"Any meal with oil? How is that possible? You must be lying." The man was somewhat skeptical. After all, even when the government was hiring people to do work a few days ago, they were only given food to fill their stomachs; he had never seen anyone have an oily meal every day.
"It's true, I heard that on good days, you can pick out three or four slices of meat in a bowl of vegetables, and at the very least, you can eat some minced meat. His mother said that he worked outside for half a month and when he came back, he actually gained two pounds. Isn't that great?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than the man eagerly raised his hand, pushed forward, and shouted, "I want to sign up! Sign me up now!"
"What are we waiting for? Hurry up and sign up!" The people behind them seemed to wake up from a dream and quickly raised their hands, all wanting to enter this newly opened workshop.
Meng Zhao had them line up and asked each of them their name, age, which village they were from, and their general family situation. She explained that if they lived far away, they would need to stay overnight and wouldn't be able to go home for several days. If they had elderly people or children at home who needed care, it wouldn't be suitable for them to work for her.
It took more than an hour to recruit forty-three female workers and eight male workers.
Of the eight men, two lived far away and needed accommodation, while the others were from three surrounding villages and could go home every day instead of staying at the workshop.
Of the forty-three female workers, twenty-two needed accommodation. The number of women far exceeded that of men, which ensured their safety. Moreover, places with more women were generally more stable and less prone to disputes. In addition, with Sister Yu Mei watching over them, Meng Zhao could rest assured.
After the recruitment ended, nearly a hundred people were still gathered at the workshop entrance. Most of them had not been selected and were hoping to plead for leniency or find a job through a loophole. However, when they saw that Meng Zhao and the others had already put away the register, they realized that they had no chance. Some of them even covered their faces and cried.
Meng Zhao then spoke of something else: "It doesn't matter that you all didn't come to work in the workshop. I have another way to make money to tell you all." Although his voice wasn't loud, it was still clearly heard by everyone.
A woman who had just been wiping away tears suddenly became excited and asked loudly, "What is it? I'm willing to do any job as long as I can make money."
Her home is far away, and she has no place to stay. She met all the other requirements but was not hired. She couldn't help but cry just now, but when she heard that there was still a chance, she immediately stopped crying.
Meng Zhao had just recovered from her illness, and her throat was still a little dry. She had just said a lot of things, and now she really couldn't talk anymore, so she raised her hand to beckon Sister-in-law Yu Mei over so that she could speak to everyone.
"Dear sisters, grandmothers and aunties, please don't be sad. Our workshop is not only hiring workers. Starting tomorrow, we will also be buying potatoes on a long-term basis. I heard that every household in Hongnong County grows potatoes. I imagine you have a lot stored up at home. If you have any left over, don't worry, just bring them to our workshop to sell."
Everyone looked at each other, bewildered. Potatoes? Almost every household stocks up on them, and another batch is going to be planted this spring. The problem is, potatoes don't fetch a good price; they'll just be for their own consumption. Even if they sold them now, how much profit could they make?
Someone asked curiously, "So, what price do you pay when you buy potatoes?"
Sister Yu Mei's voice was bright and clear, and her words carried throughout the workshop entrance: "As long as the quality is up to standard, we will pay five copper coins for four catties of potatoes brought to the workshop to sell!"
"Hiss—" Upon hearing this, everyone gasped in surprise and began whispering among themselves. Five coins for four catties—even if you took it to the county, you could only sell it for that price. Besides, in the county, you would be haggled over, and if you couldn't get a good stall, you might not be able to sell any at all.
"So how much are you going to charge?" someone else asked.
Sister-in-law Yumei replied, "For the first half month, we will accept whatever amount you bring in."
"Really?" An old lady's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly said, "I still have more than 30 kilograms in my cellar, I'll bring them all over tomorrow."
“Alright, Auntie, it’s only about 30 pounds. It’s tiring for you to carry it back and forth. Why don’t you go back to the village and tell the other villagers, and everyone can chip in and bring a cartload over together, so you won’t have to carry it all yourself?” Sister Yu Mei said with a smile.
The reason Meng Zhao brought up this matter at the time of recruitment was because he had learned a lesson from the potato harvesting incident in Shenjia Village.
Because Shenjia Village had an acquaintance named Lizheng, from the very beginning when they started collecting potatoes, they found the Lizheng of each village or someone with connections in the village. Later, as the collection increased, they signed contracts with each village, entrusting them with the responsibility of collecting potatoes and then selling them to starch workshops.
At first it was fine, but later some middlemen emerged. They would buy potatoes from the villagers and then sell them to workshops, making a profit from the price difference.
There's nothing wrong with making money by taking advantage of information asymmetry. There are also some conscientious people who go to more distant places to collect potatoes and then bring them back to sell to workshops, earning a meager living in the process.
There were also some village leaders who were willing to work hard for the village without spending money. When Meng Zhao found out about this, he sent them New Year's gifts in the name of the workshop.
But some people are unscrupulous; they charge such low prices that those who truly work hard to grow crops often don't make any money.
Meng Zhao could pretend she didn't see it, since she spent the same amount of money, so it didn't matter who she received it from. But seeing those who worked hard to cultivate the land but reaped meager harvests, and yet had to be grateful to those middlemen who made money, was really distressing.
So she simply used this job recruitment gimmick to spread the word about the price she would pay for potatoes, so that people in each village would have a clear idea of the price, and even if someone wanted to make money from it, it wouldn't be so easy for them.
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