After traveling through time, I led the whole village to become rich!

At Zhang Hulan's house, Aunt Tao, Chuntao and Zhuer got up early to cook breakfast.

When they were maids in other mansions before, they didn't have to do these things. They only had to serve their masters well. The main tasks were dressing, folding quilts, and serving tea and water.

Now that there are no other servants in the house, they have to do the cooking.

When Zhang Hulan woke up, Nanny Tao and the others had already prepared breakfast.

As soon as Zhang Hulan and Zhang Xinyao got up, Aunt Tao and the others immediately brought them hot water.

Zhang Xinyao and Zhang Xinyi were a little uncomfortable with being served like this.

Nanny Tao said to Zhang Hulan, "Madam, I only cooked breakfast for you and the young lady. I will cook when the old master and the old lady and Guo Ali are having breakfast."

Zhang Hulan said, "There's no need to cook breakfast for them, they can eat at home."

"Good lady."

We had just finished breakfast when Zhang Hujun and his team came over.

Aunt Tao and the others watched as Zhang Hujun and his men loaded buckets of braised meat onto the donkey cart and sent them off. The three of them understood that the family must be engaged in business.

After breakfast, Zhang Hulan took out the brush, ink, paper and inkstone and handed them to Chuntao and Zhuer, saying, "Chuntao, Zhuer, from now on, you will teach the eldest and second young ladies to write and recognize characters. If they teach well, I will reward them."

"Yes, ma'am!" Chuntao and Zhuer responded quickly.

"Madam Tao, let's go to the farm."

Aunt Tao asked, "Madam, do you need a carriage?"

Zhang Hulan waved her hand. "No need. It's only a few steps away. We can just walk there."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Zhang Hulan took Nanny Tao to the farm, and Chuntao and Zhuer began to teach Zhang Xinyi and Zhang Xinyi how to write and recognize words.

Zhuangzi is already working.

Luo Changqi arranged for some people to plow the fields, some servants to choose a place to build a house, and some people to plant lotus roots on the reclaimed wasteland.

The ones who plowed the fields and dug ditches were all old men; building a house was relatively more physically demanding, so Luo Changqi let the younger ones do it.

The remaining old women and children were all growing lotus roots.

The land was already cultivated, and the old women dug holes with hoes while the younger ones dropped the lotus root spores into the holes, just one per hole. It was an easy job, even a five or six-year-old could do it.

The older ones would use a dustpan to pick up dry manure and then throw a handful of it into each nest to cover the lotus root spores. Behind them, there were old women who used hoes to scoop up soil to cover the holes.

The scene was well organized and everyone was concentrating on their work.

Those who arrived yesterday had worried about the heavy work. It was much easier than they'd imagined; even the elderly plowing the fields didn't feel particularly tired. Most people were relieved.

Those who came yesterday felt at ease, but those villagers from other villages who came here to work and earn money did not feel at ease.

They knew in their hearts that they would not be able to work for many more days.

They were so happy a few days ago, thinking Zhang Hulan had bought so much land and they could keep doing business. But they didn't expect to find so many more people when they arrived today.

Some people felt unhappy. They were doing well, so why did Zhang Hulan bring back so many beggars?

……

Nanny Tao followed Zhang Hulan to the farm. When they came back yesterday, the workers had already gone home after work.

Seeing so many people working for Zhang Hulan, Aunt Tao was indeed shocked.

The new house is looking different every day, and it will soon be time to put up the beams and cover the tiles.

But Zhang Hulan still felt it was a bit slow. While building the wall was easier, it was the carpentry that was the most demanding part.

She thought she needed to find a few carpenters to do the work, and it would be best if it could be completed by the end of the month or the beginning of next month.

Zhao Guoliang was still helping Zhang Hulan with the house. Seeing Zhang Hulan coming over, Zhao Guoliang smiled and asked, "Hulan, are you planning to host a bar when the beams are raised?"

Zhang Hulan shook her head. "No, I'll buy some good food and treat everyone to a meal. But no banquet."

Zhang Hulan doesn't like to hold banquets. She is disgusted by all other banquets except those for weddings, childbirths and the death of an elderly person.

Buying a house requires a banquet, as does getting admitted to a university. This is mainly because some people have children who get admitted to junior colleges.

They have a party for birthdays, not to mention full-month celebrations. They also have a party for the hundredth day, the first birthday, and even the tenth. I don't know how those people have the nerve to ask others for this.

Zhang Hulan once heard something even more bizarre: a family would hold a banquet when a sow gave birth...

Zhang Hulan then said to Zhao Guoliang, "Uncle Village Head, do you know any other carpenters? Help me find a few more. I want the house finished sooner."

Zhao Guoliang said, "I don't know many. Those carpenters should know some, but they may not be willing to tell."

The carpenters were paid by the day, so if they worked one more day, they would earn more. If they hired more people, they would earn less.

Zhang Hulan was thinking about outsourcing the work to the carpenters, but some of the work had already been done, and there was no standard for acceptance afterwards, so it would be difficult to handle.

Finally, Zhang Hulan said, "Uncle Village Chief, please tell the carpenters to come in earlier in the morning and leave later in the evening, and try to finish the work for me as soon as possible. I will pay them for the work. Do you think they are willing to do that?"

"That should be fine. I'll talk to them later."

Zhang Hulan nodded. "But we have to make it clear with them. I'll pay them more for the extra time, but they also have to show they can do the work. Otherwise, it'll be hard for them to talk."

"By the way, Uncle Village Chief, please tell the carpenter to build two cages under the eaves. They should be larger, like cribs."

Zhang Hulan made a bird's nest for Xiaohua and Xiaohui. These two little guys are also members of her family, so she needs to make a house for them.

After Zhang Hulan finished giving the instructions, she went to see the children planting lotus roots.

Zhang Hulan found that the children were working very hard. They were all laughing and playing, and sometimes even fighting.

Someone reminded them, "Stop making trouble, the lady is here."

The children who were fighting immediately stopped smiling, lowered their heads and worked honestly.

Zhang Hulan sighed inwardly. She didn't want to exploit child labor, but she couldn't just keep raising these children for nothing. There were just too many of them, and she couldn't afford to support them.

And that's not good either. Raising them for nothing will make those children think that it's their duty to have others help them. It's better to let them fend for themselves.

Zhang Hulan walked along the way, and when she saw her children and the elderly, they all greeted her, "Hello, Madam..."

Zhang Hulan nodded at them and said, "If you feel tired, take a break."

“Not tired, not tired at all…” The people working waved their hands repeatedly.

Zhang Hulan continued walking forward. A house was being built here.

When Luo Chang saw Zhang Hulan coming over, he stepped forward and said, "Madam, I'll build the house the same way I did before, with one room for three people. Is that okay with you?"

Luo Changqi and the other three had discussed it last night and decided that they would no longer call Zhang Hulan "niece". Instead, they would follow the servants and call her Madam.