The eldest son's wife arrived in the village soon after and started chatting with her close friends.

Within half a day, Old Mrs. Liu heard the whole village talking about it, and only then did she belatedly realize that it might not really be her youngest son's child.

He dragged Jiu Niang to the town clinic and was stunned to learn that Jiu Niang was almost two months pregnant.

Liu Wentao was already furious and had nowhere to vent his anger. Although he liked Jiu Niang very much, the thought that this bitch had actually taken advantage of him and even claimed that the child was hers made him even angrier.

Without even asking for any medicine, they dragged Jiu Niang home, hung her up, and gave her a good beating.

Jiu Niang was already in the early stages of pregnancy, and after being brutally beaten by Liu Wentao, she quickly miscarried.

Liu Wentao ignored the woman lying on the ground, barely alive, packed his belongings, and fled overnight.

He knew he could never repay the hundred taels of silver, so rather than stay at home and be beaten to death by the authorities, he decided to run away beforehand.

He wanted to start a new life in a place where no one knew him, so he went to Old Lady Liu's room under the moonlight.

He grabbed the wooden box from under Old Lady Liu's bed and ran desperately towards the edge of the village.

When Grandma Liu woke up, she found that her youngest son was missing and all his clothes were gone. Only then did she realize that her son had run away.

Suddenly, he slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Oh no!"

He turned and went back to his room. Sure enough, after searching under the bed for a long time, the wooden box was gone. He knew without a doubt that his youngest son had taken it.

Old Mrs. Liu cried and wailed at home, and when her other sons found out about it, they strongly demanded that the family divide the property.

They all agreed that Mrs. Liu had used the family's money to help her youngest son pay off his debts.

…

With nothing to do at home, Su Muyao began to think about how to teach the women in the village to use flatbed carts.

It's easy to learn, but to do it well, it takes at least a month.

Just as they were deciding how much silver to give everyone for the first month, Long Yuan came knocking on their door.

He watched as the workshop bustled with activity, but he hadn't seen a single one of the 100,000 tents he wanted.

"Little guy, when are you going to start construction on those 100,000 tents you promised me?"

"Work has started recently, but you'll probably have to wait three or four months to actually receive the goods."

Long Yuan thought about it and figured that it wouldn't matter if it was three or four months later, since the weather was hot anyway.

After seeing Long Yuan off, Su Muyao told her father that she planned to hire a skillful woman from the neighborhood.

Even something as simple as needlework is acceptable.

"What did you say? 50 people is too many."

"Grandpa really doesn't have enough. I received an order for 100,000 tents, and these 50 people are definitely not enough."

Old Su nodded after hearing this. One hundred thousand tents—although he didn't know how to do it, his granddaughter was capable, so it wasn't his business to worry about it.

As for the money for this order, Old Man Su never inquired about it. His granddaughter had her own plans, and the old couple didn't want to take advantage of her.

Su Muyao suddenly remembered that she needed to explain the money issue to Grandpa Su: "Grandpa, I'll keep this money with me for now. I need it later, so I won't give it to you and Grandma?"

"My dear, all the money you earn is in your own hands. Your grandparents don't need any money. My dear, you'll be doing big things in the future and there will be many places where you'll need money."

Su Muyao didn't want the old man to worry, so she didn't mention that she hadn't received the money for the tent yet.

Old Su hurriedly went to the village chief's house and told him that he wanted to recruit all the women in the village who knew how to sew.

In addition, we went to the old village chief and other village chiefs to tell them that we need to recruit women who know how to sew.

The next morning, when Su Muyao got up, she found a huge crowd of people crammed in front of her yard.

Then you see a group of women standing in a row, chattering away.

"Oh my, this is the Su family's little lucky star! Look how handsome he is."

A sharp-eyed woman in the crowd spotted Su Muyao, who had just washed up in the courtyard, and immediately began to flatter her.

She wasn't stupid; she had already heard that this little dumpling was in charge of the newly opened workshop.

Whether they can successfully enter the workshop and start working today depends on a single word from the little milk group in front of them.

Old Man Su hadn't expected these people to arrive so early.

Su Muyao didn't even have time to eat breakfast before quickly washing up and leading the group to the workshop.

The little dumpling stood in the crowd, its hands behind its back, looking particularly comical.

"Aunties and aunties, I have a batch of tents that need to be made, but it's a new manufacturing method and not hand-sewn, so you all need to familiarize yourselves with the machine first."

After saying that, he led the large group of people to the workshop on the far right.

As soon as they entered, they saw rows of things they had never seen before.

It appears to be entirely white, but its material is unknown. Someone boldly touched it and remarked, "It must be made of iron."

Ignoring their curious gazes, Su Muyao continued, "I will teach you how to use this. Of course, you need to learn it slowly at first, so those who are patient are not suitable."

As soon as Su Muyao said this, the crowd fell silent.

They were so excited last night when the village chief told them that the Su family in the neighboring village was hiring that they couldn't sleep.

In such a famine year, it's already a blessing to have any income at all, no matter how much.

Now, hearing what Little Lucky Star said, fearing they would be eliminated, they chattered among the crowd, making their own promises.

"Little lucky star, don't worry, I'm very careful."

“I’m also meticulous, and I’ve made embroidered quilts for people in town before, so I should be able to make the tent you mentioned very quickly.”

"Please be quiet for a moment and let me continue."

The main reason for this is that I'm worried you might give up halfway through, so I want everyone to think it through first.

"Oh my, little lucky star, don't worry, as long as you don't kick us out, I'm willing to learn no matter how difficult it is."

The one who spoke was Zhao Niangzi, who was very skillful and had been making embroidered handkerchiefs.

However, my husband contracted tuberculosis years ago and has been taking medication ever since.

So, business in town wasn't doing too well recently, so I told Zhao Niangzi that she wouldn't need to continue embroidering handkerchiefs anymore.

They were originally worried about where they would get the money for future medical expenses.

Just then, I heard that the Su family was hiring, preferably someone who knew a little needlework. Hearing this, I felt that I was sure I could do the job.

"Let's talk about the money first. If you can't stick to it for the first three days, we'll only provide food, not money."

"If you quit halfway through three days, you will only get 15 coins per day."

As soon as these words were spoken, the people below immediately started discussing it. 15 coins a day was quite a lot for them.

"The first month is 20 cash a day, the second month is guaranteed 30 cash a day, plus piecework pay."

This time, a young woman below asked, "Little Lucky Star, what is piecework?"

"Piecework pays out of the way. The more you do, the more money you earn."

"Oh, I see. I understand now."