The villagers of Lantang Village have been in high spirits recently, with everyone having a bright smile on their face. Even the frictions and family conflicts between villagers have decreased a lot, and the interactions between people are full of harmony.
Just because the starch sausage workshop in the village was finally completed after more than a month of construction! Especially those who were chosen by Aunt Guixiang, they looked forward to it day and night. Looking at those men who built workshops on the construction site and took home high salaries and good meals every day, who wouldn’t be jealous? Building a house is just a temporary thing, but construction takes a long time. Finally, the workshop is completed, and good days are about to fall on my head!
A few days ago, Qing Ge'er, who had been traveling for business, came back and saw that the starch sausage workshop was about to open.
"Qing'er is really capable. Many men would not dare to look at a young man when he enters the city, for fear of offending the people in the city and getting into trouble. But Qing'er, who has won the favor of the nobles, dares to go out to do business. If it were me, I wouldn't even dare to think about it!"
A group of people gathered under the big locust tree to gossip again, but now their tone had completely changed. They only kept praising Shen Qing and no one said a word of gossip anymore. What about the Wang family in Xiaoji Village? Are they worthy of being the shoe-carrier for their young boy?
"That's right. Qing'er has been very capable since he was young. He is good at farming and hunting. No boy in the village can compare to him! Look at the Shen family. Without Qing'er, what has become of their land? It's spring time for sowing, but they didn't even plow the land in advance. The weeds in the land are not in good shape at all. Even the dogs in the village are shaking their heads when they see them!"
"That's right. Qing Ge'er is very strong and skilled. No boy in the village can beat him. He is not afraid of anything when he goes out to do business! My boy was beaten by Qing Ge'er when he was young. My boy is one and a half years older than Qing Ge'er, but he still couldn't beat Qing Ge'er. He must be capable!"
"I see that Qing Ge'er is now dressed like a man, and he's really handsome! Maybe he was born in the wrong family, otherwise how could he be so capable? He looks different from others!"
…
Second Aunt Lian hid behind a tree and listened for a while. She saw that everyone was praising Qing'er and no one was talking about unpleasant things. She left happily, even more proud than when they were praising her own brother!
But her son Ou'er has been doing very well recently. When Second Aunt Lian mentioned him, her mouth almost grinned from ear to ear: "Suddenly a bunch of people came to propose marriage, and the threshold of our house was about to be lowered half an inch. I'm dazzled and don't know who to choose." Second Aunt Lian came today, firstly to listen to Shen Qing's arrangements for the starch sausage workshop, and secondly to talk to Miao about her recent sweet troubles.
Her son Ou Ge'er is now old enough to get married. Lian Ou is a few years younger than Shen Qing. He will be seventeen next year, which is the best time for a boy. It would be most appropriate to get engaged this year and married next year. Lian Ou is different from Shen Qing. He is the kind of boy who best conforms to current aesthetics. His appearance and temperament are similar to those of a girl. Originally, Second Aunt Lian knew in her heart that her boy Ou would have a good marriage, but she never expected that it would be such a grand occasion now.
"It's all thanks to your family. Everyone knows that my sister and I are good friends. Even if Ou'er doesn't work in the workshop now, Qing'er will definitely help him in the future. Many families that we couldn't get close to before are now very attentive to them." Second Aunt Lian lowered her voice and said to Miao: "The last time I went back to my parents' home, my brother and sister-in-law helped the village chief to find out whether Ou'er should be married to the village chief's second son!"
The village chief mentioned is not Zhao Youdang, but the village chief of Shiqu Village. Shiqu Village is already richer than Lantang Village. It is enviable enough for girls and boys from Lantang Village to marry into Shiqu Village, let alone the village chief's family!
Miao was fiddling with a piece of material in her hand. The weather was getting warmer, and she was about to sew a spring dress for Shen Qing. Hearing this, she said, "Then what do you think? The village chief's family is also a good family." After a pause, Miao said, "In fact, you can let Ou Ge'er work in the workshop now, and when he gets married in the future, he can take the work to his husband's family, which will improve Ou Ge'er's status."
"You think I don't want to?" Even if Lian Ou wants to get married, it will be next year. It would be good for her not to give Ou Ge'er any dowry with all the money she can earn this year. "My sister-in-law was crying at home, saying that since all of our second family members came to work, all the household chores had to fall on their first family members, which was unfair. She insisted that one of our second family members be eliminated to make room for Lian Ye."
