Based on their needs, they only plan to recruit women this time.
The best-paid skilled female workers could go directly to the county town, where they were provided with food and lodging, and would receive a daily wage of thirty to one hundred wen depending on their skill level. However, this position required extensive experience in weaving or embroidery, which was a high requirement, and all candidates had to pass Zhang Hui's test on-site to be selected.
Another job with good pay is the kitchen helper with cooking skills. They also need to have many years of kitchen experience and each person needs to have their own signature dish. After being interviewed by Mr. Wen, they will need to go to the villa for a practical test. After passing the test, they will be provided with food and accommodation, and the salary is twenty to fifty coins a day.
The last type is the handywoman, who does not need any experience. Anyone aged 10 to 50 who is hardworking, law-abiding, and diligent can apply. These women need to undergo a three-day observation and test. Only those who pass the test can be officially employed. They can choose to have food and lodging provided or receive ten coins per day.
The recruitment conditions immediately sparked heated discussions among the displaced people in the wasteland. Many of them were already part of the Cheng family's construction team and knew how good the food was and how they never withheld wages. So, without thinking twice, they dragged the women in their families to line up and reserve a spot.
The word spread like wildfire, and soon almost every woman who could still walk in the wasteland crowded in front of Cheng's stall, ranging from toddlers who had just learned to walk to elderly people with white hair!
This spectacle truly startled the mule cart team. Several people who were originally heading towards them even suddenly turned around and joined the Cheng family's team. This was something that had never happened before!
Cheng Ruyi was not unaware of the hostile gazes coming from the mule cart procession, but their stall had far more people than she had expected, and the scene was inevitably a bit chaotic, so she could only focus on helping to maintain order.
Because the construction team has enough manpower, several shops on the official road commercial street are almost finished, which is just right for her to arrange for the first batch of female workers to live there.
Zhang Hui had already rented a courtyard near their shop to store Ruyi's furs and cotton. There were still two or three rooms left in the courtyard, which was enough for the female workers he had hired. Although renting the courtyard was not cheap, if he could complete Ruyi's orders as soon as possible, he could receive his commission quickly. In addition, his savings over the years were enough for him to open his own shop!
Zhang Hui had learned about the drought before, but it was only when he came to the wasteland in person that he truly felt that the impact of the disaster was far greater than he had imagined. At this moment, he finally understood what Cheng Ruyi's true intentions were, and he couldn't help but feel a little ashamed.
After considering it for a while, he decided to relax the requirements a little and double the number of people to be hired. With a little tidying up of the yard, it should be able to accommodate everyone. In any case, it would be much better than living on wasteland now.
Seeing her business being overshadowed by others, and realizing she might not be able to find many suitable customers today, the woman in red with a somewhat mean-looking face in the mule cart couldn't help but threaten, "Our Yixiang Courtyard is backed by the Green Dragon Gang. In Huaishan County, who dares to disrespect us? Anyone who dares to mess with us doesn't know their own limitations. Anyone who offends us can't continue to live in this county. I advise you to be sensible!"
Cheng Ruyi knew the other party was speaking to her, but now that her Cheng family was no longer the ordinary people they once were, she wouldn't be swayed by this level of threat.
Seeing that Ruyi ignored her, the woman in red became even angrier and immediately ordered several of her men to come and cause trouble.
Over the past year, the Meng family father and daughter have been eating and sleeping well, and their bodies have grown taller and stronger. Moreover, after Meng Xiaodi recovered, You Sanniang suddenly began to teach the two of them kung fu. Although there was no significant progress after half a year, they had at least learned seven or eight tenths of the basic stances.
So when the two saw that the burly men over there looked hostile, they immediately rushed over.
Meng Fu is over 1.9 meters tall, and when he stands up, he is an incredibly imposing giant. Combined with his ugly appearance, his intimidating effect is that of a one-man army.
Although Meng Daya is not as tall as her father, she has grown quite a bit in the past year, reaching nearly 1.8 meters in height. Moreover, her Youlian Palm technique has recently begun to show some promise. Although she lacks talent, she makes up for it with strength! It is more than enough to deal with ordinary people who do not know martial arts.
The two worked together seamlessly, quickly knocking seven or eight of their opponents to the ground.
The scene truly terrified the two women in the mule cart. They were always the ones bullying others; when had they ever been so humiliated? The woman in red, though pale, still maintained her arrogant demeanor, pointing at Cheng Ruyi and shouting, "You...you have such audacity! We will not let this go! You just wait, when we get back we...we..."
