"Will that Brother Mingyu turn over a new leaf and start anew?" Jiang Sheng asked, rubbing her head in the carriage.
Zheng Ruqian said with a touch of melancholy, "I don't know, but I hope so."
After sending Wang Fufeng back to his own house to rest, the six siblings headed to the Zanhua Courtyard.
The Wang family still needs to fight amongst themselves, but this can only be left to Wang Fufeng.
They need to do their own thing now.
For example, Xu Mo needed to attend lectures at the prefectural school to prepare for the provincial examination the following year.
Zheng Ruqian needed to go to Youranju to discuss the sausage business and then transport the sausages to Anyang County.
Fang Heng was considering taking eight servants for on-site training; he couldn't just rely on theory.
Wen Zhiyun was looking around, wondering if there was a suitable shop to open a clinic.
Even Jiang Sheng is enthusiastic about reopening the workshop.
In comparison, Xiao Changyan suddenly became the person with the most nothing to do.
"Xiao Wu, come to school with me." Xu Mo closed his eyes. "The academy allows one page to be brought along. Once you arrive, just listen to the lectures. You don't need to worry about anything else."
Zheng Ruqian turned his head and said, "We only need one bookworm, Big Brother. Xiao Wu, come and do business with me. We're short of people on this line in Anyang County."
Fang Heng curled his lip in disdain, "Xiao Wu isn't even as tall as a horse. You're asking him to drive the carriage? Aren't you afraid he'll lose the child? He should come with me to practice martial arts; at least he can protect himself."
Wen Zhiyun looked up. Would it be inappropriate for him to hire his fifth brother to fetch the medicine?
Even Jiang Sheng looked over with concern, "Fifth Brother, why don't you open a workshop with me and eat Auntie's sausages every day?"
When everyone is busy, the one who has nothing to do is most likely to overthink.
Wen Zhiyun is a case in point.
In the dead of night, the siblings would always run out to look for him, and only after confirming that he was alright could they breathe a sigh of relief.
But the long banquet was not Wen Zhiyun.
He had already prepared something for himself: "I'm going to help Brother Fufeng."
More interesting to Xiao Changyan than these things was the internal strife within the Wang family.
"You petty rascal," Zheng Ruqian glared at him. "You think following Wang Fufeng is better than following us?"
It looks like my brothers are about to get jealous.
Changyan quickly went over and grabbed his sleeve, smiling sweetly, "How could that be? Only when the Wang family is at peace can we be safe, right?"
Those who bullied their brothers and sisters back then should pay a much higher price.
The ten-year-old boy looked up, his increasingly handsome face concealing the ruthlessness in his eyes.
Three days later.
With his Xiucai (a degree in the imperial examination system) status, Xu Mo successfully enrolled in the prefectural school.
He didn't look for a page for the time being, thinking that if Xiao Wu couldn't adapt to the intrigue and backstabbing in the Wang family, he could come back and attend classes together.
Jiang Sheng also took Zhang Qiquan to Dafu Village to find the aunties they had hired before, to teach them how to make sausages again, and to sign new contracts.
Of course, this doesn't include the dark-skinned, thin woman who betrayed them.
"Really? Is it really possible to go back to work?" The woman, who was busy with housework, was so excited when she saw Zhang Qiquan and Jiang Sheng come to her door that she almost burst into tears. "Can I really still go back to earning money?"
Five coins a day may not seem like much, but in those impoverished times, it was enough to feed a family.
Moreover, women who earn money always stand taller than women who don't.
“Of course, Auntie.” Jiang Sheng smiled. “We also offer a bonus. Any auntie who does a clean and meticulous job will receive an extra twenty to fifty coins each month.”
Last time, Aunt Zhang wasn't paying attention and Jiang Sheng found a hair in the sausage, which shocked her.
It wasn't that she disliked her hair; little street urchins eat anything, as long as they're alive.
But the wealthy and influential people outside care the most about these things.
Jiang Sheng remembered that when she was six years old, she passed by a wealthy family's house. The lady of the house found half a dog hair in her meat. She was so angry that she sold the cook and poured the whole plate of braised pork into the dog's bowl.
That was steaming hot, rich but not greasy braised pork.
Little Jiang Sheng was overjoyed and pounced on the dog to snatch it away. The big dog was dark yellow all over and bared its teeth, but it still couldn't beat her.
If the maids and servants of that household hadn't come out to investigate after hearing the commotion, she would have licked the soup clean from the bottom of the bowl.
Therefore, Jiang Sheng fully understands the importance of cleanliness for food.
Chinese sausage is different from cured pork.
Cured meat needs to be washed before eating, and most people don't mind if there's a tiny bit of hair.
However, sausages are stuffed into casings, and finding hair and grass roots in the minced meat would definitely shock diners.
To eliminate this possibility, Jiang Sheng discussed it with Uncle Zhang for a long time and finally decided to implement a reward system.
As expected.
Upon hearing this, the already agitated woman burst into tears. "Okay, okay, I will definitely do my best. I will be even more careful than when I eat at home. I will make sure it is clean and meticulous."
They visited one household after another, bringing back all the aunties who worked efficiently and neatly, and re-signing their contracts.
After visiting the last house, Jiang Sheng took out the last work contract from her pocket and said, "Uncle Zhang, this is for you."
The workshop in Zanhua Courtyard has changed owners.
The work contract naturally needs to be changed. The only things that won't change are probably the person who signed the work contract and the contents of the work contract.
Zhang Qiquan glanced at the document and found that it was still a profit-sharing system, still one-tenth of the net profit. His eyes reddened slightly. "Boss, one-tenth is really too high. For a manager like me, ten taels of silver a year is enough."
Judging from the current popularity of sausages, the annual profit is at least two or three hundred taels, and a one-tenth share of the profits would be twenty or thirty taels, which is quite substantial.
"Ten taels of silver is hardly enough to repay Uncle Zhang's hard work." Little Jiang Sheng imitated her older brother, putting her hands behind her back. "Uncle Zhang is not at a loss even with one-tenth of the silver. There will be a lot more to worry about in the future. I hope Uncle Zhang will not complain about the hard work."
"Oh, oh, no way." Zhang Qiquan pressed his red handprint, both amused and exasperated.
Jiang Sheng carefully folded all the work contracts and put them in her bosom, waiting to go to the government office to get them officially approved before they would take effect.
As the father and son rode in the carriage and passed the village entrance, the door of a house suddenly opened.
Immediately afterwards, a thin, dark-skinned woman knelt in front of the carriage and kowtowed to them, saying, "Master, you've hired me too, haven't you? I know I was wrong. I will never dare to reveal the master's recipe again. Please, master, give me some food. I'm starving to death."
Zhang Qiquan was startled and quickly reined in his horse, preventing people from being trampled to death.
The thin, dark-skinned woman continued to kowtow, pleading, "The master is kind-hearted and tolerant. Please, master, give us some food. If you don't give us some food, we will starve to death."
The implication is: If I starve to death, it's your problem.
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