When Shen Jia told the shop's servants and partners the news, one can imagine their surprise.
Li Qin, in particular, couldn't believe the Shen family could pay off their labor service, yet still insist on sending their own men to the battlefield. Even a family as poor as his wouldn't send their own men to fight.
When the conscription news came out, everyone in the family couldn't help but look at their second brother. He was unemployed and lazy. If someone in the family had to serve, it would definitely be him.
Just when a family war was about to break out, Old Man Li stood up and said that there was still money saved at home, but it was only used this time, and there was no telling what would happen next time.
Thanks to Shen Jia's previous help to him, plus the savings of his family, all put together, he was able to pay the money this time.
At the same time, the family members secretly set a goal to work together to earn money so that they would no longer have to worry about such things.
Seeing Shen Jia's calm expression when he said this, Li Qin and the others couldn't help but marvel. That is, Shen Hao must have a sincere heart to serve his country, otherwise who would be willing to fight to the death on the battlefield?
For a moment, I admired Shen Hao even more, and also felt a little awe towards the Shen family.
After seeing off Li Qin and the other people who came to pick up the goods, Shen Jia led a few people from the shop and started walking towards the workshop. Today was the day when their Shen's Tofu Workshop would start work. The plaque hanging high on the door had been covered with red cloth, and many workers had gathered at the door.
Because it was the first day, the pick-up and drop-off service had not started yet, so everyone came in the dark and almost everyone arrived at dawn.
Looking at the pairs of excited eyes looking at him, Shen Jia did not continue with a cold face, but said: "Everyone has worked hard today. We will start working tomorrow. You can rest more in the future."
Is there any other boss in the entire Linyuan County who can compare with Shen Jia in making such thoughtful arrangements?
All of a sudden, the crowd began to get agitated. They had thought it was a lie and were ready to get up early and go to work every day, but now it seems that they were narrow-minded.
Everyone started talking at once, expressing their gratitude to Shen Jia. The town looked lively and bustling. The previously sparsely populated outskirts of the town also became bustling because of the workshop.
When the auspicious time arrived, firecrackers rang out. Under everyone's gaze, Shen Jia and the others stood on both sides. Just then she shouted, "Today, the Shen's Tofu Workshop officially opens!"
The four of them simultaneously pulled down the hanging red cloth, and a plaque with six large characters "Shen's Tofu Workshop" appeared before everyone's eyes.
Deafening cheers and applause congratulated the establishment of Shen's Tofu Workshop, indicating that from today on, Shen's would begin to expand rapidly to the outside world.
"Today is the first day of work. We have strict rules in our workshop, so before we start, everyone needs to listen carefully to the rules. If anyone violates them, they will be fined at the very least, kicked out of the workshop at the worst, and may even be brought to justice.
So after listening to our regulations, those who have no objections line up to sign our contract first, and then start work after everything is ready."
After saying that, he gestured for Fuqiu to read out the contents on the paper he had given her. This was also the first time Fuqiu had given a lecture in front of so many people, so it was impossible for her not to be nervous.
But when he thought of Shen Jia's encouragement and support, he felt as if he had infinite courage. He took a deep breath and said:
"Hello everyone! We have 10 rules in our workshop. The first one is that everyone must arrive at the workshop on time every day and hang their work badge on the wall for inspection..."
I originally thought that this newly opened workshop would definitely have lax regulations, but after hearing what I heard today, I realized that I had underestimated the owner Shen Jia, and I didn't dare to miss a word from Fuqiu.
Because most of the villagers were illiterate, the final form of signing the contract was to sign with fingerprints. However, after counting the number of people, Shen Jia discovered that there was actually a man who had not arrived at this time.
Logically speaking, no one would be willing to give up such a job opportunity, because she asked the densely packed crowd, "Does anyone know Wan He from Ganquan Village? Why didn't he come today?"
A man standing in the back raised his hand and shouted, "Boss, I know, we're from the same village. Aren't they recruiting soldiers recently? He's the only one in his family, me and his eldest son, who just turned 15. So he's enlisting and probably won't be here."
This news was like a bomb dropped on the crowd, causing an instant sensation. There were actually people who missed this job because of military service.
But if one day they were asked to choose between their grown-up son and themselves, they would probably choose to sacrifice themselves.
Shen Jia only frowned after hearing this, then quickly realized, "Forget it, one less person won't cause any trouble.
I will now arrange your specific tasks. Men and women will stand on either side. Men should follow Yang Shu now. You will be responsible for grinding the soy milk, filtering it, and carrying it to the stove.
