Chapter 51 [V] Lord Thousand
It has to be a woman, someone who can endure hardship, is observant, and works tirelessly without complaint.
And with Ye Wangxiang as a comparison, Li Yan had one more requirement. In addition to the above, it would be best if the person could also read, do abacus calculation, and be quick-witted.
You need to be able to do the work, but not just the bare minimum; you need to be quick-witted.
It's really hard to find someone who meets all these requirements in a short time.
Li Yan knew she had high standards, but now that her business was growing bigger and bigger, she did need a more versatile assistant like this.
As for the compensation... we can discuss it.
"I can offer 1.5 taels a month, or even 1.8 taels a month." Her ideal price was 2.5 taels a month, but all her requirements had to be met.
As for Cheng Ao, Li Yan was also very generous: "As long as you can find me for me, I'll give you three cents of my commission."
Upon hearing that this was a big order, Cheng Ao became even more obsequious, saying, "Don't worry, Mr. Li, I'll definitely handle this for you perfectly."
After finishing her story, Li Yan left the brokerage.
As soon as I stepped onto the street, I saw it was packed with people. Upon inquiring, I learned that the imperial court had won a battle, and imperial edicts were being posted throughout the country to announce the victory.
Regardless, it's a good thing that the imperial court has won the battle. Only when the country is prosperous can the people live in peace and stability. Only when the court is stable can the lives of ordinary people be better.
During the war, the imperial court conscripted soldiers from all over the country. Now that the war is over, the imperial court naturally posted an imperial edict to announce this to the world, as a way of giving the people an explanation.
Because of the imperial court's victory, the entire Huating County has been as lively as during the Lunar New Year these past two days. The people's faces are beaming with smiles, and in teahouses and restaurants, everyone is talking about the imperial court's victory.
That day, Li Yan came to Sifang Restaurant as usual to deliver hot pot base, and overheard several students who were eating there talking about it.
One of them said, "I heard that during this campaign against the north, the imperial court conscripted over three thousand soldiers from Huating County. In the end, only seven hundred survived. Not all of these seven hundred returned to the capital with the main army; most received severance pay and went directly back to Huating County. I even saw the second son of the Sun family a few days ago. Poor thing, only three years have passed, and he looks so haggard, and he's even lost a leg. The imperial court gave him ten taels of silver as severance pay, but that's... what's that enough?"
Another said, "At least they survived. Those with land will be exempt from taxes as long as they are still alive. Those without land but with shops will have their taxes halved... The treatment is not bad. Think about it, out of 3,000 conscripts, only 700 survived, and the other 2,000 became wandering ghosts."
"It's all fate," someone remarked.
Just then, another voice rang out: "A relative of mine has a village that produced a high-ranking official."
"Whose house is this?" Everyone was drawn to this question.
Some people say, "A commander of a thousand is a high military rank. According to the laws of this dynasty, he is a fifth-rank official with a thousand soldiers under his command, which is equivalent to a general."
“Xishui Village, the Liu family’s, Liu Erlang.”
The students in the restaurant were discussing national affairs with great enthusiasm. Li Yan listened for a while, and then left when she saw that she had finished her business.
On her way back, she thought to herself that if Xue Erlang hadn't been such a short-lived man, he would have returned to reunite with his family now that the war was over.
She tried hard to recall everything about Xue Yi, the second son of the Xue family, from the book "My Lucky Koi Wife." For some reason, she felt that something was amiss.
It seems that towards the end of the book, there was a scene involving Xue Erlang.
But she had completely forgotten what exactly was written.
Perhaps she was too sleepy while reading, or perhaps the later parts were mostly about court intrigues, which made her lose interest and not enjoy reading, so she just skimmed through the book.
Looking back now, I really regret it.
If she had known she would transmigrate into a book, she would have definitely read it thoroughly. Not to mention memorizing it perfectly, she would at least remember the plot clearly.
When I got home, I found that there were guests.
Inside the main room, Aunt Xue was entertaining guests when she saw her daughter-in-law return. She immediately called her in.
"This is Aunt Liu from our village." As soon as Li Yan entered the house, she saw a woman about the same age as Aunt Xue sitting in the main room. The woman smiled happily when she saw Li Yan, then stood up to greet her and shook her hand.
"Is this your youngest daughter-in-law? It's only been a short time since I last saw her, and she looks like a completely different person. She's become so much prettier." Aunt Liu held Li Yan's hand and looked her up and down for a while. "This girl is getting more and more beautiful."
Li Yan smiled and said, "Thank you for the compliment, Auntie." Thinking that they must have come to the city on business and stopped by to visit, Li Yan didn't want to disturb the old ladies' chat, so she said, "You two chat, I'll go make you a pot of tea."