Lian Ershen's eldest sister-in-law, Wang, gave birth to four children. The first one, Lian Shu, was a boy who had already married to a man from the same village. The second son, Lianshan, was a boy who married a girl from Xiahe Village. The two younger ones who have not yet married are a little boy named Lian Ye, and a little boy named Lian Bao who is held in Wang's arms all day long.
Lian Ye is two years younger than Lian Ou. If he can work in a workshop, it will also increase his value when he is married in the future.
"To be honest, the money we earn now is all handed over to the public treasury for my mother-in-law to keep, and we don't get a penny ourselves. We are here to work, not to enjoy ourselves, so we still have to work hard. Why is she aggrieved for sharing more housework? Doesn't she eat the meat we earn, or live in the house we build? In the end, it's all to raise the status of Ye Ge'er." Second Aunt Lian sighed, "I don't have any opinion on Ye Ge'er, he also grew up under my nose. If she had talked to me nicely and said something soft, I would be willing to plan for Ye Ge'er, but she just wanted to make trouble like this, wanting to get benefits but not wanting to be thanked, as if I owed her something. How could I spoil her? I let Ou Ge'er stay at home to do housework, and I wouldn't mention anything else to Guixiang. Now she got less money for nothing, which made my mother-in-law very angry, and she hasn't been nice to her for several days."
Considering the relationship between Second Aunt Lian and Miao, what does it matter if she asks for one more quota? But she just didn't want to please Wang! Anyway, her son Ou'er is Qing'er's cousin, and they are blood relatives, so even if they don't work in the workshop, they are still valuable!
After hearing this, Miao sighed. The adults were angry with each other, and Wang's behavior made it so that in the end, wouldn't Ye Ge'er be the one who suffered? But if it were her, she wouldn't be able to swallow this: No one owes her anything?
Second Aunt Lian scolded Wang for a while, and then turned back to talk about Ou'er's marriage: "My mother-in-law is too generous now. She actually doesn't like the second son of the village chief. She said that the second son can't inherit the position of village chief, and she wants to look for more. Her words make me worried!" What are the conditions of their Lian family? Do you still dare to pick on the boy from the village chief’s family in Shangshiqu Village? Besides, Lian Ou is still a little boy. Which family would be willing to marry a boy to their eldest son?
Who would have thought that after hearing this, Miao thought about it and actually agreed: "I don't think it's urgent either. Ou'er is just a little old. It won't be too late to wait a year until the end of the year to decide. Maybe by the end of the year, you won't even like the eldest son of the head of Shiqu Village, so you can marry Ou'er to the county town!"
Second Aunt Lian's eyes widened: "It's only been a year, and she can still marry in the county town?"
"In this family, marriage is mainly based on family background. Look, when I got married, my family was poor, so I married into a poor family, and my sister married into a poor family as well." When Miao's sister got married, Miao Xing and Miao Wang had already grown up, and the family business was slowly building up. So Miao Qiuduo married and moved to the city.
Everyone actually understands this truth, but the message hidden in Miao's words is that she is confident that within one year, she can make a qualitative improvement to the Lian family's financial situation! Second Aunt Lian was shocked by this, but at the same time she was surprised that Miao was now so courageous and daring enough to do and say what she wanted. She pinched the corner of her clothes and pondered for a while. After all, Ou'er was not too old at the end of the year, so there would be no loss if she trusted Miao once!
"Then I'll go back and talk to my mother-in-law about it?" Although Aunt Lian asked, she already believed it 80% in her heart.
"Family background is not that important. If Ou'er comes to work in the workshop, I will promote him to manager in half a year. The money he earns is enough to support himself even if he doesn't get married. The most important thing is that he has to be a good person and Ou'er has to like him." Shen Qing came in from the yard. He had been listening under the window for a long time.
Now that Shen Qing has tasted the sweetness of free love, he somewhat looks down on and disapproves of the blind marriages in the village. Sometimes two people are good people, but their personalities don't get along. One likes quietness and the other likes noise, but they are forced together because of the same family background. After marriage, they have no communication, their life is boring, and they torture each other.
If Ou Ge'er had a boy he liked, even if his family was poor, he would help raise the child and allow the young couple to live a good life.
