Chapter 47 [V] Hiring Long-Term Workers
After Xu Jiayan left, only Xu Qingshu and Li Yan remained in the room, sitting face to face.
The laughter and conversation inside the room abruptly stopped, and the atmosphere became quite awkward as the room fell silent.
This wasn't her own home; she was a guest, not a host, so Li Yan couldn't speak freely. Xu Qingshu, on the other hand, wasn't outgoing or lively; he was quiet and reserved, needing prompting to become talkative.
Especially now, knowing what his elder brother and sister-in-law were thinking, and recalling the sudden flutter of emotion he felt on the 29th of the year... he was even more confused and didn't know how to speak.
After racking his brains for a long time, he finally said, "We've met twice, and I forgot to ask you how Xu-ge'er is doing at Xiaochun Academy."
Finally finding something to talk about, Li Yan immediately chimed in, "Xu-ge'er is steady and hardworking, and is well-liked by the teachers at the school."
Xu Qingshu nodded: "Old Master Weng took a liking to him at first sight, so he must be quite capable." Suddenly remembering that he had taken the place of Li Niangzi's brother, he couldn't help but ask, "Have your family members come to cause you any trouble because of this?"
Li Yan was surprised that he knew about this, but thinking that perhaps Han Yue had gone to see him, she didn't ask any further questions.
“I did come looking for him,” Li Yan said frankly. “But it’s not my fault, and it’s even less Xu Ge’er’s fault. If Zong’er had any talent, Old Master Weng would have chosen him instead of Xu Ge’er. It’s his own fault for being less skilled.”
Xu Qingshu agreed with Li Yan's words, nodded in agreement, and then told her an inside story: "Last spring, Han Xiucai was the top scholar in the imperial examination, and he was quite famous for a while. Old Master Weng liked him very much, thinking that he was exceptionally intelligent, a dragon among men, and would surely have a bright future. In addition, since he was the top scholar, Old Master Weng liked him even more."
"If he were to ask for it, Old Master Weng would be willing to give him some face. But Old Master Weng is a man who values talent. If they were all mediocre people, perhaps Xu-ge'er wouldn't be able to take their place, but Xu-ge'er isn't."
Xu Qingshu knew that Han Yue must have lost a lot of face in this matter.
Based on his understanding of him, he guessed that the man was initially reluctant to help his brother-in-law with this favor.
In the end, the matter was not resolved, and he lost face without gaining anything in return... His face was naturally trampled underfoot.
Han Yue has a cold and aloof personality. He looks gentle, but he is actually very proud at heart.
After this incident, he probably won't care about his in-laws' affairs anymore.
The two chatted casually, starting with Xu Ge'er's studies and gradually moving on to Li Yan's business.
Before we knew it, time had flowed by slowly.
After lunch, Li Yan immediately bid farewell to her host family.
Sister-in-law Xu greeted them warmly: "I think Brother Xu and Brother Mao get along very well. Sister Li, please bring Brother Xu to play often in the future."
Li Yan thought it was just Xu's sister-in-law being polite, and smiled in agreement, but didn't take it to heart.
After Li Yan left, Xu's eldest brother and sister-in-law closed the door to the main room and began to interrogate Xu Qingshu.
"What's going on?" Xu Jiayan asked.
Sister-in-law Xu was also full of curiosity: "Well, Erlang, so you secretly went to see the girls yourself without telling us. Your brother and I were so worried about you. If you had told us earlier, we wouldn't have gone to all that trouble to arrange those girls for you."
Xu Qingshu quickly explained, "Brother and sister-in-law have misunderstood."
"A misunderstanding?" Sister-in-law Xu asked in surprise. "Aren't you... seeing each other?"
Xu Qingshu explained earnestly, "It's really not about keeping in touch. I helped them before, and today she brought Xu Ge'er to thank me."
"That doesn't make sense either." Sister-in-law Xu suddenly remembered her brother-in-law's enthusiasm for Lady Li and his expression when she came to visit her before. "Second Brother, do you really have absolutely no feelings for that Lady Li?"
When asked this question, Xu Qingshu was stunned and did not give an immediate answer.
This moment of hesitation immediately alerted Xu's elder brother and sister-in-law to the situation.
