Goldfield
Chapter 169 – Recruitment
The song of the bird awakens a new day. A light breeze blew the fresh and gentle scent of the earth onto one's face. Today, the entire Dongshan Village, as opposed to the usual peaceful and quiet morning, was filled with noise and excitement due to certain news.
“Did you guys hear about that? Zhou Family Factory wants to buy sweet potato flour in bulk! ” Villagers chat as they queue at the entrance of Yu Xiaocao's house, where the Yu Family collects oysters and spoon worms.
The other villagers were surprised and said, “Really? Last fall, my family harvested a lot of sweet potatoes. We were afraid they could not be stored for too long, so we dried them and stored them in the basement! After I sell these oysters, I will go home and tell my husband to grind them all into — flour but, I wonder how much they cost? ”
“The Zhou family does honest business, unlike the black-hearted merchants who deliberately lower prices. I heard the price will be a little higher than the market price! ” The one who spoke was a capable-looking man.
A simple and honest-faced man with a strong body looks at the cleaned spoon worm in his own basket and laughs, “Yes, that's right! Ever since the Zhou Family started buying oysters and spoon worms in our village, the living conditions of my family improved greatly. Now, I don't need to constantly ponder and calculate when my child would like to get a good grain! Yesterday, I bought a catties of meat to satisfy my children's desires! ”
“Big brother Dadong, you and your oldest son are experts at digging spoon worms. You can earn several hundred copper coins every day. Even if you eat meat for every meal, you still won't spend all the money! ” The capable-looking man said in a slightly sour tone.
The honest-looking man, who was called Big Brother Dadong, smiled shyly, “No, that's not true! My eldest son needs to find a wife immediately, so we have to save up for his engagement gift ah! ”
“Kakak Dadong, our Dongshan Village is not the same as before! In the past, our village was poor so girls from other villages did not want to get married. Now, as long as you have the power, can't you get over a hundred copper coins every day? Some relatives of my mother, who had daughters, had asked if there was a competent young man in our village! ” The one who spoke was a warden, who looked rather rich.
Brother Dadong hurriedly said, “This aunt, can you help supervise my eldest son? That girl doesn't have to be very pretty. It was fine as long as he had a good personality and was a diligent worker! ”
The warden smiled like a flower and said, “Kakak Dadong, if you believe me, just leave it to me. My niece has a good appearance and is a diligent worker. He must be able to manage the household. Go back and discuss with your wife. If he doesn't mind, then I'll help you talk to them. ”
“Alright! I have to trouble this aunt !! ” Brother Dadong smiled so wide that even the frown at the corner of his eyes deepened. He was married at an older age because his family was poor. It seemed like his son would not share the same fate with him.
As they chatted, Yu Xiaocao came to the front row and stood on a tall rock with paper rolled into a paper cone. With a paper cone in front of his mouth, he shouted in the loudest voice, “Everything, all uncles and aunts! Good morning!!”
“Good! Alrighty! This is Brother Dahai's daughter. He looks very energetic! ”
“Aiyo, Xiaocao, don't stand too high. Be careful not to fall.. ”.
“The youngest daughter of Brother Dahai is very smart. Selling boiled food and growing watermelon is the idea! Look at that woman. Why doesn't my family have a daughter like her? ”
“This little girl, I want to know what new idea she got..”.
Seeing that he had managed to attract everyone's attention, Yu Xiaocao smiled even sweeter, “Please shut up everything !! I have good news that I want to share with my fellow villagers !! ”
When the villagers heard that there was good news, they immediately stopped whispering and sharpened their ears to listen to the good news.
Yu Xiaocao nodded in satisfaction and shouted, “The Zhou family is planning to open two new factories! They need to recruit a group of workers, both men and women can sign up. After being selected and signing the contract, you will receive a monthly salary that is no less than one tael of silver! ”
As soon as Xiaocao finished speaking, the crowd instantly erupted.
“The Zhou family opened a new factory again? Do they recruit outside workers? That's great!! I heard that the Zhou Family seasoning factory provides excellent treatment for its workers. They get four days off each month, and in addition to their monthly salary, there is also a bonus at the end of the year! I just thought that it was a pity that the Zhou Family only used their own servants in their spice factory. I did not expect that they would recruit workers from outside for their new factory! I will try it no matter what! ”
“I'll go too !! Who knows, maybe I will be hired! A one-tael monthly salary means I can make a stable income! I'd be a fool if I didn't leave! ”
“Didn't you hear what Xiaocao said? Both men and women can propose. I have nothing to do at home and I am not good at digging for spoon worms. Maybe I should go home and discuss with my husband, and also go apply for a job? ”
……
This news quickly spread throughout Dongshan Village. Soon, several families went to the dock together, registered at the Zhou Family factory, and waited for their appraisals.
Third Young Master Zhou had a foresight and specifically built a few more factory buildings while building the seasoning factory. When the seasoning plant first began production, it only occupied less than half of the building. The rest are separated and used as century egg mills and vermicelli.
