Chapter 76 He really died.
Aunt Zhou couldn't hold on any longer and passed away the next morning.
It was normal that she wouldn't make it through with such severe injuries, but when Dr. Li went to examine her, he found that Aunt Zhou seemed to have many new wounds. He wanted to take a closer look, but several of the Zhou family's wives held him down and, without saying anything, stuffed two taels of silver into his arms: "Dr. Li, you've worked hard. There are still three wounded people in the family. Please take good care of them."
Dr. Li sensed something was wrong. Although Aunt Zhou might not survive, she shouldn't have died after only one night.
“Dr. Li, my mother has worked hard and worried her whole life. Now she can finally rest. We all hope that she can pass away peacefully and without any mishaps,” said Wang, the fourth daughter-in-law.
Dr. Li sighed and said, "Please accept my condolences."
He came out with the silver in his pocket, but it felt like it was burning his hand. He just wanted to throw it away as soon as possible. But then he thought, this is the money of those heartless people in the Zhou family. If he doesn't spend it, someone else can, and they can spend it without feeling guilty!
So Doctor Li came to the Zhao family with the silver, gave the silver to Xiao Wu, and also informed him of Aunt Zhou's death.
Fearing that Xiao Wu and Zhou Mujiao would be upset, she offered a few words of comfort: "Although it is said that the dead should be respected and I should not speak ill of others, we have all seen how Aunt Zhou treated you. It would be better to have a grandmother like that than not to have one. Now that you are living a good life, she did not enjoy the blessings and will regret it when she gets down there. Perhaps she will be despised by your parents and live a life that is not that of a ghost."
This Doctor Li really has a knack for her. Zhou Mujiao was so happy that she gave him a ginseng root still covered in mud. Doctor Li was overjoyed and jumped for joy. But after touching it for a while and putting it in his pocket for a bit, he returned the ginseng.
"This is a good thing. You can't buy it even if you have money in special times. Liuya, keep it. If I ever need it, just cut a little bit for me."
Zhou Mujiao silently took out another one, which was much longer than the first one!
Without saying a word, Dr. Li stuffed the ginseng into his pocket and ran off.
Zhou Mujiao laughed heartily, then turned to meet a pair of shocked eyes. She blinked and said, "What, you want ginseng too? Sure, when you're sick or injured, I'll give you one for free."
Deng Sanya kept shaking her head, then pulled Tian Erya, who was standing next to her, back to the embroidery workshop.
The two whispered to each other, their heads close together. Deng Sanya said in a low voice, "Erya, Liuya is so amazing now. She can read and write, and she can draw such beautiful clothes designs. She's also so good at making money. What can Xiuxiu do?"
Tian Erya hesitated: "...Xiuxiu is strong and capable, and has a good constitution, so she's good at bearing children?"
"As Liu Ya said, whether a woman can have children depends on whether her nutrition is balanced or not, and it has nothing to do with how tall she is. Whether it's a boy or a girl is also not related to the woman, but mainly to the man," Deng Sanya said. "Don't be fooled by how strong Xiuxiu is and how hard she works. If she overworks herself and damages her health, she really won't be able to have children."
"So why are we discussing here whether Xiuxiu can have children?" Tian Erya didn't understand.
Deng Sanya hesitated for a moment and said, "Don't you think it's a bit heartless of us to work in the embroidery workshop and take the wages that Liuya gives us, yet always worry about Liuya's misfortune? If Liuya were to have misfortune, we would have no job, and without a job and income, our families would definitely marry us off immediately."
"For a family like ours, what good marriage prospects can we expect? Finding someone around our age, healthy, and with decent features is considered extremely lucky. But if we're unlucky and marry someone blind or lame, what hope do we have for the rest of our lives?"
Tian Erya was silent for a moment, then spoke: "I understand what you mean. From now on... I will never tell Xiuxiu about Liuya again. Xiuxiu has a village head as her father, such a nice house, and her two older brothers dote on her. Even if she can't marry Zhao Yunjing, with her family's wealth, she definitely won't marry anyone badly..."
I still hope that Liuya's embroidery workshop will grow bigger and bigger, that our wages will increase, that we can earn our own money, and that with money in our hands, we'll definitely be able to find a good marriage partner."
"Yes, yes! I must work hard and make money!"
Yang Xiaoya happened to come up behind them and said irritably, "You've been at the embroidery shop for so long and it took you so long to figure this out, how stupid!"
The two women said awkwardly, "Well, Xiuxiu is our good friend. Now we've figured it out. Family and siblings are all just fleeting things. Only the skills we've learned and the money we have in our own hands are what give us women confidence."
"Then work hard and study hard. Sister Jiaojiao said that after we move to the new embroidery workshop, we will need two more managers. I think Sister Luo is more hardworking than you, but you are smarter and more flexible than them. If you work a little harder, maybe you will also have the opportunity to be trained and valued by Sister Jiaojiao?"
Yang Xiaoya is now in charge, and her wages are one-third higher than those of ordinary embroiderers. Whenever Zhou Mujiao is in the embroidery workshop, she takes Yang Xiaoya with her and personally teaches her. When discussing work plans with Ma Dalang and the others, she doesn't hide it from Yang Xiaoya. Zhou Mujiao's attitude is very clear: she wants to cultivate Yang Xiaoya and hand over the management of this embroidery workshop to Yang Xiaoya in the future.
Deng Sanya and the others didn't dare to dream of managing the entire embroidery workshop, but being a small manager with a wage a little more than they were now would be quite good.
"Don't worry, Xiaoya, we'll definitely work hard from now on! We'll take you as our role model and become managers of the embroidery workshop! We'll find ourselves good marriages!"
"That's right!"
The embroiderer behind her, who was already married, looked on with envy.
Hearing the sigh, Yang Xiaoya turned around and said, "Sister Yun, don't be discouraged. Didn't Sister Jiaojiao say that no matter who it is, as long as they do a good job, they will be valued by her and entrusted with important responsibilities?"
Sister Yun and the others nodded with smiles, but they dared not think about it in their hearts.
They are all married, with in-laws, husbands, and children to take care of. They don't learn things as quickly as younger girls, and their comprehension isn't as strong. Even if they become more capable than Yang Xiaoya one day, Zhou Mujiao definitely won't train them.
Unmarried women can follow Zhou Mujiao around the country in the future. They are tied down by their families and can't go anywhere. If they were Zhou Mujiao, they would definitely focus their attention on young girls.
Outside the embroidery workshop, Zhou Mujiao seemed to be deep in thought. That very night, she spread out a sheet of white paper and began to write furiously.
The embroiderer came to work the next day and found a notice on the blackboard. Everyone only recognized a few common and simple characters and couldn't understand it after looking at it for a while. Sister Yun quickly called Chu Liu in: "Chu Liu, quickly help us see what's written on this?"
Sister-in-law Yun didn't realize that her heart was beating very fast, thumping like a drum.
On the sixth day of the lunar month, after reading through it once, she grinned and said, "This is the career development plan that my sister Jiaojiao has formulated for everyone. Let me first summarize the general idea. The general idea is that, regardless of gender, age, or marital status, as long as you can bring benefits to the embroidery workshop, you will have the opportunity for promotion. Below are the plans formulated for each different group of people. I will explain them to everyone one by one..."
Sister Yun understood and was relieved. So even if she got married and had a family and children to worry about, as long as she performed well, Zhou Mujiao would arrange a suitable position for her, so she wouldn't have to be an ordinary embroiderer for the rest of her life!
Zhou Mujiao is so wonderful, how can she be so wonderful?
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