weaving workshop was lazy, hoping to stay there forever.

Of course, the cloth shop provides more than just these benefits.

The shopkeeper said that he would invite embroiderers from Jiangnan to teach them the skills of embroidery. They could also learn dyeing and wax printing if they wanted to. Even tailors like them would be able to see fashionable dresses.

As long as you are willing to use your brain, learn skills, and create new patterns and clothing styles, you will receive extra rewards.

However, only those who sign long-term contracts can enjoy these good things. Not everyone can sign this five-year contract. You have to be smarter and more diligent than others.

However, Wang Sanniang knew that there must be many such people. After all, they all had real skills, and what they learned was theirs. They could settle down and make a living, which was more reliable than marrying a man.

Thinking of this, Wang Sanniang, a widow, laughed and went back to her work.

After working hard for most of the day, it was finally time for dinner. However, Wang Sanniang did not go to the cafeteria, but went to the nursery next door.

"Nannan!" Wang Sanniang hugged her daughter and kissed her hard on the face. "Have you been good today? Have you caused any trouble for your aunt?"

The little girl immediately shook her head like a rattle: "No, Nannan is so good! She even learned several words today!"

As she spoke, she squatted down and drew a crooked "seven" with her finger, shouting, "This is seven! Look, mother!"

Looking at the words, Wang Sanniang's eyes narrowed with smiles: "Nannan is so smart!"

In the nursery, the oldest child is only six years old. It is not easy for a girl like Nannan to learn counting and writing from those older children.

However, this is also what Wang Sanniang hopes to see the most. She knows how important it is to be literate and numerate in the Red Flag Gang. When Miss He was giving a lecture before, she went to learn arithmetic so that she could get a job as a manager. When her daughter grows up, she will have to find a way to send her to school.

If you can read, you can not only be a weaver or a tailor, but maybe you can work as an accountant in a bank, which is a good job that is no less than that of a bookkeeper.

But she wouldn't tell anyone else this. After thanking the nursery aunt with her daughter, she walked towards the cafeteria with her child in her arms.

This month's salary will be paid soon, and I can go to the special kitchen to buy some egg custard for my daughter to eat during mealtime.

In a wooden house in the distance, a middle-aged woman muttered, "Little girl, it's already dinner time, are you going or not?"

Although their food is not as good as those of the weaver girls, it can still fill their stomachs. They have been twisting hemp ropes for the whole morning. If they don’t eat enough, how can they have the energy to work in the afternoon?

The girl called Xiaoya shook her head and said, "Aunt, you go first. I want to go to the big house and take a look."

In the row of large houses of the cloth workshop, there were not only looms, but also a board hanging in the corner of the wall with several pieces of white paper pasted on it. There were words and numbers on them, and there was also something called a "multiplication table".

This is used to teach the weaver girls how to count. As long as they can memorize the multiplication table, they can be considered to know how to count.

If you learn to count and can use those characters to calculate, you may have the opportunity to be recruited to work, whether as a weaver, a tailor, or even as a cook, the money you get is more than making hemp ropes.

The woman couldn't help but sneer when she heard this: "Don't let your imagination run wild. We are all boat people. We are lucky to be able to make a living here."

Tanka people have a low status and in some places they are not even hired as laborers. At most they can do odd jobs.

The Red Flag Gang was willing to employ the boat people, feed them, and give them a few copper coins, which was already a favor.

If you don't know what's good for you, you'll be laughed at.

The girl was unmoved. How long would it take to eat? She couldn't go into the big house during work, and she could only take the opportunity of eating to look at the board through the window.

In fact, she didn't tell anyone that she had already learned the ten characters from one to ten and the corresponding words, and could read the table. The rest was just to remember them well and practice the "vertical form" well. She had already learned addition and subtraction, and now she could memorize multiplication and division. Then she could apply for a job in the big house. If she could change her job, wouldn't it be better than twisting hemp rope?

Seeing that she couldn't persuade the stubborn girl, the woman snorted and walked out the door mumbling. Huang Xiaoya cautiously ran to the window of the big house and looked inside.

"Three times three equals nine, three times four equals twelve..."

Holding on to the windowsill, she moved her lips slightly and began to recite silently.

…

Picking up the tea bowl and gently brushing away the floating leaves with the cup lid, Tang Yansheng took a sip and narrowed his eyes slightly.

Although Tang's tea has its roots in Fujian, he prefers the clear tea from the south of the Yangtze River, which has an elegant and light aroma and a long-lasting sweetness, and is the best way to calm people's minds.

But while Tang Yansheng could hold his temper, others might not. A man beside him said anxiously, "Brother Tang, among all of us, you're the only one who can speak in front of the Red Flag Gang. You can't just ignore this matter!"

Tang Yansheng placed the tea bowl steadily on the table and said, "I'm just a tea vendor. How can I possibly have any connection with the Red Flag Gang? Brother Liang thinks too highly of me."

The other party didn't believe this perfunctory remark: "Brother Tang, don't pretend. I've heard that you deposited 1,000 taels in Minsheng Bank. How could they not care about such a big customer?"

Tang Yansheng chuckled, "How could a large shipping gang like the Red Flag Gang even consider a few thousand taels of silver? I've invited Chief Sun to a drink many times, but I couldn't get him to come over."

This was true. The man hesitated for a moment, then slapped his thigh and said, "I don't have any other options. The red brick house renovation project is already scheduled for three months later. If I miss this season, I'll be in big trouble."

Tang Yansheng was not surprised at all. In fact, the sudden popularity of red brick houses in Dongning was also due to his behind-the-scenes support.

After all, he had put in a lot of thought these days and finally contacted a coal merchant and signed the share deed.

Now that he has shares in the cement workshop, how can he not pay attention?

However, no matter how much he secretly thought about it, he couldn't show it openly. Tang Yansheng sighed, "Brother Liang, why do you only focus on red bricks? The county's green brick kilns have no shortage of them, and building a house is more secure. Why not go buy some green bricks..."

The other person's face fell. "Look at what Brother Tang said. Who can make money easily? Building a granary only costs fifteen taels of red bricks, and thirty taels of green bricks might not be enough. How can we throw money into the water? Brother Tang, please help me and say a few good words for me."

Tang Yansheng acted embarrassed, and after a while he said, "Brother Liang is also an old friend of mine. Of course I will help you if I can. But we are in such a tight spot, who knows if the price will go up..."

"As long as the construction period is tight, a slight increase is fine!" said the man surnamed Liang hurriedly.

"Then I'll risk my reputation and go ask for Brother Liang." Tang Yansheng finally agreed.

The other party was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly.

Tang Yansheng smiled as he answered, but deep down he was thinking about something else. He might be able to get enough cement, but he wasn't sure if he'd find the men to build the house. Should he hire some masons and set up a "contracting team"? It wouldn't cost much to hire a few laborers, and everyone in the county knew he had a Red Flag Gang background, so no one would dare to cheat him. He might even make a killing.

When he thought of this, the smile on Tang Yansheng's face became even more profound, and he looked even more friendly.

Several workshops, large and small, in Dongning County began to operate in an orderly manner. After dealing with urgent matters and explaining the matters of replacing artillery, Cheng Xi did not stay any longer and returned to Luoling Island with Lin Mo and others.