Chapter 140 Servants and Helpers
In the evening, Zhao Xiping brought back twenty-four bedspreads and twenty-four sheets, with two pieces of cloth left, which Dongzi's mother would deliver in two days.
After knocking on the door of the guesthouse, Zhao Xiping brought Yin Pozi and her son in to make the beds and put on the quilt covers because there were many men living there.
"The side room next to the east door is the toilet. You guys can't pee or poop all over the yard." Zhao Xiping said as he left. "I've contacted the night incense collector. He'll be here tomorrow morning. He cleans up once a day. There's no smell in the yard anymore."
Looking at his steps and figure, and hearing Gan Da and Gan Er calling him "Sir", these merchants guessed Zhao Xiping's identity, and naturally listened to whatever he said.
It was dark and the meal was ready. Sui Liang came over to call people, and everyone in the courtyard went out one after another. The merchants who were in charge of the keys walked last. Even though they were eating across the street, they carefully locked the door.
Throughout the day, in addition to this large caravan, two more travelers came in the afternoon. These two people came with a small caravan. The small caravan planned to deal with a batch of defective goods in the city, but felt that this place was a bit remote, so they turned around and went back to the city.
The food was served on the table. Thirty-seven merchants and two travelers were having their meal in the dining hall. Sui Yu and his family squatted under the eaves with their bowls in hand, eating while looking at the stars in the night sky.
After dinner, Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping went for a walk around the livestock pen. The camels were in the pen, and the pigs and sheep were lying down. Four hens were squatting on the thick wood across the sheep pen, and they cooed twice when they heard the noise.
"Gan Da and Gan Er take turns to keep watch?" Sui Yu asked.
Zhao Xiping hummed, "I went to see Uncle Lao Niu again today. He'll be bringing four people over in a couple of days to build a small house next to the livestock pen. It'll be a place for the night watchmen to sleep when it gets cold."
"Buy another dog." Sui Yu added.
"OK."
After a walk back to the house, Sui Yu took out a wooden board to record the accounts. Today's rent and meal fees totaled 113 coins, and he spent 1,500 coins on buying cloth and another 8 coins on labor.
"How much money is left in the cash box?" asked Zhao Xiping.
"Not much left, just over three hundred coins." Sui Yu rested his chin on his hand and said, "If only I had enough money, I could buy everything right away and not have to deal with this and that every day, patching up holes like a hammer and a stick, and being busy every day."
Zhao Xiping had the same idea. "We need to hire a few more servants. We can't save money on this. We need to hire a cook, a laundry woman, and a clerk to do the shopping. We need to hire people to do these trivial things so that you don't have to run around all the time."
Sui Yu also wanted to take a break. She opened an inn because she didn't want to be busy every day like running a food store. Now that she had such a big fortune, she couldn't be as busy as a donkey pulling a millstone.
"Grandma Yin is a good cook, so we can hire another cook. Together with Xiao Mi, we'll have three people to take care of the kitchen. Gan Da and Gan Er will be busy with farm work soon, so we can hire another helper to clean the livestock pen. We'll need two more people to clean the guesthouse and hang out the quilts and wash the clothes." Sui Yu calculated everything and said, "A total of four people will be needed. You go ahead and hire them."
Hearing Zhao Xiaomi and Sui Liang come in, Sui Yu reacted and asked, "Is it appropriate to put Xiaomi in the kitchen? She used to work with me, but now I'm the shopkeeper and she's the cook. I'm afraid she's not happy with it."
Zhao Xiping opened the door and went out to ask, "Xiaomi, the family wants to hire a helper. Do you want to be a cook for wages, or do you want to take a break and live here like Sui Liang and do odd jobs without wages?"
"Where is my third sister-in-law?" Zhao Xiaomi asked.
"She's the shopkeeper. She won't go into the kitchen unless there are too many customers."
