Transmigrated as A Farm Girl Making Her Family Rich-Chapter 179 - 178 Estate Construction
Chapter 179: Chapter 178 Estate Construction
Chapter 179 -178 Estate Construction
Lady Tang’s jealousy towards Mrs. Li wasn’t without reason, she hadn’t changed much after her first childbirth, but after giving birth to her second son, she had put on some weight.
Spots had also appeared on her face, she knew they were called melasma, yet no matter what, she couldn’t get rid of them.
Later, when honey was delivered from the Ye family, hearing that honey could nourish the skin, she applied it on her face or drank it, gradually the spots faded significantly.
But her face was still a bit loose and puffy, and wrinkles began to appear at the corners of her eyes, representing the worries of a woman who was afraid of aging as she grew older.
Especially for women from wealthy families like hers, there was a great fear of growing old and ugly, anxious that their husbands would take more concubines and shift their affections to others.
Mrs. Li only felt Lady Tang’s gaze often drifting towards her, feeling like a servant to this family one day and like a boss’s wife the next, yet still inferior to Lady Tang, a display of her lack of confidence.
After all, their family had started to become wealthy thanks to the Tang family, no matter how rude Lady Tang was to her or how critical and sarcastic her words were, she wouldn’t get angry.
Tang Shunyan was delighted to see the sisters from the Ye family, lively and hopping around, even holding the smallest, Ye Shiqi’s little hand, incessantly asking her if she had missed him during this period?
And whether she had saved any honey for him?
Despite both questions being asked, Ye Shiqi didn’t say much, merely nodding her head.
The young man from the Tang family was a bit too enthusiastic towards her, which she interpreted as brotherly affection towards a sister.
“Let’s go pick some longan then!”
“Hmm,”
Mrs. Li arranged for the Ye family’s only ox cart, as their financial situation had improved a bit, yet they hadn’t wasted money on buying horses or other luxuries, investing all their funds into another estate, which was now under construction.
They also hired many people to dig a fish pond, all of which was slowly progressing. The people from nearby who finished working on their own fields could then work as temporary laborers.
With several estates in Bushen Village hiring, the locals would finish their tasks before taking on other work, and there were not any more laborers to be hired.
Thus, people from neighboring villages or even those farther away who were willing to work could apply for jobs at these estates.
The construction of the Ye family’s estate and the digging of the fish pond were all managed by the caretaker.
Here it should be mentioned that Mrs. Li’s elder brother and younger brother were skilled gardeners. Previously, they had sought work in a timber factory, thinking they wouldn’t have to endure the elements and could earn a steady salary.
Therefore, they delegated their farmwork to the women at home, and their elderly father could also help out.
After working at the timber factory for a while, they felt that as ordinary laborers at their age, they couldn’t learn the more advanced wood carving techniques.
Always engaged in wood planing or painting, they felt their real talents were not being utilized.
Just then, the Ye family began developing an estate, and the two brothers requested to transfer there to work.
Initially, when the estate was recruiting, they were hiring a housekeeper and long-term workers, Mrs. Lai thought of her maternal family, wishing to arrange for the younger generation of her maternal family to work there.
Hongji’s father also wanted to arrange for his nieces and nephews to work at the estate.
Hongji couldn’t offend anyone, as both his Uncle and his young Uncle came to work at the estate, he had to allow many people to work together, earning the same wages and based on their abilities, recommend someone to become housekeeper.
The two brothers from the Li family didn’t make it tough for Hongji, dutifully doing their work.
The relatives arranged by Mrs. Lai initially worked hard, but gradually they started slacking off and being lazy, their work was subpar, often requiring others to redo it.
Things were not going well, yet they wanted more money. The Li family brothers kept silent, but Hongji’s father’s relatives would not let off those related to the Lai family, causing some unrest for a while.
Conflicts among relatives also led to disputes among the employees at the Ye’s Mansion for some time.
Hongji felt he couldn’t let his estate continue this way and, summoning the courage typical of a man, he allowed everyone to elect two housekeepers, regardless of whether they were long-term workers or temporary ones, as long as they had the skills and management ability to act as estate housekeepers.
Initially, everyone wanted to be one of the housekeepers, and the voting was self-promotional.
In the end, Hongji had no choice but to assess their knowledge of crop management.
Some answered correctly, while others could not; during this time, many were mindlessly following others in their work without thinking for themselves.
They were all farmers, but some could manage their crops well and sell them for a high price, while others couldn’t even grow enough food to feed themselves—that was the difference between standardized and non-standardized crop management.
In the south, minor natural disasters occurred, but well-managed crops could still yield a harvest.
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The two from the Li family smoothly became housekeepers, and under their management, those who were lazy and did poor work were fired.
The relatives from Mrs. Lai’s side, needing work, also had no choice but to work diligently.
Ye Shiqi then devised a system of rewards and penalties that was being implemented in the estate, and also at the wood factory.
The results were quite effective; to earn extra bonuses, everyone worked harder and better compared to others.
With the first estate well managed, the two brothers from the Li family split the management roles, one overseeing the already established estate.
The other took on the management of a newly purchased estate, which required even harder work.
As the elder brother, he took on this responsibility, and Hongji’s Uncle relished the challenge.
When the Ye family brought guests to the estate to pick fruits, the estate’s housekeeper, Hongji’s Young Uncle, welcomed them; he lived here, worked alongside some of the long-term workers, and only occasionally returned home to reunite with family.
In the eyes of the visitors, the fruit mountain had already passed the lychee season, and the harvesting of longan had just begun.
In the part of the estate previously planted with watermelons, the land had been plowed and was now planted with rice.
Some areas planted with vegetables were reserved for planting melons and vegetables in the next season.
Apart from longan, the estate was also harvesting passion fruit and pineapples during this season.
Lady Tang did not allow her eldest son to pick fruits as noon approached, for the sun was getting hotter. She arranged for the maid and the guard to pick the pineapples and passion fruits.
It was then they noticed, the neighboring estate had visitors; the carriage looked like it belonged to the Meng family, with Meng family guards and housekeeper there.
The neighboring estate was only cultivating rice, and the buildings were still under construction, with the mountain’s trees still intact. It was not yet clear what they planned to invest in.
Occasionally, villagers went up the mountain to cut grass, which they could take back to their homes on their own.
Meng Zhaojun noted that her estate did not compare well with the adjacent one.
Sighing to herself, she acknowledged they lacked such experience. However, she did not blame the housekeeper, having seen on arrival that construction at the neighboring Ye’s Mansion was also ongoing and not yet complete.
The Tang family’s estate was also still under construction, as were a few other estates in the area.
