PFC Chapter 73 Paying wages
Chapter 73 Paying wages
“Ah….A-choo…”
As they were about to reach their home, Zhao Huanxi couldn't help but sneeze loudly.
"Huanxi, did you catch a cold?" Xu Qingzhao's face was full of concern.
Zhao Huanxi didn't feel any discomfort and relaxed his muscles.
"No, I guess someone is scolding me."
After saying that, he sneezed again, and several times in a row.
"Hey! It's not over yet..."
When the dogs at home heard Zhao Huanxi's voice, they started barking enthusiastically inside. Zhao Huanxi got out of the car and quickly opened the door. The two puppies immediately pounced on Zhao Huanxi affectionately.
"Hey, hey, both of you sit still! Don't jump!"
The two puppies immediately sat down obediently, sitting there quietly, sticking out their tongues to cool down.
Xu Qingzhao helped move the things in the car home. By the time Zhao Huanxi settled the car fee with Uncle Lu Gen, there were only a few goods left in the car.
They quickly and efficiently moved the rest in, said goodbye to Uncle Lu Gen, and drove away in the ox cart.
"Brother Xu, thank you so much. If it weren't for you today, I would have been exhausted." The weather was a little hot, and Zhao Huanxi was sweating.
Xu Qingzhao smiled and said, "It's okay. Are you going to kill the pig the day after tomorrow?"
"Yes, weren't you there at the fair?" Why did he ask? Zhao Huanxi, who was behind him, didn't say anything.
Xu Qingzhao thought for a moment and said to her, "Who are you planning to invite this time? I'll run errands for you."
"No, no, my parents said they would go and invite him. Brother Xu, can you read?"
Zhao Huanxi suddenly remembered that he hadn't accepted any gifts at the last banquet he held for the foundation excavation, just for the fun of it. But this time, it couldn't be the same. It was a proper banquet, and if anyone wanted to attend, there had to be give and take, so he had to find someone to keep a gift book.
"A little bit. What, do you need my help? Just tell me, I will definitely do my best to help you."
Sure enough, they became familiar with each other and could even joke with Huanxi.
"Don't tell me, there really is one. Come over and help me fill in the gift book. I've already bought the gift book. Oops! I forgot to buy pen and ink!"
How could she have forgotten something so important? She had previously used charcoal pencils to draw blueprints for houses and furniture, but how could she use charcoal pencils for a gift book? She was so careless.
"If you don't mind, I have these at home and I'll just take them and use them." He said he didn't care.
"Really? Thank you so much, Brother Xu, you've been a great help." Zhao Huanxi expressed his sincere gratitude and turned back to the house to pour some tea.
"Happy, I'm not busy anymore, I'm going back~"
Zhao Huanxi in the room was about to take the tea out when she heard Xu Qingzhao saying goodbye outside. When she went out again, there was no one in the yard.
"Well, forget it. It's not a big deal if I owe him this time."
At this time, the voice of Old Lin was heard at the door:
"Girl Zhao! Are you going to the market today?"
Zhao Huanxi invited him in and poured him a cup of tea. "Of course, Uncle Lin, there's a banquet at my house in a couple of days, you must come."
"That's why I'm here. Your furniture is all ready. When are you going to move it? I'm afraid an old man like me can't carry it all by myself."
Zhao Huanxi was immediately ecstatic when he heard this. Old Lin's craftsmanship was indeed impeccable. Not only were all the cabinets made exactly as in the drawings, they were even more detailed than what was drawn on the drawings.
It also added some ingenuity unique to carpenters. Zhao Huanxi couldn't help nodding as he checked it.
"Uncle Lin, is there enough time now? I'll find some people to move some things first."
"Okay, move the big ones first, and you can take your time with the small ones." Old Lin took a sip of tea, stood up and prepared to leave.
Zhao Huanxi did not try to persuade them to stay and ran straight to the bridal chamber, where there was still some finishing work to be done. Zhao Huanxi called those people out.
"Please send a few strong men to Uncle Lin to carry back the furniture I ordered. It's not much, twenty cents per person. No slacking off, first come, first served."
As soon as these words were spoken, the men who were working raised their hands. Seeing this, Zhao Huanxi called Lu Lin and Liu, and called five other men together.
They worked until dark before they had almost finished moving. After they had placed the furniture in the new house, Zhao Huanxi called everyone to a meeting.
"Everyone has worked hard during this period. Today we will pay everyone. Everyone go back and eat first, and then go to the front yard to get the money!"
“Okay~” “Okay!”
After everyone agreed, they dispersed soon, leaving only Lu Lin and Liu to go back for dinner.
