The first step in the book is to start selling tofu

During the Chinese New Year, the Lin family of four completely let go and had fun to their heart's content.

They lived in the county town and had no relatives to visit. As for activities like New Year's greetings, there was really no other place to go except for a few partners.

As there were no more social interactions to worry about, they had more time to enjoy themselves. The wonderful dramas, amazing acrobatics, lively temple fairs, and dazzling lantern parades made them enjoy themselves to the fullest.

In a blink of an eye, time came to the 16th day of the first lunar month.

On this day, the employees returned to work one after another. Lin Zhi was generous and gave each employee a red envelope as a token of appreciation for the start of work.

Those old employees who returned to their hometowns to celebrate the New Year did not forget to bring special gifts from their families to their employer Lin Zhi.

The New Year has just passed, and the food in the shops is not selling as well as expected. You know, during the New Year, even the poorest families will eat to their heart's content, so the demand for meat and other foods is really not great.

Lin Zhi had actually anticipated this situation, but she still stocked up according to the previous stocking quantities.

She thought, it doesn't matter if it can't be sold, isn't it? The store suddenly has 20 new employees. If it can't be sold, just let the employees eat it, it won't cause waste anyway.

The new employees arrived early, but the shop still needed to be open today. Lin Zhi first asked them to wait patiently in the new store. After he took care of the matters related to the old store, he went to the new store to meet the new employees.

There are a total of twenty new employees, eighteen of whom are men and only two are women.

Among the eighteen men, twelve were retired soldiers who were recommended by the government. They were still tall and straight, but their bodies bore more or less traces of war. The other six had been interviewed in the store before.

In fact, among the twelve employees recommended by the government, several had applied for jobs in the store before. It was only after Lin Zhi carefully compared the list given by the government that he realized the overlap of these people.

One of the two women was Wang Xiaohua, who had a cleft lip. The defect made her look a little self-conscious and timid. The other woman was generally healthy, but she had a limp when she walked, which made her movements a little inconvenient. She said that she had been married before, but after her husband died, she was ruthlessly driven out of the house by her in-laws because she had no children.

Without exception, these twenty people are either disabled or suffering from illness.

When Lin Zhi came in, the employees were sitting in chairs in twos and threes, looking nervous or expectant. When they heard the footsteps coming, they all turned around.

When several of them saw Lin Zhi, they immediately stood up without hesitation, while the rest of the people were sitting because they really couldn't stand up.

Lin Zhi looked at the twenty new employees without even a trace of disdain in his heart. Instead, he was filled with deep sympathy and firm determination.

She is well aware that these people face many unimaginable difficulties and chilling prejudices in life, but she always believes that they can also contribute significantly to the development of the store.

Lin Zhi said to everyone gently: "Everyone, maybe you have experienced many ups and downs in the past, but in my shop, as long as you work wholeheartedly and attentively, you will be able to have a stable and solid life."

The new employees' eyes sparkled with sincere gratitude and full of expectations.

"Before we start work, let me talk to you about the benefits..." Lin Zhi kept it short and clearly told the twenty people the key information such as salary.

When they heard about the wages and benefits, all of them looked incredulous and stared at Lin Zhi with wide eyes.

The wages were much higher than they had expected, and were almost the same as those earned by able-bodied people working outside.

"...The salary during the probation period is the same as that of the regular employees, so you can rest assured." Lin Zhi continued, "I will arrange the work assignment after you have packed your bags."

After Lin Zhi finished speaking, Madam Zhou and her mother took the employees to their respective dormitories.

Originally, Lin Zhi planned to use the second floor of the new shop as a dormitory for employees, but later learned that most of the employees had incomplete legs and feet. Considering that it would be extremely inconvenient for them to go up and down the stairs, Lin Zhi had to build two dormitories in the backyard of the new shop.

Those two dormitories are specially prepared for employees with mobility impairments.

New and old employees who have intact legs and feet live on the second floor.

Of course, there are exceptions.

Some shady employees like Zhao Wen still moved back to their original dormitories, but because the five old men and Zhao Mu moved to the new dormitory, they finally didn't have to squeeze into one dormitory like before.

Mrs. Zhou and her mother took the male employees to the dormitory, while Lin Zhi took Wang Xiaohua and another person to the girls' dormitory.

The girls' dormitory was still in the original shop, and before that only Zhou's mother and wife lived there.

This time, Wang Xiaohua and her husband moved in, while Zhou Niangzi's son moved to the boys' dormitory next door.

"The two empty beds are yours. You can decide which one you want to sleep on. After everything is packed, Xiaohua, come over next door. I have something to tell you." After Lin Zhi finished speaking, he went back to the next yard to wait for Wang Xiaohua.

When Wang Xiaohua heard her name, her heart skipped a beat. She didn't know why she was singled out.

Her heart was beating fast as she quickly made her bed.

After cleaning up, Wang Xiaohua took a deep breath and walked towards the next yard.

When Lin Zhi saw Wang Xiaohua coming, a friendly smile appeared on her face and she greeted her gently, "Xiaohua, come over and sit down!" Her voice was as warm as the spring breeze, making people feel extremely comfortable.

Wang Xiaohua lowered her head, walked slowly to Lin Zhi, and sat down carefully. She didn't dare to look up at Lin Zhi's eyes, because she was worried that her ugly face would scare this seemingly weak boss. She asked in a weak voice: "Boss, what do you want to talk to me about?"

Lin Zhi shook her head gently, signaling Wang Xiaohua not to be nervous, and said gently: "Xiaohua, don't be nervous, I just want to ask you something." Her tone was full of care and patience, which made people relax.

Wang Xiaohua felt relieved after hearing this, but she still didn't dare to raise her head. She was afraid that her ugly appearance would leave a bad impression on Lin Zhi, so she continued to lower her head and replied, "Boss, please go ahead."

Lin Zhi smiled and handed the paper to Wang Xiaohua. Wang Xiaohua took the paper and studied it carefully. Since she was illiterate and the contract was not signed by her, she had no idea what was written on the paper. She looked at Lin Zhi in confusion, waiting for her explanation.

Lin Zhi saw Wang Xiaohua's confusion and explained softly, "Xiaohua, this is your indenture." She paused, observing Wang Xiaohua's reaction, and then continued, "I haven't registered this indenture with the government yet, which means you still have a chance to break the contract and regain your freedom and become a good citizen. So, what do you think about this?"

When Wang Xiaohua heard this, she mistakenly thought that Lin Zhi didn't want her anymore. Her heart tightened and she immediately stood up and knelt down without hesitation.

She pleaded in a tearful voice: "Boss, please don't abandon me!"