Transmigrated as A Farm Girl Making Her Family Rich-Chapter 114 - 113 Where’s the Gift?
Chapter 114: Chapter 113 Where’s the Gift?
The village chief, seeing Housekeeper Tang about to leave, wanted to detain him. Glancing at Hongji, he was aware that their home couldn’t accommodate guests like Housekeeper Tang and could only politely suggest:
“This… Housekeeper Tang, would you care to have a simple meal at our house?”
“No need, no need to trouble yourselves. It’s more convenient for us to eat in the town. Please do not worry, village chief, just try to persuade them well,” Housekeeper Tang replied as he patted the village chief’s arm.
What else could the village chief say? He could only watch as the guest departed.
Once Hongji saw Housekeeper Tang leaving, he, carrying his daughter in one arm, followed as well, thinking about the myriad chores at home, including the wood delivered today that he needed to prepare.
On his way back to the Ye family compound, Housekeeper Tang said to Hongji:
...
“Small boss, apart from work, I initially came today to inquire about honey. Now, ready to return I am going with empty hands; it’s truly difficult to explain!”
Hongji, troubled, glanced at his daughter, knowing he couldn’t let anyone discover his daughter’s matters regardless of how serious the issue might be.
“Housekeeper Tang, wait till I have some free time to ask my good friend! The honey at your residence hasn’t run out yet, right? Even if it’s for a gift, a delay of a day or two won’t matter much.”
“Alright then, I’ll leave this matter in your hands. I’ll take two guards back and leave two here to watch over the wood,” Housekeeper Tang agreed.
Housekeeper Tang felt that the wood, being so valuable, needed guarding; even though this was a small village, it was not immune to mountain bandits who might have caught wind. Though not food, the wood was high-grade and had been collected at a great cost.
“Housekeeper Tang, having guards stay at our home is a bit inconvenient, how can I explain the presence of these strange men when we have young ladies at home,” Hongji worried about the additional men causing issues for his sisters, as idle gossip was what girls feared most.
“Small boss, you can have them stay in the thatch hut. We couldn’t find another place to store the wood on such short notice,” suggested Housekeeper Tang, who had considered finding a storage facility in their village.
But their village was too small, and it wasn’t feasible to have the guards stay in the ancestral hall, was it?
“Okay! I hope the wood factory is built quickly so we can move everything there. Keeping it in my yard isn’t safe; weathering could cause damage,” Hongji accepted reluctantly.
“Small boss, you and your father should be making a decent income from carpentry; why not build better housing? If a typhoon strikes, not to mention the danger, the thatch house could collapse!” Housekeeper Tang remarked.
“Well, Housekeeper Tang, as you know, I am not in charge at home; the finances are controlled by my parents,” Hongji explained.
“Small boss, that won’t do. Once you become the wood factory’s small boss, you can’t continue like this,” Housekeeper Tang advised.
“Yes, I’d also like to save some money. Future accounts at the wood factory must be kept from my mother and father, otherwise, it would be very troublesome.”
“Of course. When the time comes, we’ll hire an accountant and station guards there. Theft is illegal; we’ll draft the rules and inform all the workers,” Housekeeper Tang discussed the plan.
“Yes, that sounds good. I don’t understand management well, so I’ll rely on you for these things, housekeeper,” Hongji replied.
“Why mention trouble? Our families are collaborating, in the same boat so to speak. Things will get better with time, and money will enable us to do many things,” Housekeeper Tang reassured.
“Hopefully!” Hongji agreed.
They arrived at the Ye family compound, where the guards had already moved the wood into the thatch hut.
Housekeeper Tang thanked the guards and asked them to draw lots to decide which two would stay, rotating shifts, to keep an all-day and night vigil.
“Housekeeper Tang, having them work day and night will be very hard; there’s no place to sleep here, and those working the night shift won’t have a place to rest during the day. A day or two is manageable, but for longer, it will be very tough,” Hongji worried.
“Hmm, that makes sense, so let’s have two guards stay overnight, and then have another two replace them tomorrow. That way, they can go into town to buy food, which saves you the trouble of cooking for them as they’ll have company.”
“It’s not that they can’t eat with us, but our meals are very simple.”
“Small Boss, don’t worry, they are from the Tang Family. All their expenses are covered by the Tang Family. Your household is already complex enough; their living here is inconvenient enough. Let them sort out their meals on their own!”
After hearing Housekeeper Tang’s words, Hongji could only nod. The food they ate was so plain, others might not be accustomed to it, and asking his child to prepare more meals for the adults would be too much for his child.
There were already guards who had wanted to stay, and now with the new arrangements for shifts, they were all willing. Housekeeper Tang had told them that they would be paid extra.
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After making the arrangements, Housekeeper Tang took two guards and two horse carts back to the county, mounting a horse himself.
After Housekeeper Tang and his party left, Hongji needed to saw the logs into sections, each according to the specifications needed for the woodwork.
The smaller wood scraps couldn’t be wasted either; he thought he could make them into smaller toys.
This good quality lumber was a rare find. Hongji began to mark the cut lines. The two guards who stayed were very helpful, assisting him with marking and sawing the wood.
Daya and her two sisters, who had gone to the fields, had just entered their courtyard when they noticed unfamiliar people and more lumber near the thatched cottage.
There was no smoke coming from the kitchen, and the three sisters knew that without them cooking, their father working outside would have to go hungry.
It was only then that Mrs. Lai remembered Housekeeper Tang mentioning he would bring a gift next time he came back. Was he just going to leave like that?
She, unwilling to let the prospect of a gift slip away, went to the thatched cottage to ask the two guards helping out.
“Hey, young men, our housekeeper doesn’t keep his word, does he? How can he just leave with the gift he mentioned?”
“Big aunt, you should ask the housekeeper about that. He just came by, why didn’t you ask him? We don’t know anything about it.”
“You have money on you, right? Can’t you just buy something in town?”
“Oh no, big aunt, we don’t have much money on us. All we have is the meal money given by the housekeeper. We can’t very well eat and stay at your expense!”
“You can give me the meal money, and you can eat whatever we eat,” Mrs. Lai’s eyes flickered with another moneymaking idea, considering it wasn’t her who had to cook anyway, and using the rice in the house’s kitchen wouldn’t diminish its quantities.
As for buying groceries, just picking up some vegetables would do, and she could make some money from it.
Mrs. Lai was already deep in thoughts of money, even scheming about the guards who didn’t want to cause trouble for her household.
“Mother, our meals are simple, with hardly any dishes; how could they get used to that? Let’s just follow whatever Housekeeper Tang has arranged for them,”
Hongji could easily guess his mother’s intentions, knowing that his mother and two sisters didn’t cook, and after his three children had just come back from the fields, they had to cook, and as a father, it pained him.
“Big aunt, we are really hungry, and don’t have time to chat anymore. We’re going to eat now.”
The two guards moved swiftly, leading their horses out and quickly riding off.
“Young men…”
Unable to stop them in time, Mrs. Lai could only watch as her potential gain disappeared, stomping her chubby feet on the ground a few times, hands clasped over her chest, feeling the painful pinch in her heart.
