Guangling County is bustling with activity today because the Happiness Home was officially established!
At the entrance of the Happiness Home, Zhen Wanwan was dressed festively, a rare sight for her, as she was going to cut the ribbon herself today!
Looking at the surging crowd, Fan Jian felt a surge of pride.
At the same time, they looked at Zhen Wanwan with great anticipation, after all, the dream of the Happiness Home was the wish of all the people.
Who wouldn't want to go to a place that doesn't seek profit or reward, provides free elderly care, and offers opportunities to learn a skill?
"Alright! Everyone, please calm down. Let me say a few words!"
Zhang Qiaozui has also returned today. He is now standing beside Zhen Wanwan with a more rounded belly than before, smiling and waving to the crowd.
Everyone stopped talking at that moment, focusing intently on what the person above was saying, so as not to miss any information.
Zhang Qiaozui was indeed very good at interpersonal relationships. In no time, she ignited everyone's emotions, making them respect and look forward to the Happiness Home even more.
This includes feeling grateful to Zhen Wanwan, who single-handedly created the Happiness Home.
Many of these people are elderly people or abandoned orphans.
Of course, there are also some unfilial children who are unwilling to support their parents and are left to starve and become emaciated.
After Zhang Qiaozui finished speaking, everyone looked at Zhen Wanwan as if she were a living Bodhisattva.
Zhen Wanwan felt a pang of sadness. Everyone in this world has their own difficulties, and all she could do was offer those suffering a sense of spiritual support.
Zhang Qiaozui's mouth was dry from talking, so she took a sip of tea to moisten her throat and said to Zhen Wanwan, "Madam Zhen, please say a few words! Let these people feel at ease."
Zhen Wanwan nodded and shouted into the megaphone to the crowd below: "Good afternoon, grandpas, grandmas, uncles, aunts and children! I am the founder of this Happiness Home. Manager Zhang has already told you about the benefits of the Happiness Home, so I won't go into details."
"I swear to you that as long as I live, this nursing home will never close. As long as I have food to eat, you will have food to eat too. I will never break my promise!"
"However! I must remind you that the Happiness Home is only for those who truly need it. If anyone tries to come in and just coast along, then I'm sorry, but once discovered, they will never be allowed to set foot in my Happiness Home again. Of course, the seeds for the sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes, and other supplies provided by my department store will not be given to them!"
As soon as these words were spoken, those who had originally planned to take advantage of the situation quietly backed away. Sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, and other crops are high-yield and delicious. With them, one will never have to worry about going hungry again. In fact, if one works hard to cultivate the land, there will be surplus grain to sell next year, and one can earn a large sum of money.
Although the nursing home is nice, I heard that you have to do work after you go in, and the wages are very low. You won't have to worry about food and drink, but you will lose your freedom.
Anyone with a modicum of ambition would not choose to enter this field. Apart from the elderly and children who are unable to work, everyone who is still able to move wants to cultivate the land themselves.
After all, once you clear the land in the designated area, it's yours for free, and you'll even get free seeds. Plus, there will be no taxes for three years.
Everyone wants to get a piece of this good stuff!
As Zhang Qiaozui just mentioned, to enter the Happiness Home, one must be an elderly person who has no children, is of good character, kind-hearted, and has lost the ability to work.
Only children who are orphaned, do not steal or rob, are of good character, or are disabled and unable to work are eligible.
Moreover, these people must be people who have no land or gold and silver.
There aren't many people who meet these criteria, but there are quite a few, including many people of questionable character who put on a good show just to move in and freeload.
After learning about this situation, Zhen Wanwan added a rule: to prove it, one must provide testimony from at least two close but non-blood-related persons.
Before anyone is allowed to enter, their information will be posted publicly for at least seven days. If someone reports such a person, they will not be allowed to enter.
After going through these criteria one by one, at least half of the candidates were eliminated.
Among them, there were 20 elderly people, 43 children, and 7 disabled people.
Initially, there were five or six hundred people who signed up, but after this screening process, less than a hundred people were selected.
Zhen Wanwan was somewhat surprised; she had thought there would be at least two hundred people.
However, this is a good sign, since she hopes that people will all have the ability to support themselves.
In this light, the series of policies previously introduced by Magistrate Chen were indeed very effective.
At least many of the refugees they had previously taken in chose to cultivate the land themselves.
Zhen Wanwan breathed a slight sigh of relief. In any case, the Happiness Home was successfully established.
Meanwhile, Wang Basan had already begun arranging accommodations for these people, as well as future arrangements.
