It had been more than 20 days since Yao Zhi bought the new slaves. Besides giving them some food, two sets of new clothes, and materials to build houses, she hadn’t visited them.

As she rode her donkey, she also checked the sweet potatoes.

It had been around 40 days since the entire land was planted with sweet potato seedlings. During this period, whether it was the slaves she bought or the Ling Squad, they had watered the farmland using water from the wells she had dug. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Since the wells had been replaced with movable wells, the water now came from the System’s river. Although the spiritual energy contained in the river water couldn’t be compared to the spiritual spring water, prolonged use still yielded good results.

The sweet potatoes were thriving. Thanks to the Sha Wu Hen powder, the crops were free from pests. Added to the fertilizer made from locust powder and blood meal, the soil had sufficient nutrients.

Normally, it would take at least 60 days for sweet potatoes to be ready for harvest. But judging from their current growth, they might be ready in just a few more days.

Yao Zhi continued riding her donkey until she reached the first house built on the farmland. The house was not big, only around 50 square meters, and was located not far from the first well.

She got down from the donkey and walked over.

The family living in this house was a family of three. The couple had a daughter. When the little girl saw her, she rushed into the house to hide.

Noticing their daughter’s strange behavior, the couple turned and saw their Master. They quickly stopped what they were doing and opened the bamboo gate.

Seeing that they wanted to kneel, Yao Zhi stopped them and asked, "How are you doing?"

The couple was flattered by their Master’s kindness, and it took Da Qiang a while to reply, "Master, thanks to you, my family and I are doing well."

Yao Zhi nodded and entered the yard. She checked the house and noticed that while it was simple, it had basic furniture. It was just that they didn’t have much besides that.

She looked around for a while and took out a pouch. She took out a piece of broken silver and handed it to Da Qiang. "Here is the monthly wage for you and your wife."

Da Qiang and his wife, Zhang-shi, were surprised when they saw the silver. Its value was equal to 300 wen. As slaves, they had no wages since they were considered the Master’s property. Even if the Master didn’t provide them with food or water, they had no right to complain.

Their Master had not only spent a lot of money to buy them, but also gave them materials to build a house, new clothes, and plenty of food. Now, she was even giving them money. How could they dare to accept it?

They quickly refused and said, "Master, we don’t dare..."

Before they could finish, Yao Zhi had already pushed the silver into Zhang-shi’s hand and said, "From now on, Da Qiang will receive 200 wen per month, and Zhang-shi will receive 100 wen per month. This money is yours, and you can do whatever you want with it."

"Besides wages, you will receive 20 jin of grain, 5 jin of vegetables, and 3 jin of meat every month per person. You will receive your grain and wages at the end of each month."

"Since vegetables and meat can’t be stored for long, you will receive 1 jin of vegetables every 6 days and 1 jin of meat every 10 days. In the future, there will be a manager to handle this matter."

"I will introduce him to everyone once everything is settled. For now, just go to my house directly to collect your stipend and supplies."

It took Da Qiang and Zhang-shi a long time to regain their senses. They quickly kowtowed to Yao Zhi and said, "Thank you, Master."

This time, Yao Zhi didn’t stop them. Even if she felt uncomfortable, she had to endure it. After informing Da Qiang’s family, she rode her donkey to the next house.

There were a total of 10 households, consisting of 28 adult slaves and 5 children she had bought earlier. To make things fair, everything was allocated based on the number of people rather than households.

Yao Zhi spent several hours informing all of her workers and spent a total of 4 taels of silver and 900 wen for their wages over the past month.

At noon, she returned home and called Xi Yi to her room. She informed her about the arrangements for the workers. "From now on, you will be the head manager of all the properties under me."

After finishing her words, she handed her a wooden box and said, "There is a total of 2,000 taels of silver inside. You can use it to pay the workers’ wages for now. As for supplies, just take them from our household storage."

"When we finish building the rooms and everything else, I will hire Yang Dalang to supervise the farmland and the workers directly. You only need to supervise him."

Xi Yi knew that her Master had abundant food, vegetables, and meat, so she didn’t have to worry about buying supplies from town.

She accepted the box and curtsied. "Understood."

When she was alone, Yao Zhi took out her small notebook and ticked off the completed tasks. With matters at home gradually getting on track, it was time to build the workshops and prepare the land for the orchard.

She thought about her plans for a while before putting everything back into her System storage and going out for lunch.

After lunch, Yao Zhi sent Xi Yi away and returned to her room to refill the kitchen supplies. She took out more millet and sorghum flour, pork, and vegetables from the warehouses in her System’s farmland and animal farm.

These were for Da Qiang and the others.

When she was done, she returned to her room and entered the Shared Manor. Inside, she took a shower, changed her clothes, and then took a nap.