Chapter 65: Hiring Help
Zhang Zhaodi had just entered the door and called inside, "Jing’er, come out quickly."
Jiang Jing ran out with a book and saw that Zhang Zhaodi’s clothes were disheveled and her face was injured. Worried, she asked, "Godmother, what happened?"
Zhang Zhaodi placed two strings of copper coins into Jiang Jing’s hand and said proudly, "Went out once and earned two hundred cents, which can buy twenty baskets of petals."
Jiang Jing looked at Su Yaoguang in confusion.
Su Yaoguang chuckled, "Mother went to see Doctor Lin, but had bad luck and met the shrew who has a crush on Doctor Lin. That shrew saw Mother talking to Doctor Lin in the courtyard and without asking anything, charged at Mother to cause trouble. However, Mother did not lose out; the other party was more injured."
"I pulled out a lot of her hair, and this part of her head is bald now." Zhang Zhaodi pointed to a spot on her head. "Anyway, thanks to Yaoguang coming over, our Yaoguang is even more effective than a man. When that woman saw how strong she was, she obediently handed over the money without causing any more nonsense."
"We left directly, and don’t know how Uncle Lin handled that woman. But Uncle Lin is the only doctor here, and many people in the village owe him favors, so they will definitely help him drive out that shrew without us having to worry." Su Yaoguang finished speaking, then looked at the book in Jiang Jing’s hand, "Is this the medical book I bought last time? It was the only few medical books in the entire bookstore, a bit old, but I bought them all. I originally wanted to learn some medical skills myself, so I’d be more handy when making rouge and powder. Now it seems, destiny had its own plans; these medical books seem more like they were bought for you."
"These medical books are really good. Although I don’t know why they ended up out here, their former owner must have been highly skilled in medicine, otherwise, such amazing medical books wouldn’t have been written. Sadly, they weren’t well cared for, so they’re quite damaged. I’ll copy them all down when I have time, so if they were to become unusable in the future, we’ll still have a copy." Jiang Jing said.
Before it got dark, Zhang Zhaodi, along with her two daughters, tidied up the yard and cleaned the rooms. After they finished, they moved the deck chairs to the yard to apply face masks, and take care of their skin and hair, not even their fingernails were left out.
"Earlier, while I was fighting with that shrew, I heard them say I’ve recently gotten fairer, with fewer wrinkles, and even my hair has blackened. The things Yaoguang makes are really good; I have to use them daily so those in the village can see my daughter’s capabilities," Zhang Zhaodi patted her cheek and said, "You two also can’t be lazy. In the past, we didn’t have the means but now that we do, we must take good care of our faces."
"Don’t worry, Mother, we’ll definitely take good care of ourselves. In the future, when the three of us step out together, others might think we’re three sisters!"
"No respect, actually daring to mock your mother," Zhang Zhaodi huffed.
The next day, Zhang Zhaodi said a few words to Aunt Li next door and then went to find her second sister Zhang Pandi and her daughter Chunni.
Su Yaoguang first drove the ox cart to take Zhang Zhaodi to the village near where Zhang Pandi lived but didn’t enter the village.
They had discussed it, Zhang Pandi’s husband was greedy; if he saw they’d bought an ox cart, it wouldn’t be easy to let them go.
Even if he did let them go, he might follow them and try to take advantage.
When Zhang Zhaodi saw Zhang Pandi and her daughter later, she would just say she had taken on some work and was too busy, asking if they wanted to come over and help. The daily wage would be twenty cents per person, so for two people, it would be forty cents.
That amount might seem small, but for that family, which likes to take advantage, it was enough. Anyway, if Zhang Pandi and her daughter stayed home, they’d just be doing odd jobs and earning nothing, now there was a chance to earn some money. Their family wasn’t short of people to do work.
"Little sister, Chunni, are you home?" Zhang Zhaodi called at the door.
An old voice rang out, "Who is it?"
The person opened the door, looked at Zhang Zhaodi, lifted their lids, which were like old tree bark, and said sarcastically, "Who’s this brought the wind here, turns out it’s the eldest daughter-in-law’s elder sister. I’ll say right away, our family’s poor, no money to lend you, and no grain to lend either."
"I came to see my younger sister," Zhang Zhaodi said indifferently, "Not to borrow money or grain."
"Came empty-handed?" Mrs. Xu looked at her empty hands, disdainfully remarking, "Which family visits relatives empty-handed?"
"I’m not here to eat at your place, just saying a few words and then leaving. Where’s little sister? Call her out. I’m here this time to offer her a money-making opportunity, see if she’s interested."
"Making money?" Mrs. Xu’s eyes flashed as she called inside, "Second daughter-in-law, where’s your sister-in-law?"
A slim young woman came out and said with a smile, "Mom, sister-in-law went to work in the fields."
"Call her back and get Chunni back too," Mrs. Xu said, "tell her to hurry, saying her elder sister’s here."
After a while, Zhang Pandi and Chunni came running back, one after the other.
Zhang Pandi was covered in dirt, and Chunni was wearing ill-fitting clothes, her wrists showing.
The two stopped in front of Zhang Zhaodi.
Zhang Pandi grabbed Zhang Zhaodi’s hand and said, "Elder sister, what’s wrong? Did something happen?"
"There’s a small matter, but it’s good news. Yaoguang and I took on some work, got a bit too busy, and wanted to ask if you’re interested in earning some money. But the pay isn’t much, just twenty cents per person per day, with three meals included, can work for about twenty days."
"What work are you doing?" Mrs. Xu asked, "Are there enough people, can we also do it?"
"You can work it, but it’s a bit tiring and dirty, working from wake-up till sleep. Are you up for it?" Zhang Zhaodi said.
"From morning till evening, tiring and dirty work, I’m not doing it," the Jia family’s second daughter-in-law, Mrs. Hua, scoffed disdainfully.
Mrs. Xu hesitated a little too.
She wanted to earn money, but working all day for just twenty cents seemed hardly worth it.
"I still need to work, afraid I can’t earn that money," Zhang Pandi said hesitantly.
"It’s not even the busy farming season, what work can you be doing? Your sister came to let you earn money, just go earn it, twenty days can make..."
Mrs. Xu counted with her fingers for a long while but couldn’t work it out.
Jia Chunni timidly said, "One person can earn four hundred cents, two people can earn eight hundred cents."
Mrs. Xu was initially still a bit hesitant, but upon hearing this, she immediately said, "Do it, pack up quickly and head over."
This money she couldn’t earn, sending those two burdens to earn it couldn’t be wrong; anyway, having not split the family, this money would end up with her eventually.
"The work is tough, are you really willing to let Chunni follow us to do it?" Zhang Zhaodi deliberately said, "Maybe let it be, Chunni stays, and little sister, you come with me."
"Chunni’s very diligent, can handle housework and outdoor work, let her go with you. That’s settled, quickly pack up."