Seeing their sincerity, Song Anxin didn't stand on ceremony and asked them to help carry the jars for pickling salted duck eggs to the workshop in the back room after they finished their work in the afternoon.
This was a trivial matter for the men, and they readily agreed.
After finishing their meal and resting for a while, Song Anxin's family began moving their belongings. Song Anxin divided the five workshops into five numbers: one, two, three, four, and so on.
Song Anxin, along with several children and Sister-in-law Lin, carried the wooden basins containing the spawn to house number two. House number one was used to grow mushrooms, as it was located near the side and had the best ventilation and lighting, making it suitable for growing mushrooms.
The men carried the dozens of jars containing salted duck eggs into room number three. Room number three was used to store the salted duck eggs that had been pickled, room number four was used to store the cleaned duck eggs that were ready to be shipped, and room number five was used to pickle and store the duck eggs that had been collected.
At this moment, Song Anxin was fiddling with something in room number three when Zhang Mei walked in, saw her, and asked:
"Mom, what are you doing? Everything's all put away. Auntie asked if there's anything else we need to do?"
Song Anxin got up, and Zhang Mei then noticed that her mother-in-law had hung small wooden signs on some jars with symbols written on them. She recognized them as numbers they had learned in math class.
Zhang Mei asked, "Mom, why did you write these numbers here and hang them up?"
Song Anxin smiled and beckoned her over: "Meizi, take a good look. I drew four squares on this wooden sign. The first square is the number of the jar, the second square is the total number of duck eggs, the third square is the pickling time, and the last square is the ripening time."
This way, every time something comes into the warehouse, we'll know the exact quantity of each jar, which ones are ready for shipment, and which ones are still being pickled.
"Mom, you are so clever to come up with such a good idea. After the goods are shipped, the board can be erased and rewritten."
Song Anxin wrote it with a charcoal pencil.
Song Anxin looked at her gently and said, "From now on, I will entrust everything here to you. You must keep good records of the inbound and outbound inventory. I will not interfere too much here."
She wanted to gradually cultivate Zhang Mei's ability to manage the household.
Zhang Mei stared wide-eyed in disbelief: "Mom, me, me? I'm afraid I won't be able to manage it well..."
“You’ve already learned to read and write, how could you not manage it? Just manage it the way you usually do, Mom believes in you.”
Song Anxin encouraged her.
Actually, apart from negotiating with merchants to receive goods and pay wages, and keeping accounts, Zhang Mei handled all the other matters in the salted duck egg business at home. She trusted her completely, it's just that now it's more procedural.
"Tomorrow, Mother is going to visit the village on the west side that Uncle Zhang mentioned where ducks are raised. If things go well, someone might come every day to pickle salted duck eggs."
This workshop is now officially established, and you'll be in charge of all the workers. From now on, you'll be the general manager of our family's salted duck egg workshop.
Zhang Mei was speechless, tears welling up in her eyes. Her mother-in-law treated her better than her own daughter, entrusting her with so much money to receive goods and managing the household business, even acting as her... the head manager. What did she, a woman, have to deserve this?
She choked up a little as she said, "Mother, I... I will definitely take good care of you."
"No, this isn't your mother's, it belongs to our whole family. You're part of our family, so of course it's yours too."
Song Anxin smiled and winked at her.
Zhang Mei was so moved that she couldn't hold back her tears and was about to cry. What mother-in-law doesn't take all the family property for herself? Her mother-in-law actually let her get involved in the family workshop. It's no wonder that the other women in the village were envious of her.
She still goes to school at the ancestral hall with Fengnian every day, but not with the new batch of children from the village. Instead, they are in two separate classes. Each time, her uncle finishes teaching them first before going to teach the other children in the village.
She and Lin Erxi were among the few girls in the village who went to school, and she, as a married woman, was the only one.
The young women in the village were incredibly envious of her, praising her for her good fortune. She herself felt that she was truly lucky to have met such a wonderful mother-in-law.
Song Anxin quickly told her not to cry: "Our Meizi looks best when she smiles. It makes me happy to see such a beautiful woman smile."
Zhang Mei immediately stopped crying and started laughing. Her mother-in-law was not only literate but also eloquent. She felt a little embarrassed when her mother-in-law praised her, a country woman, as a beauty. However, she knew that her mother-in-law was just trying to make her happy.
In fact, Song Anxin wasn't lying. Since Zhang Mei married into her family, they've never let her work in the fields, avoiding exposure to the wind and sun.
After the autumn harvest, all the women in the village looked much darker, except for Zhang Mei, who became fairer and fairer. Perhaps it was because of her good relationship with Feng Nian, but she also became more and more radiant. In addition, Zhang Mei's features were already quite good, and she was considered pretty. She really deserved to be called a beauty.
After finishing their chores, Song Anxin's family started having dinner. There were some leftovers from the lunch banquet, so their dinner was quite good.
Everyone was enjoying themselves at the dinner table, eating and chatting happily.
Lin Fengshou said, "Mother, since the duck eggs have all been put at the workshop, I won't sleep at home tonight. I want to stay there and watch over them."
After the other two rooms in the house were built, Lin Fengshou slept in one room by himself, Lin Fenghe and Song Anbang slept in another room, while Lin Fengyao, reluctant to leave his mother, refused to move out and instead shared a room with Song Anxin.
Lin Fengshou had been keeping an eye on these duck eggs, and Song Anxin understood him, saying:
"Okay, thank you for your hard work, Fengshou."
Lin Fengshou scratched his head and laughed, "It's not hard work making things at home, Mother. Tomorrow I'd like to take some braised food to the county restaurant to try it out."
Song Anxin nodded: "We've finished the autumn harvest and building the house, so it's time to start this business. There's still some pig offal in the kitchen; your sister-in-law and I will braise it after dinner. What price do you plan to set?"
Lin Fengshou's expression turned serious as he said, "Mother, what do you think of my price of thirty-five coins per pound?"
Lin Fengnian disagreed, saying, "Second brother, pig offal is only fifty coins a piece. Aren't we setting the price too high?"
At this moment, Song Anbang slowly spoke up: "I think it's a bit cheap. There are also braised dishes sold in the county, but they don't taste as good as what you make, sister. A small plate costs at least several hundred coins. Actually, you could raise the price a bit more."
Lin Fengnian was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head to eat and didn't say anything more.
Song Anxin noticed her boss's mood and said:
"Fengnian's consideration makes a lot of sense. This braised food is made from pig offal, which is generally not well-liked. If we set the price too high, people may not be willing to buy it."
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