"Second brother and sister-in-law, don't go back. Come to my house. Xiao Pan and the others should have cooked dinner. Let's go back and eat and count the money. You have worked hard during this period."
Zhao Huanxi pulled Liu towards his home, and Lu Lin had no choice but to follow.
When he got home, Xiao Pan had already cooked the meal. Seeing his mother and his second uncle and second aunt coming over, he quickly fetched water for them to wash their hands.
The few of them had a simple meal. At the table, Liu couldn't stop praising Xiao Pan, saying that the meal she cooked was almost as good as Huanxi's.
Xiao Pan was so happy that she kept picking up food for her stepmother.
After finishing his meal, Zhao Huanxi took out his account book and calculated the remaining wages owed to the workers. He had agreed to pay them every ten days, and Zhao Huanxi had kept his word. It had been exactly ten days since the last settlement.
Aside from Lu Lin and his wife, there were nine men and five women left. Zhao Huanxi picked up a branch and began calculating with Arabic numerals on the ground.
"Little sister, what are you drawing on the ground?" Liu didn't understand and asked curiously.
"This is the arithmetic I saw written like this by a shopkeeper in town. I often buy things from him, and I begged the shopkeeper for a long time before he taught me this little bit." Zhao Huanxi lied without blushing or beating his heart.
Seeing this, Liu said nothing more.
"Second sister-in-law, you earn 35 wen a day. For ten days this time, your total is 350 wen, and my second brother earns 450 wen. So it's exactly 800 wen."
Zhao Huanxi finished the calculation on the ground, picked up the charcoal pencil and crossed out their names on the notebook.
Lu Lin sat nearby, watching Huanxi's actions with deep gratitude. Forty-five cents a day was hardly a good job in town. That worked out to just over one or two taels a month, more than the town's accountant could earn. How could he not be grateful?
At this time, the joyful voice continued, "Because the work was completed ahead of schedule, each person will receive an additional small red envelope of 150 coins, which works out to one tael of silver and one hundred coins."
"Little sister, this is unacceptable. The wages are already high enough, how can I take it for free?"
Zhao Huanxi smiled, took out a tael of silver and counted out a hundred coins, handed them to Liu and said:
"This is the red envelope we agreed on. Besides, outsiders also get some. I won't let my family suffer any loss, right?"
Liu had no choice but to turn around and look at her husband's face. Seeing that he had no objection, she accepted it with peace of mind.
"Happy sister! We are here to get our wages!"
There was a sound of voices outside the door. The door was not closed so those people walked straight in.
"It's getting late, let's finish this quickly. When I call your name, come forward and press your fingerprints, just like before! But those who have taken the money first, don't rush back. We'll talk about something good together later!"
Zhao Huanxi smiled, and everyone was guessing what was going on.
"Lu Daniu! Ten days, three hundred and fifty coins."
"Here I come~" Lu Daniu stepped forward, took the silver and pressed his fingerprint.
"Lu Hai! Ten days, three hundred and fifty coins!"
“Liu…” “Zhang…”
.........
After a while, everyone took their wages and put their fingerprints on the document.
Zhao Huanxi cleared his throat and said to the crowd, "We agreed to give everyone a red envelope when the house is completed. Thank you all for your hard work during this period. Everyone should give me an extra fifty coins! It doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman! It's not much. Take it home and buy two candies for the kids. It's my token of my appreciation!"
"That's not enough. This happy girl is really generous!"
"Fifty cents is two days' wages. Zhao girl is a very honest person."
"Next time there's any work, I'll definitely come."
"That's right." "Me too."
Seeing the excited crowd, Zhao Huanxi shouted, "Alright! Everyone, please come up one by one!"
After taking the money, Zhao Huanxi told them about the wedding banquet he was going to hold on the first day of the new year and asked them to come early and take their seats.
Finally, everyone left with a happy smile on their face, and put the silver in their pockets, fearing that they would lose it when it got dark.
Lu Lin on the side was in mixed feelings. Although they had taken on management jobs, the work they did was not as tiring as that done by women. It was just that they had to look after more things and it was more troublesome.
But my younger sister still offered me a high price, and even my wife's wages were the same as those of a man. For some reason, the red envelope of 150 cents felt a little hot in my hand.
When he learned that his younger sister was going to renovate her house, he felt jealous... He really shouldn't have done that.
The two thanked Huanxi and walked home under the moonlight.
On the way, they roughly calculated that they had earned a little over four taels of silver from Huanxi. It wasn't a small amount at all, but now that Huanxi's work was over, they were afraid they wouldn't be able to find such a lucrative job again.