Chapter 90: Family Members Come to the Door
"Uncle Village Head, how can I possibly thank you for this..."
Cheng Wanwan smiled and pondered for a short while.
She continued, "How about this: you get 10% of the profits from the ice jelly that Uncle Village Head helps sell..."
In her previous company, the commissions for employees in the marketing and customer service department were very high. They could get 10% to 20% commission for each successful deal. The job that Uncle Lizheng is doing now is similar to that of marketing and customer service, and she will never be stingy with the commissions that are due.
Upon hearing this, the village head waved his hands repeatedly: "Auntie Dashan, you're being too polite. I was just helping to pass on a message. How could I possibly ask for even a tenth of your profits? It's not easy for you to run a small business..."
At this point, the village head paused for a moment.
Although he didn't know how much Da Shan Niang earned, based on the inns and taverns he had written down, they sold a thousand bowls of ice jelly a day. At two coins a bowl, that's two taels of silver in revenue. After deducting costs, Da Shan Niang should be able to earn half a tael of silver. If things continued like this, Da Shan Niang would eventually buy that piece of wasteland down the mountain.
However, it was Da Shan Niang's skill to make money, and he couldn't go against his conscience and ask for a share.
The village headman said, "The fifty taels of silver that the county magistrate awarded us this time were all thanks to Aunt Dashan. Otherwise, our village wouldn't have a single penny of public funds, and we wouldn't be able to do anything properly. This reward is a fair return."
Since they would be spending a lot of time together in the future, Cheng Wanwan didn't dwell on the matter. She said, "We need to serve over a thousand bowls of ice jelly tomorrow, and I'm a bit short-handed. I wonder if we could borrow two people from Uncle Lizheng, Tiezhu's father and Tieshuan's father, who can spare a little over an hour this afternoon."
Tiezhu's father was Zhao Anjiang, and Tieshuan's father was Zhao Anhe; they were the village head's eldest and second sons, respectively.
The village head readily agreed.
Cheng Wanwan went next door to find Mudfish Dad Wang Yongcheng. As soon as she opened her mouth, Aunt Wang agreed on behalf of her husband without even asking how much the wages were.
So far, there are five people washing and cleaning the ice jelly, each with a wooden basin in front of them, and there's simply not enough room in the main room.
Furthermore, filtering ice jelly also requires space to operate and a large number of wooden basins, buckets, and other containers.
Cheng Wanwan asked Zhao Sidan to borrow some from the old house, but it still wasn't enough, so they had to borrow from Aunt Wang's house as well. The whole yard was filled with wooden buckets and basins.
“Dashan, do you think we could fence off a space in the backyard, surround it with a fence, and thatch it up?” Cheng Wanwan said thoughtfully. “And we could build a stove here, specifically for boiling water and making ice jelly…”
Zhao Dashan nodded: "I'll take care of it right now."
While he was clearing the weeds from the backyard, Zhao Ergou and Zhao Sanniu went up the mountain to cut tree branches, and Zhao Sidan went to the wild to find reeds. The four brothers worked together and slowly created a basic structure. It didn't matter that there was no roof yet; it would just block the view of passersby.
Before they were finished, Zhao Anjiang and the others arrived one after another.
In the fenced-off open space in the backyard, there were five wooden basins filled with ice jelly.
Cheng Wanwan said, "It costs five copper coins to wash half a catty of ice jelly. The daily limit is one and a half catties. Everyone should do what they can. If you don't understand anything, just ask Da Wang's father."
Zhao Youyin nodded: "Sister-in-law, leave this to me. You can go and do other things."
Cheng Wanwan knew he was reliable, so she stopped watching him.
Based on the current supply, the amount of agar seeds at home will be almost gone in a few days, so she needs to buy more in case of emergencies.
She walked over to the old house, where only Old Mrs. Zhao and Madam Wen were. She said quickly, "Da Wang's mother, if anyone comes to deliver lantern seeds again, just tell them that the seeds will be twelve coins per pound from now on, and the more the better."
It used to cost ten coins per pound, but now it's gone up by two coins.
Grandma Zhao immediately became dissatisfied: "Nobody wants the lantern grass all over the mountain. It's all worthless stuff. Why are you asking for twelve coins? Does your money grow on trees?"
Cheng Wanwan sighed and said, "Mom, don't you think about this carefully? Since I can afford to pay this money, it means I can still make a profit. How can I let myself suffer a loss?"
Grandma Zhao said irritably, "Why not earn more if you can? Why give it to others..."
"Then why don't you come and help me, Mother?" Cheng Wanwan's lips curled into a smile. "I need someone to boil water here. Mother can come and boil water every day for two coins. How about that?"
Let the old lady go and see how busy she is all day long, and she'll probably stop scolding her for being wasteful.
"Two coins for boiling water, you really don't value money!" Old Mrs. Zhao originally wanted to refuse, but then she thought of something and agreed, "Then it's settled, two coins a day, I'll come over tomorrow."
Just then, a familiar woman rushed in through the door, saying anxiously, "Auntie Dashan, your family has come! You should go back and see them right away!"
Cheng Wanwan was taken aback: "My family home?"
"Yes, Grandma Cheng has arrived with your niece from your maternal family. They're at the door. You should go back quickly."
Cheng Wanwan's gaze darkened for a moment, then she turned and left.
Grandma Zhao couldn't even continue her work and got up to follow.
Madam Wen said, "My sister-in-law used to be close to the Cheng family, but for some reason they've become distant lately. But no matter what, the Cheng family is still my sister-in-law's family. Since my sister-in-law's mother is coming, the two of them probably have some private things to say. It's not appropriate for your mother to go there at this time."
Grandma Zhao slapped her thigh and said, "Life has finally gotten a little better, but those bloodsuckers from the Cheng family are back again. I think the little money we finally managed to earn will end up in the Cheng family's hands again. What a tragedy... Erwang, you should go with your aunt to see what's going on and come back and tell her what happened."
Zhao Erwang quickly followed after him.
When Cheng Wanwan arrived at her doorstep, she indeed saw Old Mrs. Cheng, accompanied by her eldest brother's youngest daughter, Cheng Xiaocao.
Grandma Cheng stood at the gate of the courtyard, hesitant to go in for a moment.
She had visited once not long ago, when the yard was empty. Now, however, it has everything: a large flock of chickens and ducks, and two dogs. Country dogs are easy to raise, but to raise two dogs this year is enough to show that this family has plenty of food.
Originally, Old Madam Cheng came this time to ask for a tael of silver as tuition fee.
However, seeing the thriving scene before her, she secretly decided that one tael of silver was not enough; it had to be at least two taels. However, she would say five taels at first, then lower it to two taels, not afraid that Cheng Wanwan would not agree.
Zhao Dashan heard a noise at the door and came out from the backyard. When he saw Old Madam Cheng's face, he froze.
Grandma Cheng forced a smile: "Dashan, don't you recognize your grandma? Hurry up and invite your grandma and your cousin in for a seat. Pour two glasses of water and add some sugar; your cousin likes sweet drinks."
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