Xu Jiayan and his wife smiled at each other and exchanged a glance. Xu's wife then made an excuse to go wash the dishes, while Xu Jiayan continued to talk to his younger brother.
“Your sister-in-law has been gone for three years. Even if you two are deeply in love, you have to think about your future and about Mao’er. What kind of house is it without a mistress? Besides, Mao’er is still young. If you marry someone else soon, the stepmother and stepson can develop a good relationship early on. But when Mao’er gets older and can remember things, or when he has his own thoughts and plans… it will be too late then.”
“Although with me and your sister-in-law here, Mao’er won’t suffer. But an aunt is an aunt, and a mother is a mother, and they’re not the same. Besides, you need someone to take care of your daily life.”
Xu Qingshu was somewhat persuaded, but he wanted to think things through before making a marriage decision based on others' advice.
"We'll see," he said, sticking to his old excuse. "After all, I'm a widower with a child, so I need to think things through."
Xu Jiayan: "Don't underestimate yourself. You are a scholar, and you will be taking the imperial examinations in the future. When you pass the county-level examination next year, your status will be different. Alright, I won't force you, but you have to take my words to heart. Go back and study hard. There are only a few months left."
"Yes," Xu Qingshu replied.
The two brothers had a deep bond, and Xu Qingshu had always listened to his elder brother since childhood.
After Li Yan returned, Aunt Xue immediately came to ask her about the situation.
Seeing that she only got home at this hour, I figured she must have stayed at the Xu family's house for dinner. The fact that the Xu family invited her to dinner means they must think highly of her.
Thinking of this, Aunt Xue was still a little excited.
"How did it go? Did you meet the elders of the Xu family? What are they like? Are they easy to get along with?" Aunt Xue asked anxiously.
Li Yan said, "Young Master Xu's parents are both deceased, and his only elder relatives are his elder brother and sister-in-law. Xu's elder brother and sister-in-law are warm-hearted and easy to get along with."
Hearing that he had no parents, Aunt Xue thought to herself that if she really married into the family, it would be a good thing that she wouldn't have any elders to take care of. But then she remembered that he had an older brother and sister-in-law, so she asked, "Does he live with his older brother and sister-in-law? Have they separated from the family?"
Li Yan was surprised that her mother-in-law asked so many questions, but she still answered, saying, "They don't live together, but they live next to each other. He and his brother each have a courtyard, and they are neighbors."
"That's not bad," Aunt Xue clapped her hands.
"Why is Mother asking these questions?" Li Yan hadn't thought about it at all; she was focused solely on her career, her mind filled with business, making money, and how to spend it. She hadn't considered remarrying, much less that her mother-in-law might be trying to match her with Xu Qingshu.
In her heart, Xu Qingshu was a benefactor and a savior; she had no other thoughts whatsoever.
Aunt Xue knew that her daughter-in-law was simple-minded and hadn't thought too much about such things. But looking at Xu Tongsheng, it was clear that he had some feelings for her.
Since her daughter-in-law didn't understand, she didn't want to cause trouble and just wait and see how Xu Tongsheng behaved.
If he is sincere, he will surely visit to propose marriage at the appropriate time. Or he can directly express his feelings to his daughter-in-law and make plans after obtaining her consent.
If not, and only wanting to do it secretly, he wouldn't give his daughter-in-law the chance.
Let things take their course.
"It's nothing, I was just asking casually." Aunt Xue quickly changed the subject, saying she was going to do something else.
.
The year passed in the blink of an eye, and various shops opened on the street, and Li Yan resumed her previous busy schedule.
Every day, the moment I open my eyes, I have to start working. In the morning, I make milk tea, and in the afternoon, I cook meat.
During her Chinese New Year holiday at home these past few days, she made extra hot pot broth whenever she had free time and then froze it. She stored up several days' worth in advance, so she could temporarily put the work at Sifang Restaurant on hold.
But the respite didn't last long; soon, Li Yan returned to her hectic, spinning-top-like schedule.
Although it's tiring, it's also very lucrative.
Li Yan calculated carefully that she could now earn more than 20 taels of silver a month by relying on these three businesses.
Last December, I earned 32 taels of silver.
I can't earn this much every month, but I can still make a profit of twenty-seven or twenty-eight taels a month.
