Chapter 40
The Fu family's family workshop has started in full swing.
After the seven girls and Chunhua signed the deed, they came to Fu's house early every day, and then in the specially arranged large Xiangyang room, they arranged silk threads of various colors according to Zhou's requirements.
The silk thread and copper wire were sent by Li's Silk and Satin Shop, and were included in the capital of this business together with their wages. In the first few days, Ms. Zhou did not let them do anything else but manage the threads every day. Some of her fingers were rough, so she was given ointment to apply on them to prevent the threads from being pulled out.
The abnormality of the Fu family was quickly noticed by the people in the village.
The whole village was boiling.
After all, one person only has three hundred coins, not to mention that the money can be used to buy oil and salt, so that the family can eat several meals of meat. Even if you save it all, you will have more than three taels a year. For poorer families, this money is enough to marry a daughter-in-law. Even if it is not used to marry a daughter-in-law, it is not bad to add more dowry to the daughter.
So some people came to the door of Fu's house to poke their heads in. Some people came to the door with eggs and wanted to put their children in. Some people were indignant and shouted loudly after knowing that they were brought here by the patriarch's wife.
"What kind of work are they doing?"
“Easier than needlework?”
"What, three hundred coins a month!"
"Then why don't you take my eldest daughter with you? Wife Wencheng, you are so unethical. You just took care of this matter quietly. My eldest daughter is very diligent, and she is a good hand at home and abroad. What? Da Ya?" Ya is too old? Then there are two Ya and three Ya, they can all do the work."
"And my Chuntao."
"My apricot blossom."
"My home..."
Apparently, you can find a job with a salary of 300 Wen per month at your doorstep, and it is said that the salary will increase after you become more proficient, which makes the villagers very excited.
The patriarch's wife was not afraid of these aunts and sisters. She also replied loudly: "Aunt Qingshan told me that we need to find some young ladies to come to the house to help with the work. They should be above ten years old and below thirteen years old."
"It doesn't matter what you look like, there's only one thing. The house should be simple, don't think too much, and be strict with your words. Don't tell a bastard what to do and how to do it in two days. By then, the whole street will know, and that person still has How to make money? This is a business with the silk and satin shop in the city! "
She pointed at Mrs. Wen and said, "His fourth aunt, you were the one who spread the word about this, right?"
"You are like this, and you still expect to let your children do work? Don't do work today. Tomorrow the whole village will know what they do and how they do it."
"If you want your child to have a bright future, keep your mouth shut!"
Wenshi was at a loss for words, "I, I heard what Chunhua Lady said, she, she..."
The patriarch's wife ignored her and pointed at a high-jumping sister-in-law and said, "Da Ya, mother, don't talk about your Da Ya. Da Ya is a good person at home and abroad, thank you for speaking out!"
"Have you not seen how rough her hands are?"
"Don't say she's not the right age. Even if she's suitable, I won't let her go. Otherwise, her precious silk thread will be hooked out of shape. Can your family afford the compensation? There are Erya and Sanya, one is eight years old. What can a five-year-old, tiny child do? Let someone help you take care of your child?"
"But come on, if you have this intention, it's better to let Daya take care of herself. She's going to kiss her, and she can't find a good family like this!"
The eldest girl said, "I'm busy at home..."
The clan leader's wife also ignored her and pointed at the two of them and said, "I won't talk about Chuntao. She is the fattest among the little ladies in the clan. She keeps talking about small things every day. I have never seen her doing any work."
"As for Xinghua..."
She said to an anxious middle-aged woman: "Xinghua is a good child, but her surname is Liu. This time she is going to Aunt Qingshan's house, and Wen Yu is not married yet."
"My cousin's, it won't have a good reputation if word spreads about it."
Xinghua Niang was disappointed, "Hey, I didn't understand it either."
