Chapter 24 - They are good people!

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Eldest Son Xiao’s wife, Mdm Wang, and Third Son Xiao’s wife, Mdm Wu, glanced at each other and walked quickly to the entrance of the courtyard.

Then, they heard someone ask, “Dalang’s wife, do you want to sell this tofu to other villages too?”

Shi Qingluo smiled and said, “We have to make and sell them. Our family doesn’t have the energy to do so.

“So, if anyone has any ideas, you can buy it from us and then sell it in town or to other villages.”

“If you can buy three catties of tofu from us in one go, you can exchange eight taels of soybeans for one catty, or four wen for one catty.”

“But if it’s more than three catties, you can only exchange it with soybeans or money. You can’t exchange with anything else.”

“You can sell it for five or six wen per catty, but it can’t be higher than this price.”

“Otherwise, I won’t sell my tofu to those who deliberately sell them higher than six wen.”

Shi Qingluo was prepared to expand the tofu business.

Hence, the price of tofu should not fluctuate too much.

The reason why she did not set a fixed price was also due to some factors.

For example, if they were sold in town or somewhere further away, it would take a longer time and deplete more energy for those transporting them.

This was equivalent to the fluctuation of one wen per catty.

Hearing Shi Qingluo’s words, many people became more tempted.

The Daliang Dynasty had been established for more than ten years.

Although the war had just ended and many civilians had settled down, they did not have much cash.

Therefore, they were happy to take advantage of the free time in the countryside to earn some money.

“This is a good deal. My family would like to try selling a few catties of tofu.”

A big man stood up and continued with a smile, “But your family is making too little tofu now. Today, the villagers are afraid that there won’t be enough. We want a lot, but you don’t have any either!”

Most tofu were already exchanged.

If there wasn’t enough for the village, how could they sell it to other people?

Shi Qingluo replied, “So in two days, we are preparing to expand our tofu production and hire people to help make them. The production will definitely increase.

“And we will try our best to make it by daybreak so that those who want to resell it can set off earlier.”

“This is good. I will buy a few catties in the next few days to try out.” The big man nodded with a smile.

Their family had a lot of manpower but very scarce plots of land. During the good times, there wasn’t enough grain in the field to feed them, so they had to go to the city to work temporarily.

Working for a short period only earned them a few wen a day.

Not to mention the hard work, they might not even have work assigned daily.

The tofu they bought yesterday was indeed delicious. It was more filling than the vegetables.

In addition, there wasn’t such food in their county, so he felt that it should not be difficult to sell it.

If this tofu was easy to sell, earning one or two wen per catty wouldn’t be worse than working part-time.

The sooner it was sold out, the sooner he could return home to help with the farm work.

There were quite a few families like the burly man who thought this way.

One after another, they smiled and told Shi Qingluo to make more in the next few days so that they could all come and try to resell it.

There were also people who asked, “Dalang’s wife, your family wants to recruit people to make tofu. Has the recruitment been completed? How much will you pay for a day?”

Compared to selling the tofu themselves, some also intend to earn money by making tofu with the Xiao family.

Shi Qingluo smiled and replied, “My husband has already asked the chief to recruit some. I’m not too sure about the specifics.”

Asking the chief for help would be easier than recruiting them herself.

Firstly, the chief was familiar with Xiaxi village.

He could select suitable families for the work, ensuring the quality of labours in the tofu production.

With the chief presence, those who weren’t selected won’t grudge much either.

Secondly, the tofu production would benefit the entire Xiaxi village.

It was equivalent to making everyone richer.

The chief was happy to see that, so he was even more willing to help.

The Daliang government had just stabilised, hence many management systems still had a lot of room for improvements.

Those displaced after the war had returned to their original villages to settle down.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Therefore, most of the villagers shared the same family name in each village.

The chief held the most responsibility for their village.

Villages consisting of many different surnames would nominate someone to be the person in-charge.

Because of this, when everyone heard that the chief was sourcing for manpower, many of them were disappointed.

Mdm Wang and Mdm Wu thought for a moment. They had some ideas.

Seeing that the tofu was almost sold out, Mdm Wang hurriedly walked in.

She looked confident and pointed at the remaining tofu on the table.

“Hanzheng’s wife, we want these tofu.”

Seeing that the two of them had come empty-handed, Shi Qingluo asked, “What are you going to exchange with?”

Mdm Wang was stunned for a moment before she spat, “I’m your eldest aunt. I’m just eating some tofu. Do I have to exchange things?”

Mdm Wu was even more scheming.

She smiled and said tactfully, “It’s mainly because the old master and old lady want to eat tofu, so they told us to take a look.”

Mdm Wang also said, “Yes, these trays of tofu are for your grandparents.

“Besides, your family is old, weak, and sick. How do you open a tofu workshop?

“Why don’t you let your eldest uncle and third uncle manage it? No issue if they work hard for the whole family.”

She already had a plan. She would let the males in her family to manage the tofu production first.

If they earned any profits, they would keep all for themselves.

If they didn’t, they would immediately withdraw. Anyway, they would not lose anything.

They heard that Xiao Hanzheng was weak and needed to lie in bed to rest.

Hence, he wouldn’t be able to oversee the production. They weren’t afraid of Mdm Kong.

Hearing their words, many villagers were speechless.

The two daughters-in-law of the old Xiao family were really shameless.

They wanted to take over their nephew’s tofu production.

Everyone turned to look at Mother Xiao.

It seemed like they would be bullied again.

Xiao Hanzheng had not recovered yet. There were only three weak women and a child in the family.

How could they be a match to the two shrews from the Xiao family.

Mother Xiao was afraid as usual.

Then, a trace of warmth came from her hand.

She realised that her daughter-in-law was holding her hand.

“Mother, don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

Shi Qingluo also realised that Mother Xiao might have been consistently suppressed by Old Lady Xiao.

She had been bullied too much by these two and was habitually afraid when she saw them.

Only then did Mother Xiao grit her teeth and nod. “Yes, I’m not afraid.”

Then, under Shi Qingluo’s encouraging gaze, she looked at Mdm Wang and Mdm Wu, “This is my family’s tofu production. I don’t wish to trouble your husbands. We also agreed to exchange this tofu with someone else. You came too late.”

After saying that, she suddenly realised that it wasn’t too difficult to reject the two of them.

Mdm Wang didn’t expect Mother Xiao to have the guts to reject them.

She gave a fierce look and said, “Well, it might be better to settle your thoughts before saying them out.”

If there weren’t so many villagers standing around, she would have already started giving this b*tch a lesson like how she did in the past.

Mother Xiao couldn’t help but stiffen up.

Ever since Hanzheng had fainted, she had been beaten up by the two of them several times.

She couldn’t help but feel a little afraid when she saw Mdm Wang’s face.

Shi Qingluo didn’t want Mother Xiao to always be a soft bun waiting to be bullied.

She had to stand up by herself.

Of course, she didn’t plan to be too ruthless from the start.

Now that Mother Xiao could take the initiative to reject the two of them with her encouragement was a good start.

Hence, she picked up the kitchen knife and slashed it heavily on the chopping board.

This sudden motion freaked out everyone nearby.

Shi Qingluo looked at Mdm Wang and Mdm Wu coldly.

“Why are the two of you fooling around with your kinship? Who’s eldest uncle and third uncle? Also, do you have any relationship with us?”

If one wanted to make a fortune, one couldn’t leave the impression that one was easy to bully or was too easy to talk to.

Shi Qingluo was about to do something to establish her authority in the village.

Mdm Wang and Mdm Wu came to her door of their own accord for Shi Qingluo to use them as an example.

What considerate and good people they are!