Yang Cui wasn't surprised that the Lin family split up and argued. After all, with so many people, everyone had different thoughts, and when something happened, everyone wanted to protect their own interests.
With the Lin family preoccupied with their own troubles, they had even less time to cause trouble for Yang Cui, and Yang Cui's life was peaceful and fulfilling.
The duck shed and pigsty were built in six days and were finally completed.
On the seventh day, another four hundred ducklings arrived.
"Mommy, so many little yellow ducks!" Sanya's eyes lit up when she saw the densely packed ducklings. "Are we going to become rich? Will we have lots of candied hawthorns to eat in the future?"
"You little money-grubber!" Yang Cui laughed, gently tapping her forehead. "Only when the ducks grow up and are sold will we have money to buy you candied hawthorns."
"Then starting tomorrow, I'll dig up a little more earthworms every day to feed the little yellow ones until they grow up, and then we can exchange them for candied hawthorns." Speaking of candied hawthorns, Sanya couldn't help but swallow her saliva.
Er Ya solemnly arranged the work for her three siblings: "When it's not hot in the morning, we'll go to the mountains to collect pine needles first, and then we'll dig for earthworms. There are so many ducks to eat, so we need to dig more so we can buy less from others and save money for our family."
"Er Ya is so sensible." Chen Sumei happened to hear Er Ya's words and couldn't help but praise her.
"Auntie, Xicai, you're here." Yang Cui greeted them and ushered them into the house. "What happened to your face?"
"It's nothing, I just fell by accident." Chen Sumei's expression was a little unnatural, and Yang Cui was too embarrassed to ask further.
Chen Sumei added, "I heard from Xile that you were looking for me."
"Well, my farm has expanded, hasn't it? I'm too busy to manage it all. I was wondering if you and Xicai and Ximei had any free time to help me out. It's just cleaning the pigsty and duck shed, cooking pig feed and feeding the pigs. It's a lot of work. For the first three months, I'll give you three 500 coins each month, plus 20 jin of millet. If you do well, starting from the fourth month, in addition to 500 coins, I can give you an extra 20 jin of grain."
Wang Dachun is unreliable, but Chen Sumei and her children are quite good and efficient. Yang Cui has a good impression of them and is willing to help them.
Upon hearing Yang Cui's words, Chen Sumei was immediately dumbfounded: "You... Xiao Cui, you... are you serious?"
"Of course it's true, but let me make this clear beforehand: if the work isn't done well, I'll replace you at any time."
"Sister Cui, don't worry, I'll definitely do my best! I'll listen to you and raise the ducks and piglets to be plump and healthy!" Wang Xicai immediately promised excitedly.
Chen Sumei was so moved that she burst into tears: "Xiao Cui, thank you, thank you..."
"You don't need to thank me. I'll say it again: if you don't do a good job, I'll replace you anytime. Don't blame me for being ruthless then," Yang Cui said. "The ducks have been delivered, and the piglets will arrive tomorrow. From now on, An Changhui will bring me swill every day. You can just use the swill to cook pig feed and feed the pigs. If Xile is free, have her help gather pig feed. I'll give her one coin for every ten catties of pig feed. I have dozens of pigs, so I need a lot of pig feed. Pig feed is the kind of wild vegetables that grow on the edges of fields or in the ground. It's best if you pick this kind of grass for me." Yang Cui showed them the leaves of nettles.
“This kind of grass is plentiful in the mountains and easy to find. Although pig feed is not as valuable as earthworms, the whole village is now digging for earthworms, so it's probably not easy to find. If you have time, go and pick this pig feed for me. You won't earn less than digging for earthworms.”
Chen Sumei and her children carefully memorized the appearance of the nettle and kept thanking Yang Cui.
"Then come and work tomorrow. Your wages will be settled monthly, and you'll be paid at the end of each month."
“Okay, no problem.” Chen Sumei readily agreed.
Before leaving, Wang Xicai said, "Sister Cui, please don't give my father the wages, and don't tell him how much we get paid each month. He gambles away any money he has."
"Don't worry, I will only give the money to the person who did the work. I won't give it to anyone else who comes to collect it."
Even if Wang Dachun didn't gamble, Yang Cui wouldn't let anyone else collect the money on his behalf, because she was worried that if something happened, she wouldn't be able to get into a mess.
With Yang Cui's words, Wang Xicai was finally relieved.
On the way back, Chen Sumei was still unable to calm down. She told her children, "Xicai, Ximei, and Xile, you must remember how good your sister Cui was to you. You must not forget her kindness and be ungrateful like the Lin family."
Wang Xicai: "Mother, we know, don't worry, we remember everything."
...
The next day, Chen Sumei and her children arrived early to work. Before the piglets arrived, they were cleaning the duck shed. Because of Yang Cui's kindness, Chen Sumei and her children worked especially hard.
In the countryside, there are no secrets, and soon the news spread that Yang Cui had asked Chen Sumei and her son to do chores.
Many people came to inquire whether Yang Cui was hiring anyone else and how much she paid Chen Sumei a month. Naturally, Yang Cui wouldn't tell anyone about wages. Despite repeated questioning, she remained silent. They then went to ask Chen Sumei and her children.
A month and a half taels of silver and several dozen catties of grain—this wage was not low. Chen Sumei was afraid that revealing it would arouse envy, so she kept her mouth shut and wouldn't say anything to anyone who asked. She also warned her children. Wang Xicai was also sensible and knew it wouldn't be good to say it, so he also wouldn't say anything to anyone who asked. As for Wang Xile and Wang Ximei, they didn't know the specific wages at all, so no one could find out anything from them.
Unable to get an answer from the villagers, they started to fill in the gaps in their imaginations, comparing Chen Sumei and her son's wages with those of An Xiaojiang and An Xiaohe, and they guessed pretty accurately.
When Wang Dachun returned home after gambling all night, he was overjoyed to hear that his wife and children were working for Yang Cui and were earning seven or eight hundred coins a month.
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