Ning looked at her other three sisters-in-law and said with a smile, "Di-ge'er, we all really admire your ability to make money. When I showed the business plan you wrote to the shopkeeper, he praised it repeatedly, saying that my tea shop will definitely do better and better in the future."
The other three echoed, with Yao saying, "Di-ge'er, we all admire you now. You can come up with those ideas in no time, while we can't figure them out even if we rack our brains."
Xu Di said with a smile, "Auntie and Aunt are too kind. Let me share some of my thoughts on the estate."
Xu Di took out a piece of paper with the locations of several villages simply drawn on it. Xu Di pointed and said, "These villages are the ones that my grandmother entrusted to my aunts and my mother to manage. There are a few other villages nearby. There is a river that flows through this area. I spent two days there and found that the land there is not suitable for growing grain crops, such as wheat and rice. It is more suitable for growing crops like sweet potatoes and corn."
The Ning family members listened attentively. Although the estate was managed by them, they were all women, and it wasn't easy for them to go out.
Xu Di said, "I was thinking, why don't we plant sweet potatoes in all these villages? I'm sure you all know about this crop, but I have a recipe that my uncle collected for me from the south. Besides steaming or boiling, sweet potatoes can also be made into something like noodles. I'd like to make that and sell it."
Upon hearing this, Ning frowned and asked, "Di'er, is this thing difficult to make?"
Xu Di shook his head and said, "It's not that difficult to make, but it requires certain things and manpower. The finished product can not only fill your stomach, but also be used to make many delicious dishes. I'm thinking of selling it to hot pot restaurants. It can be used as a side dish for hot pot and tastes great when cooked in it."
The hot pot restaurant has now opened many chain stores within the Liang Dynasty, and its annual profits are very considerable. It's not that no one is envious, but the hot pot restaurant is owned by the Wei family, which has been officially approved by Emperor Liang Cheng. Moreover, it is unknown how Wei Lang discussed it with Emperor Liang Cheng, but 20% of the hot pot restaurant's annual profits are sent to Emperor Liang Cheng's private treasury, which is considered Emperor Liang Cheng's private stash. Although no one says it openly, those who need to know already know.
Upon hearing this, Ning looked eager to try it out and said, "If it can really be used in the hot pot restaurant, Di-ge, I have no objection."
Since the Ning family members said they had no objections, the others naturally had no objections either.
Xu Di took out a few sheets of paper and said, "Because we need to make vermicelli, there are a few other villages between the five villages that I found quite troublesome, so I bought those villages and put them in my name. I'm also merging those villages into your five villages, so this whole area will belong to the Xu family. I'll start arranging manpower now to build the vermicelli factory first, and then tidy up the land in the villages. We'll start planting sweet potatoes next spring."
Hearing that Xu Di had made such a well-organized arrangement, Ning Shi felt even more at ease. Xu Di distributed several sheets of paper to the five sisters-in-law and also gave one to the old lady sitting on the daybed. He said, "My idea is that we should take 60% of the annual income, and each of the four aunts, my mother, and myself will take 10%. Then, the remaining 40% will go to the old lady."
The old lady smiled and said, "I don't need to. You can decide how to divide it yourselves."
Xu Di shook his head and said, "Madam, listen to me. Back then, you said that you would set aside 20% of the profits from the estate each year for you to use to support the people who came from the Marquis of Yongyi's mansion with you. There are five estates here, and you are only given 40% in total. I think that's a bit too little."
Ning said, "Grandmother, I think this is fine."
Since Madam Ning had already expressed her opinion, the others naturally had no objections. After all, the estate originally belonged to the old lady. The old lady was simply offering it to everyone to manage, hoping to provide them with a way to make money, so that they could live more comfortably and buy whatever they wanted without hesitation.
Seeing everyone's reaction, the old lady smiled and said to Xu Di, "Di-ge'er, since that's the case, then I'll pay for the seeds and the house you build. I'll have Granny Shen bring you some silver notes later. While you're still in the capital, take care of what needs to be tidied up and organized. You still have manpower, so just go to the estate and pick whoever is suitable."
Xu Di smiled and agreed, saying, "Since everyone agrees, let's take a look at this contract, sign it, and then we'll divide the money according to this."
Since everyone here is literate, they naturally read through the pre-written contract from beginning to end. Finding nothing amiss, they signed their names and pressed their fingerprints on the document.
Xu Di put away the contracts and placed them with the old lady, saying, "You are the largest shareholder, and these things should rightfully be managed by you."
The old lady said, "Isn't this the place you're in charge of managing?"
Xu Di said, "Grandmother, you are the biggest boss. I'm just someone who runs errands for you. You should keep the things safe, and then you and your aunts can wait to divide the money."
After that, Xu Di was really busy. He was selecting people and building houses, and he had to build them according to his own ideas. To make a rice noodle mill, you not only need a spacious room where you can make rice noodles, but also a yard where you can dry the rice noodles. Most importantly, you need a mill that can be turned by a donkey. At that time, there were no electric grinders. If you wanted to grind sweet potatoes into a fine paste, you had to rely on a millstone.
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