Before she knew it, it was time for Ye Niang's wedding. Yan Qingqing did not go, but thinking that Ye Niang was her niece after all, and that even if she had made mistakes in the past, it would not be right to just send a servant with gifts for the sake of Old Madam Yan and Old Master Yan. So she sent Li Xiangping and Yuan Huiniang with the prepared dowry to Yan Family Village.
Yan Qingqing, feeling bored, went to the ecological orchard on the back mountain. Before she even arrived, she could hear the lively atmosphere inside, with a group of people working and chatting happily. Yan Qingqing really liked this kind of atmosphere.
Nearly half of the fruit trees in the orchard had been planted, and there were paths in the middle. Each type of fruit tree had its own designated area, and a sign was hung at the front of each area. Yan Qingqing was increasingly satisfied with what she saw.
Li Sanniu was directing everyone to work in the orchard. During this time, Li Sanniu had been working on the mountain with everyone, digging ditches and planting trees. He would leave early and return late every day, but every few days he would report the progress of the orchard to Yan Qingqing.
Someone with sharp eyes spotted Yan Qingqing and quickly greeted her. When Li Sanniu saw his second sister-in-law arrive, he put down his work and asked with a smile, "Second sister-in-law, what brings you here today? I've been wanting you to come and take a look for a long time. If there's anything that's not right, we can make some changes, but you've always been so busy."
Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "Since this place has been entrusted to you, Second Sister-in-law is very relieved. I just checked and it's done quite well."
Upon receiving Yan Qingqing's praise, Li Sanniu grinned widely and chuckled twice.
Yan Qingqing looked at him and asked, "Where's Wei Laosan? I haven't seen him."
Li Sanniu replied with a smile, "I was just helping out here. I should go back and feed the chickens and ducks."
Yan Qingqing nodded upon hearing this. Planting trees was not originally Wei Laosan's job, but whenever Wei Laosan had free time, he would come to help plant trees. Not only was Yan Qingqing satisfied with him, but even Li Sanniu felt that if he wasn't more diligent, he wouldn't be as grateful as Wei Laosan.
Yan Qingqing discussed the construction and future development of the orchard with Li Sanniu for a while before going to find Wei Laosan.
When she arrived at the farm, Wei Laosan was cleaning up chicken and duck droppings. He was taken aback when he saw Yan Qingqing and then said, "Oh my, benefactor, what brings you here? I'm cleaning up the droppings right now. It smells terrible here, why don't you go visit Brother San Niu first?"
Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "We are all farmers, we are not so pampered. I came here today specifically to see you."
Yan Qingqing was telling the truth. When she first transmigrated, her family was so poor that they could barely afford to eat. They had never even seen a chicken feather, let alone smelled chicken manure.
Upon hearing that Yan Qingqing had come to see him, Wei Laosan quickly put down his tools, washed his hands and face with cold water, and then walked up to Yan Qingqing and asked, "What does my benefactor want with me?"
Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "Since Tie Tou left, you've been all alone here. You must be having a hard time these past few days. I've been saying I'd hire a few more people, but I've been so busy lately that I've put it off. I've come to talk to you today about hiring."
Upon hearing that it was about this matter, Wei Laosan quickly said, "Actually, my benefactor doesn't need to go to such trouble. I can manage on my own."
Wei Laosan really thought so. Right now, it's just that he has to work a little harder. If he hires another person, he'll have to pay more wages. Yan Qingqing is a great benefactor to his family, so he should save money wherever possible.
Yan Qingqing knew that Wei Laosan meant well, and said with a smile, "I appreciate Brother Wei's kindness, but this can't go on forever. You can't stay away from home all year round. Besides, there are not only chickens and ducks to raise in this orchard, but also fruit trees that need to be taken care of. I reckon these chickens and ducks will be laying eggs soon, and then we'll be even busier collecting the eggs."
In addition, I plan to expand the scale of my breeding operation this year. I will be bringing in another batch of chicks and ducklings in a while. Raising chickens and ducks to adulthood is easy, but raising young ones is more difficult.
So you definitely won't be able to handle it all yourself.
After listening to Yan Qingqing's words, Wei Laosan felt that they made a lot of sense. Although he was not afraid of hard work, if he was not energetic enough and did not take good care of the family, it would not be to save money for his benefactor, but to harm his benefactor's family.
Wei Laosan quickly figured it out. He asked, "How many people does our benefactor want to recruit, and what kind?"
Yan Qingqing replied with a smile, "I'll leave this matter entirely to Brother Wei. What do you think?"
Wei Laosan was so frightened that he waved his hands repeatedly and said, "How would I, a rough old man, know these things?"
Seeing his nervousness, Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "Brother Wei, you don't need to be nervous. It's not a difficult thing. Just choose based on your intuition. You need to be hardworking and reliable."
I remember when I sent Sanlang to find you, I said that if you take good care of yourself, a promotion and a raise are just a matter of time.
You don't need to rush to refuse. I've seen your hard work over the past six months, and I trust you completely. Once you hire four or five people, you can decide who works in the orchard from now on.
You should also take good care of the newly hired people; you'll naturally understand their character over time. If there are any who are dishonest, cunning, or have ulterior motives, you can decide to dismiss them yourself.
Yan Qingqing gave Wei Laosan a great deal of power. Of course, Yan Qingqing did this for a purpose. First, Wei Laosan did work diligently for their family. Second, Yan Qingqing wanted to tell everyone who worked for their family that as long as they were loyal to them, she would never treat them unfairly.
Yan Qingqing heavily relied on Li Sanniu and Xu Shi, but in the end, these two were her closest relatives. Even if someone envied and longed for them, there was still some reservation, feeling that they lacked a certain degree of connection. But Wei Laosan was different.
Yan Qingqing then discussed the salary and benefits with Wei Laosan. As the orchard manager, Wei Laosan's monthly salary increased to 800 wen, while other newly recruited employees earned 400 wen per month. They would also be entitled to two days off each month. As for other benefits, they would discuss them after they officially started working.
Wei Laosan was deeply moved by Yan Qingqing's words. He felt that he was unworthy of being trusted by his benefactor and that he could only repay her by working even harder in the future.
After Yan Qingqing reached an agreement with Wei Laosan, she spread the word that she was recruiting workers in her orchard. Although she didn't need many people, everyone was eager to sign up. If they were selected, they would have a long-term and stable income. What if this good thing happened to them?
Even if I don't get elected, I won't lose anything.
As a result, many people come to Yan Qingqing's ecological orchard every day, including not only people from her village but also people from other villages. Some want to curry favor with Wei Laosan, while others bring him gifts.
Wei Laosan never imagined he would be so popular, but later on, these people started to interfere with his work.
Unable to bear the disturbance any longer, Wei Laosan locked the gate to the orchard, barring anyone except those who were working for Yan Qingqing's family from entering.
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