After that, in addition to grinding soy milk every day, you can also assign people to the mules next to the millstone. According to the location of each village, you can rotate five mules every day as mule cart transportation tools.
The two columns of women in front follow Shen Yue and Yang Pozi to learn how to make soy milk every day. As for the process of making soy milk, only you two are responsible.
There are 10 people on one side of the stove in front of me. One side is used to make tofu, five on the other side are used to make bean curd sheets, and the remaining five are temporarily used to make dried tofu and bean skin.
There will be someone to teach you how to do it. Just follow the instructions now and don’t worry about other things.
As for the others, they are responsible for secondary processing, packaging and some miscellaneous tasks in the back.
Okay, the people I just called out should take their seats now, and I'll make arrangements for the others later."
At the command, everyone followed the leader and left according to their own arrangements. Shen Jia looked at the remaining twenty female workers and shouted, "Follow me."
"You three see this piece of cloth, right? It will start moving soon. Pour all the tofu that's being passed to you into this large wooden mold in front of you. Once the tofu reaches the black mark, move to the next mold.
The same goes for the two of you, except you're in charge of the mold next door. Once it's all filled, close the final lid and tighten the wooden lid and the iron press of the mold. Remember to keep an eye on it, as it will change.
Wait until the lid touches the red line to open it. You three are selling the tofu directly, so remember to move it in time. You two must also notify the people at the three stoves behind to start braising in a timely manner.
The ten of you will stand in front of the cloth strip at the back and be responsible for packing the dried tofu and bean curd sheets that are delivered. The remaining two people will take out the bean curd sheets from the five stoves in front and dry them in the sun before bringing them here for packing."
The first day was mainly to familiarize themselves with the operating mode. Shen Jia did not allocate a lot of soybeans for them to use in production. Being able to cook 10 pots of tofu today was considered a good performance. As for other products, she did not have much expectations.
However, the advantage of having more people immediately became apparent. In just half a day, they cooked 10 pots. Looking at the cloth strips rolling steadily behind them, everyone exclaimed in amazement.
"Wow! It actually moved on its own."
"It's very stable. It doesn't shake even with such a heavy object on it. What makes it so stable?"
"It seems we only need to stay in front of the stove. It's easier than working at home before."
…
In this way, the food can be directly sent to the final pressing after cooking, so there is no need to transfer the pots one by one by manpower, which speeds up the process a lot. Because the mold this time is very large, 10 pots only fill one and a half molds. Shen Jia asked them to stop and see the effect for the time being.
As for the pressing on the other side, it takes longer time to squeeze out more water, which meets the conditions for making dried tofu and bean curd skin.
The female worker in charge of picking out the bean curd sheets never expected that she could pick out a layer of yellow flakes from the soy milk that had been cooked for a long time, and then immediately hang them on the bamboo pole in front of her.
Then when it stops dripping, someone will take it away, hang it in a ventilated open space, and finally package it and sell it.
All in all, Shen Jia was quite satisfied with everyone's performance today.
While she satisfied everyone, everyone's admiration for her was beyond words. Not only was she familiar with the magical tofu, but she also knew everything else. No matter what questions they raised, she was able to answer and solve them in a timely manner.
Because Shen Jia had already agreed with Li Qin and the others in advance that the place for purchasing and shipping soybeans would be moved to the workshop, so people continued to enter and exit the workshop gate, making Shen Ci very busy.
As for the tofu shop, it will be temporarily managed by the eldest son and his wife of the Yang family, because they will get goods from the workshop in the future, and there is no need to worry about them embezzling money. Yang Ze will continue to learn from Shen Ci.
Fuqiu was still in charge of the account books, while Shen Jia took charge of the overall situation, wandering around the workshop alone. When she arrived at Yang Shu's area, she felt a headache looking at the mountain of bean dregs.
Originally, the bean dregs were given to the mules and cows in the family to eat, and they could digest them temporarily. But today, when the workshop opened, even if all the mules ate them three times a day, they would not be able to finish them.
So when the workshop was closing today, Shen Jia looked at the workers who were about to leave and suggested, "We have some bean dregs left over every day in our workshop. Anyone who wants can take two pounds back home to eat."
The people who have the most say about these bean dregs are the men who grind soy milk. The faint bean fragrance makes them hungry. The bean dregs look very soft, so eating them should not cause bloating like beans.
He was the first to attack the bean dregs, and seeing this, the others joined in, and poured the rest into the mule's wooden trough for the mule to eat.
Because of Shen Jia's generosity, the workers expressed their gratitude to her as they left. The last one to leave was a thin girl, and Shen Jia recognized her identity at a glance - Li Chun.
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