Making money is for enjoying life, and Li Yan doesn't want to hoard money and not spend it, only to exhaust herself every day.
Therefore, she plans to spend money to hire someone to work at her home as a long-term laborer to help her with chores.
After having this idea, Li Yan also told her mother-in-law, Aunt Xue.
Aunt Xue naturally agreed, and she felt bad seeing her daughter-in-law so busy and tired every day.
Being able to hire someone to help her would make her life easier, which is naturally a good thing.
“We should hire someone to help you. You should also have some free time. You’re working so hard every day. Your body can’t take it.” Aunt Xue wanted to say that she should take some time to focus on her own marriage, but in the end, she didn’t say it directly.
"Alright, I'll go to the brokerage tomorrow and see if they have any suitable people." When looking for someone to help at home, especially for manual labor, it's naturally better to have a male.
But the family consists of two widows and no adult males. Given the circumstances, things might get complicated.
Although Li Yan didn't think there was anything wrong with it, this was ancient times after all, where reputation was very important, and Li Yan didn't want to cause herself any trouble.
so--
When she found the brokerage firm, she stated her requirements: "I want a woman, preferably strong and able to do physical labor. Of course, I will pay her the same as a strong man."
The broker laughed and said, "In that case, why not find a strong man?"
Li Yan briefly explained the situation, and the broker readily replied, "Don't worry, Madam Li, I will definitely help you find a suitable candidate."
Li Yan waited for three to five days. On this day, the broker brought a woman to her home.
The woman was not tall; on the contrary, she was rather thin. Although she was not fair-skinned and her skin was rough, her facial features were quite attractive.
This was quite different from what Li Yan had expected. Since she couldn't say anything to her face, she could only pull the people from the brokerage aside to talk to them privately.
"What's going on? I said I wanted someone to do physical labor. This girl is so thin, how can she do the work well?"
The broker said, "I told her she wouldn't do, but she insisted she would. She even begged me to bring her here so you could see her, Madam. I had no choice but to bring her here, thinking it wouldn't hurt for you to take a look. Madam Li, take a look, and if she's not suitable, just tell her so she can give up."
Li Yan rolled her eyes at the broker, knowing in her heart that he must have received a bribe from the woman.
Li Yan walked over, immediately put on a smiling face again, and said, "It's called Wangxiang... right?"
The woman spoke softly, saying yes. But she seemed somewhat self-conscious, keeping her head down and avoiding eye contact with Li Yan.
Li Yan noticed her unease, and though the words of refusal were on the tip of her tongue, she found it difficult to say them.
But thinking that she was looking for someone to do work, she had to explain the situation clearly, so she braced herself and said, "I told the broker that I was looking for someone who could do physical labor. Originally, I was planning to hire a man, but my mother-in-law and I are both widows, and we were afraid of causing trouble, so I thought of hiring a woman with some strength."
The woman said, “I’m strong. Don’t let my thinness fool you, I can endure hardship. I’ve worked as a porter at the docks. It’s just a pity that porter jobs aren’t available often. I have two children to support, so I need to find work as soon as possible.”
Since the broker had already taken ten coins from her, he naturally offered a few words of support for her.
“Madam Li, this Madam Ye is indeed a capable worker. Why not give her a chance? Why don’t you try her out for three days first? If she’s not good, you can always find someone else.”
As she spoke, she pulled Li Yan aside and whispered, "This woman is pitiful. She married into the family from another place. Her husband is an alcoholic and loves to gamble. He often comes home drunk after losing money and then beats her. Sigh, otherwise I wouldn't have brought her here, but she is truly pitiful. Moreover, she wasn't lying; she is indeed a capable person and has worked as a porter at the docks."
Hearing the broker say this, Li Yan could no longer suppress her anger.
What kind of man did she marry? Men who hit women are all useless and cowardly.
However, Li Yan didn't say anything in front of the broker. She just glared at him and said, "Since she's so pitiful, why are you still taking her money?"
"This..." Ya Lang was embarrassed after his weakness was exposed. He scratched his head and said, "She gave it to me herself, not what I wanted."
Then, glancing at Li Yan, he thought to himself that she was now a big customer and would be doing business with him many times in the future, so he couldn't afford to offend her. Therefore, the broker took the initiative to go over and return the ten coins.
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Author's Note: Please give me some water!
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