Chapter 78 Huang's Skill in Smoothing Things Over
Xu Qingying laughed, "Grandma, why don't you persuade me to get rid of Qian Zhenniang?"
Huang rolled her eyes at her. "I've lived this long, can't I tell who's the strong and who's the weak in this family? I'm just an old woman who eats for free. Why would I bother to talk too much? I won't do anything stupid like that and just end up being disliked by my children! Besides, you don't even listen to your own parents, so why would you listen to me, an old woman half buried in the ground? I'm telling you, why waste my breath?"
Xu Qingying expressed admiration for Huang's survival wisdom.
With such ability to judge the situation and bend and stretch, how could there be any conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in modern times?
The more Xu Qingying looked at the old lady, the more she found her interesting. She usually pretended to be deaf and blind, but in fact she was very clear-headed. She was confused when she should be confused, and was bold when she should be bold.
If it weren't for Huang's help, I'm afraid the soap business would not have fallen into the hands of the third house so easily.
This old lady has not offended anyone. She has achieved great success and she is a master at smoothing things over with a wave of her sleeves.
Xu Qingying suppressed her laughter. "Grandma, you have sharp eyes and ears. Why don't you consider working for me?"
Huang was very excited. She was a hardworking person and never had time to rest. When she was in Bianjing City, she had to grow a yard full of vegetables in the backyard. It would be really unpleasant for her to have some free time and imitate the old ladies from the wealthy families to watch plays, listen to books, go shopping, etc.
Now that she sees the soap business is so prosperous, the old lady can't help but feel restless.
Huang pretended to be reserved, half-raising her eyelids, "I'm old now, what can I do? Don't try to tease me!"
"Don't worry, Grandma. I naturally have easy tasks." Xu Qingying whispered in her ear, "From now on, you will be my intelligence chief. Listen to all the gossip about the neighbors, who's lost something, who's getting back together, whose child is sick, and so on. Then tell me quietly."
Huang glared at him, "You're a wealthy man, why are you so concerned about these trivial matters?"
"Grandma, as the saying goes, knowing yourself and your enemy ensures victory in a hundred battles. I need to know what my subordinates are busy with and thinking about every day, and whether the family is facing any difficulties. Only then can I show that I, as the boss, have a clear grasp of the overall situation. Don't underestimate this information, it may be of some help to me."
Seeing that Huang was still hesitant, Xu Qingying gave her another strong prescription, "How about this? I won't let you waste your time. I'll give you half a penny a month. How about you gather information for me?"
"Deal!" Huang and Xu Qingying shook hands and said happily.
The old lady twisted her strong body and walked away happily.
Xu Qingying glanced at the sky and estimated that it was about eleven o'clock in the modern world. At this time in the past, she would still be in the lab. Now that no one was bothering her, Xu Qingying sorted out her plans for the next two days.
A new soap line must be opened, but it is not a long-term solution. If you walk by the river, your shoes will get wet.
As they grow bigger and stronger, and more soap becomes available on the market, the price of soap will gradually drop. According to the purchasing power of the Great Zhou Dynasty, it is estimated that the final fifty wen is the normal market price.
The profit margin of soap is shrinking, and they are too conspicuous. If someone covets the soap recipe, it will bring disaster to them.
When it's time to stop, stop. Once you make your first quick buck, you have to quit.
Xu Qingying was thinking, with this first pot of gold, what would be inconvenient to do in Qianzhou?
As the saying goes, money makes the world go round. Official positions could be bought and sold in the Zhou Dynasty. It should not be difficult for her to redeem the Xu family and buy them a good name by spending money.
By then, the sky will be high and the sea will be vast, so why worry about the future?
Everyone took the money and set off happily the next day.
Without the shackles anymore, everyone sped up their pace and within a few days they reached the nearest county town. This time, without waiting for Xu Qingying's instructions, Team Leader Zhao had already ordered the escorts to buy the raw materials for making soap.
Naturally, Xu Qingying didn't need to do such a small matter herself. She appointed the financial officer Xu Degui, and asked Xu Degui to take Xu Huiming and Feng'er with him.
Xu Qingying has figured it out and decided to train one or two capable people first.
Xu Huiming is well-educated and smarter than most people. He is also the elder brother of the original owner. If he is not brought along, Miao and Xu Degui may not say anything, but they may still have objections in their hearts.
What's more, ancient times were not a society where people fought alone. People here placed more emphasis on family ties. If there were outstanding people in the Xu family, she wouldn't mind cultivating them.
Feng'er is brave, careful, and has a strong personality. With more training, she will definitely be able to stand on her own.
