Tian An glanced at Xiao Gou Dan's parents, then asked Xiao Gou Dan, "Then tell me honestly, what do your parents do?"
Puppy Egg tilted his head back and said seriously, "My mother's pastries are delicious."
Tian An smiled and said, "How delicious it is!"
Xiao Gou Dan thought about it seriously, then held up the cake in his hand and said, "It's even more delicious than this."
Before Tian An could ask, a woman stepped forward and saluted, saying, "Miss, I am Goudan's mother Qingmei. I used to be in charge of making cakes and tea at the Lin County official's house."
Tian An asked again: "Can you cook?"
Qingmei said, "Miss, I can cook most dishes, but I am best at making pastries."
Tian An nodded and asked Xiao Gou Dan: "Then what can your father do?"
Goudan said crisply, "My father used to help Grandpa manage the household for the wealthy man."
A middle-aged man also stepped forward and said, "Miss, I am Chen Qiang, the father of Goudan. I used to help my father manage the household in the man's house."
Tian An frowned: "Assist? That means you can't be independent yet!"
Seeing Tian An frowning, Chen Qiang broke out in a cold sweat and gritted his teeth, "My father said that I am ready to start my apprenticeship. I hope you will give me a chance. If I can't do well, you can do whatever you want to me."
Qingmei on the side opened her mouth, but in the end said nothing.
Tian An said nothing and gestured for the two to return to the team first.
Then he said to everyone, "Is there anyone who can read? Stand in the front row."
After Tian An finished speaking, a middle-aged man stood up first. Seeing that someone had stood up, three more people came out one after another and stood in a row with him.
Tian An looked at them and said, "What did you do before?"
The four of them said in unison: "Accountant"
Tian An asked the broker to prepare a piece of paper and pen for each person, then stood up and casually asked a simple math problem, "You guys do the math first."
Except for the first person who stood up and started writing after careful consideration, the others all looked flustered. Who hired people to give questions right away? They didn't even give them time to prepare.
After a period of panic, two of them began to think about the question, but the last one didn't even remember the question, and bravely asked Tian An again.
Tian An patiently told them again.
But after the first person put down his pen, Tian An asked the second question, and then the third question.
After that person put down his pen again, Tian An looked at his answer. After that, he looked at the other three people's answers.
Except for the first person who answered all three questions correctly, the other three either did not finish or did not answer correctly.
Tian An said to the first man, "Please introduce yourself!"
The man immediately replied, "My name is Liu Hui. I've been working as an accountant for over ten years. My previous employer was a landlord in the next county."
Tian An nodded and told them to go back first. Liu Hui was fine, keeping his head held high. The other three felt their hearts sink and shook their heads as they went back.
"Besides Qingmei, anyone with good cooking skills please step forward."
This time no one hesitated, and four or five women and girls immediately stood up.
Tian An asked several people what dishes they could cook.
A little girl stepped forward and reported her name, age and the name of the dish.
Her name is Yatou, she is fourteen years old, and she only knows the names of simple dishes that ordinary farmers would eat.
After she finished speaking, a woman sneered and came forward to list some of the restaurant's more famous dishes.
After listening to this, Tian An casually asked about how to prepare an ingredient in one of the dishes.
The woman hesitated for a long time and could not answer. Before Tian An could say anything, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the pawnbroker scolded her, "You are a disgrace. What did we teach you? Cheating is a taboo. Why don't you go back?"
After learning from this woman's lesson, the remaining few people honestly told us what dishes they were best at. One of them was very good at making noodles, including steamed buns, dumplings, and noodles.
According to her, her name was Qiao Niang, and her family ran a steamed bun shop. After she married into her husband's family, her husband was addicted to gambling and often didn't come home. Her mother-in-law also disliked her for not having children for her son, so she allowed her son to sell her to pay off his gambling debts.
Tian An had been here for quite a while, and some people in the crowd were already unable to stand, especially those who looked at her coldly. However, there were a few people who remained consistent, holding their heads high and chests puffed out without being arrogant or impatient.
Tian An picked out several people, two girls, a teenager, a middle-aged woman and a middle-aged man.
The two young girls and the boy are siblings, while the middle-aged woman and the man are actually husband and wife. It has to be said that people from the same family are alike!
"As usual, introduce yourself!"
The middle-aged man stepped forward and saluted, saying, "My dear lady, my name is Wu Zhuang. I'm good at raising livestock. I used to be responsible for raising pigs, cattle and sheep at the master's farm."
The woman also calmly stepped forward and saluted, saying, "To answer your question, young lady, your servant Zhenniang is good at raising poultry. Chickens, ducks, and geese are no problem."
After the couple finished speaking, the young man stepped forward and said, "My name is Deng Yuan. I'm eighteen years old. I know some boxing and can drive a cart."
The older girl said, "My name is Deng Xue. I know a little bit of martial arts, but not as good as my brother's."
The youngest girl said a little stiffly, "My name is Deng Shuang. I can't fight, but I can sew."
Seeing her reserved, Tian An teased her deliberately: "How come among the three of you siblings, your brother and sister can both fight and kick, but you can't?"
Deng Shuang was a little anxious, afraid that all her brothers and sisters would be bought and she would be left alone.
She hurriedly said, "My dear, my brother and sister don't know how to mend clothes, so I have to learn needlework. I can do more than just needlework. I can also cook, clean, and do other rough housework."
Seeing that the little girl was a little scared, Tian An stopped joking with her and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, I'll take you with me."
Finally, Tian An took in Gougoudan's family of three: Liu Hui, a middle-aged couple, three siblings, a fourteen-year-old girl, and Qiao Niang, who was good at making noodles.
A total of eleven people, forty-two taels of silver.
After completing the indenture, Tian An gave Chen Qiang twenty taels of silver and told him to take Wu Zhuang and Wang Erdong to buy donkeys and look for piglets, chickens, and ducklings. He didn't specify any requirements or how many to buy, just let him decide.
Chen Qiang knew that Tian An wanted to test his ability, so he took the two of them out without saying a word.
After they left, Tian An took people to a store that specialized in fluffing cotton to make quilts to buy quilts. After asking the price, Tian An let several women and girls bargain.
They say three women make a play, and here there were six women! Each of them bargained with the shop owner, pushing the price of the quilt down to the lowest possible level.
The last five quilts were ready-made, and twenty more were ordered as rewards for the farmhands. A total of twenty-five quilts were bargained down from thirty-two wen per catty of cotton to twenty-nine wen per catty.
It’s cheap to buy a quilt now that the weather is still hot, but the price won’t be the same when you buy it in winter.
After giving the finished quilt worth three taels of silver and a deposit, Tian An asked Xiaogoudan's mother to tell Chen Qiang to remember to notify someone to pick up the quilt, and then he took everyone back with the quilt.
A group of people carrying five quilts were marching down the street, attracting a lot of attention along the way.
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