Great Tang Idyll

Book 2: Chapter 69

The food on the table was already cold, and the wine was no longer warm, but no one around the table paid attention to that. Several pairs of eyes looked at Housekeeper Zhang, waiting for him to give them a good idea.

"Well, if it was up to me..." When Housekeeper Zhang said this, he stopped, took a piece of deer tendon with his chopsticks, tossed it into his mouth and chewed it, nodding to indicate that it was tasty.

"If it was up to me, waiter, warm up the wine again. Don't you see that it has turned cold? The bosses will not like it when they drink it. Would you be able to afford the losses?"

Housekeeper Zhang reached out and poured himself a goblet. As he was talking, he noticed that the wine was not warm anymore, and he shouted out to the waiter by the door.

Among these people, Boss Wang was the one who was most prone to being impatient and impulsive. While instructing the waiter, he pushed the plate of deer tendons in front of Housekeeper Zhang and then he asked hurriedly.

Housekeeper Zhang still drank his goblet of cold wine, and then he picked up a piece of roasted lamb chops with his chopsticks. He chewed and spoke in a not quite clear voice, "This is what I'm thinking of, the people you hired, work too slow. How about you hire some people from the Ge Manor? Their manor's residents have nothing to do, so it's perfect for them to come over to do work. With more workers, work will be done more quickly. What do you think?"

When everyone heard this, they suddenly realized that for this entire time, they were fixated on thinking about how to prevent the rain from falling, and they forgot about looking for more workers.

"Good solution. Thank you, Housekeeper Zhang. There aren't enough people at the Ge Manor, right? It's better if Housekeeper Zhang helps us find the Zhang and Wang manors' residents; they're able to work more quickly." Boss Wang patted his thigh and was thrilled, but then he felt like there was still a shortage of manpower.

"Sigh~!" Housekeeper Zhang was troubled and he paused for a while. "It was promised at the beginning that you will be able to earn money. It has been a lot of work for you to arrange people to run around back and forth."

"Housekeeper Zhang is benevolent. Don't worry, we won't utter a single complaint when you need to use us in the future." Boss Lu sighed with emotion.

"We of course trust you, however... the Zhang manor's residents are really tired. There is a Li Manor next to us, how about everyone go there and ask? If we really make our residents work more, they will die from exhaustion. They may be just the manor's residents, but my master sees them as family. They're given good food and high wages all because we fear that their life is not good enough. Thinking that they have to go through laborious work again, oh my heart..."

Housekeeper Zhang couldn't talk anymore. He rubbed his nose twice, and wiped the tears with his sleeve. His lips were tightly pursed in a frown and he looked sad.

These bosses were not fools. They knew who owned the Li Manor, so how could they have the guts to hire people from there? Well, unless they were tired of living. They looked at Housekeeper Zhang's expression, and they were speechless.

Boss Jin secretly cursed in his heart, Die from exhaustion? What bullshit. How could they die from working for a day? Back then, did they rest for several days after a day of work? All of the residents look so strong and healthy, so how was that even believable. Treating their residents well, feeding them expensive food, and even giving them higher pay? What pay? Which manor out there pays their residents a separate wage for harvesting the fields?'

He was not the only one that had thoughts like this. The others were also scolding the Zhang manor in their hearts, but they still had to speak nicely. Time waits for no one.

Boss Lu stared into Housekeeper Zhang's eyes and asked.

Housekeeper Zhang had just wiped off his tears. He blinked a couple of times, and picked up a fish head and put it in his own plate. He chewed a few times, and then said to everyone, "This fish is not bad, it's delicious. Though it's a pity that my manor's residents can't afford to eat this thing. Even though it seems like fish is worthless, it really depends on how the fish is prepared. Fish prepared by the Between The Water and Clouds cost two taels of silver per fish.

Everyone, how's this for a plan. There are only three hundred people in my manor that are capable of doing physical labor. I'll give you 15 coins for each worker that you hire from elsewhere. Let my people off. Waiter, go to the manager to get five strings of coins. When I get back to the manor, I'll retrieve the money to pay you back. "

Nearing the end of his speech, Housekeeper Zhang gave an order to the waiter who had just delivered hot water and deer tendons.

The waiter agreed and turned to leave. Boss Jin quickly stopped him. "Wait there. Where can I even go to find workers? By the time workers come, it will be raining already. Housekeeper Zhang, I'll pay each of your residents 100 coins. Just for this one evening."

"One hundred and fifty coins, and not for the entire night. They will stop working when it starts raining. If they fall ill, the master has to pay for their medicine." Housekeeper Zhang changed the price.

"Okay, three hundred people. That's just a few picul of seeds anyway." Boss Jin gritted his teeth.

"Not three hundred. The two manors now have eight hundred people, and children can also help." Housekeeper Zhang refused to give in at this time.

