Chapter 20
Ganzhou County is vast and sparsely populated, and the county government office occupied a fairly large area when it was planned. The former county magistrate came from the south and liked rockery and strange rocks, so he built a rockery in the county government office.
Lin Shuge followed Qian Wancai here, "What do you want to discuss with me alone?"
Qian Wancai took out a visiting card from his sleeve and said, "Young Master saved my son's life. I have never had the chance to visit you to thank you."
"Boss Qian, you don't have to be polite. Zhongxuan saved your young master while rescuing my younger brother." Lin Shuge did not accept the visiting card and replied indifferently.
"Sir, Aying has been the only son in the family for generations. When she heard that he was kidnapped, the old lady in her family immediately threw a tantrum. My wife and I wanted to take his place. If it weren't for the young master of your family who rescued him, I don't know if Aying would be able to return home safely."
"Sir, please consider this as a favor to my old lady. She is still waiting for my news." Qian Wancai pleaded.
Lin Shuge sighed and took the visiting card from him, "Okay, but as long as your thoughts are there, you don't have to give anything."
At this critical juncture, if someone saw the Qian family giving him something, it might cause trouble.
Qian Wancai was smart and knew his concerns. "Don't worry, sir. I will never cause any trouble for you."
"Okay, you go down first."
"Sir," Qian Wancai said as he took out another visiting card. He looked embarrassed but still said, "My son is a naughty boy and he insisted on thanking Mr. Lin Qingyuan in person."
Lin Shuge didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Then let him come too. I think Ayuan will be very happy."
Judging from Young Master Qian's personality, he might get along well with Ayuan. It's not a bad thing for children to make friends. As an older brother, Lin Shuge will naturally not interfere.
"Sir, I will take my leave now."
"Go ahead."
Lin Shuge watched his chubby body leave quickly, as if he would regret it if it was too late, and couldn't help but chuckle.
…
It was the coldest time of the year, when water would freeze into ice as soon as it was poured on the ground, but Ganzhou County was unusually busy. Merchants who had bought business shares issued recruitment notices one after another, offering ten cents a day for a strong laborer and a meal as a gift. All the farmers in Ganzhou County were alarmed.
During the busy farming season, when there is food at home, some wealthy families will hire workers to harvest millet and wheat. If they work hard, the family can have enough food to eat. This is also the case when the weather is good and the barbarians do not disturb the border.
However, no crops could grow in the fields during the slack farming season, so the whole family had to rely on the harvested crops for food. After the government collected taxes, families with many people and little land had to tighten their belts, and many people would even freeze to death or starve to death.
They also wanted to find a job to supplement their family income, but the county recruited workers who either had to be literate or have skills, which was not an easy task.
I heard that there was more than one business that was hiring, and each business wanted people, as long as they were strong laborers. Some women boldly asked if they could be accepted. The manager saw that she had a straightforward personality and said that as long as the work was good, they would also accept women. Soon, the news spread throughout the county.
This is the request that Lin Shuge put forward to them. If there are not enough people, some women can be recruited. After all, steps in the papermaking process such as washing pulp and drying paper can be done by careful women, and they can even do it better.
In a farmer's household in Tongzeli, the owner, Wang Zhuzi, was watching his wife pack up. She had gotten up early today to make pancakes using the little wheat flour left in the house.
"Yuan Niang, just one is enough. I heard from Big Brother Li that one meal is provided over there. You can save the rest for you and Abao."
Yuanniang didn't listen to him and put two more in for him. "I'm still worried. If someone deceives you over there and you seize the opportunity to run back, Abao and I will be waiting for you to come home." Yuanniang's eyes were filled with worry.
Wang Zhuzi smiled and said, "Okay, if they lie, I will run back."
"If it's true, I'd like to go and work there." Ten cents a day could buy half a pound of meat. Abao was a miserable child. He was born into their family and had rarely eaten meat since he was a child.
"Abao is still too young, so I'll do it first. I heard that it will be hard labor at first, but if you do a good job, you will be promoted to do other jobs and your salary will increase several times." Wang Zhuzi comforted his wife.
"If that were the case, you wouldn't have to work so hard." He touched his wife's hands covered with chilblains.
"Zhuzi, Zhuzi, are you ready? Leave quickly. What if it's too late and people don't want you anymore?" Da Li shouted outside.
"Here I am, Yuanniang. I'm leaving now. Please take good care of Abao." As he said this, he secretly put the two wheat cakes back when his wife wasn't paying attention.
The two of them traveled all the way to Ganzhou County. The manager saw that they were both young and strong, asked their names, nodded and let them stay.
They finally felt relieved, otherwise their trip would have been in vain.
"All of you, and you two, follow me." The manager casually pointed at the people who had just registered.
The group followed the steward to a wasteland. "Your job today is to clear this wasteland. Ten cents a day, and one meal at noon. Do you understand?"
Everyone said that they had heard it clearly. Clearing wasteland was not a difficult task at all for those of them who had been dealing with the loess land since childhood.
