The village chiefs were immediately struck by the elegance and grandeur of Yan Qingqing's house as soon as they entered. From the outside, the house seemed large, but once inside, it was built to rival the grandeur of a wealthy household.
They were overwhelmed by the sights as it was their first time visiting, but Li Kaishan was a frequent visitor. He curled his lip at the village chiefs' unworldly appearance, probably having forgotten how he felt when he first visited Yan Qingqing's house.
Soon Yan Qingqing led the village chiefs of several villages to the front hall. Yan Qingqing and Li Kaishan sat at the head of the table, while the village chiefs sat below them. Ruyi quickly served tea.
The village chief of Dayang Village, who had a short temper, stood up and said, "I know it was wrong for those rascals in our village to fight in Canghe Village. I will teach them a lesson when I get back. But one thing is one thing. We are all from neighboring villages, and Brother Kaishan is the village chief. We can't show favoritism."
Li Kaishan remained silent, as did Yan Qingqing. This made the village chiefs from the other villages anxious, and they started talking all at once. Yan Qingqing suddenly felt like there were five hundred ducks clamoring in front of her again.
Finally, Li Kaishan, unable to bear the noise any longer, spoke up: "Alright, how old are you? Aren't you ashamed? But I really can't make this decision. You have to ask my niece-in-law's opinion."
Several pairs of eyes immediately turned to Yan Qingqing.
Yan Qingqing: ......
She shouldn't have meddled in other people's business out of kindness; look at how Li Kaishan shifted the blame. But thinking about it carefully, Li Kaishan was only trying to respect her.
So he said, "Since the village chiefs have put it this way, it would seem unreasonable for me not to agree. But I am, after all, a native of Canghe Village, and I have lived here for nearly twenty years. My workshops are all located here. So, like last time, how about we hire half from Canghe Village and half from the other five villages?"
The village chiefs were overjoyed to hear this. Although they also wanted more spots, Yan Qingqing was right; they couldn't compete with her in any way.
The village chief of Wangjia Village was quick-witted. After carefully considering what Yan Qingqing had just said, his eyes lit up and he said, "You can also set up your workshop in our Wangjia Village. Don't worry, our village will definitely support you. Just tell me which piece of land you want. Even if it's occupied by someone else, I can get them to move it for you."
Moreover, our village has waived all the land fees for you.
As soon as the village chief of Wangjia Village finished speaking, he saw the village chiefs of the other villages staring at him with wide eyes in disbelief, their eyes clearly saying, "You're a real talent."
Just as everyone else was looking at Village Chief Wang with admiration, Li Kaishan suddenly stood up and cursed, "Wang Ergou, I was just trying to help you out, and you're trying to undermine our village! Get out of Canghe Village! If you ever step into this village again, I'll kick you out with a big stick!"
Village Chief Wang's real name is Wang Ergou. Over the years, everyone has respectfully addressed him as "Village Chief." But now, Li Kaishan is furious and doesn't care about such formalities.
Village Chief Wang realized he had misspoke. Who would want someone from another village to dig up their village's wealth? He didn't blame Li Kaishan for being so angry, so he whispered, "Oh, I was just saying it casually, brother, don't take it seriously."
Li Kaishan snorted and sat back down on the stool, fuming. The village chiefs from the other villages didn't dare to say anything more.
Seeing the heavy atmosphere, Yan Qingqing suddenly found it a bit funny. These old guys were all over fifty years old, yet they were still arguing and bickering. So she thought for a moment and then added, "Since the village chiefs are all here, I'll make this clear from the start: if anyone is found to be cunning, dishonest, or with impure intentions, they will never be hired again, and none of my family's workshops will ever use such people again."
I hope all village chiefs will convey this message to their villagers. Don't say I'm disrespecting you.
The village chiefs repeatedly expressed their understanding and assured them that the message would be relayed. They also said that they would never plead for them if such a person existed.
Soon, Yan Qingqing's family finalized their recruitment list. The mushroom cultivation workshop temporarily needed twelve people, half from Canghe Village and half from other villages. They would receive 500 wen per month, two days off per month, double pay at the end of the year, and bonuses if the business performed well.
The food processing workshop needs a lot of manpower, a total of 120 people, because there are many types of products to be processed, and most of them are assembly line work. Both men and women can do it. The tentative wage is 400 coins per month, with two days off per month and double pay at the end of the year. Similarly, there will be bonuses if the business is good.
Those who were selected were overjoyed, as if it were New Year's Day, and wanted to go home and celebrate by selling their meat. Those who were not selected were dejected, feeling like they had missed out on hundreds of millions.
Yan Qingqing was quite at ease leaving the mushroom cultivation workshop to Jia's management, mainly because she didn't know how to cultivate mushrooms herself. Besides, the food processing workshop also needed her.
Because there are many different types of products, Yan Qingqing has to teach each of them the techniques one by one. So since the workshop started operating, Yan Qingqing has been busy all day long.
Half a month passed and Yan Qingqing was exhausted. Only after the various production lines produced qualified products did Yan Qingqing start to worry about sales channels again.
Although she had already negotiated with several restaurants and shops, the demand for these restaurants and shops was limited, so it seemed she would need to go out and explore when she had some free time.
However, Yan Qingqing was thinking of opening up the market in Chengyang County first. She had someone send some of the produced bean products to Magistrate Ling, and then took samples to the restaurants and shops that had been agreed upon.
On this trip, Yan Qingqing ordered 500 jin of bean curd sheets, 600 jin of dried tofu, 400 jin of dried eggs, and 800 jin of artificial meat.
The price of bean curd sheets is set at 90 wen per catty, dried tofu at 70 wen per catty, dried eggs at 100 wen, and artificial meat at 80 wen. Of course, the profit margin is very high, since beans are very cheap. However, things are valued for their scarcity. Yan Qingqing wants to make a lot of money while they are fresh, otherwise, when will she be able to break even?
Once these items become mass-market consumer goods, they certainly won't be able to sell for such high prices anymore.
With her order containing several hundred taels of silver notes, Yan Qingqing happily headed back to Canghe Village.
But on the way, an unpleasant incident occurred. An old flower seller was pushed to the ground by a fierce-looking woman. The woman cursed, "You old hag, what's the use of taking care of these flowers all day? You're so old and you're still causing trouble for people. Why don't you just die?"
As more and more people gathered around, Yan Qingqing, who had originally intended to hurry home, found herself surrounded by an ever-growing crowd who criticized the woman for being too fierce.
Unexpectedly, the woman sat down on the ground and burst into tears, crying and asking everyone to judge the matter. Yan Qingqing, who couldn't go over there for the time being, had no choice but to stop and listen as well.
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