Soon, Song Anxin returned home, and the family began to eat dinner.
At the dinner table, Song Anxin said, "Meizi, tomorrow you should tell your aunt and uncle that our salted duck egg workshop works five days a week and rests two days a week. We will also give them benefits during holidays. Tell them to work hard in the future."
Of course, weekends off and holiday benefits should be included. As for why she didn't mention it, it was because she wanted her daughter-in-law to have more credibility and trustworthiness in the workshop. This way, it would be easier for Meizi to manage things in the future, since the business would definitely grow bigger and bigger.
Lin Fengshou looked up and asked, "Mom, what is welfare?"
The others were also puzzled.
Song Anxin explained to them, "The welfare is to give the workers rice, flour, money, etc. during festivals, as a way for our Lin family workshop to express our holiday greetings to these workers."
This will not only make them grateful to us, but also give them a greater sense of belonging, and it will also demonstrate that our workshop values its workers.
Only then can they work well for us, and our family workshop can thrive.
Everyone nodded in agreement, indicating that they had learned something.
Lin Fengshou felt that his mother's mind was just different from his; how could managing a workshop require so much knowledge?
Zhang Mei asked, "Then why do we work five days a week and only have one day off?"
"Ahem, because this is a reasonable and scientific rule of rest. Only in this way can people maintain fresh and abundant energy at work. You should also remember to tell them to follow the work hours."
People in this era were so diligent; she was originally scheduled to work from nine to five. Since they were all women, this way she would have more time to take care of her family and children.
But when Sister-in-law Lin and the others said they were going to work, they would arrive very early and leave very late on the day of the work. She didn't want to be a capitalist who exploited people.
Although what her mother said was something they had never heard of before, they thought about it and it seemed to make sense, and they felt more and more that what her mother said was right.
The next day, when Zhang Mei told Sister-in-law Lin and the others...
The newcomer, Aunt Zhao, gaped in astonishment: "What?! Did I hear that right? Thirty coins a day, five days on, two days off, plus holiday gifts! Goodness! I'm not here to work, I'm here to enjoy life!"
Sister-in-law Lin said, "Meizi, we don't need to rest. This work isn't tiring at all. What's the point of resting? Quickly cancel that holiday."
Granny Han, Stone Mother, and the newly arrived Lin Dahong all chimed in:
"Yeah, yeah, why would we need rest days..."
At this moment, Song Anxin, Song Anbang, and Lin Fengnian and a few other children were busy working in the mushroom house.
Lin Fengshou went to the county town to deliver braised delicacies, and because the quantity was small, Lin Fengnian did not go with him.
The mushroom house was filled with shelves, which Brother Lin had made long ago. There were twelve shelves in total, arranged in three rows of four, with two aisles in the middle. Each shelf had ten layers from top to bottom, and these were the mushroom beds.
When she heard Zhang Mei talk about the situation over there, she smiled and said, "So, Meizi, what do you think?"
Zhang Mei expressed her thoughts, saying, "Could we work five days and rest one day?"
Song Anxin nodded: "I think that's fine too."
There's no concept of Saturdays and Sundays here, but five days a week is really close to the point where people are under immense pressure at work. What she couldn't do in her previous life, she wants to do in this life, and she wants all the people working under her to enjoy it too.
She continued, "From now on, you can make your own decisions about these things without asking your mother. I've said that you're in charge of everything, so it's up to you."
Zhang Mei smiled and agreed. Her mother-in-law trusted her and treated the workers in her workshop very well. These rules her mother-in-law set made the workers feel incredibly fortunate.
After Zhang Mei left, Song Anxin and the others continued working. They needed to lay a layer of soil about an inch thick on the mushroom beds, then a five-inch layer of straw, and evenly scatter the mushroom spawn from the basins on the straw layer. Finally, they covered it with another inch of straw and pressed it down firmly.
While the group was busy working, Zhang Mei arrived a little while later and said, "Mom, Uncle is here. He said he wants to see if the wooden gift box you made is any good?"
Song Anxin stopped what she was doing: "Then I'll go with you to the front room to take a look. A bountiful year brings peace and prosperity... I'll leave this place to you guys for now."
Song Anxin and Zhang Mei arrived at the front yard of their house, where Brother Lin presented her with the wooden box. Song Anxin couldn't help but admire Brother Lin's increasingly skillful craftsmanship. It seemed he had truly studied and researched diligently under Master Bai's guidance; the box was even carved with intricate patterns, making it exquisite and beautiful.
Brother Lin said honestly, "Fengnian's mother, what do you think? This pattern is something I just researched, and I think it's very suitable to be engraved on this, so I drew it."
Song Anxin: "Of course, brother, your skills are getting better and better. The patterns carved on it are so lifelike."
The honest man's face immediately turned a little red, but it wasn't noticeable because of his dark complexion. His second wife was truly cultured in praising him.
Song Anxin continued, "It would be even better if you brushed on a layer of tung oil. Big brother, do you know where I can buy tung oil?"
Brother Lin said, "I do know a place that sells tung oil, but it's expensive, costing over a hundred coins per pound."
Song Anxin clicked her tongue in amazement, but a wooden box wouldn't require much tung oil brushing. She thought for a moment and said:
"Brother, could you help me buy some? I'll buy about ten pounds first. Once it's back, I'll leave it with you. After you've finished making it, you can start coloring these wooden boxes."
Without hesitation, Brother Lin said, "Okay, Fengnian's mother, I'll buy it for you later."
"Take this money for the tung oil first. Also, here's the money for making wooden boxes. How about I charge you eighteen coins per box? Let's make about two hundred for now."
As she spoke, Song Anxin handed over four taels of silver and over seven hundred coins to Brother Lin. Brother Lin hurriedly pushed it away, saying:
"How can you charge so much for this broken wooden box? The blueprints were provided by you, Fengnian Niang, and you bought the tung oil too. I... I don't want it... Just give me the same price as when you make a wooden basin."
Song Anxin smiled and said, "This hand-held gift box is made with exquisite craftsmanship, unlike those simple basins and buckets. The technology is the most valuable part, so please accept it with peace of mind, brother."
Brother Lin, not being good with words, reluctantly accepted the gift, thinking that he should do his best for his younger brother and sister-in-law.
Around 9 AM, the villagers from the western village delivered the goods, much earlier than agreed. Song Anxin settled the account and made a note in her small ledger.
After receiving the paper yesterday, she made a small ledger herself, drawing tables to clearly show the income and expenditure details. She called over Zhang Mei, who was busy with miscellaneous tasks, and handed her another ledger, which she had made specifically for the salted duck egg factory's warehouse.
"Meizi, look, from now on, for inventory inflows and outflows... you can just write the numbers directly on the corresponding items, and then do the accounting yourself at the end of the day..."
Looking at the small ledger, Zhang Mei thought her mother-in-law was truly resourceful; she could even come up with such a clever way of keeping accounts. It was so much more convenient to just fill in the numbers and then tally them up.
She no longer needs to write here and there on a wooden board; the large wooden board in her inner room is so full of writing that there's almost no room left to write.
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