After some planning and arrangement, he found that there were not enough people, so he went to Zhen Wanwan to ask for instructions: "Zhen's wife! I have counted, and apart from a very few people who are not capable of doing work, the rest of them have been assigned simple tasks, but for heavy things, we still need to find someone else to help."
Zhen Wanwan nodded and said, "Take a look and see what else is missing in the courtyard. Tell Manager Zhang and ask him to give you the money to hire more people! In the future, I will need your help to take care of the trivial matters of the Happiness Home!"
"Our Happiness Home mainly aims to provide them with a stable place. On weekdays, the elderly can do light chores such as sweeping, watering, or watering flowers."
"The children should learn from you, study reading and writing with you every day, and help you with chores when they have free time."
"As for people with disabilities, we should see what they can do and give them some work to do. We shouldn't let them be too idle, otherwise they will easily become lazy if they are idle for too long."
Wang Basan wrote down every word Zhen Wanwan said, and after going downstairs, he analyzed everyone's strengths and weaknesses, and then made arrangements for everyone.
Seeing Wang Ba San's meticulous work, Zhen Wanwan gave him a thumbs up in satisfaction, and the Happiness Home began to get on the right track.
Meanwhile, Fan Jian also began to seriously consider the matter of the academy.
Because of his previous experience building nursing homes, he was very familiar with and thoroughly understood the blueprints drawn by Zhen Wanwan.
Because this project was much larger, after consulting with Zhen Wanwan, he posted recruitment notices, and many families with many brothers or those short of money came to apply.
As is customary, Fan Jian chooses people with good personalities and those from poor families.
At Zhen Wanwan's request, a number of female workers were also recruited.
Although the number of female workers on the list was far less than that of male workers, Fan Jian listened to advice and did not insist on his own way.
Why must digging foundations and building walls be designated as men's work?
Whether in her past life or this one, ordinary rural women do just as much work as men, but when it comes to jobs that can earn money, everyone assumes that only men can do them.
Zhen Wanwan found this extremely distasteful, so no matter what job she was recruiting, she would specifically state that there were no gender restrictions, ensuring fair competition.
That day, Zhen Wanwan received an invitation.
Madam Xu invited her to the mansion to admire the flowers, and among the flowers that bloom in August and September, she could only think of chrysanthemums.
Zhen Wanwan wasn't very interested in this, but after thinking about it carefully, she replied to the post, indicating that she would be there on time.
The Xu family is considered a prominent family in Anqing Prefecture, but they are loyal to Zhu Yuan. She has already declined his invitations many times in recent days. If she refuses again, he might think that Zhu Yuan is dissatisfied with them.
Zhen Wanwan had someone summon Zhang Mama and asked her about the rules for going out to a banquet.
There was nothing she could do. All things considered, they had only been in Anqing Prefecture for less than a year. Previously, she had been busy with her career and had only gone out to attend Miss Xu's coming-of-age ceremony.
This was her first time going to a flower viewing event, and considering the Xu family's connections, she figured there would be many people there.
As Zhu Yuan's wife and the owner of the Guangling County Department Store, Zhen Wanwan couldn't afford to lose face in front of them.
Hearing her words, Zhang Mama smiled and said, "Madam, you don't need to be so reserved. Just do what you want. These ladies from noble families are very knowledgeable about human relationships. And with your status, even if you just show up and come back, they won't dare to say anything. They'll fawn over you afterward."
Zhen Wanwan sighed: "I know they only show me more respect because of my husband, but I'm afraid they'll laugh at him for marrying a woman like me who has no status or position."
"My lady, don't talk nonsense! How the master treats you is none of their business. If it weren't for the master protecting them, they would have been taken advantage of by outsiders long ago. How could they be living such a wealthy life now?"
Although what Granny Zhang said was a bit arrogant, it was the truth. Noble families, despite their wealth and status, were the first to be harmed by those people during times of war.
If the city's army hadn't protected the city walls, the Xu family, as one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Anqing Prefecture, would likely have been the first to suffer.
The head of the Xu family was also intelligent and had long ago pledged allegiance to Zhuyuan.
But Zhen Wanwan knew that although the Xu family was close to Zhuyuan and was a prominent local family, their connections were far superior to theirs.
Anqing Prefecture is a vast area with abundant resources, attracting many prominent families, most of whom are related by blood.
The Xu family can act as a bridge between them and the various clans.
The next day, Zhen Wanwan got up earlier than usual. Zhang Mama had already dressed up Guabao and Tianbao. When she saw Zhen Wanwan get up, she went up to dress her up as well.
