Yu Shi was very pleased with her father-in-law's decision. This matter was clearly beneficial to her daughter. Not to mention the substantial dowry her daughter would have in the future, just the fact that the Qi family girl was capable was enough for her to want to foster a good relationship with the Qi family and allow her daughter to befriend Qi Zhenzhen.
The next morning, after breakfast, Yu Shi and Song Mingyue went to the Qi family's home.
Almost simultaneously, the five women that Li Shan's wife had helped find also arrived.
They were all from the same village, so they were not strangers to each other. During their conversation, Qi Zhenzhen learned that one of them had married from the same village as Yu Shi, and they interacted frequently.
Qi Zhenzhen reiterated the important points to be aware of. Everyone indicated they understood, and then she directed them to peel and chop the vegetables and use fine salt to draw out the moisture.
Li Shan and his wife also arrived with a cart to load the kimchi that had been pickled the previous day. After loading it, Li Shan's wife insisted on settling the accounts daily and paid Qi Zhenzhen for the kimchi that day.
Six hundred coins at once made the eyes of those working widen. How much silver would that be in a month?
One of the more talkative women, thinking Qi Zhenzhen was easy to talk to, boldly asked, "Zhenzhen, is Li Shan's family sourcing the goods from you to sell?"
Qi Zhenzhen nodded. "Yes."
"Can our family also source goods?" the young wife asked expectantly.
Qi Zhenzhen shook her head. "That won't do. The business for the kimchi was already contracted with the general store in town yesterday. Our kimchi can only be supplied to them. If we violate the contract, we'll have to pay liquidated damages, not to mention we could be imprisoned."
"Then why are you still supplying Li Shan's family?" the young wife pressed.
The question was a bit pointed, but Qi Zhenzhen was not annoyed at all. She explained, "The cooperation with Li Shan's wife's family was established first, and the general store agreed to let them continue selling door-to-door in the villages, but they are not allowed to sell in town."
With that explanation, the young wife had nothing more to say. Her dark eyes darted around for a few moments, and a look of excitement gradually appeared on her face.
Qi Zhenzhen took all this in, pursed her lips, and said nothing.
When work ended at noon, the five women left. Yu Shi said a few words to Qi Zhenzhen, advising her to be wary of the young woman who had been asking so many questions earlier. Since the business was contracted with the general store, it wasn't just Qi family's affair, and she needed to be careful with everything. Qi Zhenzhen was impressed by Yu Shi's sharp judgment and thanked her with a smile, "Auntie, don't worry, I'll be careful."
Yu Shi waved her hand and said in a low voice, "Zhenzhen, thank you for looking after Mingyue. If you ever need anything in the future, just tell Auntie. I won't refuse anything I can do."
"Auntie, Mingyue is good to me, and I will reciprocate her kindness. As you know, I lived in the village for three years and didn't have a single friend to talk to. Mingyue was the first person to show me kindness and treat me with genuine affection," Qi Zhenzhen said with a smile.
Yu Shi was not one to stand on ceremony. She had said what needed to be said, patted Qi Zhenzhen's shoulder, and led Song Mingyue home for lunch.
Not long after lunch, Li Shan and his wife arrived. They sat down familiarly and began to spread the sauce on the kimchi that had been drained of moisture.
Qi Zhenzhen said she would pay them according to the workers, but Li Shan's wife cut her off, saying that her business had just started, and she was acting like a stingy landlord. If they took wages, they would have no face to source kimchi from her in the future. They were satisfied with the income from selling kimchi and wouldn't work for just ten coins. Their help was a gesture of goodwill between the two families.
After a while, Yu Shi, her son, and the five women who were working arrived together.
The most active woman from the morning saw Li Shan and his wife and greeted them warmly, sticking close to Li Shan's wife while spreading the sauce.
With Li Shan and his wife joining them, the work went faster, and it was finished by the afternoon.
Qi Zhenzhen directly took out the money box and settled the payments for the day.
The young wife who was friendly with Yu Shi said somewhat sheepishly, "Zhenzhen, we didn't work a full day today, did we? Are you paying us too much for wages?"
The more active woman pulled her aside. "Zhenzhen makes several taels of silver a day. Would she care about your few coins? Asking like that, aren't you making things awkward?"
Yu Shi glanced meaningfully at the active woman and nodded to the woman from her village. "Jin Niang, just put it away."
The woman named Jin Niang smiled shyly at Yu Shi's words and solemnly put the money into her purse before leaving with the others.
Yu Shi and her son, along with Li Shan and his wife, walked out together. "Shanzi's wife, how's business? Is the kimchi selling well?"
Li Shan's wife smiled. "Two hundred jin sold out in half a day. My husband and I don't have to work so hard. If we sold all day, our throats would be ruined."
Her gaze was clear, and her face showed contentment.
Yu Shi chimed in, "It's best when people know contentment."
She hoped that Li Shan and his wife were genuinely content and not just saying it for show. If the Qi family and the Song and Li families had a good relationship, it would be difficult for Zhenzhen to refuse if Li Shan and his wife asked for more kimchi. If they resold it at a higher price to people who wanted to source goods, it would violate the contract and put Zhenzhen in a difficult position.
Therefore, Yu Shi deliberately made a few remarks, hoping that nothing would happen to damage the relationship between the two families.
The next morning, Li Shan and his wife came to pick up the kimchi. After loading the cart, Li Shan's wife chattered away, telling Qi Zhenzhen everything the other young wife and her husband had said at their home yesterday.
"I don't know what to say. I found the workers for you, and she still has such intentions. She doesn't even consider that there's no work that earns ten coins without effort. Even men working hard outside only earn this much in a day, and they're still not satisfied, even trying to persuade me to get more kimchi from you..."
"Zhenzhen, what do you think we should do? I think if she couldn't get her way through me, she might think of other methods..."
Money can move people's hearts. Li Shan's wife was worried that the young wife might not be able to control herself and do something irreversible.
Indeed, as she had predicted, the young wife had gone to find Li Shan's family. Li Shan and his wife had not disappointed her. Qi Zhenzhen breathed a sigh of relief. "Sister-in-law, don't worry. Let's see how she behaves today. If she settles down and works hard, we'll pretend this never happened."
Li Shan's wife knew that she had always been decisive and would not be easily manipulated by someone with such ulterior motives.
"Alright, here. This is today's payment. We'll be going now." After saying that, Li Shan pushed the cart, and Li Shan's wife walked beside him. The two of them slowly walked away.
Not long after the young wives arrived, Manager Lin also sent someone to pick up the vegetables. The four hundred jin of kimchi were quickly loaded onto the cart by the workers. The person in charge handed a purse to Qi Zhenzhen. "Miss Qi, this is two taels of silver. Four hundred coins of it are for you to buy jars. You need to prepare an extra set of pickling jars for alternating use."