The wicked sister-in-law is in charge; meals include fish and shrimp.

Chapter 245 The wages were so high that I dared not accept them.

Over at the school, Zhang Yun was picking vegetables when she suddenly heard Afu call her name.

She looked up and saw him running towards her with a happy smile on his face.

Zhang Yun was stunned. The morning sunlight shone on the young man, and he ran over as if he were carrying the light with him.

When the person arrived, she clapped her hands and stood up. "What's wrong, Brother Fu? Is something the matter?" Zhang Yun asked, seeing that he was panting heavily from running.

Ah Fu took a breath and happily grabbed her hand. "Luo Zhi's family is hiring. One tael of silver a day, three meals a day, for three days!"

"We're still missing one person. She asked me to come and ask if you'd be willing to go!"

He was so excited that he didn't realize he was holding the girl's hand.

Zhang Yun's face flushed red. She lowered her head slightly and whispered, "Brother Fu, please let go of my hand first."

There are so many uncles and aunts here; it wouldn't be good if too many people saw it.

Afu belatedly realized he was holding the other person's hand, and quickly let go, his face turning as red as a monkey's bottom. "I...I'm sorry, I got excited."

Village Chief Zhang, who was standing nearby, had seen everything and naturally heard what Afu said: "Go! Why don't we go!"

"Afu, quickly take Xiaoyun to thank Luozhi on behalf of Uncle!" he said with a smile.

Afu still felt the heat from the hand he had just held Zhang Yun's, and stood there in a daze.

His mother slapped him on the head, "Hurry up and take Xiaoyun there! You silly boy!"

She saw it just now! This silly boy in the family even knows how to hold a girl's hand, not bad, not bad!

The two young men walked away side by side, and once they were out of sight, everyone started teasing, "Hey! There's good news coming to both village chiefs' families!"

"These two kids are a perfect match! They're a perfect couple!"

Who doesn't like to hear nice words? The village chief's wife, who was picking vegetables, stood up and shouted when she heard them talking, "It's still early!"

"We're having guests over today, so I'll go home and catch two chickens to cook for everyone!"

Everyone happily agreed, "Great! We'll give you a generous gift on the day of the wedding!"

"Hahaha! Definitely! Definitely!"

Village Chief Zhang was beaming. The village children could now go to school, and this girl could earn three taels of silver at once. It seemed that good news was just around the corner.

Good things keep happening one after another; I'm even happier during this period than during the Lunar New Year.

In the courtyard of the new house, Wen Luozhi was explaining the work to the people who stayed behind in each household. Zhang Yun and two girls smiled at each other and nodded slightly.

……

"Okay, have I explained everything clearly? If there's anything you don't understand, please feel free to ask me."

She assigned people to each step of the mooncake-making process, and the place where it was made was naturally the threshing ground.

Since there are only three days left excluding today, we can only set up temporary tents there and make the food as quickly as possible while ensuring the hygiene conditions are up to standard.

If we need everyone to work overtime, we'll give overtime pay.

The town's Da Ya and Er Ya have already finished a batch of oil and are returning it, which is about half of the order. As for the rest, it's up to them.

In addition, the shop will be selling some more items during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and Wen Luozhi figured she probably wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

Starting that evening, everyone put on clean work clothes and got to work.

Everyone knew that time was of the essence, so they all sped up their work and didn't dare to waste a moment saying a few words.

They were busy before the roosters crowed in the morning, and the threshing ground was still brightly lit at night.

Once the last batch was finished and packed into gift boxes, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, I made it in time, otherwise it would have been a shame to waste all the good food I ate these past two days.

During these few days of work, they have eaten almost everything that flies in the sky, swims in the water, and runs on the ground. Each of them has probably eaten more than one or two taels of silver.

When there was a lot left over, people would let them share it and take it home to eat, and their families would also eat it.

I thought the wages would be paid after the Mid-Autumn Festival, but after the last meal, Wen Luozhi came out carrying a box of loose silver.

"Thank you all for your hard work these past few days. You haven't slept well at all because of making mooncakes."

"As we agreed before, everyone who works for three days will receive three taels of silver each, plus one tael for full attendance and one tael for hard work."

"Each person will receive five taels of silver. Line up to collect yours."

She placed the silver on the table with a smile, and none of the workers went forward.

"Luo girl! We agreed on three taels, so it's three taels! You silly child!"

"What do you mean by 'perfect attendance' and 'hardship allowance'?!"

An older woman waved her hand, saying, "They wouldn't feel right accepting so much!"

Five taels! They couldn't even imagine it. Earning three taels a day, even if it was just one tael, felt like a dream.

Besides, this job isn't heavy, it just requires a bit of attention to detail, and it's a thousand times, ten thousand times easier than working in the fields.

Seeing that no one came forward to collect their wages, Wen Luozhi sighed and rubbed her aching back. "Sigh, that's why I said one person per family."

"If everyone is afraid to accept even five taels of wages, what am I supposed to do if I need to find more people to help in the future?!"

The work wasn't strenuous, but it required meticulous attention. If she hadn't worked with them for two nights, she wouldn't have known how painful it was.

Just like when she first entered the workforce and worked on the assembly line in a factory, she mechanically repeated the same actions and did the same thing every day.

Anyone with a weaker mental fortitude simply couldn't handle this kind of work.

Even after saying that, no one dared to accept it, insisting on accepting only three ounces.

Finally, Wen Muchuan stepped forward and said, "Let's all compromise."

"Four taels of silver for wages, plus a meat rabbit!"

After he finished speaking, he winked at Wen Luozhi and said, "Sweetie, is this okay, Daddy?"

Wen Luozhi gave him a thumbs-up, saying, "Dad's so clever!"

The workers looked at each other and discussed in hushed tones, but eventually compromised.

"Brother Wen, if you ever need anything at home, just come to our husbands!" an old woman said.

Others chimed in, saying, "From now on, if anything happens at home, just call everyone."

"Hey! We've really gotten a huge advantage from you this time!"

Everyone chatted and laughed, and with Wen Zizhou's eloquence and lively atmosphere, they were all beaming with joy.

Once everyone had left, the matter was considered settled. Wen Luozhi stood up and stretched, and Wen Zizhou immediately fawned over her, handing her a bowl of tea.

"Sister, this wage is too high for us..."

He covered his mouth, not daring to say the rest, because his younger sister was looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"My dear third brother, you'll see how amazing you are when you go and make mooncakes for a day."

Sore hands, legs, waist, and neck are nothing compared to the fact that everyone is so busy trying to even drink a sip of water.

She's not a exploitative person; she just earns a little more money at home now, so it's nothing to worry about.

Besides, there will be times when I need help, so this amount of money is not much at all.

She patted Wen Zizhou on the shoulder with such force that he almost lost his balance.

Xie He glanced at him and patted him on the shoulder twice. "I told you not to be picky about food and to exercise more, but you wouldn't listen!"

Wen Zizhou was on the verge of tears. What did this have to do with whether he was picky about food or exercised?

Wasn't he just complaining about his sore arms? How come he's putting so much pressure on them?!