Chapter 7 Sleeping Grass: Saving Money and Open Source is Important
"Lord Ningjia, there's no need for that. Our little people are not that fragile."
The clan leader, Cang Lan, appeared out of nowhere. She calmed the clansmen's emotions with a few words before speaking:
"Actually, making sachets is not difficult in itself, but the difficulty lies in collecting herbs. After these days of extensive collection, it is very difficult to find sleeping herbs in this area."
Upon hearing this, Ning Jia looked at the overgrown garden and indeed felt a sense of desolation, as if a lot of weeds had been pulled out.
"In that case, let's not force ourselves."
Ning Jia, after much painful reflection, resolved never to be a heartless boss again.
Canglan shook her head. "My clan will not go back on its promises. Therefore, I would like to ask you to take us to find a new gathering place nearby."
A new gathering site? That means any other place with flowers and grass, right?
Ning Jia thought for a moment. Although there wasn't one nearby, there was a public park a little further away. Since it was free, she would sometimes go there on weekends.
"That's settled then. Let's finish this batch of sachets first. I won't be taking any more orders for now. Let's all go find the raw materials together."
Canglan nodded and then asked the clansmen for their opinions, and no one objected.
The sachet incident was resolved satisfactorily, and the little people returned to their cheerful selves.
Compared to her clansmen who would burst into tears at the drop of a hat, Cang Lan remained calm throughout, which piqued Ning Jia's curiosity.
"Chieftain, did you know this would be the outcome as soon as everyone agreed to make the sachets?"
Cang Lan smiled slightly, "Human desires are endless. If they are not restrained, they will eventually suffer the consequences. Let them suffer a little this time, and they will be more restrained in the future."
Ning Jia secretly broke out in a cold sweat, feeling that the words were a veiled criticism. Indeed, if she hadn't been so eager for money, she wouldn't have exploited the little people like this.
"Clan Chief Canglan, this is all my fault. I promise I will never do it again."
Ning Jia sincerely apologized to Cang Lan.
Canglan shook her head:
“Our race lives here, and survival is not easy. It is a good thing if we can earn some money from the giants within our capabilities to maintain our survival.”
Ning Jia's eyes widened in astonishment. "You mean...?"
Canglan said nothing more, but winked at her, "Please take care of me in the future."
That morning, Ning Jia sat at her workstation and began silently doing the math again:
We've sold nearly 200 sachets in the past few days, at 40 yuan each, which is almost 8,000 yuan. That's a great profit!
However, the main contributor to this sachet business was the little people. She was just a middleman, and the profits were split 30/70 as previously agreed. In other words, the little people saved 5,000 for living expenses through her, which seemed quite considerable.
But assuming the little people consume about 100 yuan worth of fruit each day, this money would only last for a little over a month. What happens when the money runs out? They won't be able to subsidize much of it themselves.
It seems the sachet business can't stop for too long; I need to hurry and take Canglan and the others to find raw materials this Saturday...
Ning Jia took out her A6 loose-leaf notebook and carefully added this week's to-do list: finding raw materials for sachets.
Her focused drawing and writing was observed by those around her.
"Jiajia, are you making a bullet journal again?"
My colleague, who had just arrived at her workstation, glanced at the loose-leaf notebook she had already closed while munching on a multigrain pancake.
"Your notebook, I must say, has a pretty Muji vibe."
"Ugh, it's just a cheap, no-name notebook. I don't have the money to buy a Muji."
Ning Jia chuckled. She hadn't actually spent a penny on this loose-leaf notebook; she had secretly made it while working overtime and when no one was at the company.
The inner pages were cut from the company's A4 printing paper; one A4 sheet could be cut into four A6 sheets. The cover and back cover were made from thick brown paper bags, punched holes, and bound together—it's just like the handmade notebooks that are popular online! As for the pen, of course, it's the M&G gel pen provided by the company.
Sometimes when she couldn't get a pen, she would use a fountain pen that a friend had given her for a few dozen yuan. The ink was quite durable; even after using it for a long time, there was still more than half a bottle left. Fountain pens are really nice.
By the way, it seems like we're almost out of sticky notes. Maybe we can get some more next week...
Ning Jia was pondering a money-saving plan when a colleague dropped a bombshell:
"By the way, have you heard? The company might start laying off employees."
Layoffs? This is the second person to say that recently.
Ning Jia hesitated for a moment, "Really? Didn't you say the company did quite well last year?"