"What do you want? Are you going to send someone to cause trouble in my shop again? And then beat them until they vomit blood and take them to the county jail again?" Cheng Ruyi said as she walked toward the snail cart, with the Meng father and daughter following closely beside her.
After a few steps, the three of them arrived at the snail cart. Ruyi stared at the two people inside the cart for a while, then suddenly smiled softly and said calmly, "Speaking of which, I had a brief encounter with your Green Dragon Gang's Vice Chief Liu in the county court. It's been a few months since we last met. I wonder how Vice Chief Liu has been lately?"
At this moment, the two women in the carriage were trembling uncontrollably with fear. They were just ordinary madams from a few brothels near the dock, and they rarely even had the chance to meet their owners, let alone the deputy leader of the Green Dragon Gang!
At this moment, they finally realized that they had really kicked a hornet's nest, so they could only say, "We'll see!" and immediately had the servant drive away, without even taking the little girls they had planned to buy with them.
As Ruyi watched the departing snail cart, she knew that this meant she had once again incurred the wrath of the Zhang family. But she knew she couldn't bear to watch women being ruthlessly sold into that filthy place and condemned to hell.
Forget it, anyway, we're not on the same side as the Zhang family. Even if we don't have a grudge today, we'll definitely have one someday because of something else. We'll deal with whatever comes our way and just be more careful in the future.
In the past, whenever the Zhang family went out of town to buy women, they would first gather all the women together and then slowly inspect and select them one by one in the carriage. The timing of Cheng Ruyi and her group's arrival at the wasteland to set up their stall was very clever. It was just when the Zhang family was collecting women and children but had not yet officially selected anyone. So when the Zhang family's mule cart left, there were still more than a dozen women left behind, looking terrified and at a loss.
Some of them quickly regained their senses and ran back to their families crying. Several middle-aged women rushed over, crying as they carried their children away.
A moment later, only three girls remained standing in the same spot.
One of them looked to be only five or six years old. She was so thin that she was just skin and bones, and her body was covered in injuries. But even so, it was not hard to see that the little girl had very beautiful features and would definitely grow up to be a beauty.
The other girl was about seventeen or eighteen years old. Although her clothes were tattered, a closer look revealed that they were made of fine cotton, with embroidery on the cuffs and collar. It was clear that the girl's family was quite well-off. However, at this moment, the girl had a blank expression and empty, lifeless eyes. She seemed to have no soul and just stood there blankly.
The last one is the little girl Ruyi saw earlier who had been desperately resisting her father but was kicked down. She is now staring intently at her father ten meters away, her whole body full of vigilance, like a dying little hedgehog, ready to drag her enemy down with her at any moment.
With just one glance, Ruyi could roughly guess what had happened to each of the three children. Since her original purpose was to save people, she might as well go all the way.
So she called the little girl's father over, spent three taels of silver to buy the little girl, and immediately wrote a letter severing ties with him and made him put his fingerprint on it. The man hardly hesitated at all, happily accepted the money and pressed his fingerprint, and then disappeared into the crowd without looking back.
Seeing this scene, the relatives of the other two girls also came forward and asked Ruyi if she was willing to buy them. In the end, Ruyi spent five taels of silver to buy the two children and gave each of them a letter of severance from their families. From then on, they had no more connection with their families.
The group of people who had previously planned to sell their wives and daughters had some second thoughts upon seeing this, but Ruyi had no intention of buying any more people, so she took the three girls back to her stall.
All of this happened, and the people queuing up nearby saw it all. After seeing it, most of them became even more determined to stay and work for the Cheng family. Regardless of the pay, it was already very rare to find a kind-hearted employer these days. Moreover, judging from the employer's attitude, he was clearly happy to help women and children. This was the first time they had seen someone stand firmly on their side.
Because there were so many people in line and the screening process was so rigorous, the progress was very slow. Fortunately, at noon, Xu Cui brought Yun An and Yun Le in an oxcart to deliver food to everyone. With their help, the screening process finally sped up a bit.
Two days later, Zhang Hui led eighteen female workers back to the county town to catch up on the work, while the other two stalls on the wasteland continued to be set up.
When all ten courtyards along the official road were successfully completed, Cheng Ruyi finally managed to recruit enough female workers.
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