After hearing this, Second Aunt Lian was very grateful to Shen Qing, but she also found it funny: "What is Qing'er saying? What do you mean by like or dislike? How will it be seen if it gets out? How can an unmarried boy talk about liking someone?"
This is also a strange thing in the village. These married women and husbands with children can get together to secretly talk about their bedroom affairs and compare their men's duration and ability. But if you really ask them to say love or like, no one can say it and their faces turn red with embarrassment.
Now Qing Ge'er said it out loud, and even Second Aunt found it funny and interesting. She looked at Shen Qing with a teasing smile on her face, and had a hidden thought in her mind but didn't say it out loud: Qing Ge'er could say such a thing, could it be that he has someone he likes?
To put it nicely, this child is courageous and daring enough to take risks and do anything. To put it bluntly, he has a wild personality and doesn't act like a brother. If he really found a man he liked, even Second Aunt wouldn't find it strange.
Qing Ge'er is not an ordinary boy. But is this a good thing? Even Second Aunt doesn’t know.
Miao patted Shen Qing and said, "Don't talk nonsense. Ou'er is the most well-behaved little brother. He rarely goes out of his own yard. When he goes out, he follows his elders. He doesn't care about likes or dislikes."
"Oh." Shen Qing held his chin with both hands helplessly. He almost forgot that this was a world that was strictly guarded against unmarried girls and boys.
So annoying.
Aunt Lian didn't want to talk more about this topic. She took a look at the silver object next to Shen Qing and was immediately attracted. She asked curiously, "Qing'er, what is this?"
Shen Qing then remembered why he had called Aunt Lian here today: "This is a Western gadget that my nobleman and I got when we went on a business trip. It's called a meat grinder."
"What is that? Where did it come from?" Second Aunt Lian had never seen it before, so she moved closer to take a closer look.
"Hey, don't put your hands in here, or you'll get your hands cut!" Shen Qing quickly stopped her and taught Second Aunt Lian how to use it. He also got this from the small commodity wholesale market. Shen Qing hated mincing meat, so he felt like he had found a treasure when he got the meat grinder. Tang's mother told him that this thing also has electric version. Before the end of the world, every Chinese New Year, people lining up in the vegetable market were people making sausages. It’s a pity that there is no electricity in Lantang Village, but a hand-cranked one can save some effort.
"Throw the meat into this hole and shake the handle, and the meat filling will come out." Shen Qing explained it to her and taught Second Aunt Lian how to use it. "This thing can also be used to stuff starch sausage. Change the pointed head, put the casing on it, and turn the handle, and the meat paste will automatically be stuffed into the casing. But don't touch these parts with your hands, there are blades inside."
This thing was simply too magical for Second Aunt Lian. She watched Shen Qing demonstrate it several times with a keen eye: "My goodness, I don't know what kind of brain can come up with something like this!"
Shen Qing thought, maybe he just lacked the sharp blades and stainless steel. When it comes to sophistication, aren't looms and spinning machines the same? However, these machines can be made of wood and bamboo, but steel is rare in this world and even more difficult to make.
In terms of individual intelligence, the people here are not necessarily worse than modern people. There are many skilled craftsmen in this world, but there is a lack of materials.
Shen Qing collected his thoughts and said, "Aunt, there are ten meat grinders. Five are used to grind meat and five are used to stuff starch sausages. I've taught you now and you will teach the workers in the workshop how to use them later. You will be in charge of grinding the meat and let Yuge'er be in charge of stuffing sausages." With this meat grinder, work efficiency can be greatly improved and manpower can be freed up to do other things.
Second Aunt Lian nodded continuously: "I promise to learn well and teach well!" She gently stroked the shiny silver body of the machine, her emotions surging in her heart. She became more convinced of Miao's suggestion and felt that such great wealth was about to fall into their family. Maybe Ou'er could really marry into a wealthy family in the county!
Three days later, Shen Qing personally lit a string of firecrackers, and the starch sausage workshop was officially opened. The workshop started production that afternoon. Shen Qing watched everyone wash their hands, put on overalls and masks before entering the workshop, and wrapped their hair tightly with a scarf.
The soap for washing hands also caused the villagers to exclaim: "What the hell is this? It's smoother than soap and has a fragrance. I've never seen it before!"
