The first to speak was the carpenter, Wang Wu.
"My Lord, the workshops have been rebuilt in their original locations. As per your previous instructions, they are divided into seven zones: papermaking, printing, textiles, dyeing and printing, furniture, farm tools, and soap. All have been put into use, and newspapers, glassware, and soap have resumed production. Old Zhao also raised the outer cement walls to five meters high and half a meter thick, and strung up electric fences. After finishing these, he took his men to supervise the workshops and the Marquis's manor in Shenyang."
Fang Er nodded, then turned to Sun Laosi. "How are the chickens coming along?"
Sun Laosi took a swig of wine. "Replying to my Lord, the chicken farm and pig farm are both ready. Raising chickens and pigs produces a strong smell, so the old man had the sites built outside the manor. They are five li to the north, where Li Jiaji used to be. However, everyone has moved to our side now. Therefore, the old man had the houses in Li Jiaji demolished and built a ten-mu chicken farm and a twenty-mu pig farm. The farms are large and the work is extensive, so it will take about another half a month to complete."
Fang Er gave him a thumbs-up. "Old Si, you have foresight! Indeed, having such large breeding farms within our own manor would not only take up space but the smell would be unbearable for us. Only Aunt Liu can tolerate you raising them at home!"
Laughter erupted from everyone. When the laughter subsided, Fang Er continued, "Alright, once the breeding farms are done, I'll have your old house demolished and rebuilt to a three-courtyard standard. I'll cover the cost, returning Aunt Liu to a clean new home."
"Ah! Heh heh, then I thank you on behalf of my wife, my Lord!"
Next, Ma Tongyuan from the school reported. According to him, there were now nearly a thousand students in the school. The original schoolhouse was no longer sufficient, so classes had to be staggered. One batch in the morning, another in the afternoon. These additional students were either too young from the manor itself or were sent by nearby villages pleading to be admitted. Because of this, Ma Tongyuan had taken it upon himself to recruit more scholars.
Old Sun hadn't been idle either. With so many people in the manor, minor illnesses were unavoidable. So, after discussing with Chai Yue, they had Qi Sui, using his name, recruit more doctors near the Taoist temple. It was a proper hospital, and he managed to set it up. Old Ma Tou took out a sweet potato from his embrace, on which three-inch long sprouts had already grown. He had specifically fetched it from the glass greenhouse on his way here. Once the weather warmed up a bit more and the potato vines grew longer, they could be transplanted.
Only the shipyard had no tasks assigned, so Li Shun had been helping Wang Wu in the furniture workshop with his men these days. The furniture manufactured by Fangjia Zhuang was low-priced and of good quality, with merchants coming daily to collect goods. Although not as in-demand as soap or glass, it was still second to none in the vicinity of Chang'an. With such market demand, Fangjia Zhuang took the lion's share, leaving many artisans with no income. They came to Fangjia Zhuang seeking a livelihood. To their surprise, they found they were earning more than when they worked independently! Textiles and dyeing and printing were similar; scaled production was always superior in quality and cheaper than outside small workshops. Therefore, the various goods from Fangjia Zhuang were now bestsellers in the Guanzhong region. Even some southern merchants traveling through would fill their caravans here before heading back.
After discussing these matters, it was time to review the current situation of the New Oriental Vocational School. This wasn't the responsibility of a single person but a joint effort by all the master craftsmen. The first batch of admissions had concluded a month ago. The primary target audience was children aged ten to fifteen from the manor, with half-day professional technical training and half-day cultural studies. This batch had enrolled four hundred students. Corresponding to the specialties of each workshop, the master craftsmen and skilled artisans from each workshop were responsible for teaching. In short, everything was proceeding smoothly, just as Fang Er had instructed before his departure.
The banquet continued until the hour of Xu (7-9 PM). As everyone stumbled away, Fang Er gave them each a jar of lollipops to take home for their children. After everyone had left, Fang Er stood up, letting the maids clear the mess, and walked into his room with his hands behind his back, a smile on his face. Chai Yue was already asleep in bed, her long eyelashes fluttering as if she were dreaming. Seeing her peaceful appearance, Fang Er reluctantly got into bed after quietly removing his clothes. He slowly pulled the quilt over himself and closed his eyes. Just as he was about to fall asleep, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't redeemed anything this month, so he opened the system panel.
Items: 20
Refreshable: 3
He glanced at the current items. The system seemed to have raided Suning.com this time. Computers, televisions, razors. Air conditioners, refrigerators, rice cookers. Stoves, ovens, microwaves. Mobile phones, watches, light bulbs. These twenty items were all appliances. After redeeming them all, he clicked refresh. Looking at the new items that appeared, Fang Er was taken aback. They were audio-visual products. There were old-fashioned music cassettes. There were also CDs. Jay Chou's "Still Fantasy." JJ Lin's "Number 89757." Wang Leehom's "Descendants of the Dragon." Andy Lau's "Little Clown." ... The ten items on the first page were all music-related. When he flipped to the second page, Fang Er was shocked. "Holy shit! System, come out. Didn't you say no contraband could appear?"
System: "What contraband is this? It's just about physiological hygiene. Don't tell me you haven't studied it."
Fang Er: "..."
System: "Did your physiological hygiene teacher show films like this? Aren't you afraid of being caught by the principal and beaten to a pulp?"
System: "Considering you've just gotten married and returned home after a separation, I specially got this for you. Want it? If not, I'll take it back!"
"Fuck! Yes! Yes! Yes! Absolutely!"
ps: Fourth update