As for Qian Zhenniang, she will have to be taken care of for a while longer before we can see.
She originally wanted to train Li Zhaodi. Both Li Zhaodi and Qian Zhenniang had soft personalities, and it would take some effort to establish them. She thought she could take a break and train them together, but she didn't know that Li Zhaodi's parents were not easy to deal with. Li Xiucai almost pointed at her nose and scolded her, saying that she had bad morals and was leading Li Zhaodi astray.
However, with Li Zhaodi's current mental state, she is unable to completely break free from the control of her original family, so she can only put it aside for the time being.
As for the other person, that is Xu Anping. This girl is young, but she is good at dealing with people. Perhaps influenced by her fourth aunt, she is flexible in her work and has a tenacity in her bones. She is also a good seedling worthy of key training.
Unfortunately, after she discussed it with the fourth wife privately, her aunt agreed, but her uncle felt that it was unethical for a girl to show herself in public, and the couple had a quarrel over this matter.
Xu Qingying was frustrated at not being able to capture able-bodied men, so she began to turn her attention to the other members of the exile team.
Alas, if there are no talents, we can only cultivate them ourselves.
It was just the last chance to make some quick money to set up a human resources team, so that we could directly recruit and use them when we got to Qianzhou.
As the temperature dropped, it grew colder the further south they went, making it impossible to spend the night outdoors. Coupled with the persistent autumn rain, Zhao Bantou consulted with Xu Qingying, and the two of them unanimously decided to speed up their journeys during the day and arrive at the post station earlier to work at night.
It will take another seven or eight days to reach Xingyuan Prefecture. This way, we can just make this batch of soap before arriving at Xingyuan Prefecture.
The Xu family no longer lived in dormitories this time. With all the money they had, they all wanted to live better. Xu Qingying was no exception. With a generous gesture, she upgraded the Xu family's accommodations, moving them all into private rooms upstairs.
Obviously, this time everyone has swept away the decadence they had when they were first exiled. Life has hope, and naturally their enthusiasm is much higher.
When Zhao Bantou and his men returned from the city with a full load, cheers broke out again in the post station.
This time, without waiting for Xu Qingying to shout, everyone had already started to form a team consciously.
After a few people who were cheating were fired, Feng'er added new staff. Now sixty or seventy people were divided into groups and rushed to start work!
"Hurry, hurry, someone come and help move the things in!"
"From the alkali-making team! From the oil-making team! The team leaders are checking to see if their staff are in place—all of them are shouting, we'll start work as soon as the materials arrive!"
"Let's start work early. Every time we grab one, we earn a penny. We can make a lot of money! We can buy land and houses in Qianzhou!"
The post station was bustling with activity.
Xu Qingying's manpower training also showed results very quickly. She opened the window on the second floor and looked down. She saw that everyone in the dam below was in an orderly manner and took their positions. It was obvious that they were much more skilled and faster this time than last time.
The logistics team brought tea and water from time to time, the supervision team was responsible for supervising the quality of the products, and Zhao Bantou occasionally came to boost morale.
In the entire dam, everyone was working hard!
Only Qian Zhenniang had no specific matters to attend to. Although Xu Qingying advised her not to worry and just stay with her for the time being, seeing that Feng'er had already gotten the hang of it and had a vague feeling of becoming Xu Qingying's confidant, Qian Zhenniang suddenly felt a sense of crisis.
You don't know until you compare. Once you compare, you will find that she is not even as good as her own maid.
Feng'er is bolder than her, dares to speak and act, and has a strong learning ability. In just a few days, she can actually take charge of the specific sales matters.
Qian Zhenniang was frightened, but she didn't dare to ask Xu Qingying directly, so she often speculated in her heart about the deeper meaning of Xu Qingying's arrangement.
Did he think she wasn't smart enough?
No, Miss Xu said, if you have any questions, just ask her directly. She hates guessing what her subordinates are thinking the most.
Thinking of this, Qian Zhenniang, who was standing behind Xu Qingying, finally asked, "Miss, when can I go out and work for you like Feng'er?"
Xu Qingying turned her head to look at her, only to see Qian Zhenniang with her head shrunk, twisting her fingers nervously, her eyes darting around, looking extremely guilty.
Xu Qingying patted her shoulder and said, "When you dare to face my aunt, I will teach you new things."
Qian Zhenniang's face turned pale and she bit her teeth lightly.
Xu Qingying hit the nail on the head in one sentence.
"Miss, do you think I'm too cowardly? I... I... I hate myself for being like this, but I can't change it, no matter what I do..."
