Yan Qingqing, on the other hand, is having a very smooth life.
The Chrysanthemum Garden is already under construction. Yan Qingqing has drawn up the blueprints, and she thinks it's best to leave this matter to Li Sanniu.
During this time, Li Sanniu had nothing to do, so he helped Li Xiang'an with odd jobs in the workshop, and he did them quite well.
The workers in the workshop all knew that Li Sanniu received a share of the profits, so they respected him greatly.
Especially after Yan Qingqing and Li Xiangping were granted official positions, Li Sanniu's status also rose accordingly, and everyone called him "Third Master" when they saw him.
That day, Li Sanniu and Li Xiang'an were receiving merchants from out of town who came to purchase goods when A'da came to the workshop to invite Li Sanniu, saying that Yan Qingqing wanted him to come over.
Seeing that he had no use for his skills at the workshop for the time being, Li Sanniu followed A Da away.
As soon as Yan Qingqing saw Li Sanniu, she handed him a blueprint and said with a smile, "I plan to build a chrysanthemum garden and a bamboo forest next to the peony garden. This is the blueprint I designed."
My third brother has more experience in this area, so I'd like to entrust this task to him.
I wonder if my third brother would be willing to take on this task?
Li Sanniu glanced at the blueprints in his hand, rolled his eyes at Yan Qingqing. The blueprints had already been handed to him; what good would it do if he said he didn't want to?
However, he really preferred this job to dealing with merchants from all over the country in the workshop.
The main problem is that he needs to be careful around those businessmen, and he has to think carefully before he speaks, because he can easily fall into their trap.
Although the merchants dared not set a trap for Li Xiang'an out of respect for Yan Qingqing, Li San Niu was not stupid; he could still hear the veiled meaning in their words.
But building houses and gardens is much simpler.
Yan Qingqing wasn't unaware that Li Sanniu rolled his eyes; she also knew that Li Sanniu was somewhat uncomfortable greeting those merchants.
So he deliberately said, "It's alright, Third Brother, don't worry, I can find someone else to do this."
I remember that guy in our village who often builds houses for other people, he must be able to…”
Yan Qingqing was interrupted by Li Sanniu before she could finish speaking. He chuckled obsequiously, "Second Sister-in-law, what are you saying? I've never refused anything you asked me to do."
Besides, I wasn't involved in any of the construction projects, from building my second sister-in-law's house to later building the garden and workshop.
I have experience in this area, so please let me handle this, Second Sister-in-law.
There really wasn't a suitable candidate besides Li San Niu for this matter, so Yan Qingqing stopped being arrogant and went along with it, saying, "In that case, I'll have to trouble you, Third Brother."
Li Sanniu happily took the blueprints and left.
Of course, the first thing Li Sanniu did after leaving Yan Qingqing's house was to recruit workers.
The Li family hadn't hired anyone for a long time, so when Li Sanniu announced the recruitment again, he thought many people would sign up. But after waiting for a long time, only a few people from Canghe Village came to sign up.
This greatly upset Li Sanniu, who wondered if Yan Qingqing's prestige had diminished since being granted an official position.
When Xu returned home, she saw Li Sanniu sighing and groaning, and thought that something serious had happened to him.
He quickly stepped forward and asked, "What's wrong? Did your mother make things difficult for you again?"
Upon hearing this, Li Sanniu quickly shook his head. Old Mrs. Li had been very well-behaved lately, especially after Yan Qingqing was granted an imperial title, Li Sanniu had hardly seen her at all.
Upon hearing this, Madam Xu breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't Old Madam Li, everything else would be easy to handle.
So he pressed on, "What's wrong that makes you look so worried? If we can't solve it, there's always your second sister-in-law."
Li Sanniu curled his lip and said, "Looking for Second Sister-in-law? This is the problem Second Sister-in-law has given me."
My second sister-in-law wants to build two more gardens next to the peony garden, saying that I have experience in this area, and she asked me to do it this time.
I figured I was already quite familiar with this, but who knew I'd run into trouble before I even started?
In the past, whenever I announced job openings, people would be eager to apply.
But this time, I posted the job opening notice half a day ago and only a few people have come to apply, and they even ask all sorts of questions.
Some people even said that thirty coins a day was a bit low; don't you think they're getting arrogant?
Upon hearing this, Madam Xu smiled, realizing that this was the reason.
Seeing that Xu was still laughing, Li Sanniu said in an annoyed tone, "What's so funny? If I don't finish what my second sister-in-law asked me to do and delay the construction period, then I can expect her to beat me up!"
Xu quickly explained, "I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at how well life has become in our Canghe Village, that we can't even afford thirty coins a day."
Actually, thinking about it, it makes sense. Almost every household in our village has someone working in Second Sister's workshop, earning several hundred coins a month.
Moreover, the work was easy and respectable, so naturally they looked down on the heavy and tiring work that cost thirty coins a day.
Some people set up stalls at the entrance of the garden, and they heard that they could earn several hundred coins a day, so they looked down on the thirty coins.
Adding to the sweet potatoes and potatoes sold recently, I estimate that every household in our village has more than ten taels of silver saved up, so they certainly wouldn't care about thirty copper coins.
Li San Niu was stunned by Xu Shi's logical analysis. Did Xu Shi really know so much now?
Thinking this, Li Sanniu asked.
Xu said somewhat embarrassedly, "I was chatting with my second sister-in-law a few days ago and she was analyzing the situation in the village. I thought that your inability to recruit people must be due to this reason."
Although Xu said that, Li Sanniu still felt that Xu was very clever now. Sure enough, spending a lot of time with his second sister-in-law made him smarter.
Li Sanniu looked at Xu Shi with hopeful eyes and asked, "Then what do you think we should do next?"
Madam Xu laughed and said, "The reason why people from our village don't come here is because they have money in their hands and their lives are better."
But that doesn't mean that people in other villages are having an easier time.
Do you remember that time when people from our village and other villages almost got into a fight over a job opening?
"Even if they don't want to work for thirty coins a day, there are plenty of others willing to do it. Are you worried about not being able to find people?"
In fact, Li Sanniu had considered recruiting people from other villages, but he preferred to use people from his own village.
The main reason was that he was quite familiar with the villagers in Canghe, which made it easier for him to get along with them later on.
But now it's probably not possible to take the easy way out.
Li Xiang'an was reporting to Yan Qingqing about the new batch of customers they had just received.
These people did not sign any agreement with their family; they all came because of their reputation.
Li Xiang'an wanted to maintain good relations with them, but he couldn't give them too many goods.
Yan Qingqing gave him some fairly reasonable advice, and Li Xiang'an felt as if he had suddenly seen the light.
After the mother and son finished their discussion, they somehow brought up Li Sanniu again.
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