"Well, well... the money I've saved is enough for me." Zhao Xiaomi stammered, and said hesitantly, "I'll do the same as Sui Liang."
"Have you decided?" Zhao Xiping asked, then said, "That's fine. You can stay with me for a few months and go back with your parents next year."
"I won't!" Zhao Xiaomi said reluctantly.
"You will be eighteen next year." Zhao Xiping reminded her. It was only at this time that he realized that his sister was not young anymore.
Zhao Xiaomi was unhappy and rushed into the house.
Zhao Xiping ignored her. He went into the house and said, "Hire two more cooks."
Sui Yu nodded, she heard it all.
Zhao Xiping took off his coat and sat on the couch, leaning against the wooden box. He said, "There are too few servants at home. It would be great if there were a few more. I'll go ask Captain Qu tomorrow if he can give me two more."
"I'll buy servants when I save enough money next year." Sui Yu opened the door and went out to fetch water.
When Sui Yu walked out of the west door and found someone bathing in the river, he stepped back and asked Zhao Xiping and Sui Liang to go to the kitchen to fetch water.
…
Two days later, the caravan left after a good rest, and Zhao Xiping also took back two official slaves and three helpers. He specially picked out two official slaves who were good at cooking and brought them back to arrange them in the kitchen, so that he would not have to worry about the cook learning the recipes and going out to start a new kitchen.
The merchants in the second guesthouse had not left yet, so two female servants went to the first guesthouse to take off and wash the quilts and covers, and brought out the smelly mattress and hung it in the yard to dry.
Amid the sound of pounding clothes, Dongzi's mother brought over twenty quilt covers, and Uncle Lao Niu and A Shui also came with her.
"How's your business?" Dongzi's mother asked. "Your investment is quite substantial. It's not my money, and I feel bad for it."
Sui Yu smiled and said, "It's neither hot nor cold, just barely okay."
"It's not the time for merchants to come into the city in large numbers yet. In another month, the merchants who come into the city will stay here for a long time." Uncle Lao Niu said.
Sui Yu nodded, "That's right."
"I found the masons Zhao Xiping wanted, four of them, but they asked to be paid after the house was built," said Uncle Lao Niu.
"That's no problem. Just ask them to come over tomorrow." Sui Yu counted out six hundred coins and gave them to Dong Zi's mother. This was the wages for sewing the quilt cover.
After Dongzi's mother took the money, she chatted for a few minutes and then left.
Uncle Niu didn't leave with them. He hesitated for a moment and said, "Sui Yu, are you still hiring people for work here? Do you think I can do it? I'll come over to keep watch. You can go back to the city if you want."
Sui Yu was surprised. Is he addicted to making money?
"I want to take Ah Shui to live in another place. The gossips in the village never say anything good about Ah Shui. The family that lives to the west of me instigates their kids to bully Ah Shui every day, making her cry all the time and asking me for her mother every day." Uncle Niu was angry and anxious. He scolded them in person but they continued to bully her behind her back. He went to the house and forced the adults to beat the children. After that, these children stopped playing with Ah Shui. Ah Shui became more and more timid as she grew up, and she didn't dare to go out without him.
Sui Yu thought for a moment and said, "I don't need anyone to guard the night yet, but I can find a job for you. Go out of the city to Yumen Pass and help me promote the guesthouse."
"Business is still bad?" asked Uncle Niu.
"It's not as good as I thought." Sui Yu smiled and said, "I want to pay off my debts and save some money by the end of the year."
"Okay." Uncle Niu agreed. "Make room for me and find two people to help me move. Ah Shui will stay with you. I'll lead the camels to Yumen Pass tomorrow."
Sui Yu asked Zhao Xiping to take Li Mutou and two camels to help him move. Li Mutou was the helper hired to clean the livestock pen.
After Uncle Niu left, the autumn harvest began. Zhao Xiping took Gan Da and Gan Er to the fields to harvest wheat, while Sui Yu entertained merchants at the guesthouse. When she was free, she would ride a camel with A Shui to the east gate to recruit the Hu merchants entering the city to stay overnight at the guesthouse in the north of the city.
