Just now, when the village head was worried about the output of Shenjia Village, Meng Zhao did not directly say that she was planning to open workshops in other places. Her interests and the village head's interests were different. She was in it to make money, while the village head was more concerned about the village.
Meng Zhao's decision to open a new workshop elsewhere is tantamount to starting from scratch. After all, when she opened her workshop in Shenjia Village, she gave the village a considerable share of the profits in order to take advantage of the village's resources. This money was all deposited in Shenjia Village's accounts.
Now that she has accumulated some savings over this period, she no longer needs to use the previous method. With the new workshop established, its profits will naturally be higher. The village head will inevitably worry that she is favoring one over the other and that this will cause discord. Therefore, this matter needs to be handled slowly and cannot be rushed.
The festive atmosphere of the New Year gradually dissipated, and it had been more than half a month since the shop reopened. Meng Zhao hadn't been to the money shop in a while, and now the money box in the shop was almost full. So she counted out one hundred taels, called Xiao Chuan over, and helped her carry the money box onto the donkey cart.
Don't be fooled by the fact that it's only a hundred taels; the shop mainly accepts copper coins every day, and only a few pieces of silver, so it's exceptionally heavy, and Meng Zhao himself simply can't move it.
When she went to the money exchange with her suitcase, all she had left was a piece of paper. This was a new way of saving money that had emerged in recent years. By depositing silver in the money exchange, one could exchange it for a deposit slip.
At first, many people didn't trust it. How could they entrust their own money to someone else? Later, because it was so convenient to check, and most of the money shops were well-known wealthy merchants with a good reputation, people gradually accepted it.
Meng Zhao came from the modern era, so he was naturally very familiar with this way of depositing and withdrawing money, but the money shops at that time and modern banks were two completely different models.
Modern banks offer various services such as transfers, remittances, and loans. However, the money shops of that time were more like custodian institutions, simply placing money in a safe place for safekeeping. When withdrawing money, it could only be done locally, not across regions. The deposit slips were not circulated in the market, and they did not have the function of banknotes, let alone be equivalent to paper money.
Money shops, on the other hand, would lend out the silver deposited by customers in exchange for profits.
Merchants can also avoid the awkward situation of making money but having nowhere to hide it by depositing their money there.
Meng Zhao handed the exchanged deposit slips to Xu Yunrong, who said with a hint of reproach, "You silly child, why did you exchange them for deposit slips? This flimsy piece of paper is nothing compared to real money."
Seeing Xu Yunrong's nervous expression, Meng Zhao jokingly said, "Mom, it's because your daughter can make money. If this continues, our family won't even have a place to hide our money."
Xu Yunrong gave her a soft hum, wrapped the deposit slip she brought in a piece of white paper, and tucked it into a book. "You have to be careful. What if the deposit slip gets dirty or lost? You won't be able to get it out."
Meng Zhao nodded. There was no real-name registration system back then. If you lost your bank card, you could get a replacement. Now, deposits and withdrawals all depended on a deposit slip. If you lost it, it was really gone.
Seeing her nod, Xu Yunrong felt a little scared again.
“If someone were to steal this, they would have a hard time taking even a hundred taels of silver. If it fell into the river, we would at least hear a splash. But now it’s so light, they can just grab it and go. If it falls into the water, we won’t even hear a splash.”
Xu Yunrong paced back and forth in the room, searching for a place to hide the money. She felt uneasy no matter where she put it, as if Meng Zhao had brought her a bomb instead of money.
Meng Zhao couldn't help but laugh, and then helped her mother find the hiding place of the money, which was eventually hidden in a small compartment at the bottom of the drawer.
This compartment is very well hidden and would be difficult to spot without careful inspection.
"Hey, you know what, hiding a booklet is much easier than hiding a silver box." Xu Yunrong was satisfied after the money was hidden.
"That's right. From now on, we'll convert all the silver into deposit slips. We can withdraw only what we need. Otherwise, it's not easy to store heavy silver at home."
Xu Yunrong shook her head. "Then let's take the money. I feel more at ease with the money. This deposit slip is just a flimsy piece of paper. I always feel uneasy about it."
Seeing this, Meng Zhao smiled helplessly. The emergence of a new thing inevitably takes many years to be gradually accepted by people.
After returning home, Meng Zhao first went to the tailor shop to pick up the work clothes and shoes she had ordered.
Upon arriving at the shop, they first handed the clothes to Jianqiu and Jianxia, saying, "You two should try them on quickly. I specifically instructed the tailor to make the size slightly larger, so that even if you gain some weight in the future, they will still fit you."
The two had just changed their clothes and stepped out when Meng Zhao heard a commotion coming from the shop, so she quickly went out to check.
When they arrived at the shop, they saw a man grabbing Cui Ying's arm with a furious expression, while Shen Yun and Liu Niangzi were trying to calm him down and persuade him to let go.
The man not only refused to let go, but also shouted loudly, "Do you know how much these clothes cost? Just tell me how much you owe me! I'm afraid even if you were sold to a brothel, I couldn't afford to pay for these clothes."
This man looked quite refined, yet he spoke so sharply and sarcastically, and even dared to lay a hand on her in her shop. Meng Zhao quickly stepped forward, precisely grabbed the man's wrist, and forcefully pushed her thumb into the inside of his wrist. This was a move she had learned in modern times, which could quickly dislodge a person's strength.
The man felt a sharp pain and instinctively released his grip on Cui Ying's hand, shouting, "Someone's being hit! Someone's being hit! Someone's being hit! Someone's being hit! Someone's being hit by Meng Ji's people!"
"Sir, you can't just say things like that. There are so many people watching. I just removed your hand from my shop assistant's body. When did I hit anyone?"
The man's face contorted in pain as he angrily stretched out his wrist, wanting everyone to see. Curious onlookers craned their necks to look, but after a long time, they couldn't discern anything.
In order to make food, Meng Zhao did not grow any fingernails. He just relied solely on his thumb to exert force. If this person's skin were more delicate, some finger marks might have been visible. However, this person's skin is thick and rough, so he only felt soreness in his wrist, but no marks could be seen at all.
A nearby diner, unable to bear the sight, said to the man with disdain, "If you have something to say, say it. Don't talk nonsense. We're all watching. When did anyone hit you? This young lady just pulled your hand away. Besides, how much strength can a young woman have? It shouldn't hurt that much."
Those around him nodded in agreement, saying, "That's right, you can't just say things like that."
Only then did Meng Zhao have time to ask what had happened. Cui Ying trembled slightly as she slowly recounted the whole story.
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