Everyone immediately picked up farm tools and started to clean up. The land was barren and overgrown with weeds. Some of the grass was taller than a person, making it difficult to walk.
Wang Zhuzi first used a sickle to cut the weeds, and then used a hoe to dig out the roots one by one. If he couldn't dig them out, he would pull them out, otherwise they would grow again next year.
In fact, it is possible to use fire, but County Magistrate Lin strictly prohibited it, saying that he was afraid of accidentally setting the whole mountain on fire.
This is a last resort. The weather is dry in winter and the grass and trees are easily flammable. If you are not careful, a fire can occur.
The men worked very efficiently, without any sign of laziness. After all, they knew that this job was hard-earned, and if they were lazy and got fired by their employer, it would be a waste of time.
The manager looked at them with satisfaction as they cleared a space in no time, then put a check mark under their names. There were several items written on them, including work attitude, meticulousness, intelligence, literacy, character, etc.
Once you have collected all the edges, you can go to the papermaking workshop. This is what the standard was set by County Magistrate Lin.
The manager sighed, thinking that he was worthy of being the county magistrate at such a young age. How could he come up with such an idea?
They worked until noon, when the manager and his men brought some large buckets over and said, "Stop, it's time to eat."
Wang Zhuzi heard the voice and put down the hoe in his hand, "Brother Li, it's time to eat."
Upon hearing this, Big Li also put down his sickle and said, "Let's go and see what we can eat." He hoped that it was not porridge, as a bowl of it would not fill him up at all. He could not sustain himself from the physical work, but he and Zhuzi brought some dry food, which could help them get by.
"Everyone line up, come one by one, don't push, there's something for everyone." The manager knocked on the rice bucket and shouted.
Wang Zhuzi followed the crowd and lined up. Some people were impatient and stood on tiptoe to see what the food was. Wang Zhuzi was not in a hurry. It was just a bowl of millet porridge. Fortunately, Yuanniang had made some pancakes, which were enough to eat with the porridge.
When it was his turn, the waiter scooped him a large bowl of noodles with an expressionless face, and added a large spoonful of broth. Wang Zhuzi was stunned on the spot. Seeing him holding the bowl in a daze, the waiter said, "Leave when you're done, don't delay the others."
He hurriedly thanked him and squatted aside to eat. He was holding a bowl of noodle soup. The soup was made from lamb bones. The soup was rich and the noodles were golden and steaming.
He could hardly believe what he saw. It was actually meat soup noodles, which was better than what he ate at home during the Chinese New Year. People in Northwest China love to eat noodles. There is nothing warmer and more delicious than a bowl of hot soup noodles in winter.
"Zhu Zi, we've come to the right place. There's even meat." He picked up the meat with chopsticks and showed it to Zhu Zi. "I have to take the meat back to my Yuan Bao to eat."
It is not easy for farmers to eat meat in a year. When Li saw the meat, the first thing that came to his mind was that the children at home had not eaten meat for a long time.
After being reminded by him, Wang Zhuzi hurriedly opened his bag and put the meat slices in the bowl into the bread he brought with him so that he could give it to Abao in the evening.
"Eat quickly. This shows the kindness of the host. After eating, work hard. We have never seen such a thing before. We can have such good food." After saying this, Big Li immediately buried his head in eating. It was cold and the food would get cold if he delayed any longer.
"Okay, let's get to work after we finish eating."
They are all honest farmers. They don't know the saying "repay a drop of kindness with a spring of water". They just know that if others are good to them, they should work hard to repay them.
Those who were working around had the same idea. Everyone was working very hard and wanted to clear the land in one day.
Time passed quickly. The land was not very big to begin with, and with everyone working together, they cleared it in one day.
When the manager came over to take a look, he saw that the wasteland, which was full of weeds and rocks in the morning, had been leveled out, and the workers had carefully tied the weeds into piles.
"Good, you all did a great job. You guys come back here tomorrow. If you do a good job, you can stay and continue to work. If you are lazy and don't work hard, you can leave. There are many people vying for the job."
Everyone was very happy. They got paid every day and had such good food. Who would dare to be lazy? They couldn't let others take their place.
So they all expressed their determination to do a good job.
"Okay, that's all for today. Come and get your wages. You can go home after you get them. Come back here to work tomorrow. Don't be late."
Wang Zhuzi felt happy as he touched the heavy copper coins. There was not much food left at home. Adults could endure saving some food every day, but children could not. Sometimes Abao would cry for food when he was hungry, which made him feel very bad.
Like now, we get paid every day, and one day's wages can buy two or three kilograms of food. If we save them, we can have a good New Year. Life will be better when spring comes.
As he was thinking, he and Da Li hurried home. They had to go back and tell Yuanniang quickly to make her happy. He was incompetent and made Yuanniang unable to hold her head up among her sisters. Now, as long as he has work to do every day, he doesn't have to worry about not getting paid. He has plenty of strength and is not afraid of hardship.
In his heart, he silently begged his master to allow him to work longer so that he could save more money and Yuanniang and Abao could live a good life for a few more days.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
