stingy landlady

Chapter 173 Li Shi Wants to Take a Concubine (2)

"Chunlan! Your name is Chunlan, right?"

"My name is Chunlan!"

"Why are you crying here? What happened? Tell the master slowly, and see if I can help you!"

"Master! This servant dares not covet your life! I beg you, Master, spare my life! I beg you, Madam, to let me go!"

Dazhu's face darkened:

"Hmm? Madam came looking for you?"

Dazhu was quite annoyed. What kind of trouble was Li Shi causing now! He'd finally had a couple of peaceful days. Sigh!

Dazhu's tone softened involuntarily:

"Chunlan! Tell me what's wrong! I'll do everything I can to help!"

Chunlan felt embarrassed. What did she mean by that? "Your wife wants to take a concubine for you, but I don't agree?" Chunlan considered for a moment, then slowly said:

"Master! Madam! Madam thinks I have improper thoughts about you! I would never dare to! Please explain, Master and Madam!"

Dazhu finally understood: Li was planning to act first and report later. She wanted to strike first and take Chunlan as a concubine, but Chunlan refused, which is why she burst into tears!

"Enough, enough! Chunlan, don't be sad! I had no intention of taking a concubine, it's just that Madam didn't believe me! You just keep working! I'll talk to Madam and make sure she doesn't bother you anymore!"

After Dazhu finished speaking, he got up and went to find Li Shi.

Li was also troubled by this matter! She thought Chunlan would happily agree to it, but who would have thought she would be so proud and arrogant! Where could she find a suitable person?

Dazhu found Li Shi and said seriously:

"Can't you just live a peaceful life? Why are you making such a fuss? When did I ever say I wanted to take a concubine? You make me sound like some kind of pervert! Sleeping with every woman I see? What do you take me for? I've never seen anyone so actively pushing men away!"

Li pursed her lips and said:

"You think you're some kind of hot commodity! She's just a servant girl, she doesn't even care about you! It's only me who treats you with respect every day! I add clothes when you're cold, I change your clothes when you're hot! I care about you and you still complain!"

Alright, alright! Do you think I want to interfere?

Dazhu had no choice. Since Li had let go of Chunlan, he was too lazy to pester her any further!

Madam Zhou wiped away her tears in front of Zhou Mingzhi:

"It's Chinese New Year, and Xing'er hasn't come home! I wonder how he's doing out there! He has to rely on himself for everything! My heart is aching like bitter melon!"

Zhou Mingzhi comforted him:

"Xing'er is incredibly lucky! He went with Young Master Lin to pursue his future! It's only been a short time, and he's still so young. If he wants to make a name for himself and achieve something great, it would take at least ten or eight years! It's practically a joke!"

"It's the New Year, no crying! Our Yun'er will laugh at you! What if Master and Madam find out? They'll be unhappy! Xing'er went willingly in the first place! Whether it's good or bad, it's all Xing'er's fate! No tears allowed!"

In the same Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, the prince had seen the spy in his study.

"After the young master left there, no one in that farmer's house ever mentioned my son again?"

"Yes! Except for the first few days after the young master left, when the old lady mentioned it a few times, no one has mentioned it since!"

"What an interesting family! They don't seem to be deliberately trying to get close to my son!"

"They've been busy farming and running small businesses! Miss Guizhi is also very concerned about Huanghua Village!"

"Okay! I got it! Keep an eye on it!"

The Prince of Zhenbei signaled his spies to go down, believing that once they knew his identity, that family would be like leeches, relentlessly pursuing Lin Xiaoyun. Things had completely exceeded expectations! Let's wait and see!

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, the three Gui sisters, along with Taozhi, Hongmin, and Zhao Yun and Zhao Cai from Zhao's maternal family, went to Huanghua Village. They instructed Li and Dazhu to recruit other women to go to Huanghua Village on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month.

The girls chatted and laughed as they rode in the carriage. Gui Xiang asked them how their needlework was going. Only Zhao Cai was a beginner, and Tao Zhi hadn't embroidered in a long time!

Wanrou was overjoyed; so many young girls had come! The village would definitely be even more lively! Xu Hong also learned of the women's plans. The extra rooms they had built were still empty; they could be used to house the newly hired female workers!

It can also be used as a workshop! We'll just need to build some more cabinets to store the finished underwear and other items! Wanrou and Guixiang are slowly training the new girls, starting by showing them samples to practice making. Then they'll gradually practice embroidery!

Needlework requires practice; practice makes perfect! Embroidery, on the other hand, is a technical skill, and you need to do a lot of practice to create good works!

However, the lingerie doesn't need to have overly complicated patterns! Take your time practicing! Several girls are learning very diligently together, and with more people involved, naturally, there's a competitive spirit. Guizhi thinks this is a good thing; competition and pressure are what motivate people!

As long as it's not cutthroat competition, we won't interfere too much! Later, when there are more people, we'll have to select a few to be in charge! Whether these young girls will be of great use remains to be seen!

Xu Hong had already warned the men in the village; women would gradually come to work there. Don't act like cats eyeing mice, staring intently at them! Otherwise, you'll scare them all away.

The villagers were quite well-behaved, and the little girls weren't afraid at all, chattering away every day! They absorbed new knowledge during the day and discussed it with each other at night.

Gui Zhi, Xu Hong, and Lin Qian discussed where to buy fabric, cotton, and other supplies. Since they had hired workers, they needed to order in large quantities. To ensure a stable supply, Lin Qian suggested going to the prefectural city! Larger shops there had better reputations! Buying from the prefectural city was much cheaper than from the county town, where goods were sourced from the prefectural city and then resold at a higher price!

Guizhi entrusted the task of procuring the goods to Lin Qian. Let him handle it! He's often out running errands for wheelchairs and such anyway; the more capable, the more work!

The topic of opening a shop in the county town came up again! Wanrou thought she could go to the county town with her and help with finding a location and redesigning the shop!

With things settled here, Lin Qian bid farewell to everyone. He was going to visit the two workshops for wheelchair users to check on their preparations for starting operations. He also planned to send someone back with the fabric, cotton, needles, and thread needed for the women's handicraft workshops!

Xu Hong said:

"Boss! I'll take some men up the mountain to work for a few more days, maybe another ten or twenty days! We can't work anymore once the ice thaws! There's nothing for so many people to do, let's take them out for some exercise!"

Guizhi agreed.

"Uncle Xu Hong! With so many people, find two capable assistants to help you manage! Our carpentry workshop also needs to be ready! It's not good to have so much wood piled up here! We should build two workshops as soon as spring arrives!"

One workshop is for woodworking, and the other is for needlework. The two workshops should be far apart! Otherwise, the noise from cutting wood will disturb the people doing needlework!

Once the woodworking workshop is set up, someone needs to be in charge of its management, and the materials need to be transported out! Someone also needs to go out and sell them. Uncle Xu Hong has to think about all these aspects and arrange people to do them!

Uncle Xu Hong is under a lot of pressure!