After seeing his uncle's family off, Qingshan closed the gate tightly and gestured for his mother to come inside to talk.
After Jiang Yue sat down, she saw several young men, unable to contain their excitement, take out a contract and hand it to her for review.
Thinking it over, Qingyun realized it wasn't quite right, so he read the contents of the contract aloud...
The gist of it is that his son reached an agreement with Wu Guanghua to supply 30 catties of cold noodles to Yunkelai Restaurant every day for three consecutive months. Each catty was purchased at a price of 20 copper coins, which would bring in 600 copper coins a day, and 18,000 copper coins a month, which was ten times more than what they could earn by setting up a stall!
The contract did not restrict them from continuing to set up a street stall; as long as it wasn't set up in front of the restaurant, the restaurant wouldn't interfere.
Jiang Yue glanced at it and saw no major problems. After a moment's thought, she guessed that Wu Guanghua dared to set the price so high because he had his reasons. As long as the benefits outweighed the drawbacks for her family, that was fine.
However, seeing her sons so happy, seemingly unaware of what was wrong, Jiang Yue couldn't help but give them a gentle reminder:
"Qingshan, I want to ask you, if you make 30 jin of cold noodles every day, is your stall still open?"
Immersed in joy, Wu Qingshan's eyelids twitched when he heard his mother ask this question. After thinking for a while, he realized that he had been thinking too simply!
Their stall sells over a hundred bowls of liangpi (cold skin noodles) every day, which is about 20 jin (10 kg) of ingredients. If they were just supplying restaurants, their stall would be in trouble, as they don't have enough manpower!
Qingsong realized that his joy had turned into shock. Although selling cold noodles was hard work, it was still a good way to make money, and he didn't want to give it up.
Qingyun had already guessed her mother's intention and asked:
"Mother, we're short-handed. Can we find someone we trust to help us?"
"Well, that depends on what your older brothers think."
Jiang Yue nodded, but didn't say much. She told her sons to figure it out themselves, and then took her daughter to look through the medicinal herbs.
After their mother left, the three brothers gathered together, looked at the contract, and each expressed their own opinion.
After discussing for fifteen minutes, the three brothers concluded that:
The people you trust are definitely your relatives; besides your own family, it's your uncles' and aunts' families.
My eldest uncle's son, Da Shi, and my second uncle's son, Xiao Shi, are considered family. If we discuss it with my grandfather and they can join us, it will be much more efficient.
Then there were the few childhood friends in the village. We'd known each other since we were toddlers. We survived those years by sharing the food we saved from each other's mouths.
While the important formula cannot be revealed to them, their families can handle the miscellaneous tasks such as transportation, sales, and cleaning as long as they are paid properly.
Without further ado, at lunchtime, Wu Qingshan told his mother about the result of their discussion. His mother didn't object, so they decided to get to work on it as soon as possible!
Qingshan went to the old house and discussed with his grandparents about bringing his two cousins to help out. Each of them would receive three hundred copper coins a month, and they could eat and drink together.
Grandpa Wu knew that Qingshan's intention must have been agreed upon by his third son's wife, so he agreed on behalf of his eldest and second sons.
Qingsong went to find playmates. There were three of them, each a young boy, strong and capable, but they could only stay at home and farm with their fathers.
Qingsong went door to door, talking to the adults. Each person received two hundred copper coins a month, which included food and drink. The work he did was help them push carts, sell their wares in town, tidy up their stalls, wash dishes, and do other odd jobs.
Two deals were struck, but the other family's son got married, and his wife wouldn't let him continue the marriage, so the other family had to apologize.
Everyone has their own ambitions, so there's no need to force it; two people are enough.
"Pah!"
After everyone left, the woman spat and said indignantly:
"Don't think I don't know. Wu Ergou's family is making a fortune. They only offer you two hundred copper coins a month, and they want you to be their laborer. Only a fool would go!"
"Xinghua, that's my brother. Don't say that. He meant well. Besides, two hundred copper coins isn't a small amount!"
Wu Xiaoshu frowned. His wife was too shrewish; she had rejected him too quickly, and he hadn't even had a chance to interject.
Zhao Xinghua, furious, grabbed her husband's ear and scolded him:
"Are you stupid? Don't you know how to play the game? Just wait, he might come back in a few days asking for your help with a higher price!"
"You, you be gentle."
Wu Xiaoshu wasn't so optimistic. Er Gou, or rather, Qing Song, was willing to spend money to hire him to work, wasn't that also a way of helping him out?
But such a great opportunity was ruined by his own wife!
........
We're not setting up our stall today because we're running low on raw materials.
After visiting everyone, Qingshan Qingsong went to Uncle Hu's house to borrow an oxcart to go to town and bring flour home.
The next morning, before dawn, Xiaobai started barking again.
However, before Jiang Yue could get up, someone went to open the door.
It must have been her sons' doing, so she simply ignored them and continued sleeping in.
When she woke up, the sun was high in the sky. Her sons had all gone out to deliver goods. In the backyard, Qingyao was carefully examining the medicinal herbs, not being careless at all.
After washing up, Jiang Yue came over for breakfast. Lifting the pot lid, she saw warm rice porridge and pickled vegetables inside.
"Mom, my eldest and second eldest brothers asked me to tell you that they will take my third brother back to the academy after they finish their work. Also, my eldest and second cousins have been washing their face powder for a long time."
Qingyao's face was flushed, clearly she had been busy for quite a while.
"Well, with your two older cousins helping you wash your face from now on, your eldest and second eldest brothers will have an easier time."
Jiang Yue sat down, picked up the conversation, and praised him.
In her view, her sons have finally learned to free their hands, asking relatives to do the core tasks and trustworthy people to do the rough work. Their thinking and perspective have broadened, and they have become enlightened!
"Mom, I saw Aunt Guihua looking at our house suspiciously again today."
Qingyao wiped her sweat, sat down opposite her mother, and poured herself a cup of cold tea.
"Don't be afraid, and don't pay any attention to this kind of person. The more you pay attention to them, the more they will take advantage of you."
Jiang Yue comforted her daughter, but inwardly she felt a deep disgust for her.
It's not the theft itself that's scary, it's having someone eyeing it.
This Zhang family member is always watching her house; he must have ill intentions!
"Mom, let's plant honeysuckle in our front and back yards next year. Not only can we sell it for money, but we can also make tea with it. That's great."
Qingyao didn't want her mother to be unhappy, so she deliberately changed the subject.
"Yes, we'll plant more next year too."
When Jiang Yue saw the honeysuckle, she thought of the two huge beehives in the back mountain.
Then she couldn't help but swallow hard; the honeycomb was full of honey, and she was getting a little hungry!
Wait, honey, bees, Zhang's~
Got it!
Jiang Yue quickly finished her breakfast and said with great interest:
"Yaoyao, go to the old house and borrow two hats from your grandparents. Tell them that Mom is taking you to the back mountain to dig for wild vegetables!"
"Okay, I'll go right away."
Seeing her mother so happy, Qingyao wisely didn't ask any questions and just listened to her.
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Yue used her points to redeem an anti-inflammatory and swelling-reducing ointment, as well as a giant insecticide bottle just in case.
Ugh, after glancing at my points balance, I'm back to being a self-employed individual. How pathetic!
However, thinking about the scene of punishing Zhang Shi next, she felt that everything she had done was worthwhile!
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