Chapter 3028 Selection
Fortunately, the guard who brought them here was reliable. Upon hearing what was said, he said to them, "Rest for a while, I will go and report to the Lord."
One of the two guards stayed behind, and the other went back to the backyard.
Bai Shan was pleasantly surprised to hear that they had recruited over thirty people. He was even more delighted to hear that twenty-one of them were women. "Where are they?"
"It's in the county government office in front."
The guard was from the Bai family. Although he wasn't as close to Madam Liu as Daji was to the master and his wife, he had always been with her. He naturally knew that his master wasn't the type to look down on women, so he said, "Some of the ladies there used to be maids in wealthy families. Even if they couldn't read, they knew a lot about knitting."
Bai Shan said happily: "Great! I'm in need of someone like this right now."
Why were the clothes sold to farmhands by the county government so cheap? Of course, it was because the quality was poor.
As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. The clothes now displayed in the households for the farmhands are all the practice works of the female workers. Of course, even if they are just practice works, they have tried their best to do their best, but there are always some flaws, and it takes time and effort to correct those flaws.
For example, the stitching isn't tight enough, or one sleeve looks slightly smaller than the other...
So Bai Shan simply gave the goods to the farmhands at cost price.
The cost price was only the price of the fabric. Bai Shan lost money on needlework and labor. It could be said that he lost money every time he made a set of such clothes.
But there was no other way. The farmhands he recruited needed clothes, and the female workers also needed practice. He obviously didn't have that much time to wait for them to grow slowly, so he increased the quantity and did more. He didn't believe that they couldn't practice.
Of course, he would be happier if there were excellent female workers, and even happier if there were some who could read and count.
Because labor is easy to find, but people who can manage the labor are hard to find.
Fortunately, Bai Erlang and Yin Huo were helping him, and the people around them were also useful. Manbao helped him share some of the burden through the Medical Bureau. Even Princess Mingda, who was suffering from morning sickness, brought her palace maids to help him keep an eye on Yushan Hall.
Otherwise, he would not be able to take care of such a large place at once.
When Zhou Man heard that some of the women who came could read, he immediately wanted to go over and ask, "Have they had their meals yet?"
"No."
Zhou Man turned around and called Jiulan, "Take some money and go out to the stall outside to buy some pancakes and send them to the front."
Jiulan agreed and went back to the house to get the money. Bai Shan held Zhou Man and said, "You should eat first and then go. There is no rush."
Zhou Man has been pregnant for a short time, but Mingda has already started to have morning sickness. Zhou Man, on the other hand, has no reaction at all and is full of energy every day. But Bai Shan is very worried, fearing that one day something might be wrong with her and she would have a reaction.
There wasn't much he could do, just try not to let her go hungry or thirsty.
Among the twenty-one ladies, only two were literate. Both were born as maids. One had once served a young master, and the other was a maid of a lady. Not only was she literate, she could also manage accounts.
Zhou Man was moved by what he saw. Bai Shan directly took them in to work as female workers in the weaving room under the household building. He would observe them for a period of time first. If their character and ability were acceptable, he would let them take charge.
Bai Shan invited the weavers and embroiderers from Qingzhou City to come and see the people. He asked them to sew some things with needles, and asked them to do a few movements with spinning thread and spindles. Then he selected thirteen people, and the remaining eight were the ones they had left over.
The remaining eight watched helplessly as the thirteen of them stood aside, feeling uneasy. Would they be sent back?
That is of course impossible. In addition to weaving cloth and making clothes, Bai Shan also needs people who can cook and grow vegetables and farm, regardless of gender.
He asked, "Who of you cooks better?"
The eight ladies rushed to recommend themselves, and their eyes looked at each other fiercely.
Bai Shan said calmly, "There are quite a few people who need to cook in the kitchen. Besides that, we also need people who can grow vegetables and raise chickens and ducks. These jobs can all be done, so there's no need to fight for them. Honestly, are your cooking skills really that good?"
After hearing what Bai Shan said, the eight people's expressions improved a lot, and they hurriedly said, "Sir, cooking and growing vegetables are trivial matters. What woman can't do it? I have been able to cook since I was eight years old. I have been cooking for nearly twenty years now. I am very skilled."
The other seven people nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes."
The youngest among them was thirteen years old, and she was not chosen to make clothes. The embroiderer said that her palms were too thick and stiff, and she couldn't even bend the needle. She was a little anxious, but her voice was very low and drowned out by the voices of others.
But Zhou Man was standing nearby and heard everything clearly. "I can carry water to water the vegetables. I'm very strong. I could carry full buckets of water when I was eight years old."
Zhou Man turned his head to look at her and saw that she had long arms and legs. Although she was only thirteen years old, she was as tall as the woman next to her, but her face was very tender. Most importantly, Zhou Man could see that she had a big frame and must be very strong.
She is still small now. When she grows taller, she might be taller... and bigger than a cake.
Well, the cake is tall, but this one...
The more Zhou Man looked at her, the brighter his eyes became. He immediately turned around and said to Bai Shan, "I like this one. Please give her to me."
The crowd was startled and turned to look at the young lady.
The young lady was a little timid and shrank back, almost hiding behind the crowd.
Some people showed sarcasm on their faces, and one even said, "Madam, look at me, I am also very capable.
The young lady lowered her head in frustration and shrank back.
On the other side, one of the thirteen people came out, pulled her out, and pushed her in front of Zhou Man, saying with a smile: "Madam, my sister has nothing but strength, and she is honest and obedient. If you point west, she will definitely not go east."
After saying that, he lowered his voice and said to her, "What are you standing there for? Why don't you thank the madam?"
She dared to run away from home, of course, because of her friends' instigation, but her courage was also a factor. So, although she was timid, she still raised her bright eyes to look at Zhou Man, knelt down and saluted, "Thank you, Madam."
Seeing her standard greeting, Zhou Man guessed her background and couldn't help but smile. He nodded a little more kindly and said, "I am the director of the Medical Department. You can call me Sir from now on."
The young lady readily accepted the advice and immediately said, "Thank you, sir."
Bai Shan certainly wouldn't compete with her for the girl, although she didn't understand why she wanted a somewhat stupid girl. Obviously, Si Jing, who was more prominent, was better. It was obvious that she was the backbone of this group of girls, and she could also read.
Oh, she is the big girl who followed the young master on his study tours.
(End of this chapter)
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