"This girl is so good. Older sister, you are so lucky." Before leaving, Li Yan heard Aunt Liu praising her again.
Then she heard her mother-in-law, Aunt Xue, say, "What good fortune do I have? I gave birth to two sons, and I haven't enjoyed the blessings of either of them. But you, your family is really doing well this time. Your second son joined the army with my second son, but now he's a commander of a thousand men. I heard he's been transferred back to Jiangning Prefecture?"
Aunt Liu humbly replied, "What 'Chief of a Thousand Households'? It's just an empty title. We don't really care about him." Aunt Liu sat down again, seemingly reluctant to talk about this, and changed the subject. "Don't be too sad. Fortunately, you have a lovely daughter-in-law now, and you're living a good life. Your later years will surely be good."
Aunt Xue was quite grateful to Aunt Liu: "When our family left the village, we had some falling out with the villagers. They all said that we forced them and that we were going too far. Only you came to visit us."
Aunt Liu said, "You don't know, after you moved away, the Feng family moved back. That old bastard stole your money, how could it be your fault? Actually, soon after, the village's attitude changed again. Now, everyone is talking about how good you were. You mustn't take this matter to heart."
Aunt Xue has been married into Xishui Village for over twenty years and has lived there for over twenty years; that is her hometown.
The sudden departure from home, especially in that way, filled me with reluctance.
But now, Aunt Liu said that the Feng family has gone back, and the villagers no longer gossip about them... Aunt Xue felt a little better.
"Thank you so much for coming to tell me all this today." Aunt Xue was genuinely grateful. "If there's nothing else, please stay for lunch."
Aunt Liu immediately stood up: "No, I just stopped by to see you. I won't eat, his father is waiting for me, we have to leave for Jiangning Prefecture today."
Aunt Xue laughed and said, "Did your second son take you to enjoy a life of luxury?"
Aunt Liu: "What do you mean by enjoying a life of luxury? You're just going to be his maid. I have to go now."
"Then I'll see you out." Aunt Xue went out and personally escorted the person to the door. After watching her figure disappear into the distance, she closed the door.
Li Yan came out of the kitchen and asked, "Aunt Liu, aren't you inviting us to stay for dinner?"
Although Aunt Xue felt regret for her two sons, it was a great joy that their son had become a commander of a thousand households, and Aunt Xue was also very happy for the Liu family.
"Her son made military achievements and was awarded the title of commander of a thousand men when he returned to the capital to receive his reward. He was transferred back to Jiangning Prefecture, which is close to home... So, they specially invited her to the capital to enjoy a life of luxury."
As she spoke, Aunt Xue's voice grew softer and softer: "Back then, he went to war with Erlang. Your Aunt Liu and I saw them off all the way to the village entrance, until they disappeared from sight, before returning to the village. They both cried then. After crying, they comforted each other, saying that they would definitely come home healthy. But now..." As she spoke, Aunt Xue couldn't help but want to cry again.
Li Yan quickly comforted her, "Mother, Erlang sacrificed himself for the country. He is a hero. Don't worry too much about him, otherwise his spirit in heaven will not rest in peace and he will still be worried about the family. A good person like him will surely be reborn into a life of wealth and honor. Don't worry."
Now that her family is doing well, Aunt Xue no longer wants to cry and fuss, as it brings bad luck. So, after wiping away her tears for a while, she quickly wiped the corners of her eyes clean and laughed, "Look at me, why am I crying again?"
"My family is doing so well now, I should be happy." Even if she lost her son, she still has her grandson.
Fortunately, Xu Ge'er is filial and capable, and he will surely make a name for himself in the future.
Thinking about her grandson's studies, she couldn't help but think of the upcoming provincial examinations. She asked, "Have you seen Young Master Xu recently? Last time we met, I remember he said he was going to take the provincial examination, and if he passed, he would become a scholar. How did it go?"
Since Xu Qingshu returned to the city, he has had more contact with the Xue family and Li Yan.
Li Yan could roughly understand her mother-in-law's intention to matchmake them, and she could also sense that Xu Qingshu treated her differently. However, their relationship hadn't reached the point of ambiguity, let alone mutual affection.
Li Yan didn't dislike Xu Qingshu; she thought he was upright, talented, and a benefactor to her. But the idea of marrying him immediately and then trying to conceive and have children was simply impossible for her.
So, since the other party didn't bring it up, Li Yan felt that it was fine to continue interacting like this.
Let's just be friends.