Three days later, the Zhou Family's egg and vermicelli factory was ready to operate. Except for the ‘mudur’ wrapped outside, almost no technical skills are needed when making century-old eggs. Xiaocao taught trusted subordinate Young Master Zhou Third the formula to make ‘lumpur’. The workers would make century eggs with mud that he prepared every day. Thus, the staff of the century egg factory can start working after a simple training!
The century egg factory does not need many people. After interviews and examinations, they only received a few housewives who were quick and diligent workers. However, getting into a vermicelli factory is more difficult. No matter whether it is kneading sweet potato flour, tapping the filter basin, scooping vermicelli, or drying vermicelli, all of them require a lot of technical skill and rigorous training.
Moreover, the workers who enter the factory must all sign a contract of confidentiality. Anyone who leaked the formula would have to indemnify the factory for a thousand taels for their losses, and they would also be arrested and sent to prison.
Many people want to back out after hearing the first clause. However, when they hear that factories provide high salaries, excellent treatment, and annual bonuses, most people are still willing to sign a contract after going through careful consideration. As long as they had no malicious intent and did not divulge the formula, there would be no problems at all!
The task of kneading sweet potato flour is mostly assigned to young girls and young wives who are neat and agile. Times have changed, and the perspective of the villagers of Dongshan Village has also changed. It is no longer considered embarrassing for young girls and married women to make money to support their families!
Young and strong men are responsible for tapping the tensioning basin and removing the vermicelli. They will change shifts and breaks every hour because this is a job that is completely dependent on strength. If they worked from morning to night, it would be surprising that their arms were not paralyzed.
As for the task of scooping up the vermicelli and drying them, they chose mothers who worked carefully and patiently. As a result, more than half of the employees in these two Zhou Family-owned factories were women.
For example, in the past, when the young women and housewives of Dongshan Village were free and unemployed, they only gathered in groups to chat and gossip. Ever since the Zhou Family factory started operating, the village had become much quieter. Except for the elderly, women were rarely seen under the old elm tree at the mouth of the village.
Of course, except for Madam Xiong and Madam Li! Both are typical cases of people who are lazy and greedy, who can do nothing. So, the factory will definitely not accept it. The two of them had also applied for jobs, but upon seeing the appearance of Li's careless mistress, she was eliminated in the first round. The reason was that the Zhou Family factory was producing food. If the personal hygiene of workers is poor, how can they ensure the cleanliness of food?
Madam Xiong was also eliminated in the second round due to her awkwardness. Madam Xiong was deeply saddened to see that some women, who were no match for her, had passed the test. So he instigated Madam Li to make the Yu Hai family pull the rope for them.
Madam Li was the same as her mother-in-law, who oppressed the weak and feared the strong. He did not dare to look for Yu Xiaocao, who had support, and spoke to Madam Liu personally, forcing him to help convey kind words for her in front of Third Young Master Zhou. However, Yu Xiaocao, who was watching him as soon as he entered the gate, heard his words.
“Oldest Aunt! The century-old egg factory and the vermicelli factory did not belong to my mother, so what was the point of looking for my mother? My mother rarely spoke to Third Young Master Zhou, yet you asked her to ask for his help. Are you sure you are not looking for the wrong person ?! Let me be honest with you! Third Young Master Zhou will not listen to anyone in my family except me! It is useless for you to look for someone else !! ”
With his hands crossed in front of his chest, inwardly Yu Xiaocao sneered at Madam Li who was bullying the weak and afraid of strong behavior. Did he really think that his mother was still easily bullied? Dream on!
Madam Li looked around and noticed that Xiaocao's godfather, who was a high official, was not around, so she hurriedly bowed and smiled flatly, “Xiaocao! No matter if we are relatives. What relatives? Shouldn't the relatives look after each other? Eldest Aunt never asked for anything, so please just help Eldest Aunt once! ”
Yu Xiaocao's eyes shifted as he pondered and said, “It's not that I can't help you say a few good words! But all the work in the vermicelli factory is heavy and tiring, so with ‘pampered lifestyle’ Oldest Aunt, you definitely can't do it. Then ... go to the century egg factory! However, they use a system of wages per unit there! Those who work faster will get paid more and receive a higher monthly wage, while people who work slower will definitely earn less money. Eldest Aunt, what do you think? ”
Madam Li still knew herself very well. Whether it was before she got married or after she married into the Yu Family, she barely did any work. If he receives a monthly salary based on wholesale wages, then. ”.
Madam Li smiled flatteringly and said, “Xiaocao, can you see if there are other jobs ..”
“Not that I underestimated you, Oldest Aunt, but you won't be able to do any other work! If you feel unsuitable for the job, keep digging for spoon worms. As long as you are willing to work hard, you can definitely earn a lot of money every month! ” Yu Xiaocao waved his hand and spoke in a somewhat impatient tone.
Madam Li knew that Xiaoaco was not an easy person to deal with. He had the support of his high-ranking official godfather, so he could neither beat nor scold him. Although his stomach was full of dissatisfaction, he still accepted the job. Alright, let! Even if he worked slowly, he would still earn money for every job he made.
He was most satisfied with the fact that Madam Zhang would not be around while she was working. Her mother-in-law would not know how much her salary was, which made it more convenient to deduct some money from her and keep it as a personal savings …