Finally, the patriarch's wife said to the dozens of women who gathered around her: "That's it, but Aunt Qingshan also said that this is just the first time we are recruiting people. When we have more time in the future, we will recruit people again. You go home." After that, let the little ladies take care of themselves and teach them more about how to be a good person, and there will be opportunities in the future.”
"Really?"
"Hey, I'll ask Chuntao to work harder when I get back!"
"Next time, you must choose one from our family. Our children are hard-working and don't like to talk."
Seeing that the matter was over, Mrs. Zhou also came out to express her position, "Everyone, please go back. As long as you do well this time, you will have opportunities in the future. Even if it is not the current job, there will be other jobs."
When the aunts and sisters-in-law saw her coming out, they all smiled happily.
"Aunt Qingshan, it's settled. When you have the opportunity in the future, you must see our peaches. I usually only let her do some housework, and her hands are tender."
"Daughter-in-law Qingshan, these are the dates at home. Take them and eat them. Take them and eat them quickly."
"Sister-in-law Qingshan..."
After finally persuading them all to leave, Ms. Zhou breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the clan leader's wife who came to help. Then after thinking about it, he turned around and went to the old house next door.
After a while, Aunt Fu's voice came out.
"What?!"
"The first month's wages will not be paid?!"
"Why!"
"...Yes, I said it, so what if I said it, why don't you let others say it? What, if you don't agree, I will send Chunhua back? That's not okay, Chunhua is your niece."
"Hey, hey, sister-in-law, don't leave!"
"I promise, I promise, I won't say it again, I won't say it again..."
Fu Wenyu, who was reading in the study, heard the faint voice coming from next door and laughed happily.
Finally found a way to deal with the second aunt.
While the velvet flower business was in full swing, Fu Wenyu was not idle.
There was news from Zhang, the shopkeeper, that Mr. Murong, whom he had been thinking about, had agreed to help draw illustrations for "Legend of the Divine Eye", but the other party did not accept Fu Wenyu's request for a door-to-door visit and only gave a mailing address. If the two want to exchange drawings in the future, they have to use letters.
This made Fu Wenyu a little embarrassed.
According to his idea, the two should find a place to sit down, he explained the requirements, and then the other party would draw. This would not only save time, but also give the feeling he wanted.
Unfortunately, Mr. Murong was very tough and said that he would not agree.
It seems that this was because when he drew "The Woodcutter" before, he also operated in this way. Shopkeeper Zhang also said that he rarely saw the other party, and it seemed that this mysterious Mr. Murong was not a local.
If he was not a local, there was nothing he could do.
Fu Wenyu had to write down his detailed requirements one by one, including what kind of pictures he wanted, how the characters were set, and some complex illustrations. He also sketched out the general scene on paper. He made sure that the communication efficiency of both parties was the highest and the rework rate was the lowest.
And in the repeated communication and confirmation, time passed little by little.
This year, the Fu family did not hold a big New Year.
The family prepared a sumptuous reunion dinner, and then burned some paper money for Fu Qingshan, and told him about the changes in the family over the past six months. In the end, Zhou Shi did not forget to ask him to bless the family to be safe.
The Fu family and the Zhou family did not have many descendants, and there were not many people in the Zhou family, so there was no need to visit relatives after the New Year. On the Fu family side, an aunt came after the New Year and wanted to send her granddaughter to work in their house.
In the end, of course, it was rejected.
This mouth cannot be opened, and it will be out of control after it is opened.
As the cold weather faded and the spring breeze arrived, the business that the family cooperated with the Li family sold several batches of goods. Because there were eight young ladies to help this time, the embroiderers at the silk shop only needed to match the colors and make different styles of velvet flowers, so the speed was much faster, and the money they received in the end was as much as 320 taels.
As for Fu Wenyu, the progress was also good.
When spring came, the 1,500 sets of ordinary editions that had been ordered had all been printed, and they were just waiting to choose an auspicious day for sale. Because the pre-order was opened early, more than 900 sets were ordered this time. Although it was less than last time, Fu Wenyu was still quite satisfied.
