Zhu Niang and Aunt Li felt strange about Zhu Hao's proposal.
Zhu Hao nodded and said: "Yeah, we don't need to sign any kind of selling contract. We just find a girl from a small family outside the city. She needs to be hard-working. We will give her a monthly salary and let her help the family move things.
...Mom, when we have money, we should also learn to lighten our own burdens. If we work too hard...you and your aunt are exhausted, how can our lives get better?"
Zhu Niang fell silent for a moment.
In order to save money for her son's education, she had to deal with the exploitation of the Zhu family. No matter how hard and tired she was, she had to grit her teeth to support the family. Every penny she spent had to be spent wisely, and she did everything herself.
I thought about hiring someone.
But now that her son mentioned it, even she felt it made sense.
Now that the family is in better condition and the business is very busy, although my son is away from home a lot of the time, it is really difficult to rely on two women to take care of the business and housework.
Aunt Li said: "Master Hao, there is no need to hire a maid. There is not much work at home. I can handle it and let my wife take care of the business... It's just something that happened these days. Besides, if you are really busy, it's not
Can you ask the neighbors to come over and help temporarily?”
It seemed that Aunt Li felt a little embarrassed. If her hand hadn't been cut, the family wouldn't have been so embarrassed that they had to find a maid.
"Mom, as long as my family is stable, I can rest assured studying in the palace. What's more, if our life is better, others will be more willing to take care of our business." Zhu Hao said with a smile.
Zhu Niang asked puzzledly: "Why is this?"
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "It is easy to add icing on the cake, but difficult to provide help in times of need. If we hire a maid, it will make people think that we are living a good life and doing business more honestly, so there will be more customers... Besides, my mother and aunt only care about
We have business, what should we do with Xiaoting? She also needs someone to take care of her."
"No... no need..."
Zhu Ting said timidly.
Zhu Niang had not made up her mind at first, but seeing that Zhu Ting was young and already helping adults, she had to take on some of the housework at such a young age.
If the family situation is still as difficult as before, there is nothing you can do about it, but now that your living situation has obviously improved, it seems too stingy to be so mean to your children.
"Okay, just listen to Xiao Hao and ask a maid back from the city tomorrow..."
Zhu Niang made a decision.
Zhu Hao smiled and said, "Mom, I'll go and have a look too. It's best to invite two at a time. One is responsible for cleaning the yard and washing clothes, and the other is responsible for helping to cook and cook. Mom and aunt can just concentrate on taking care of the business."
…
…
The whole family is having fun.
But early the next morning, the old lady Zhu Jia entered the city while the city gate was open, went straight to the small courtyard, and called Zhu Hao over for questioning.
Zhu Hao did not find out any more information this time. Zhu Jia was a little dissatisfied after hearing this, but had no choice but to leave with a dark face not long after.
"What did your grandmother say?"
Zhu Niang was not allowed in just now because she was afraid that her son would be bullied by her mother-in-law.
Zhu Haodao: "They asked me about my experience in the palace... I didn't encounter anything special when I went back this time. The palace is still very wary of me. I told the truth, and then my grandmother left."
Zhu Niang nodded doubtfully.
She has always been worried about her son entering the palace as a companion.
That morning, Yu San drove a carriage to Mipu to pick up Zhu Niang and her son, and went out of the city to recruit maids.
Yu San got the notice last night and sent someone to the village early this morning. At this moment, there were several old ladies waiting under the big tree at the entrance of the village.
Zhu Niang asked her son to stay in the carriage and followed several women into the village to talk to the village elders.
Introduce girls from the village to work as maids for wealthy people in the city. There have always been people in the village, but they always sign the deed of sale directly. Now they hire one to go back to work as a long-term worker. Unless they are unmarried, they can only find widows, so looking for
The village elder is the safest choice.
"Brother Hao, business in the bookstore has been great these two days, but troubles are coming. Some people come to our stall to collect taxes, and there are also officials from the yamen who come to collect protection fees. It's very annoying..."
Yu San looked helpless.
With his network of connections, he can prevent local gangsters from coming to cause trouble, but when he encounters land security guards with official background or even people from the yamen, he has no choice.
When others see you making money, they will definitely try to take advantage of you.
Zhu Hao said: "Even if we open a shop and open a bookstore, the result will not be much better. We will still blackmail if we should. We can only pay according to the rules...I will think of a way later!"
Although Zhu Hao is the son of the late Jinyiwei Baihu, and his family also has a grandfather who was a Jinyiwei Qianhu, others don't know that he is the boss behind the bookstore at all, and even if they know, they know that his mother and son have a bad relationship with the family, so it is difficult to
Borrow the momentum.
Zhu Hao originally wanted to recruit Lu Song to join the gang and use the prestige of Xingwangfu to suppress the place. Unfortunately, Lu Song refused. Now it seems that he must find a way to support the bookstore's appearance through connections.
"By the way, there are other storytellers who come to our bookstore specifically to listen to stories. They take pen and paper to record them and prepare to tell them when they go back. If I find out during the tour, I will chase them away immediately, but some people are very smart, so listen more.
After a few times, I’ve memorized it so well that I can’t guard against it…”
If business is good, people will care about you everywhere.
Some people come to pay exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, while others want to steal business.
Zhu Hao thought for a while and said: "In this way, you can build a few more sheds next to the bookstore, then visit the storytellers in the city, and invite them to come to our bookstore to tell stories. I will give them different storybooks, and I will give them different storybooks every day.
Storytelling in different sheds.
