The decision to set the price at thirty coins a day was made after careful consideration by Shuiqing.
The women in the workshop were already quite skilled. If they worked together well, they could make more than 120 pieces a day after the five steps. On average, each person could earn 24 coins. The time was mainly spent on polishing and drilling.
Polishing is a delicate craft. Items sold to wealthy families can be expensive, but the quality must be excellent! Even a small bamboo handle must be smooth to the touch to make them willing to pay the price.
They don't care about the extra cost; they just want the money to be worth the price.
The polishing process alone involves three steps: first, rough polishing; then, fine polishing; and finally, fine polishing with a soft cloth. This step cannot be done carelessly or hastily. If even one of our hands is cut, our reputation will be ruined. Therefore, we must strictly control the quality!
Drilling holes requires skill; too wide a spacing, too few holes, too many holes, too big holes, or too small holes will all be undesirable. If done incorrectly, the entire piece will be ruined.
So it can't be fast. Excluding those with exceptionally fast hands, most wages won't be more than 28 coins a day when averaged out.
The workshop guarantees 30 coins a day and provides a lunch. The workload is generally not as strenuous as contract farming, so it's quite good.
Shui Qing thought the wages and benefits were pretty good, but everyone below, regardless of age, was stunned!
Thirty coins a day!
What a surprise! There was no warning at all, and the price went up just like that!
Oh, right, Shuiqing also said that the villagers want to come and learn, so they don't need to do the grinding and drilling anymore; they've changed jobs.
But how did it increase to thirty coins? Everyone who did these two steps before was paid the same, twenty coins.
"Did I hear that right? It really is thirty coins?" Zhao Lan swallowed hard and asked the people around her.
Li Tiantian wasn't sure either, and hesitated before saying, "I think so."
That's thirty coins! Her father used to only earn thirty coins a day working in the prefectural city! And that was hard and tiring work from morning till night. If he took a short break and the foreman saw him, he wouldn't have to go the next day.
After finishing their work, they had to walk for more than an hour to get back. If they were to stay overnight in the prefectural city, they couldn't bear to stay there. They would sleep under someone's eaves fully clothed for the night, and they had to do it secretly, otherwise they would be punished if they were caught by the patrolling soldiers.
Now she can earn thirty coins a day in the village, right at her doorstep.
I ate breakfast at home in the morning, and at noon the workshop provided a hearty lunch. I finished work before sunset and walked home in less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea.
"Third Aunt, why does this feel so unreal?"
Zhao Lan couldn't believe that she was now earning the same amount of money as her husband used to earn in the city!
Now the head of the household is out delivering goods, earning a hundred coins a day, but that's unstable; he loses it all when he comes back, while she always has some.
Those who reacted quickly took the lead and shouted, "I promise to teach them well! I'll make sure they all learn!"
"Me too!" Zhao Lan and Li Tiantian realized what was happening and quickly shouted.
"By the way, Shuiqing just said that people from the village are coming to learn, so does that mean all of our family members can do it?"
"So that means everyone in the family earns money?"
"My God! That's a lot of money to make!"
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