After the wheat harvest, millet followed. After the millet harvest, soybeans and sorghum remained. Zhao Xiping contacted the village headman, and all the soybean and sorghum stalks from his five mu of land were brought back. Later, he asked Gan Da and Gan Er to help harvest Uncle Lao Niu's twenty mu of soybeans, exchanging their labor for the bean stalks.
The autumn harvest is halfway through and the summer heat has subsided. As September draws to a close, the nights become chilly and more and more merchants and travelers are entering the country.
"Old man, there's a new guesthouse in Dunhuang?" A merchant outside the city stopped an old farmer carrying grain into the city and asked, "How is this guesthouse?"
The old farmer pointed north, where khaki bricks were exposed at the end of the city wall. "It's in this direction. You'll see it when you enter the city."
The merchant and the old farmer entered the city together. After paying the entrance fee, the merchant asked, "Sir, how about the guesthouses in the north of the city? We met an old man at Yumen Pass, and he insisted that we stay in Dunhuang."
Huang Ancheng nodded and said, "You've come to the right place. This guesthouse is quite good. Many caravans stay there, especially the big ones. The whole caravan lives in the same yard, just like at home."
Upon hearing this, the caravan headed north after entering the city. Without anyone leading the way, they had already trampled a path to the north. There were children carrying baskets on the side of the road, staring at the camels' butts, ready to pick up dung.
"Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, another caravan is coming." Ah Shui ran back with a puppy. She felt that the basket was in the way, so she loosened her grip and threw the basket away.
"Sister-in-law, another caravan is coming and we can't accommodate them all." A Shui shouted as he ran.
Sui Yu heard the sound and came out. There were only three rooms left in the second guest house. She looked at the caravan coming towards her and thought about freeing up the third guest house.
Sui Yu immediately acted. She told Zhao Xiaomi and Sui Liang to move out, and she went to greet the new merchants. After a brief introduction, she led them into the second guesthouse and said, "You can unload the goods first. Give me half a day. I'll go to the city and buy thirty or forty mattresses. I'll make sure you have a place to sleep tonight."
"Okay, then we'll stay in the guesthouse at the back."
Looking south, the snow-capped mountains to the south were already covered in snow. If they continued eastward at this point, the snowstorm on Hongchiling Mountain would freeze them to death. The caravan discussed the matter and decided that instead of continuing on their journey for another two weeks and staying in Wuwei, they might as well spend the winter here, renting a courtyard, and spending the New Year with the other brothers in Dunhuang.
Sui Yu was leading her camel back from buying a mattress when the merchant approached her to negotiate the price: "We'll stay until February next year. Please give us a lower rent."
"The rent won't be cheap, because once October arrives, I'll arrange for someone to boil hot water for you. You'll have hot water for washing your face in the morning and soaking your feet in the evening." Sui Yu pointed to the side room against the west wall and said, "Go see, the stove and pottery cauldron are ready. I'll provide you with at least four cauldrons of boiling water a day."
This aspect is indeed unmatched anywhere else. After thinking about it, the merchant gave up the idea of bargaining and directly paid Sui Yu one month's rent.
"Oh, by the way, there is an old man guarding the city gate of Yumen Pass. He pesters the caravan to stay in Dunhuang, saying that the guesthouse in the north of the city is good. Is he your man?" the merchant asked before leaving.
"It's my dad." Ah Shui shouted proudly while holding the puppy.
Sui Yu smiled and nodded, saying, "The guesthouse was newly built this year and has no reputation. I can only use this stupid method to attract business."
"Your place is quite nice. It will probably be fully booked next year," the merchant said. "Don't raise the price. We will stay here again when we pass through Dunhuang. I hope there will be rooms available then."
Sui Yu smiled. She liked to hear this.
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