Chapter 467 An Unpayable Debt
Under Cheng Wanwan's sweet-talking offensive, a group of children were quickly attracted.
At the age of five or six, they were not afraid of dogs, snakes, or even soft insects. Some of the children even took the insects out of the bucket and played with them in their hands.
Cheng Wanwan quickly moved away and coughed, saying, "Go to the cotton field and find insects. Gently peel open the petals and take out the little insects. Don't hurt the flowers. If anyone is clumsy, they won't get any candy later. Go back and get a small bucket, put in a little water, and throw the insects you catch in. When you've caught enough, come to the yard to collect your money. Ten insects can be exchanged for one coin."
The children's eyes lit up immediately.
If ten worms equal one coin, then if they find many, many worms, they'll have a lot, a lot of money, and their parents will definitely praise them.
Before Cheng Wanwan could give any more instructions, the children took off running.
She smiled helplessly: "Xiao Hai, go and keep an eye on things in the field, lest these kids, being so ignorant, damage the cotton seedlings."
Wei Xiaohai was about to nod.
Cheng Jia then said, "Madam, leave this matter to us."
He patrolled the vicinity of the village but found no suspicious persons or any danger. The four of them had nothing to do these past few days and wanted to do something within their capabilities, so they took on the task of chopping firewood.
Cheng Wanwan naturally did not refuse and let the four of them go.
Granny Wu stepped forward and said, "Madam, after these children bring back the insects, this old servant will check the number and distribute their wages."
Green Willow added, "After the insects are counted, I will take them to the backyard to feed the chickens and ducks."
The remaining people each assigned themselves tasks.
Cheng Wanwan nodded with satisfaction. Because these people came from the capital, she did not assign them any rough work in the countryside for the time being, but would do so after they had adapted.
Unexpectedly, everyone was very proactive, learning to do the rough work they didn't know how to do, and vying to do it, keeping the house and yard clean every day.
Granny Ma came out of the house and said respectfully, "Madam, the white fungus soup on the stove is ready. Would you like a bowl now?"
The servants in the courtyard looked at Granny Ma with envy. Everyone had their own skills, but after coming to Dahe Village, only Granny Ma could use her abilities every day, while the rest of them had no idea what to do.
Granny Qi, who was in charge of managing the yard, had a headache because the people in the yard were very self-disciplined and didn't need her to arrange work. So she could only take over the management of the livestock, such as chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, goats, pigs, and cattle. With enough livestock, she was quite busy.
Granny Wu and Green Willow were also very worried. After the inventory of the storeroom was completed, they had no work to do. It was really not good to just stand around all day, so they took it upon themselves to clean the storeroom every day, once in the morning, once at noon, and once in the evening.
Granny Yang was even more frustrated. She was skilled in medicine, but no one in the family was sick, so she had no use for her skills and could only help Granny Ma cook soup.
Yan Hong and Ning Lan, who used to serve Cheng Wanwan closely, now follow her to the fields every day, and in the past few days, they've learned about many crops...
Although the work in the village is harder than in the city, they seem to live more freely.
There's no need to constantly try to decipher the meaning behind the master's gaze, no need to ponder whether the master's words are angry, no need to watch the master's every glance and movement... In the past, even though I hadn't done anything all day, I would still feel exhausted.
Now I work all day, but I sleep soundly at night.
Cheng Wanwan had no idea that these people had so many thoughts running through their minds. She sat under the shade of a tree, drinking her white fungus soup, feeling very comfortable.
No wonder rich people buy so many servants; it must be really comfortable to be waited on.
However, now that there are many people in the family, eating is a big deal every day. With the new servants and six craftsmen, there are twenty or thirty people eating at home alone.
The other workers were provided with three meals a day by Old Zhao's family canteen.
The Zhao family's canteen was extremely busy, and with Sun Xiaolei gone, they were even more overwhelmed. So, the old lady called over Lin Yu'er and her husband, whom Cheng Wanwan had previously sent back, to help out.
Last year, Lin Yu'er and Chen Erniu came to work at the soap workshop together. Later, only Chen Erniu was left behind. After Lin Yu'er sent her back, she was blamed by her family. Less than a month later, she hurriedly got engaged and got married last month.
The old lady had heard that the family she married into was very poor. After all, she was her own granddaughter, so since she had this opportunity, she wanted to lend a hand.
Cheng Wanwan took a look. Last year, Lin Yu'er seemed very uneasy, but now she was much more composed and was chopping vegetables quickly.
When she saw Cheng Wanwan coming over, she called out "Auntie" a little shyly.
Cheng Wanwan smiled, gave a few words of advice, and then left.
The market is developing better and better now. Tourists come every day, and more and more villagers are setting up small stalls. The stalls are very cheap, with a daily rent of only two coins. Even people who don't want to do business for long are willing to set up stalls.
Because it sells all kinds of things, it has also attracted people from neighboring villages such as Guihua Village and Wangjiadun to come and buy things.
The entrance to the village has also been redesigned, divided into two roads: one leads to the residential area in the village, where outsiders need to register to enter; the other leads to the market, where no registration is required to enter.
Standing at the entrance of the village, you can see the four-courtyard house that has been gradually built up.
In just ten days, the yard has already taken shape, with hundreds of workers working together, and it can be said to change every day.
"This yard is so beautiful." Cheng Yuanyuan exclaimed, carrying a hoe. "Once the yard is finished, I'll help you plant flowers."
Cheng Wanwan turned her head and saw that her older sister's mental state was much better than before, and she exuded a different kind of spirit.
She smiled and said, "How about letting my eldest sister and Daya stay in the courtyard I'm living in now?"
“That won’t do!” Cheng Yuanyuan waved her hand. “I’m saving all the wages you gave me. Once I’ve saved up a few taels of silver, I can hire someone to help me build a mud-brick house. Three rooms will be enough…”
“Big sister, this house of mine wasn’t given away for nothing,” Cheng Wanwan said with a smile. “It cost about a hundred taels of silver to build, and after living here for more than half a year, let’s say it cost eighty taels of silver. I know you can’t afford to buy one now, so I’ll deduct half a tael of silver from your wages each month… I was originally planning to give you a half tael raise, but I won’t. How about that?”
Cheng Yuanyuan sighed, completely at a loss for words.
Her sister used to be sharp-tongued and competitive, but now she's always trying to help her family. Not only did she give them a long-term business, but she also gave them a house for free... Sigh, she can never repay this debt in her lifetime.
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