She Became A Downfall Noble Lady-Chapter 70 - Paying Wages

Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Paying Wages

Chapter 70 -70: Paying Wages

Ye Xinyan waited for Lady Wang to enter before following her inside. With Qi Yougui in the yard, she didn’t have to worry about Lady Han eavesdropping, and with one less person meddling, less talking would be needed.

Lady Wang made a false offer for Ye Xinyan to sit on the kang bed and said indifferently, “Ye Zi must have just had a meal, right? I won’t pour you water, Great Aunt.”

Ye Xinyan smiled nonchalantly, focusing on the matter at hand, “Great Aunt, I came today to discuss something with you.”

“Our family’s stall in the county town has been a bit too busy, and we were thinking about getting two people to help out,” Lady Wang’s eyes showed wariness upon hearing this. Did Ye Xinyan want to hire her family to work for her? Ye Xinyan continued, “Grandfather thought that instead of hiring outsiders, it would be better to have our own family members do the work, as they would be more reliable than strangers.”

Lady Wang’s expression changed. When families in the village needed help, they typically just asked for assistance without offering any wages, providing lunch during labor and sometimes an extra dinner if the work was well done.

Not long ago, the old man of the house had instructed Chengzi to deliver some firewood to the Second Branch family during his woodcutting duties. With the Second Branch family having both the elderly and the young, lending a hand was deemed not a big deal.

However, the job that this woman was proposing today wasn’t something that could be finished in a day or two. If the Second Branch family wanted to recruit people from her family to help them, only offering lunch as compensation would not suffice.

While Lady Wang was still thinking about how to refuse, Ye Xinyan added, “Great Aunt knows that our family runs a small street stall, so even when it’s busy, we don’t need many hands; just two helpers would suffice. After discussing it with Grandfather, it seems that given the current lull in farm work, perhaps my eldest cousin and his wife would be able to spare some time. During the work period, we’d pay each of them thirty wen per day, and they can have breakfast and lunch at our place. What do you think?”

Upon hearing that Ye Xinyan intended to hire Qi Cheng and his wife and actually pay them wages, Lady Wang was somewhat stunned.

She looked at Ye Xinyan blankly, momentarily unable to respond. The Second Branch family, with their old and frail members, had returned at this time—surely not with the expectation of relying on their brothers in their hometown for support in their old age?

Now this adopted granddaughter from the Second Branch family mentioned that her family’s business wanted to enlist her own Chengzi’s help and that wages would be provided.

Lady Wang silently calculated it over. Sixty wen per day for two people amounted to nearly two taels of silver a month—an unimaginable income for a peasant household, far better than farming.

Seeing Lady Wang lost in thought, Ye Xinyan continued, “Our custom-made tables and chairs need two more days, so, Great Aunt, please take some more time to consider. I’ll come back tomorrow for your response. Just, please don’t mention this matter to anyone else yet. If you haven’t decided, and others come to know of it, it will make things difficult for my grandfather.”

“Lady Ye, there’s no need to rush off,” Lady Wang said as soon as Ye Xinyan mentioned leaving, her thoughts suddenly shifted.

Indeed, all being brothers, if the Third Branch found out that the Second Branch was spending money to hire help and competing over this lucrative opportunity, there would be trouble. Not to mention Qi Younian’s reaction, she feared their old man would just offer the opportunity to the Third Branch to keep the peace.

Lady Wang lifted her eyes to Ye Xinyan, “Lady Ye, give your Great Aunt a straight answer. Is your grandfather planning to use my eldest son and his wife permanently or just temporarily?”

Although she was leaning towards letting her eldest grandson and his wife go either way, permanent or a few months’ temporary work still made a difference.

Ye Xinyan smiled, “As for how long the work will last, I can’t be certain. Grandfather’s intention is that as long as we keep doing this business, we’ll likely need people. If my eldest brother and his wife are capable, of course it’s better to use our own family.”

In fact, for Ye Xinyan, hiring her own family members was far less convenient for managing compared to employing unrelated people. However, in this era, that was how business was conducted—using people from within the family. If she were to bypass the Qi family’s main branch and third branch to hire others, not only would outsiders criticize her, but she would also struggle to explain it to Qi Younian.

Moreover, with the thirty taels of silver provided by Jinrong, she planned to produce ice treats. During the hot summer months, ice treats were a high-profit business, not to mention they were easier to make and sell compared to rice tofu.

If the ice-drinks and desserts shop could open successfully, she would need to hand over the rice tofu stall to someone reliable and satisfactory. For now, the best candidate for taking over was none other than the main branch of the Qi family. As to which member of the main branch would handle it, naturally, it was up to her to decide.

As Ye Xinyan mulled over her plan, Lady Wang had already thought it through and agreed without hesitation, “That works. When does your family need help? I’ll send Chengzi and his wife over.” Since it was a permanent arrangement, she needed to show more sincerity to leave a good impression on the woman not to be underestimated.

“Tomorrow. Have big brother and his wife come over to my place at the Mao Hour tomorrow. They can start learning the work for the next few days, and once the tables and benches are ready, they can get to work.”

To put Lady Wang’s mind at ease, after saying this, Ye Xinyan added another line, “Oh, in that case, we’ll start counting wages from tomorrow.”

With the matter settled, Ye Xinyan didn’t linger and took her leave from Lady Wang: “Look at me, such a thoughtless person. I’ve disturbed my great aunt’s rest in the middle of the day with my own affairs, I’m truly sorry. Please rest, great aunt, I will take my leave now.”

Lady Wang, preoccupied with discussing this at home, didn’t detain her further, rose to see her off.

Ye Xinyan, stepping out of the main house, saw Lady Han standing under the eaves of the side room and greeted her with a warm smile, “Aunt, didn’t take a nap at noon?”

While she greeted Lady Han, inside she was looking forward to seeing her reaction upon learning that Qi Cheng and his wife were going to help her family. At this moment, perhaps Lady Han, unable to guess the purpose of the second branch’s visit, lay awake with curiosity?

Well, given your nature, aunt, there’ll be plenty of sleepless nights ahead for you.

After greeting Lady Han, Ye Xinyan had a few words with Qi Yougui outside, then left on her own.

Once Ye Xinyan had gone, Lady Han immediately pressed forward to inquire: “Mother, what did Ye Zi talk to you about?”

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Qi Yougui naturally knew why Ye Xinyan had come; he glanced at the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, turned his back with hands clasped behind him, planning to go in for a midday nap. Since he couldn’t control it, he might as well leave it be.

Watching her husband’s retreating figure, Lady Wang remembered Qi Younian’s visit a couple of days ago, when they chatted under the old elm tree outside the courtyard. They had probably been discussing this very matter.

She just couldn’t understand, with her husband’s usual temperament of expecting their children to work without pay, why had he suddenly seen the light this time, agreeing to earn wages from the second branch?

Lady Han tugged at Lady Wang’s sleeve, pressing for an answer: “Mother, did the second uncle’s family ask us for help?”

Lady Wang looked at Lady Han with a complex expression.

Her daughter-in-law had never liked the second branch family and had endlessly complained about their wrongdoings in private. Accusations such as having money to spend on themselves, yet always asking for help with matters, indulging in good food while completely forgetting who had exerted effort and provided food when they had just returned… and so on.

As for Lady Wang herself, worried Qi Younian might divvy up the Qi family’s property, she was always very guarded against the second branch and naturally would not show a pleasant face to their family of three.

Now, they would have to earn their wages from his business…