The term "maternity leave" became widely known in the boudoir, causing a stir among all the women there.
They never dared to imagine that women could find decent jobs in the county town and work for a lifetime, and even receive a basic salary for six months while giving birth at home.
It's like a dream.
In the past, they would work as maids in the mansions of wealthy families. They would be beaten and scolded, and sometimes they wouldn't even have enough to eat. They also had to be careful not to be harassed by the men in the mansion.
The rules of the boudoir quickly spread throughout the county. Some people thought that after having a child, one should stay at home and take good care of the husband and children, while others thought that being paid for postpartum care was like a windfall.
As long as they don't make mistakes and get fired from the brothel, this is a job that can support them, so the women in the brothel work even harder.
Both the east and west river channels are under repair. The textile factory on the west side has been completed, and the embroidery tower has begun collecting the last batch of silkworm cocoons for the year.
There weren't many farmers in Fenggu County planting mulberry trees and raising silkworms this year. The season was almost over in just two days. Granny Qian led ten strong women to transport bags of silkworm cocoons to the textile factory. Before leaving, she reminded them, "Be careful in the warehouse. Fill all the water tanks with water. Keep watch at night. Don't let anyone take advantage of the situation. These are very sensitive to sparks."
An old woman smiled kindly, “Don’t worry, Manager Qian, I’m in charge of guarding the warehouse. I sleep outside the warehouse, and I even keep a cat. I won’t let a single mouse in.”
Granny Qian glanced at the old woman a few more times. Not bad, she was a thoughtful person. "From now on, I'll give you an extra thirty coins a month, as your cat's wages."
The old woman was overjoyed; even a cat could earn her wages. "Oh, very well, thank you so much, foreman."
"Where is he? Do you still want the silkworm cocoons?" came the old man's shout from the doorway. When Granny Qian went out, she saw an old man in his forties or fifties, covered in dirt, driving an oxcart that was parked at the entrance of the textile factory. There were several bamboo baskets on the oxcart.
Granny Qian stepped forward and said, "Good silkworm cocoons are naturally required. Please take out the silkworm cocoons and let me see them."
The old man took a puff of his cigarette, got off the oxcart, and said, "Hey, you woman, you've got a lot of problems. Do you even know who I am?"
He piled the bamboo baskets forward and said, "Look, look, this old man is really good at raising silkworms."
Granny Qian didn't know who he was, but she knew that Qin Xiaozhou always acted based on the matter at hand, not on the person. No matter what kind of relative he was, doing business was doing business, and he wouldn't bother those distant relatives. So she picked up the silkworm cocoons to look at them. The cocoons were good, large and white. "Thirty coins a pound, weigh them."
The old man stopped her, saying, "You woman, you just spout nonsense. I'm Zhao Fang's second uncle. Give me more, fifty coins a pound."
Thirty coins per pound of silkworm cocoons is the most reasonable price. As long as they are transported to the embroidery shop to be sold, good silkworm cocoons will be sold at this price. Granny Qian put down the silkworm cocoons, clapped her hands, and said, "Thirty coins per pound, that's the most I can offer."
Zhao Erhan took a puff of his cigarette. "Call your manager over. She'll have to call me 'Second Grandfather' when she sees me. Hurry up and call her that. Bah! A woman who runs a business doesn't know her place and dares to give me face."
Not wanting to get entangled with this person, Granny Qian turned and went into the textile factory, saying, "Close the gate."
Zhao Erhan cursed and swore outside the door, then drove the oxcart towards the county town. The oxcart stopped in front of Yifanfengshun, and he swaggered into the shop. His muddy footprints and stench startled the young woman on the first floor, who screamed repeatedly. Tan Xue pointed at him and said, "You, how did you get in? Didn't you see the sign at the door that says 'Men are not allowed'?"
Zhao Erhan spat on the wooden floor, turned around and sat down in a chair, crossed his legs and picked his teeth. "What place can't I come to? This is my niece's shop. Quickly give me some food and drink, I'm starving."
With a mouthful of yellow teeth and a mouthful of phlegm, he almost sent the girls in the shop running away on the spot. They all covered their faces and ran away. Jing Shu came out from behind the counter and comforted Tan Xue, telling her to go upstairs to take shelter first. Then he went to Zhao Erhan and said, "Please leave. No men are allowed to enter here."
Zhao Erhan said with a lewd grin, "A room full of beautiful girls, and they won't let men in. What a pity."
Hearing the commotion, Lu Yan came downstairs, furious. "Who are you, causing trouble in the store?"
Lu Yan's features resembled Zhao Fang's. Zhao Erhan grinned and said, "Hey, you must be Zhao Fang's third daughter. I've seen you before. I'm your second maternal grandfather. I'm here to sell silkworm cocoons today. I've heard that your family owns a shop in the county. I'm here to visit relatives."
Lu Yan frowned. She remembered this second maternal grandfather. Her grandfather said that he had been idle since childhood, and his wife was beaten to death after he got married. He was left with only one son to depend on him. He had a loose tongue and offended people everywhere in the village. The Lu family had never had any dealings with him. She never expected that he would come knocking on their door.
“This is a shop, it’s not appropriate to visit relatives here.” Lu Yan felt disgusted by the man; his clothes and shoes hadn’t been washed in ages and he smelled terrible. She took two packages from the kitchen and handed them over, wanting to get rid of him as soon as possible. “Second Grandfather, we haven’t been hospitable enough. This is a small token of our appreciation. It’s getting late, and it’s not safe on the road. You should head home as soon as possible.”
Zhao Erhan took the things and said, "You little girl, you're even trying to shoo away guests? Is this how your mother raised you? I'm going to go back to the village and have a good talk with someone. Now that you've made it big, you look down on us relatives."
"I taught him that." Qin Xiaozhou came out from the backyard. "This is the shop. Even if you're just a relative, my husband Lu Yunfeng isn't allowed to walk around here. Can't you see the sign outside? Dogs and men are not allowed. Go back and tell them what you want. If you don't, I'll go to your village and tell them what you did to cause trouble in my shop. Get out!!"
Zhao Erhan was thin and bony, "You..."
Qin Xiaozhou suppressed her aura and said, "Giving you the things to take back is already giving you face. You go ahead and tell me who is in the right. Look how many customers you scared away when you came in today. Are you going to compensate for these losses? If you don't leave, I'll take you to the government office."
Upon hearing that he would have to pay compensation and go to the government, Zhao Erhan was so frightened that he ran out of the shop, drove off in his oxcart, and spat out a mouthful of phlegm from afar. He then opened the oil paper, wolfed down his food, and got cream all over his face. After eating and drinking his fill, he leaned against the oxcart and headed towards the village.
The next day at noon, Zhao Yong came to deliver chickens, ducks and geese. He rubbed his hands apologetically and approached Qin Xiaozhou. "We heard about what happened to Second Grandpa yesterday. My grandpa is very ashamed and asked me to apologize to you on his behalf. My uncle beat Second Grandpa up and he's lying in bed now. He will never come to the store to cause trouble again."
Zhao Yong sighed. His uncle was counting on selling those silkworm cocoons to make money for the New Year, but Zhao Erhan not only failed to sell them but also came to the store to cause trouble, offending Qin Xiaozhou.
There's no reason to make an old person apologize, especially since they beat someone so badly they can't get out of bed. That's already a good way to vent one's anger. She had heard about what happened at the embroidery shop last night. "If Uncle doesn't mind, send the silkworm cocoons to the textile factory. Granny Qian is fair and won't make things difficult for anyone."
Zhao Yong breathed a sigh of relief, feeling happy for his uncle. "I'll talk to him about it when I get home tonight."
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