Parents coming to pick up their children from school would catch the scent from the braised meat shop and decide to take half a pound home to try.

Once they tasted it, they couldn’t quit.

The booming business of the two shops meant Yuan Chun couldn’t handle it alone. She went to Red Star Village to find the team leader, intending to hire two women to help in the shop, offering food and lodging, and paying thirty yuan a month.

At that time, temporary workers only earned twenty yuan a month, so with Yuan Chun offering thirty yuan, it was almost as much as a formal worker’s salary.

The team leader immediately said, "No need to find others, just let my daughters-in-law, the wives of my eldest and second sons, help. They’re efficient and hardworking, and definitely won’t slack off or hold you back."

Yuan Chun specifically came to the village to look for Sanfeng since she had two children to care for. She worried the team leader’s wife wouldn’t let her go, but now that the leader volunteered, Yuan Chun nodded repeatedly, "Then let Sanfeng and Xiao Lian come with me."

"By the way, team leader," Yuan Chun added, "I want to outsource the task of collecting chickens, ducks, geese, fish, and eggs from the village. I’ll pay the normal price, plus half a cent extra per egg, and an extra cent per pound for the chickens, ducks, fish, and geese. But I’ll only collect two hundred eggs, twenty chickens, ten ducks, three geese, and ten pounds of fish daily."

The team leader’s face lit up with joy and said, "Sure, my eldest and second son can handle that. They do nothing at home during the off-season, so at least by helping you collect goods, they can make a few bucks."

Far from just a few bucks.

Though a single egg only earns half a cent, Yuan Chun wants many; two hundred eggs earn a whole yuan, and along with the hundreds of pounds of chickens, ducks, fish, and geese, they can earn two yuan a day.

That’s sixty yuan a month.

More than what a formal worker makes.

Most importantly, in the village, no need to go house to house; villagers will proactively deliver things. His sons just need to make a bit of effort collecting and delivering them to Yuan Chun’s shop, earning sixty yuan a month.

The team leader was overjoyed.

The team leader’s wife was also thrilled.

As Yuan Chun left the village with the two daughters-in-law, the wife insisted on gifting her a large pack of dried mushrooms and wood ears weighing four or five pounds, "Daqiang’s mother, take this. You’re busy with your business and don’t have time to pick mushrooms; eat them, and when you run out, I’ll give you more. They’re plentiful in the hills and cost nothing."

Yuan Chun gratefully accepted the wife’s kind offering and returned to the shop with Sanfeng and Shui Lian.

With two helpers in the shop now, Yuan Chun felt much more at ease, no longer exhausted to the point of breathlessness and didn’t have to rush around endlessly.

Now she only needed to get up early each day to buy groceries, come back to braise meat, then focus on cooking and handling the cash. Tasks like washing vegetables, preparing dishes, and washing dishes were all covered by the sisters-in-law, Sanfeng and Shui Lian.

After school, the children could eat first and then help with chores within their abilities, not having to scarf down food hurriedly before rushing to school on time.

Half a month later, when students went on vacation, there was no drop in business at Yuan Chun’s shop; in fact, it got better by the day, especially the braised meat, selling over five hundred pounds daily.

Previously, twenty chickens a day were enough; now fifty weren’t sufficient.

Most of the parents were factory workers; some ordered braised meat from Yuan Chun’s place for banquets for weddings or other celebrations. Through word of mouth, Yuan Chun’s braised meat shop became famous across the entire county.