Traveling Through Farmhouses: Taking the Baby on a Famine Escape

Manager Qian looked up and saw that the road leading to the foot of the mountain was all uphill, and the slope was quite steep, so the wheelbarrow couldn't be pushed up. He had no choice but to have someone take a hoe and clear the road first.

Zhang Xixi quickly said, "Manager Qian, have them smooth out the road. I'll pay for today's work separately."

"Alright, since you've asked, I'll make sure to arrange it."

Manager Qian went to arrange for people to repair the road, while Zhang Xixi looked at the convoy. There were more than ten wheelbarrows loaded with blue bricks, all pushed by people. Surprisingly, no animals were used. It seems that human labor is much cheaper than livestock!

After making the arrangements, Manager Qian pointed to a middle-aged man carrying a book box and introduced him to Zhang Xixi: "This is our kiln's master craftsman, surnamed Zhao. He is in charge of all matters related to building the house. Young lady, you can tell him if you have any requests."

"Hello, Master Zhao!"

Master Zhao nodded in return.

This guy seems pretty aloof. I wonder how good he is at building houses!

"Manager Qian, Master Zhao, please come to my house and have a seat. We can talk about the house this afternoon!"

"Little sister, you are the master, I will listen to you."

Zhang Xixi led the two back to her home. Seeing Zhang Zehui, she quickly called out, "Zehui, go to the fields and find Grandpa and the others. Tell them that Manager Qian from the brick kiln has arrived and that they should all come back first!"

Zhang Xixi moved a few stools to the grass outside. "This place is really too simple, so please have a seat outside!"

Manager Qian looked around and waved his hand, "It's alright, it's alright, we also come from poor backgrounds, we understand!"

Master Zhao waved his hand to indicate that he didn't mind.

When Chen saw that guests had arrived, she quickly prepared two bowls of brown sugar water and asked Zhang Xixi to hand them to Manager Qian and Chef Zhao.

Manager Qian took the sugar water, took a sip, and then looked around. A glint of shrewdness flashed in his eyes. It seemed that these people had just moved in, which meant that there was a great demand for building houses.

When Zhang Xixi saw that Zhang Dacheng and the others had returned, she immediately asked them to help entertain the guests, while she went into the kitchen to help.

Outside, Manager Qian kept asking Zhang Dacheng about their situation, so Zhang Dacheng had no choice but to give a brief introduction of their background.

After lunch, Zhang Xixi took Manager Qian and Master Zhao to the homestead. Zhang Dacheng and Chen Shi, worried about the situation, also went along to discuss the house.

After Master Zhao finished inspecting the site, Zhang Xixi said, "Master Zhao, I want to build a wall to separate the stable area from the living area. Also, the wall outside my yard needs to be three zhang high, and the toilet should also be made of blue bricks, with two rooms. I'll tell you the details after we build it. Everything else should be done according to the blueprints."

Master Zhao wrote down Zhang Xixi's requirements on a piece of paper, calculated the manpower and materials needed, and gave it to Manager Qian.

"Young lady, I'm afraid you'll have to pay more for this, otherwise we can't do it."

Zhang Xixi said calmly, "As long as you build the house according to my requirements, I will make up the difference later."

Manager Qian smiled and praised, "Young lady, you're so straightforward. Don't worry, we'll definitely do it your way."

Zhang Xixi said politely, "Then I'll trouble Manager Qian to take care of it!"

Since Zhang Dacheng had already discussed with Chen Shi about entrusting the house-building to Manager Qian and his team, just like with his daughter's house, he also went up to Manager Qian to talk about the house-building.

Manager Qian, seeing that they were all family, and that it wouldn't be good for one party to offer a lower price than the other, didn't factor in the shipping cost and signed a contract with Zhang Dacheng at the original price.

Because it's next to Zhang Xixi's house, Zhao was put in charge of managing it.

After the road was repaired, Manager Qian instructed the workers to push the cart up and unload the blue bricks.

Zhang Xixi looked at the smooth dirt road and asked, "Manager Qian, could you tell me how much they should pay you for today's work?"

"Ten coins per person, please!" They had only repaired a short mountain road, so they couldn't ask for more, lest people think they were asking for an exorbitant price and it would damage the reputation of their brickyard.

Zhang Xixi nodded inwardly, thinking it was fair enough. She counted 18 people and handed 180 coins to Manager Qian.

After taking the money, Manager Qian said, "Sister, this place is too far. The construction team will be here tomorrow. Including Master Zhao, there will be about forty people in two teams. Do you think we could arrange a place for them to stay here? They can take care of their own food!"

Zhang Xixi agreed, "Okay, but we only have tents, so we're afraid we'll have to make do with that."

Manager Qian waved his hand and said, "It's nothing. They're all poor people. What's a little hardship to them!"

Master Zhao quickly waved his hand, "It's alright, as long as I can stay here."

Once everything was settled, Manager Qian asked Zhang Xixi to pass on a message to Zhou Dashan: he would arrange for bricks to be delivered the next day, and Zhou Dashan should prepare the place. Then he took the workers back home.

"Dad, come with me to town. I want to ask some people to come back and help us clear the land."

Zhang Dacheng nodded. "Let's go!"

Zhang Xixi and Zhang Dacheng followed Manager Qian to town in their own horse-drawn carriage. The road was very bumpy, and Zhang Xixi thought to herself that once the land reclamation was over, she would definitely persuade the villagers to repair the road properly.

The saying "To get rich, build roads first" is a wise one!

Because I had asked Liu the yamen runner before, I learned that there were brokers in the town, who were essentially intermediaries who were responsible for facilitating various buying and selling transactions in order to earn commissions. The broker with a good reputation in Yun'an Town was named Ma Youqing, who lived in Ma Family Lane.

When Zhang Xixi and Zhang Dacheng arrived in town, they asked around and found Ma Youqing's house.

After knocking, Ma Youqing opened the door with a smile and asked, "What can I do for you two?"

"We're here to discuss business, of course."

Upon hearing that business had come knocking, Ma Youqing's smile widened even more. He warmly invited Zhang Xixi and Zhang Dacheng into the courtyard and even personally brewed a pot of tea for each of them.

After introducing themselves, they got down to business. "Young lady, how many people are you planning to hire, and how much are you planning to pay them?"

Zhang Xixi didn't answer the question, but said, "Don't rush to answer that. I'd like to ask how you collect commissions first."

Ma Youqing's eyes flashed; he wanted to understand the situation before talking, but he was the fairest broker in town, so he had nothing to be ashamed of.

"The commission for hiring someone to do the work is one penny per person, but who you choose depends on the wages you offer!"

Zhang Xixi asked with a smile, "Does that mean that if you pay more wages, you can hire good workers, and if you pay less wages, you can only hire people who just want to coast along? The Ma Ya people really care about their subordinates!"