Ningjia Company's clients are mostly banks. Although the economy is downturning, these companies are less affected, so their business has only shrunk slightly, but overall it is still doing okay.
My colleague pointed upwards and said, "It's not bad, but what's the use if the big boss isn't satisfied? He wants to earn even more than before."
That's true, bosses always want to make more money, regardless of whether the economy is good or bad.
Ning Jia felt a little irritated, but she comforted herself, telling herself that she was a high-value talent and no normal boss would lay her off.
Just in case she gets laid off, with her meager cash flow... she won't last long, since she's put most of her savings into fixed deposits to save for a down payment.
I still need to find ways to increase income and reduce expenditure. I was planning to be lazy and buy fruit near home today, but it looks like I'll have to go to Duoduoduo to grab some...
That night, He Meng jumped around in the grass that was taller than herself, her patience almost completely worn out. "Why isn't Ning Jia here yet? Why isn't she here yet?"
Hidden in the grass, Guoguo held up a small pink flower, tearing off the petals one by one, muttering to herself, "Come? Not come? Come? Not come? Come? Not come?..."
Bai Su couldn't help but chuckle as she looked at the expectant expressions on the faces of the two children.
"Didn't Ning Jia say she's very busy with work and it's okay if she can't come sometimes? We still have plenty of food. It's only one day, what's there to be afraid of?"
"Are you all so eager for fresh fruit?"
He Meng lightly leaped out of the bushes and sighed, "Bai Su, you don't understand."
"Was it for the fruit? What I like is the surprise of not knowing what food will be served today."
"As expected, there's a reason why Pop Mart was able to go public—"
A familiar female voice rang out softly, and a huge head popped out from the bushes at the edge of the garden, startling He Meng and the others. They looked up and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ah, Ning Jia, you've finally arrived."
Ning Jia waved to them, picked up today's food, and quickly walked into the small garden. "Sorry I'm late."
"Actually, if you have to work overtime, you don't have to come. I was just joking."
Seeing that Ning Jia didn't seem to be in good spirits, He Meng murmured with some guilt.
"No, I didn't work overtime today, I'm just a little tired."
Ning Jia didn't want to say more, so she directly opened the two bulging bags and said, "You guys should take the food back quickly."
He Meng and Guo Guo asked with great anticipation, "Wow, what will we eat today?"
Seeing the two of them staring wide-eyed with almost identical expressions of excitement, as if Ning Jia was about to open a bag of jewelry instead of a bag of food, Ning Jia's expression softened slightly.
She took out the food one by one, while He Meng and Guo Guo exclaimed in surprise one after another:
Wow, they have strawberries today!
"Wow, there are my favorite bananas again!"
He Meng and Guo Guo were shouting and yelling around the bag.
In contrast, Bai Su was much calmer. After taking stock of the food, she called over a few tribesmen to help. The group of little people moved the food away in two or three trips, like ants carrying house.
Bai Su had already memorized the quantity of ingredients and thanked Ning Jia:
"With the food left over from before, it should be enough for us to eat for several days. You don't need to come every day."
Ning Jia paused for a moment, then shook her head and said, "Anyway, I don't have anything else to do, and it's quite enjoyable to chat with you guys."
He Meng overheard their conversation and suddenly interjected, "Haha, it must be because everyone loves me that Ning Jia likes to come here."
As she spoke, she crouched down at Ning Jia's feet, cradling her little head in her hands, and looked at her with expectant eyes.
"No, that's not true! Everyone loves me!"
Guoguo, who was munching on a strawberry, immediately came over to compete for Ning Jia's attention, blinking her big eyes at her.
"I'm sorry, they're not very understanding. You've had a long day too, get some rest."
Bai Su looked at the two fooling around with some helplessness, sighed, and dragged the two of them away.
Seeing that the small garden would soon return to silence, Ning Jia folded the empty bag and stuffed it into her pocket, then slowly walked out of the garden.
Oh, I almost forgot—
Startled, she quickly ran back and said to the big tree in the garden, "Tell Chief Canglan that tomorrow at three o'clock in the afternoon..."
She suddenly realized that the Lilliputians didn't have a 24-hour system, and changed her mind, saying, "Tomorrow the hottest and brightest part of the day will be over, then I'll take you to find vanilla~"
"Okay~~"
A small figure quickly emerged from the bushes and waved the branch spear in its hand at Ning Jia a few times.
Ning Jia smiled and shook her head. He Meng, that guy, may seem unreliable, but he's really fast when he runs...
A note from the author:
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