"You can tell her clearly that you and your eldest cousin have broken off the engagement, and she has no right to interfere in your affairs. Zhenniang, people cannot build up without breaking down. If you don't push yourself, you will never make it this far. I can pity you and cherish you, coaxing and pampering you like a canary, but is that the life you want? Zhenniang, people don't have many opportunities in this life, and you have to seize them well when you have one. You have to think carefully, don't let Feng'er dump you like a queen dowager-"
Qian Zhenniang was stunned when she heard this and remained silent for a long time.
She looked at the noisy crowd downstairs, watched the twinkling lights, listened to the distant gusts of wind, and a voice in her heart was very unwilling: Qian Zhenniang, is this your life? Are you going to rely on Miss Xu's pity to survive? Are you really inferior to others?
Xu Yinxi didn't come to see her last night, and today because her second uncle was watching her closely, Xu Qingying didn't find a chance to talk to Xu Yinxi.
Speaking of which, this fourth sister really surprised her.
Second uncle repeatedly warned that people from the second branch were not allowed to have much contact with her, but Xu Yinxi agreed on the surface, but secretly dared to bet all her money to invest in her soap business.
Xu Qingying couldn't help but admire Xu Yinxi.
It seems that the weakest are the most powerful.
Among the Xu family, Xu Yinxi is the one who suits her taste the most.
She really likes this kind of girl who looks gentle but is actually brave and fearless.
For example, Xu Yinxi, Miss Qi Er, and Fang Ningmo.
Xu Qingying was about to go downstairs to avoid her second uncle, to find Xu Yinxi and give her the dividends. Unexpectedly, as she went downstairs, she saw a wet figure crawling towards her.
Xu Yinxi was soaked to the skin, her clothes clinging to her body, revealing her graceful curves. She hugged her chest, tears streaming down her face, and stumbled into Xu Qingying's arms like a headless fly.
As soon as Xu Yinxi saw that it was Xu Qingying, she seemed to come back to her senses from her fear. She grabbed Xu Qingying tightly with both hands, shaking, her face full of tears: "Sixth sister, save me! Save me!"
Xu Qingying had never seen Xu Yinxi in such a state of distress. Her heart skipped a beat, and she heard Xu Yinxi crying out the next second: "Just now, I went to the river to fetch water, and someone kicked me into the river from behind. Huang Yazi... Huang Yazi saved me... I'm done... Sixth sister, my life is over!"
Women in the Zhou Dynasty valued chastity. If what Xu Yinxi said was true, that she was pushed into the water and Huang Yazi rescued her, then in the eyes of outsiders it would mean that Xu Yinxi had lost her chastity and could only marry Huang Yazi.
Without time to think about the truth, Xu Qingying acted decisively and immediately called Qian Zhenniang. When Qian Zhenniang came downstairs, she saw Xu Yinxi slumped on the ground, soaking wet. Xu Qingying's face turned pale. "Zhenniang, help my fourth sister in and change her into clean clothes. Don't mention this to anyone. Go and call my second aunt—"
Qian Zhenniang knew that the matter was serious and ran away in a hurry.
"Fourth sister, don't be afraid. Things aren't that bad yet. I'll go shut up Huang Yazi first. Tell me, where is he?"
Xu Yinxi spoke incoherently: "He...he has been following me...I...I don't know!"
Xu Yinxi was so frightened that her face turned pale, her mind blank. She couldn't say anything at the moment, she just kept crying and kept repeating in her mouth: "It's over, it's over... I'm going to disappoint my parents..."
Xu Qingying handed the distraught Xu Yinxi to Qian Zhenniang, then quickly went downstairs and walked to the dam. She calmly called out, "Brother, cousin, father, please come with me. I have a problem with my accounts. Please come and help me take a look."
Xu Degui is calm, his eldest cousin is very strong in fighting, Xu Huiming is smart, and these three people are all members of the Xu family. Since it concerns the reputation of their female family members, these people will definitely not tell anyone.
As soon as Xu Qingying called out, the people whose names were called hurriedly put down their work and came over. Only Xu Degui saw Xu Qingying's blue face first, and felt uneasy. He vaguely felt that something big might have happened, otherwise he would not have seen Xu Qingying's expression like that.
Xu Qingying led them out at a rapid pace, lowering her voice as she spoke, "Something's happened. Let's go tie up Huang Yazi right away, and don't let anyone know. This is a serious matter, and I'll explain the details after we tie him up."
The few people who followed had uncertain expressions, which showed that Xu Qingying was in a hurry, so they naturally didn't ask too many questions.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he reached the door, he saw Huang Yazi, soaked all over, chasing him.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com