"Okay, hurry up. If it's 800 people, then we will go with 800. A hundred or so taels of silver is better than losing over ten thousand taels worth of seeds."

Boss Jin really didn't want to delay any more time. Any additional words spoken would mean that fewer rice crops are going to be cut. Besides, it was not just a matter of ten thousand taels of silver, because people have paid deposit money for buying their seeds. They would earn tons if they were able to sell, but if they didn't have seeds to hand to them, then the bosses would have to compensate them with even more money.

"The matter should not be delayed. Let's go. Everyone can go to the Ge Manor to find out about their pricing. Waiter, bring this recently served plate of deer tendon to the master household. The Young Master and Young Miss love eating this."

Housekeeper Zhang was happy at this time, and he walked outside first, as if he was more anxious than others.

The bosses didn't have time to think about how shameless Housekeeper Zhang was for taking the dish as soon as it was served. Are the people in the Zhang Manor that poor?

When they were outside, everyone saw that it was cloudy and since it was dusk, the sky was already dark. Two people went to the Ge Manor to find someone to discuss the price, and the remaining people looked at Housekeeper Zhang.

"Oh, it's dark out already. What should be done? We have to light lanterns. A fire might start if torches are used." Housekeeper Zhang looked at the sky and said embarrassedly.

"Then light lanterns. Isn't it easy to buy lanterns?" Boss Wang asked anxiously.

"Let's go to the grocery store. The time is too rushed, I wonder if they still have any there." Housekeeper Zhang said, striding towards the grocery store. The others followed closely.

When he arrived at the place, Housekeeper Zhang shouted to the Er'gou, who walking around in the market. "Er'gou, are there any lanterns? I need... 400. Everyone, should even the elders in the manor work too?"

One of the bosses spoke. He didn't have the time to haggle the price and he let Housekeeper Zhang do whatever he wanted. Even if he brought pigs over and the pigs needed lanterns too and knew how to light up the lantern, then he would also hire the pigs for 150 coins each.

"Huh? Housekeeper Zhang, why do you want so many lanterns? This...?"

"Don't ask this and that. Tell me upfront, are there or are there not?" Housekeeper Zhang interrupted Er'gou impatiently, and forced him to answer.

"Yes. There are exactly 450 lanterns, but someone else has already ordered them, and they have to be sent off tomorrow morning. If I gave them to you, then...?"

Without waiting for Er'gou to finish speaking, Boss Wang stepped forward in front of Er'gou and shouted out his question, "How much is the total? We will cover the loss you suffer. Hurry up and get the lanterns. And the candles too."

"Okay, I'll go get them now. They cost 200 coins each, and each lantern comes with ten candles. Let me tell you, that wax..."

"I'm begging you, hurry up and go get them." Boss Wang was on the verge of crying.

Er'gou was sensible this time, and in a blink of an eye, he ran to the grocery store, where there seemed to be people waiting already. People went in and out, and within an hour, 450 lanterns were set up with lit candles inside.

The young and old males and females of the manor also came out at this time and waited there. Their level of efficiency was so high. As the bosses watched, they could fill their heart dripping with blood. If they didn't make preparations in advance, how could they be so fast? However, those people were empty-handed.

"Housekeeper Zhang, they came empty-handed?" A boss asked with staring eyes.

"Oh no, they are so problematic. Who was the one who went to gather them? Didn't I say that they're coming here to harvest the field? Did you forget to tell them? Er'gou, do you sell sickles here? It's the kind of thing that we specifically designed, which is better than the ones used elsewhere. We need... five hundred. Calculate how much that costs, and then the bosses will pay for it."

Housekeeper Zhang was also very upset, and he shouted at Er'gou. When he saw Er'gou go in to get the sickle, he shouted at the residents, "Everyone heard me. You're here to help harvest the rice crops. Each person will be paid 150 coins. As long as you're a person, then you will be paid. Once the work is done, remember to place the sickles at the same place, these sickles...."

"Housekeeper Zhang, look, the sickles are here, so let's get working first, okay?" Boss Jin was also unnerved, and he felt more and more anxious.

"Grab a sickle and get to work. The children can watch the pile, while the elders and females can hold the lanterns." Housekeeper Zhang immediately shouted out. Those people were not slow, and they ran over to fetch the item that corresponded with the division of labor.

When they began working, Housekeeper Zhang wiped the sweat that formed because of the sultriness, and he said to the owners, "Everyone, I will let people prepare meals according to what was served at noon. We'll remove the fungus soup, so you can save a little bit of money. How about replacing it with lamb?"

The Ge Manor did not have as many people, and only 100 people came. As for how much money was spent on hiring them, Housekeeper Zhang didn't care about that. It was considered as helping them to earn more income.

"Housekeeper Zhang, I'll accept it this time, but don't worry, I will never target the Zhang and Wang manors again." The boss surnamed Lu looked at the people harvesting, and said to Housekeeper Zhang beside him.

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