You are my golden finger

"Sister, the clan leader just said that the dragon and lion dance team will come to pay New Year's greetings later, and the first family will come to our place! After coming to our house, they will go to the clan leader's house, and then follow the route to the homes of the invited people!" Xihui said to Lin Xijin while eating breakfast.

"Oh! Then I'll ask the butler to get ready."

Lin Xijin knew that the clan leaders and elders made such arrangements because they were grateful for everything she had done for the clan.

After having breakfast, Xihui and Xinfeng quickly went to Zhangshutou to meet up with other members of the dragon and lion team. Even Jinlin and two young security guards were invited to serve as security guards for the dragon and lion team.

When the Si hour arrived, drums began to beat.

A huge team arrived at Lin Xijin's yard, and there were more people this time.

The guards also brought the high platform used for the lion dance in front of the ancestral hall yesterday and placed it in front of the gate. Then each of them picked up a bamboo stick and spread out with the dragon flag team members to surround the dragon and lion team. This was mainly because they were afraid that someone would throw firecrackers randomly during the dragon and lion performance and burn the team members. They could see clearly from the outside and were ready to put out the fire at any time.

Accompanied by the rhythmic drum beats, Xihui, dressed as the big-headed Buddha, holding a hydrangea, began to tease the lion.

The lion woke up from its deep sleep, washed, and then started its activities by shaking its head and tail. It jumped onto the high platform to grab the hydrangea, and then found the pomelo leaves, pomelo and red envelopes hanging above its head, and the lion began its "picking green" performance.

The lion climbed higher on the platform, and when it reached "Qing", it first picked the pomelo leaves, tore them into pieces, and scattered them to the crowd. Then it peeled the pomelo and threw it to the crowd. Finally, it took the red envelope and put it in its bag. Then it danced slowly, shaking its head, and stepped down from the platform contentedly.

I have to say that Xihui, Xinfeng and the other guys are quite smart. They put a lot of effort into the lion dance. Every movement and expression is done precisely and the performance is vivid.

The giant dragon was not to be outdone. The eighteen strong men seemed unwilling to lose to a few lion dancing boys, so they used all their skills to dance the dragon up and down, like it was soaring in the sky, extremely domineering!

The dragon and lion dance team's performance won rounds of applause and attracted a large number of fans, so much so that later everyone in the village wanted to join the dragon and lion dance team. This is a story for another time.

Lin Xijin once again gave the Dragon and Lions team a big red envelope of three hundred taels to further inject motivation into the team.

The joyous sounds of gongs and drums gradually faded away, and the noisy crowd also left to join the fun of the next house.

The performances of the dragon and lion dance team and the drama troupe in Shiziwo did not end until the evening of the second day of the Chinese New Year. In this era of extreme material and cultural scarcity, it naturally attracted a large number of villagers from nearby villages to watch the performances.

So the performance orders for the dragon and lion dance team came in.

On the third day of the New Year, I received invitations from the headmen of two nearby villages; on the fifth day, I received invitations from the owners of a restaurant and a pharmacy in the town; on the sixth day, I received invitations from two major grocery stores and clothing stores in the town... The itinerary was arranged until the Lantern Festival.

On the second night of the New Year, Xihui and Xinfeng each took out a small silver ingot and presented it to Lin Xijin like a treasure.

"Sis, here you go!"

"Where did it come from?"

"It's from the Dragon and Lion Dance Team. Uncle Jianan said he'll give out two taels first to encourage everyone, and he'll give out more when they make money in the future!"

Of course, Lin Xijin would not take the children's money and told them to keep it for themselves. She just reminded them to pay more attention to safety when they go to lion dance, and not to fall behind in studying and practicing martial arts.

Both of them agreed one by one.

As soon as the sixth day of the Lunar New Year passed, Lin Xijin began to arrange the opening of the wine and textile, medicine shop, home and farm greenhouses. In fact, the restaurant started to buy greenhouse vegetables since the third day of the Lunar New Year, but the quantity was a little less. From the morning of the sixth day, the quantity began to increase.

Lin Xijin arranged the start of work at home and left Li Yue and Ye Jinlin as managers of the winery.