"Given the quality and update speed of our storybooks, I think it will attract a lot of people. I believe that it won't be long before we are the only storytellers in Anlu... From now on, people in the city can only come to our bookstore on West Street to listen to books.
Vicious competition can also be avoided!”
Zhu Hao could only come up with a temporary solution.
Yu San looks smart, but after all, he has no business experience, so he is at a loss when encountering trouble. Now that Zhu Hao has an idea, Yu San only needs to be responsible for the specific implementation, and the sadness on his face disappears.
As for the effect, you can only know it by practicing it.
Just then, Zhu Niang came out.
"Mom, why didn't you let me follow you into the village just now?" Zhu Hao stopped talking to Yu San and came to Zhu Niang, "Have you found the maid?"
Zhu Niang said: "There are many big girls and young wives in the village. You are a boy after all, so it is inconvenient... Let's go back to the city. Later, the village will send the selected girls to the city..."
Zhu Hao looked surprised: "It was not finalized on the spot?"
Yu San reminded: "Most of the girls in the village, as long as they are not married, are helping their families with farm work. It is the autumn harvest season now. Although the grain has been harvested, they still have to be busy drying, plowing the ground and planting vegetables. Household work
There are really too many, and I’m afraid we’ll have to wait until the farm work at hand is finished before we let people go to the city to apply for the election.”
Zhu Hao looked at him: "Little Third Brother, how come you know everything?"
"I grew up in this village, so I don't need to ask to know these things."
Yu San touched the back of his head and said sheepishly.
While Zhu Niang went to talk to some women who were seeing off guests, Zhu Hao asked in a low voice: "Little Third Brother, is there any lover of yours in this village?"
Yu San was shocked and said quickly: "Brother Hao, please stop making fun of me. How dare you say such things... If the words get out, I will have my legs broken by the elders in the village!"
"hehe."
Zhu Hao smiled and said nothing.
After Zhu Niang came back, the group went to the nearby salt fields to check out the salt fields built in the hidden part of the mountain col, and then entered the city.
…
…
Before sunset in the afternoon, the maid who had been selected came to the shop as expected. A familiar woman led the way, while the driver stayed behind to guard the ox cart.
A total of four people entered the house. The mother-in-law took three unmarried girls aged thirteen or fourteen and stood in front of Zhu Niang and Aunt Li, waiting to be chosen.
"It's like this. When I heard Mrs. Zhu San said that you won't sign the deed of prostitution, everyone in the family was very excited. There were many girls who wanted to run for election, including those in the village next door. After discussing with the village elder, the old woman chose the girl who has good legs and good eyesight.
I'll find a live one with a graceful appearance and bring it to you. You can see which one you choose..."
Zhu Niang said: "Thank you for your hard work."
Then he called Aunt Li to reward the old woman.
This kind of thing is equivalent to Yazi helping to introduce servants, but this time the situation is a little special, and the reward will definitely be indispensable.
In an agricultural society, women are weak and find it difficult to gain a foothold in society on their own. Zhu Niang hired a maid this time, and the wages she paid were equivalent to those of a laborer working in the city. She also paid three cents a month for food and accommodation. Naturally, families from the villages outside the city flocked to her and robbed her.
I asked my daughter to apply for the job.
"Mom, can I choose? I think the one on the side... looks very good."
Zhu Hao is like choosing an oiran in a brothel, focusing only on appearance.
I have no choice but to invite a maid back. If she doesn’t look good, how can I show my face by taking her out? How can I be a carefree and carefree young master?
"It's nonsense, just stand aside!"
Zhu Niang looked over and found that the girl on the far side was already blushing, which made her look even more delicate.
Zhu Niang called her mother-in-law to her side, asked the girl in detail about her family background, and scolded her son, but she still tended to listen to her son's opinion on this matter.
"Her surname is Bai. Her father is not from this village. The Bai family escaped from the south of the Yangtze River more than 20 years ago and gave birth to several of them one after another. She has a sister who works as a maid in a wealthy family. She is pregnant and is expected to be married.
She can only be released when she is twenty... There are two brothers and two sisters down there... Her father is not in good health..."
Four daughters and two sons.
It's not easy to make a living. My father is in poor health, and my sister was sold to a wealthy family as a maid long ago. Even she has to work.
Zhu Niang nodded: "Then it's her. If there are difficulties at home, she knows what to do and she should be quick and diligent in her work."
Then Zhu Niang and her mother-in-law discussed the specific matters.
The remaining two girls who were not selected went out to the carriage to wait for the mother-in-law to leave the city together. Of course, even if they were not selected, they would be given enough carriage fare and tea money, but it is hard to say whether they would be coveted by the mother-in-law in the end. Even if they were selected, they would probably
I also have to give my mother-in-law a lot of benefits.
"Your surname is Bai? What's your name?"
Zhu Hao forced out a harmless smile.
This girl is six or seven years older than Zhu Hao. She is considered a big girl in this era, but when faced with a little brat like Zhu Hao, her pretty face turns red.
Or maybe her sister would instill some ideas in her when she came home occasionally. Young masters from wealthy families are not good at all, they are all perverts and so on...
"I...my name is Erdan..."
This name sounded like it was chosen casually. Zhu Hao pursed his lips. The Bai family didn't take their daughter seriously.
"Erdan? That's a bad name... My name is Zhu Hao. I'm usually away from home, studying in the palace. I only come back on Fridays or during holidays. My mother and aunt are very busy at home, so I rely on you to help take care of them!"
"
Zhu Hao spoke very politely, without any airs about his master.
After finishing the conversation, the little girl's face immediately became less nervous than before. She looked at Zhu Hao carefully, as if she wanted to remember this face.