Seeing how anxious they were, An Shuyi swallowed her words. She had originally thought that if they didn't like it, she could make it into braised pork, which might taste even better than red braised pork. Since they liked it, she decided to leave it at that and make it next time.
As for the remaining clansmen who were just watching the spectacle, Xia Hua said without any politeness, "Have you finished digging? You still have the mood to watch the show here? Hurry up and go dig. Each family should send one person to get two catties of grain for the cook."
"Auntie, let's go to work!" The other clansmen stopped watching the commotion and ran to work in the fields. However, they also sent someone to inform their mothers to fetch the grain.
When they returned to the workshop, Village Chief Lin came to find them. “You two sisters are amazing. You’ve caught another wild boar. But we can’t eat it all at once. Why don’t we have Hunter Zhu clean the meat, and then the villagers can buy it back and cook it themselves? That would be much better.”
An Shuyi glanced at Xia Hua, signaling her to handle it, and then went to the side to busy herself. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to the old man, but he was too long-winded. Although she and Hua Hua had helped them a lot, it was only right, like a boss and employees. They were responsible for providing the prescription, and they were responsible for providing the manpower. There was nothing to be owed.
Even without them, she and Huahua would find people, but they would only pay them wages, not as much as they would get from the profit sharing. But since they were clansmen, they should at least let them earn a little more.
Xia Hua said helplessly, "Wood, if I were to sell this pork, how much silver could I get?"
After thinking for a while, Village Chief Lin said, "About five taels of silver!" He blushed as he said this, "Hehe, sister-in-law, you two go ahead with your work. I'll go arrange for someone to slaughter a pig. We'll have meat tonight."
He shouldn't have interfered. Yesterday, his sisters-in-law bought pork for everyone to eat together, but today, he made them sell the wild boar they hunted. Wasn't that unnecessary? Oh well, he'll do whatever his sisters-in-law say from now on.
That night, everyone ate braised pork again. Since the potatoes had to be saved for planting and couldn't be eaten anymore, everyone brought vegetables from their own homes and put everything in the pot. In the end, they cooked three large pots. The grains brought by the clansmen were also cooked in two large pots, but some were still left uncooked.
When they had dinner that evening, Village Chief Lin sat down with his two wives. Seeing his hesitant expression, An Shuyi and the other woman rolled their eyes. "You're a grown man, just say what you want to say. Why are you being so coy?"
Seeing him shovel rice into his mouth, then glance at them, and with other tribesmen nudging him, it seemed that he wasn't the only one who wanted to talk about this. An Shuyi could only say, "Just say what you want to say."
After receiving permission, Village Chief Lin put down his bowl and said, "Sisters, here's the thing. The villagers all say that before the houses are built, could we all eat together? We can assign a few people to cook each day so that the others can work properly. We can also take turns so that it doesn't interfere with our work."
"We'll agree on the amount of grain each family will take, how many people are in each family, and how much grain they'll need. We'll also buy meat and vegetables by paying a small amount of silver each family. Is that alright with you?"
An Shuyi and Xia Hua looked at each other, wondering how eating like this for two days had aroused their cravings. However, it wasn't entirely unacceptable. "Is this for your families, or do the others all agree? Don't let it turn out that only you are willing while the others are not."
Before Village Chief Lin could speak, a voice came from the side, "Sister-in-law, don't worry, we all agree."
"Yes, not just me, but my parents, wife, and children all agree."
An Shuyi nodded, "I can agree, but you don't need to contribute any money. Just arrange for a few people to go to Jinnan City to buy meat and vegetables every day, and the money will be deducted from your share. Do you agree?"
"Yes, we agree," the tribespeople said in unison.
“Alright, let’s start tomorrow,” An Shuyi instructed. “Take some people to buy grain tomorrow, buy a lot, 20,000 catties first, and put it in the workshop next to the ice block. Buy a whole pig for meat, and you can decide on the vegetables.”
"Also, we bought your handcarts back, which can be used to haul grain. We'll also assign some people to cut the bark of these trees tomorrow. Starting tomorrow, we'll assign some people to make ice, and some people to make paper. As for the sisters-in-law and nieces who know how to sew, we'll assign one person from each family to make dresses. We'll try to assign some nieces, as their hands are delicate and won't tear the clothes." As he said this, he glanced at Xia Hua.
Xia Hua had no choice but to take over the conversation, "Of course, the other sisters-in-law aren't without work either. After a while, we'll be making braised meat to sell, and then you can go there. As for the profit sharing, it will be the same as before: if each family contributes two people, they get 10%, if three people contribute, they get 15%, and if four people contribute, they get 20%."
"It's impossible for all of you to be arranged in one workshop. You'll be separated. Once the workshop is up and running, you can keep people in that workshop. As for your share, it will be settled every ten days for the first ten days, and then once a month. The share will be distributed in the workshop where you are located."
"Don't think that just because the ice business is good now, you should come here to work in the ice industry. You can rest assured that none of these workshops will fail to make money, provided that you work hard. As for farming, you can farm during the day and work in the fields at night."
After she finished speaking, Village Chief Lin said, “Sister-in-law, we will work hard, but isn’t this too much? If we earn a hundred taels a day, then each of our families will take one tael, and you won’t have much left.”
“Yes, sister-in-law, why don’t you pay us? Twenty-five coins a day. If the whole family works a day, we’ll make a decent living.” Lin Changnian chimed in.
“Sister-in-law, you don’t need to give us anything. Our family is lucky to be here with you, so why should we get a share of your money?” Zhu the hunter said.
They weren't originally members of the Lin clan. Doctor Liu was at least somewhat related to them, but along the way, the two sisters-in-law had helped them a lot. Now they were able to settle down and even had more than ten acres of land at home, something they never dared to dream of.
He, his wife, three sons, three daughters-in-law, and four grandsons and granddaughters—when the land was divided, no matter how young the children were, they all received one mu (approximately 0.16 acres), which added up to twelve mu. Even if his family no longer needed to hunt, they could still survive.
An Shuyi and Xia Hua didn't speak, but watched the women's reactions. They thought the women would be dissatisfied, since a few hundred copper coins a day was insignificant compared to a few taels of silver. However, the women all seemed to agree.
Having grown accustomed to flattery and backstabbing, it's a real pity to see these people in my tribe. I thought that if even one person was dissatisfied, I could make an example of them, but I didn't. Perhaps there isn't enough money to tempt them.
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