"The exam is over, but the results haven't come out yet." Li Yan genuinely considered Xu Qingshu a friend, so she was naturally very nervous. She hoped that Xu Qingshu would pass the imperial examination and become a scholar.
Aunt Xue said, "This child has a kind heart; he will definitely pass the exam."
After this change of topic, Aunt Xue's attention was diverted, and her sorrowful mood naturally disappeared.
"Go and rest for a while, I'll make lunch." Aunt Xue put on an apron.
However, Li Yan didn't have time to rest. Now that the milk tea shop was open and sales were increasing, production naturally had to keep up.
So she had the Wang family's son send over a few extra kilograms of milk every day.
Lady Ye was transferred back to the shop to keep busy. Since no new staff had been hired yet, she had to work harder on her own and stay busy for a while longer.
After brewing another pot of milk tea, Li Yan personally escorted the cart to the milk tea shop.
Since getting rid of Hou Er, Ye Wangxiang has become even more radiant and confident. She was already educated, literate, and knew how to do abacus calculations, so she managed the milk tea shop business very well.
She is very busy every day, standing here for almost five hours a day until it gets dark before closing the door.
Li Yan also mentioned asking if she wanted someone to help her out, but she directly refused.
"What's this little bit of tiredness? Compared to the hardships I've endured before, it's nothing at all." Ye Wangxiang broke free from this marriage, shedding a layer of skin. Now, she's changed from her former docile self to a bit wild. "I never thought I could live my life like this."
Ye was extremely grateful to Li Yan, her employer, and regarded her as her savior and her second parents.
"Besides, you've already paid me such a high monthly salary, how can I slack off? Where else can I find such a good job that's easy and pays well?"
Li Yan was very happy that she could think positively.
After Ye Wangxiang divorced Hou Er, she only stayed at Hou's house for another half a month. After that, she found a place to live and moved out with her two daughters.
Now, Li Yan lives in the same alley and street, renting a room from an old widow. The old widow lives alone and feels lonely, and wants to rent out the vacant room to earn some rent.
They rented a house to the mother and her two daughters for three qian of silver a month.
The old widow had no children of her own and loved children very much. When Ye Wangxiang was busy, she would help take care of the children. In return, Ye Wangxiang would often buy food for the old widow in addition to paying the monthly rent.
The group got along quite well.
Ye Wangxiang is very happy with his current life, which is full of hope.
She just wanted to work hard, save more money, and buy a house as soon as possible to give her two daughters a home that would be safe and secure for them.
After Li Yan brought the milk over, she chatted with Ye Wangxiang for a few minutes.
As the two were talking, a person suddenly appeared in front of them.
Upon seeing this suddenly appearing face, both Li Yan and Ye Wangxiang frowned in unison.
The person who came was none other than Hou Er.
Hou Er was flogged and sentenced to three months in prison. Now, three months later, he has been released.
After being reprimanded that time, Hou Er became more obedient.
Knowing that the Ye family had powerful backers, he dared not provoke them.
He also learned that Ye was now running this shop and must be earning more money each month, so he came over every day to curry favor with her, hoping to rekindle their old relationship.
She initially defied her family's strong opposition to follow him to this other place because she was attracted to his good looks and how well he could disguise himself. After marriage, she witnessed too much of his despicable behavior. Now that she has escaped the wolf's den, why would she want to go back?
Ye felt it was ridiculous that he would come to beg for reconciliation after the two had fallen so far.
"Are you leaving or not? If you don't, I'll report you to the authorities!" Ye Shi had been timid before and had been bullied. Because she lived in a foreign land and had no one to rely on, she could only swallow her anger. But now, she had money, friends, and support, so she was no longer afraid of Hou Er.
Seeing that he still refused to leave, Ye simply picked up a wooden stick from the side and started hitting him.
Seeing that she could handle it on her own, Li Yan stood aside silently and did not interfere.
Hou Er dared not fight back and could only hide everywhere.
Finally, Hou Er said, "What happened that day wasn't my fault. I really thought you were making several taels of silver a month back then."
"What the hell do you want? What kind of work can you do to earn several taels a month?" She went all out and cursed him in the street. "Oh, by the way, you gambling addict, you never knew how to earn money to support a family before, of course you have no concept of money. Get out of here! You dog of a man!"
Hou Er thought a lot during his time in prison and eventually figured some things out.
That day, after leaving the casino, he met a woman who said his wife could make money... It's likely that the woman said it on purpose.
And now all of this is a scheme orchestrated by that woman.
“Someone told me. A woman, around forty years old, specifically mentioned your name in front of me and said that you earn several taels a month.”
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Author's note: Hehe, I've planted a foreshadowing~
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