And Zhang, the shopkeeper, also told him that the book version was still reserved. If it was sold out soon, he could print another batch immediately, just like the story of "The True and False Young Master".
Speaking of the storybook of "The True and False Young Master", it was reprinted after the Chinese New Year, because those merchants who bought the storybooks wrote to reserve them one after another, some with more than ten copies, some with twenty or thirty copies. Merchants from other places who passed by Liuzhou heard about this magical storybook and also wanted to buy it. So Manager Zhang printed another 500 sets before the book version was dismantled to print "The Legend of the Divine Eye".
But the hardcover version was not printed again, only 50 sets. Anyone who wanted it could only buy it from the people who had ordered it before. This behavior also won the favor of those VVIPs. The hardcover version of "The Legend of the Divine Eye" also saw an increase in reservations.
Unexpectedly, 22 sets of the hardcover version were reserved.
Among them, Tang Yuanwai took 10 sets and said he would give them to others. Some of his guests or friends were very interested in jade and antiques, and they happened to have such a storybook, so he bought it to keep in touch.
And the guest who reserved 10 sets last time and said he would send it to the capital, only asked someone to order three sets this time. As for the other nine sets, they were scattered.
Finally, Fu Wenyu and Zhang, the shopkeeper, discussed and decided to print only 30 sets of the hardcover edition this time.
Now the manuscript has been printed, but the illustrations are still being copied and colored. It’s not that they don’t want to use printing to print the pictures at one time, but when the number is so small, it is the most economical to ask someone to copy them, just like last time.
After these things are done, Fu Wenyu proposed to take a vacation.
"Mom, everything should be relaxed."
"Before, we were rushing to work, so except for the New Year period, neither you nor the sisters had a rest. But now there is not much work, we should take a holiday and have a good rest for a few days."
Fu Wenyu found that he still underestimated the ancients.
They worked all year round, came to work every day, and boxes of small fluff sticks were made and sent to Li's Silk Shop.
Let them rest, but they are not happy!
However, such hard work is not without reward. After the first month of learning, everyone became proficient and efficient. At Fu Wenyu's suggestion, Zhou started to give out bonuses. The diligent young lady could get more than 100 coins a month, and the slow ones could get dozens of coins, not to mention the double salary during the Chinese New Year.
So everyone was enthusiastic.
Zhou subconsciously refused, "There is no shortage of work."
"Miss Li made some velvet flower bonsai before the Chinese New Year. There are peach blossoms, chrysanthemums, and apricot blossoms. They sold for a lot of money, and some of them were sold to wealthy families."
"So Mrs. Li told me a few days ago that she received a big business deal."
Mrs. Zhou said happily: "There is an old lady in Jiangzhou who celebrates her birthday next month. She likes chrysanthemums the most, so the family made an order to make ninety-nine pots of chrysanthemums, as well as the top ten famous chrysanthemums." Li The girl also specially drew a drawing and sent it to me to arrange the wiring according to those colors.”
Nowadays, there is no custom of giving chrysanthemums to the dead, which is why that family made such a big fuss.
But Fu Wenyu didn't expect that Li Xin would expand sales so quickly. It seems that his previous evaluation was not wrong, and the other party is indeed very talented in business.
But you still need to rest when you need to.
"Mom, just take a day off."
"And if you don't take a rest, the sisters also need to take a rest."
Fu Wenyu tried his best to persuade, "We can take advantage of the rest day to go shopping in the city. For example, the Liuzhou tabloid said that Fugui Restaurant launched a vegetarian banquet, including delicious mushrooms and authentic vegetarian meat. , don’t you want to try it?”
Zhou was convinced, "I think you want to eat it."
"Forget it, let's take a day off tomorrow. Now that it's getting hotter today, I'll take you to the city to buy some spring materials and make clothes when you have some free time."