Chapter 270 To get rich, build roads first
The preliminary round of the Dahe Village Talent Show has successfully concluded.
The top three winners were all beaming with pride, and the village prepared a reward for them: three catties of rice for each of them.
The village head stood on a large rock and shouted, "You people are about to represent our Dahe Village in the county competition. If you bring honor to Dahe Village, the village will give you extra rewards. If you win first place in the county, you will be rewarded with ten mu of wasteland, second place with five mu, and third place with three mu!"
The village has mostly wasteland, three or four thousand acres, but not many people buy it. It's all lying fallow around the village, overgrown with weeds, which is a real shame.
Anyone who has contributed to the village can be appropriately rewarded and sent out to cultivate the land the following spring, which will increase the harvest.
The villagers surrounded the village head and cheered, creating a joyous atmosphere.
Several of Cheng Wanwan's children stood out in the preliminary rounds: Zhao Ergou in the abacus competition, Zhao Sanniu in the wrestling competition, Wu Huiniang in the cooking competition, and Xia Hua in the embroidery competition... Each of the children carried three jin of rice and smiled happily.
Before she even reached her doorstep, Cheng Wanwan saw three carriages, and standing beside them was a familiar figure.
She greeted him with a smile: "Manager Bai, how long have you been here? Why didn't you send someone over to let us know?"
"Just arrived," Bai Qi said gently. "I wonder what business the village is holding?"
“Our Ping’an County and several nearby counties and towns jointly held a talent competition. Right now, the village is holding a preliminary round to select people to go to the county competition,” Cheng Wanwan said with a smile. “Don’t just stand there talking, Manager Bai, please come in.”
Chunhua had already run into the house and poured two cups of tea, placing them in front of the two of them.
Bai Qi took a sip of tea and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "This is truly excellent tea! The tea from this remote and impoverished place is in no way inferior to that from Wancheng."
He asked, "What kind of tea is this?"
"There are many wild tea trees on the mountain in the village. I just picked some and roasted them into tea leaves. Everyone said they tasted good." Cheng Wanwan brushed it off without changing her expression. "Manager Bai, please sit for a while. I'll have someone bring the soap over to check the goods."
Because of the incentive measures, everyone in the workshop has been working overtime these days, greatly increasing daily output, and the warehouse has a lot of soap stored up.
Bai Qi ordered 1,000 of each of the three scented soaps, totaling 3,000. The workers from the workshop pushed them over on a cart and neatly arranged them on the ground.
Bai Qi walked over, picked up a piece, gently unwrapped it, smelled the fragrance, tested its hardness, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
He took out the delivery slip and then paid the remaining balance, which was 1,710 taels of silver. He put the 1,000-tael silver note and the 700-plus taels of silver on the table.
After Zhao Ergou tallied the payments, he collected the delivery slips and finally had Bai Qi sign his name in the booklet.
The whole process went very smoothly, and neither party raised any objections.
Before leaving, Bai Qi cupped his hands and said, "This time I am traveling north by waterway to try selling this batch of soap in the capital. If I am lucky, I will send someone to order the next batch of soap in about twenty days."
Cheng Wanwan nodded: "Then I wish Manager Bai a successful trip north and abundant wealth."
If soap becomes popular in the capital, it's only a matter of time before it spreads throughout the country.
The Bai family's carriage slowly drove out of Dahe Village and disappeared on the main road.
Next, more and more caravans will come to pick up their goods, and the people in the workshop will be busy without stopping.
The expanded workshop has officially started construction. A total of fifty new workers have been recruited here, including a dozen men and the rest women and young girls.
Some of the original employees were responsible for training new employees to familiarize themselves with the work environment and tasks.
Old Mrs. Zhao, dressed in neat and clean clothes and wearing a headband, patrolled the workshop. If anyone was lazy and didn't work, she would immediately kick them out.
Under the old lady's close supervision, everyone worked even more diligently.
Cheng Wanwan finally finalized the restaurant's interior design plans. She smiled and said, "Ergou, let's go to Ping'an County."
Take another look at the site. If there are no problems, you can call workers to do the renovation.
The renovation will take about a month, and the restaurant will be able to open in a month.
She took motion sickness medicine beforehand and asked Zhao Ergou to drive the carriage to Ping'an County with her.
The roads in this village weren't specially built; they're relatively flat avenues worn down by people walking on them day after day, year after year. Ox-carts travel slowly and feel stable, but horse-drawn carriages ride too fast and become very bumpy, even with motion sickness medication.
Cheng Wanwan thought of a saying: "If you want to get rich, build roads first."
As her business grew, more and more people came to place orders and pick up their goods. Shouldn't this road be repaired?
Of course, it's not about building a cement road, but about leveling this dirt road and then laying gravel on it. That would be considered a successful road construction. The process isn't complicated, and the raw materials aren't hard to find. The biggest challenge is finding workers.
The imperial court would sometimes repair official roads, usually by having prisoners or ordinary people perform labor to do so; these were all major projects.
The road in Dahe Village is not an official road, so the government is unlikely to provide assistance. Moreover, the village lacks manpower. If this matter is really put on the agenda, it will not be a simple matter. Let's wait until the villagers' lives improve in the future.
Lost in thought, the carriage soon arrived in Ping'an County.
The area in front of this shop wasn't very lively, and with the door closed, it seemed even more deserted.
Zhao Ergou took out his key to open the door. He hadn't come for several days, and a layer of dust had accumulated on the table in the main room.
“The main room is still a bit dim,” Cheng Wanwan said slowly. “We’ll open a large window here so we can remove the wooden planks when welcoming guests and let the light in. It will brighten their mood while they dine. Every private room on the second floor also needs a window… Many of the bricks on the floor are broken and warped, making it easy for guests to trip and fall, and for waiters to have accidents while serving food. The whole thing has been replaced…”
Zhao Ergou felt a pang of pain: "This will cost a lot of money..."
"To make money, you must first spend money," Cheng Wanwan said, looking at him. "The overall environment of the restaurant is the first impression customers have of it. If the first impression is bad, how can customers come in to dine?"
Zhao Ergou nodded: "Mother, I understand!"
Cheng Wanwan walked to the kitchen in the back. Because this place used to be a teahouse, the kitchen was not very big and needed to be demolished and rebuilt, taking up a little space in the backyard.
She carefully explained the arrangements to Zhao Ergou, who took them all seriously and planned to find someone to handle them starting tomorrow.
After the mother and son finished their errands, it was already getting late. They bought some necessities in town and then headed home.
The horse-drawn carriage sped towards Dahe Village, and halfway there, it encountered an oxcart.
The road into the village is very narrow, only wide enough for one vehicle to pass at a time. An oxcart was swaying along in front of it, and the horse-drawn carriage couldn't speed up.
Cheng Wanwan lifted the carriage curtain and looked ahead: "I know all three people who drive oxcarts in our village. This person's back looks a bit unfamiliar. Er Gou, do you know him?"
Zhao Ergou looked closely and said, "It seems to be Manager Yan."
Manager Yan was the previous manager of this restaurant. He couldn't keep the business afloat, so he sold the shop.
Cheng Wanwan pondered, "He came all the way to Dahe Village, could it be that he regrets selling the shop?"
As the mother and son were talking, the oxcart in front suddenly stopped. Manager Yan turned around and asked loudly, "Young man, is this the road to Dahe Village? We've been walking for so long and haven't arrived yet. Did I take the wrong turn...? Oh, aren't you the Zhao family's boy...?"
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