"I heard from the second brother's family that these are all new things that the nobleman that Qingge followed did business with Westerners! The thing in our workshop that turns meat into meat stuffing after a few turns is also from the West!"
"Westerners?"
"Really? I heard there are other countries in this world. Westerners are people from western countries, with yellow hair and green eyes!"
"Oh my god, yellow hair and green eyes, isn't that the cat that Guixiang raised turned into a spirit? Is that a monster?"
…
Shen Qing listened to the villagers' discussions becoming more and more outrageous, but he did not stop them. Instead, he occasionally talked to them about Western things. He had actually seen a few golden-haired foreigners at the Hongcheng base. They were exchange students from Hongcheng University. His description of them was so vivid that the villagers gasped.
The villagers' imaginations became more and more outrageous, and no matter how many strange and bizarre things he came up with, everyone thought they were reasonable.
After the workshop went into production, Shen Qing stayed in the village for two or three days. The workers were not very skilled at first, but they really wanted to perform better in front of Shen Qing. The big things are taken care of by Aunt Guixiang and Zhao Shitou and Qin Yingzi, and with the technical guidance of Aunt Lian Er and Zhao Yu, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, things are slowly getting on the right track. By the third day, thousands of starch sausages could be produced in a day.
Shen Qing loaded the starch sausages he had made over the past three days into a mule cart and drove the mule cart to the county town amid the excited and expectant gazes of the villagers.
When he arrived in the city, he went to his own house first. Peony and Feicui were now very skilled in making fried starch sausages, and the shop had been renovated and could open at any time. Shen Qing finally asked Miao Xing and Miao Wang to find a young man who was good at accounting to be the shopkeeper in Shiqu Village. This man was actually the cousin of Miao Tongsheng, and had a close relationship with Miao Xiucai's family. He also knew some knowledge, but he had failed the examination for Tongsheng twice. However, he was no problem at all for accounting.
The other one is Tieshan, the boy from Aunt Yanzi’s family, who came to entertain the guests.
Shen Qingyuan also wanted to employ people from Lantang Village, but there were not many literate people in the village, so he could only let Brother Tieshan be his assistant. It would be best if Brother Tieshan could learn from Manager Miao for a period of time and be able to stand on his own. He would naturally not replace Manager Miao after he has done his job, as there is still a lot of business to be done in the future.
But if Brother Tieshan is clumsy... Shen Qing sighed, thinking that talent is indeed very important. Even if he built a school now, it would take at least one or two years to train some useful talents.
The Cuihua shop next door had been almost renovated and had already opened for business. Shen Qing watched it with a cold eye and found that the business was quite good. There are always three or two girls and boys hanging around in there, never a moment of leisure.
Now that Shen Qing was dressed like a man, it was not very convenient for him to go in. He just glanced at the things displayed outside the shop. He felt that most of them were not as exquisite as those bought in the small commodity wholesale market, but there were some exquisite handicrafts and embroidery products, which could not be compared with the sloppy machine embroidery produced on modern assembly lines.
Shen Qing, a young man, was standing at the door. Every girl and boy passing by would look at him twice, and the waiters also kept glancing at him. Shen Qing felt that she had been looking for a long time and didn't want to buy anything, so she finally picked out an exquisite purse embroidered with plum blossoms and two hairbands and paid for it.
After coming out of Cuihua Shop, Shen Qing went to find Jin Ya Man again. On the one hand, he wanted him to help arrange a good day for the opening of the shop, and on the other hand, he wanted to buy another house or shop with a storefront to open Cuihua Shop. Besides, he had to buy more servants, as he didn't have enough people.
besides. Shen Qing searched the space and found a set of six small glass cups. He then randomly went into a grocery store and bought a gift box to put the cups in. He planned to ask the Gold Tooth Man to deliver it to the chief clerk who helped buy Dongshan, and he also found an agate bracelet and put it in the purse he had just bought and gave it to the clerk Yang.
After dealing with Shao Nan and Hou Weimin, Shen Qing temporarily did not plan to have direct contact with those scheming officials, but it would not be bad to send some gifts and get a name in front of them.
However, when they met the Gold Tooth Man at the dental shop, Shen Qing hadn't even opened his mouth when the Gold Tooth Man came up to him with a big smile on his face: "Mr. Shen, you're finally here. I've been waiting for you for a long time and I've left you a big gift!"
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