"Uncle Yue, I want to send you to Kyoto to take charge of the winery there. You can pick two people to go with you, and the rest of the staff can be selected from the people in the farm. I will add a little more to the wages at home based on the income of the winery. Are you willing to go?"

"Master, thank you for your trust. I will do my best to manage the winery!"

"Ye Jinlin, I want to send you to the capital to purchase food and manage two stores, one for wine and one for medicine. You can also choose two people to help you, and they will live in the house in Kyoto. Are you willing to go?"

"Master, thank you for giving me the chance. But Jin An has to be entrusted to you again, and Jin Lin feels guilty!"

"Just do your best and I will take good care of you, Jin'an!"

Li Yue went down to arrange the affairs of his family's winery, and also found someone to go to the capital with him.

The two people Ye Jinlin wanted to bring to Kyoto were a guard who had joined the dragon and lion team, and a young man from the pharmacy who knew some pharmacology. Both were two years older than Ye Jinlin, but both were relatively stable.

Lin Xijin asked the manager of the pharmacy to pack the finished medicines and put them into the horse carriage that Liang Derong usually used, and added some more in the middle of the night while everyone was still asleep.

On the morning of the seventh day, everyone set out after breakfast. Lin Xijin told Liang Derong to stay in Beijing to help after he arrived.

Lin Xijin called the housekeeper and the nanny, and the three of them followed the carriage to the county. Seven people left the family at once, and there were not enough people! In the future, we will have to plant medicinal herbs, fruit trees and grain, which will require more manpower, so we have to buy another batch of people back.

Liang Derong was sent to Kyoto, and we had to buy another coachman and carriage.

When they arrived at the county's Yahang, the three of them got off the car. Lin Xijin told the driver Li Zhong to take the people to the escort agency and then go back to the Yahang to pick them up, and then the three of them went to the Yahang to select people.

When the pawnbroker Ma Manager saw Lin Xijin coming, he quickly took two steps at a time and greeted her enthusiastically, as if he knew that "Xijin's arrival means good fortune has arrived."

Hearing that Lin Xijin wanted to buy someone, Manager Ma quickly asked the waiter to bring people up. There was a large crowd of about fifty or sixty people.

Lin Xijin asked these people to stand in several categories: those under twelve years old; those who could read and write; those who had a foundation in martial arts; those who had management experience; those who knew how to grow crops; those who knew how to grow medicinal herbs and had some knowledge of pharmacology.

These people quickly re-aligned themselves as required.

Let the housekeeper and the nanny choose people separately, and see if their choices are consistent with yours in the end.

The three of them finally discussed and selected a total of twenty-five people, including five children under the age of twelve, three boys and two girls.

Unfortunately, there is only one person who knows how to grow medicinal herbs.

"Master, can you buy my mother as well?" a timid voice sounded.

Lin Xijin looked in the direction of the voice and found a pretty, thin, chosen girl kneeling at her feet.

"Who is your mother? What would she do?"

Hearing the question, a woman in her thirties walked out from the last row of the crowd and knelt down beside the little girl.

"Master, I am her mother. I was a cook in my previous master's house and I can make all kinds of snacks and dishes."

Lin Xijin looked her up and down and felt that the woman had a gentle face, clear eyes, simple and clean clothes, and looked very comfortable overall. The steward and the nanny beside her also nodded, so she agreed to the girl's request.

The mother and daughter hurriedly kowtowed to Lin Xijin and hugged each other and cried.

When Manager Ma saw that Lin Xijin bought another twenty-six servants in one go, he smiled so much that wrinkles appeared on his face, and he quickly helped to get the deed done.

Lin Xijin asked the housekeeper and the nanny to take these people to the clothing shop to buy two sets of clothes and shoes, as well as some cloth and daily necessities, while she went to the carriage shop to buy and rent a carriage.

I went to the carriage shop to buy a carriage, and rented two more carriages to help transport people. When I returned to the clothing store, everyone had already bought clothes, cloth and daily necessities, and Li Zhong also came back driving the carriage.

After packing up the things and people and seating them, Lin Xijin was too lazy to drive the carriage herself, so she found a driver who could drive from among the newly bought people, gave him the whip, and went to sit in the carriage with the housekeeper and the nanny.