Before we knew it, the end of the year was approaching again. This year, the Li family's business had expanded considerably, and they had more social interactions than last year, making them even busier than last year.
In addition, Yuan Huiniang's pregnancy was progressing, so Yan Qingqing was busy like a spinning top every day.
They were either taking stock of accounts or preparing gifts for the festival.
Seeing that Yan Qingqing was busy from morning till night every day without a moment's rest, Yuan Huiniang said with some heartache, "Mother, why don't you let your younger sister help you?"
"Your body definitely can't take this kind of overwork for long periods of time."
A sarcastic smile tugged at the corner of Yan Qingqing's lips. Some people might really be cold-hearted and heartless.
She asked herself if she had treated Li Xinniang any badly. She wouldn't say she always did what Li Xinniang wanted, but she had certainly made plans for her in every way.
We disagreed on the marriage, but now we're like two strangers.
In fact, Yan Qingqing wouldn't have objected if Li Xinniang had been determined to marry Wu Jingzhi; it was just that Li Xinniang's way of handling things greatly disappointed her.
Moreover, ever since her marriage to Wu Jingzhi was confirmed, Li Xinniang has been hiding in her room every day embroidering her wedding dress.
He doesn't concern himself with anything at home, whether it's a big or small matter.
Not to mention Yan Qingqing, even Li Xiangping and the others were extremely disappointed in Li Xinniang.
When Yuan Huiniang saw Yan Qingqing's indifferent expression when Li Xinniang was mentioned, she knew that Yan Qingqing would not forgive Li Xinniang easily.
So she didn't try to persuade her anymore, and instead changed the subject, saying, "Mother, I've tried to draft a gift list myself, please take a look."
We don't have many relatives. Although my maternal grandmother no longer teaches embroidery at the workshop, she has helped us a lot.
In addition, our family is doing better this year, so I increased it by 30% compared to last year.
Other relatives followed the same custom as last year.
And the families we frequently visit, like the one at Magistrate Ling's place, are naturally unique.
Merchants who cooperate with us normally are classified as Class 1, and local gentry and wealthy people who interact with us normally are classified as Class 2.
This is the gift list, Mother, please take a look.
Yan Qingqing took it and looked at it carefully. It was indeed well-planned and reasonable, and it took into account almost everyone who had contact with their family.
Yan Qingqing said with a smile, "The gift list is well prepared, and I don't see any major problems with it."
Mr. Lin, the owner of Zuishenglou, added an extra 30%.
And also to your village chief grandfather, he has helped our family a lot with everything, big or small, so we'll prepare an extra copy and send it over.
The gift list should be 20% less than your grandfather's.
Yuan Huiniang quickly agreed. Li Kaishan had always been very concerned about their family's affairs, so it was only right that she send him a New Year's gift.
As for Old Master Li, although Old Madam Li is unreliable, Old Master Li now sides with them in everything.
Moreover, Old Master Li strictly restrained Old Madam Li, preventing her from causing any more trouble for Yan Qingqing and Li Sanniu, thus saving her a lot of trouble.
Also, although Boss Lin of Zuishenglou is a courtesan, it is said that she has a good personal relationship with Yan Qingqing. When Yan Qingqing was appointed as Mingzhao Lingren, she secretly gave her a lot of gifts.
Of course, Yuan Huiniang only knew these public matters; she really didn't know about the private matter that Yan Qingqing had asked Lin Ning'er for help.
However, since Yan Qingqing had given the instructions, Yuan Huiniang naturally wouldn't object.
Yan Qingqing thought for a moment and then said, "In addition to these New Year's gifts, we also need to make sure that the welfare benefits for the workers in our workshops and shops are paid in full."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Huiniang's eyelids twitched as she recalled the welfare benefits she had received during last year's Chinese New Year.
Last year, the welfare of the people in the embroidery workshop alone cost them tens of taels of silver.
This year, they have quite a few people in their shops and workshops, which is a huge expense.
Yan Qingqing could tell what Yuan Huiniang was thinking just by looking at her expression.
So she smiled and explained, "I told you about this before."
If we want our workers, whether in our workshop or in our shops, to work wholeheartedly for us, we must provide them with adequate compensation and benefits.
This leaves them with nowhere to switch jobs, and since they can't find such a good next employer, they naturally work even harder.
Yuan Huiniang agreed with Yan Qingqing's words, because so far, no one in their family's embroidery workshop or workshop had voluntarily quit.
However, she had also learned that no one in the entire Chengyang County was giving out such welfare benefits, and she felt a little sorry for the money.
So Yuan Huiniang hesitated for a moment before saying, "We treat the workers so well, yet Yang Bao and Yang Quan are still doing petty theft in the workshop."
Yan Qingqing laughed and said, "Hui Niang, don't get hung up on this. People like them are just morally corrupt."
Even if you offer them the best benefits, they'll still steal and cheat. But we can't condemn everyone because of one or two people.
In the end, Yuan Huiniang was persuaded by Yan Qingqing and readily agreed to Yan Qingqing's plan to provide welfare benefits to the workers.
After discussing it, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law agreed to give each of them an extra month's wages, plus two pounds of pork and two braised chickens.
There are more than 300 people in the workshops and shops combined, and with the New Year's goods distributed, it's worth several hundred taels.
Finally, Yuan Huiniang approved the money and entrusted the purchasing to Ada.
After Yuan Huiniang left, Yan Qingqing began to calculate the year's income again.
Because the accounts are calculated every month, the total accounts are also very simple to calculate.
Excluding expenses, the net income for the year totaled 136,000 taels.
Of course, this doesn't even include what went into Yan Qingqing's private treasury. The profits from Manager Yun's teahouse, the thousand taels of gold bestowed by the emperor, and the gifts Yan Qingqing received when she was appointed Mingzhao Lingren, all added up to tens of thousands of taels.
The majority of the Li family's income still came from the food processing workshop, which accounted for nearly 90,000 taels of silver.
With these tens of thousands of taels of silver, the Li family could be considered to have some wealth.
However, she also had to give 50,000 taels of silver to Li Xinniang as dowry.
Thinking of Li Xinniang, Yan Qingqing sighed again. She had done more than enough.
Meanwhile, Li Xinniang was staring blankly at her wedding dress, which she had embroidered for more than half the time.
During this time, she calmed down completely and, looking back on what she had done recently, felt like slapping herself twice.
She must have been bewitched; how could she have done such a thing?
Looking back now, I regret it. Although Wu Jing was a good person, his family lived far away in the capital.
Rather, she knew nothing about the Wu family's situation. Once she married Wu Jingzhi, she would have to face the entire Wu family in the future.
If they like her, that's fine, but if they don't, who will stand up for her when she's all alone in the capital?
Besides, her mother is such an open-minded person. If she and Wu Jingzhi truly love each other, she believes her mother will ultimately grant her wish.
However, she did something that lowered her status, which probably made Wu Jingzhi look down on her a bit.
Li Xinniang felt increasingly frustrated. She wanted to apologize to Yan Qingqing, but she was afraid that Yan Qingqing would not forgive her.
Thinking about this, Li Xinniang was extremely conflicted.
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