Looking at Zhang Mama's tired appearance, Zhen Wanwan felt a little guilty. Zhang Mama not only had to take care of two children on weekdays, but also had to manage household chores.
Now, even when she goes out, she has to run around doing everything for her. Zhen Wanwan feels like she's the skinflint boss, grabbing someone and ripping them off.
She planned to go to the county to buy a few old women after the banquet so that they could help Zhang Mama with her work.
Moreover, as the two children grew older, they each needed a nanny to take care of them.
Having made up her mind, Zhen Wanwan didn't hesitate any longer. With the help of Granny Zhang, she put on a set of elaborate and luxurious clothes.
She hadn't intended to dress up so elaborately, but Granny Zhang said that this time, probably all the prominent families in Guangling County would be attending, and she represented Zhu Yuan, the wife of the man who held military power and was now considered the true ruler of Anqing Prefecture. She couldn't afford to be looked down upon.
Zhen Wanwan didn't say much. To be honest, after dressing up like this, she almost didn't recognize herself.
It looked both familiar and strange; the face was still the same, but the demeanor had changed.
She used to give people a friendly feeling, but now she has a more aloof air, with a sense that she is someone you can only admire from afar and dare not profane.
Rou'er and the other maids watched silently from the side, their eyes filled with amazement, but they didn't approach her to joke as usual.
"Excellent! This is more in line with your status, my lady."
Granny Zhang looked Zhen Wanwan up and down with satisfaction. She felt that this Miss Zhen was even more noble than the mistress of the house she used to serve!
Zhen Wanwan smiled helplessly and then led the group out.
Before leaving, she looked back and, not seeing Cui Jinyi, then led the others onto the carriage.
On the day she received the invitation, Zhen Wanwan sent someone to greet Cui Jinyi, thinking that she was also a noble lady and should be familiar with such banquets. Now that she was far away from the capital and had no friends, she wanted to take her out for a walk.
When Cui Jinyi learned that it was a flower-viewing banquet favored by ladies and young women, she immediately lost interest, as she had always disliked such occasions when she was in the capital.
Therefore, she decisively rejected Zhen Wanwan.
At this moment, she is diligently studying mechanical arts in the studio that Zhen Wanwan specially built for her in the backyard.
Meanwhile, Zhen Wanwan and her group had already arrived at the Xu family's estate.
This wasn't Zhen Wanwan's first time here, but she was still amazed by the Xu family's wealth after getting off the bus.
Hearing that this was just an inconspicuous estate of the Xu family, Zhen Wanwan couldn't imagine that the main estate of the Xu family was probably comparable to a royal palace!
It is said that there was a Prince Anqing's Mansion in Anqing Prefecture, but she had never been inside it.
Even Zhu Yuan's residence in Anqing Prefecture was far from the Prince's Mansion, and he never mentioned wanting to move in. It seems that Zhu Yuan did not want to appear in public as a descendant of Anqing Prefecture.
She didn't know if the Xu family knew about Zhuyuan's background...
"Madam Zhen! You've arrived! Come in quickly, the flowers are in full bloom!"
Madam Xu greeted Zhen Wanwan with a smile and welcomed her into the house. The two chatted and laughed along the way, and she would occasionally tease her adorable baby, Tianbao. It was clear that the two had a very close relationship.
In the courtyard, many ladies and young misses had already arrived. Zhen Wanwan glanced around and saw that apart from Madam Fang and Miss Xu, there were no other familiar faces.
Madam Xu led her straight to the pavilion with the best view. There were two other ladies sitting in the pavilion, and judging from their attire, they should be people of high status.
The two women rose and exchanged greetings with Zhen Wanwan. One of them, a woman of gentle and elegant bearing, asked with a smile, "I am the wife of Feng He, the Governor-General of the Waterways. May I ask who this lady is...?"
Zhen Wanwan was slightly taken aback, not expecting to run into an acquaintance. Although she had corresponded with Madam Feng, they had never met in person.
Unfortunately, when she got married, Madam Feng's mother was unwell and did not come in person, so this was the first time the two of them met.
Zhen Wanwan's lips curled up slightly, and her face became more friendly: "Mrs. Feng, did you like the wine I sent you a few days ago?"
Madam Feng was stunned for a few seconds, then exclaimed with delight, "You are Madam Zhen?"
Seeing Zhen Wanwan nod, she smiled even more happily, and was slightly excited.
"I love it! I love it so much! You have no idea, I barely had a few sips of this wine before someone snatched it away, there wasn't enough for me at all!"
As she spoke, Madam Feng glanced resentfully at the other lady beside her.
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