These four people receive monthly wages, and also seasonal clothing.

The household staff are settled, leaving only the shopkeeper and accountant positions at Lian’s to be filled.

Wu Yugui and Wu Jiaxing, the father and son, were very attentive and introduced several shopkeepers and accountants for Lian Manman’s selection, all with relevant work experience and good reputations. Finally, Wu Lang and Lian Manman chose a shopkeeper named Chen Ping’an, who lives in a neighboring county. Chen Ping’an had previously worked as a shopkeeper in a restaurant in the county town, being upright and an excellent speaker. They also chose an accountant with the surname Feng.

The shopkeeper at Lian’s receives a certain amount of monthly silver, additional festival gifts during three major festivals, annual leave, and end-of-year bonuses based on the shop’s profits. The accountant receives similar, though slightly less than the shopkeeper.

Once these matters were settled, the Mid-Autumn Festival arrived.

This year’s festival was celebrated by Lian Manman’s family, along with Mr. Loo.

Because of the recent joyful events, the festival banquet was prepared exceptionally lavishly. In addition to the family’s traditional festive dishes, the banquet included Longjing shrimp, lotus leaf steamed chicken, braised lion’s head, salted duck, and more, filling the table completely.

Lady Zhang still personally took charge in the kitchen, though she had much help this time, as Han Zhong’s wife was very capable, with several signature dishes, especially skilled at cooking duck. This greatly satisfied Lady Zhang. Manman’s family usually didn’t eat duck often due to Lady Zhang not being adept at cooking it.

At noon, they enjoyed the festival banquet, and in the evening, Manman’s family prepared another table beside the lotus pond pavilion, where the family accompanied Mr. Loo to admire the moon. The pond now only had withered lotuses, so Lian Manman had the family’s chrysanthemums moved over, decorating the pavilion inside and out.

By nightfall, lanterns were lit inside and outside the pavilion, and the family accompanied Mr. Loo on a moonlit walk. Mr. Loo was utterly delighted by the pavilion’s arrangement and praised it several times.

The pavilion had its table and chairs set up long before everyone took their seats. The evening meal was simple, with mooncakes, some fresh fruits, flaky pastries, and steamed crab.

The evening’s purpose was to eat crab and admire the moon.

Because there was crab on the table, Lian Shouxin specially opened a jar of Shaoxing old wine. Xiao Xi placed a small charcoal stove outside the pavilion, with a copper kettle hanging above it. The yellow wine was strained and poured into the kettle to warm it, then brought inside. Han Zhong attended to the pavilion, ready to serve the family at a call, while Han Zhong’s wife stayed in the kitchen, and Xiao Fu took charge of bringing freshly cooked crabs and pastries to the pavilion, to be served by Xiao Xi.

Lian Shouxin and Wu Lang naturally accompanied Mr. Loo in drinking wine, while Lady Zhang also enjoyed a few cups. She decided to place cups in front of Lian Manman, Lian Zhizhi, and Xiao Qi, allowing them all to have a sip or two.

"It’s a joyful day, and besides, it’s good to drink a little warm wine when eating crab to avoid stomachaches later," Lady Zhang said.

The crabs naturally came from the family’s own pond, chosen by Manman as the largest and best, kept for the family’s festival meal. It’s fortunate that Manman paid attention and saved some crabs for the family; otherwise, all the edible crabs in the pond would have been sold.

In the few days leading to the Mid-Autumn Festival, the fish, shrimp, and crabs from Manman’s family pond sold exceptionally well, with crabs being the top seller. Manman categorized the crabs into three grades based on their growth. The grade the family ate was priced at Fifty Wen Money per pound. The second grade was priced at Forty Wen Money per pound, and the third grade at Thirty-Five Wen Money per pound.

Before the festival, it was a peak consumption period. Up until today, Manman’s family had sold over a thousand pounds of crab, totaling Forty-Five taels of silver. Adding the fish, shrimp, lotus root, and more sold in recent days, just these few days earned Manman’s family One Hundred and Twenty taels of silver. And there are still plenty of shrimp and crab in the pond, estimated to grow and sell by the end of August, with profits expected to double.

During the banquet, the family’s conversation inevitably turned to the fish and lotus ponds.

"Yes," Lian Manman nodded, "Next year, we’ll dig another lotus pond and add four more fish ponds. We’ll utilize all the land we bought here."

Seeing the pond’s profits so rewarding this year, next year naturally calls for further expansion, digging up all the riverside land they purchased. This has been the family’s consensus after several days of discussion.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Manman’s family busied themselves, fully committing to the autumn harvest work.

The family’s long-term workers, Da Li and Xiao Ding, signed permanent contracts. Seeing Da Li slightly older, dependable, and capable, Lian Shouxin promoted him as the head of fieldwork. When Shouxin couldn’t attend due to other matters, Da Li took charge, managing things steadily and reliably.

For this year’s autumn harvest, Lian Shouxin personally led the team in fieldwork. Wu Lang, with no immediate exam pressure, joined Xiao Qi in wearing coarse cloth clothes and fabric shoes, a straw hat, and they both took on the appearance of ordinary farmers, following Shouxin daily to work in the field.

Lady Zhang and her daughters didn’t need to work in the field, staying at home, doing housework, and preparing meals for Shouxin and others. Having been used to labor, Lady Zhang worried about their fields. Although Shouxin and Wu Lang did not permit her to go, she occasionally visited to check on things, bringing tea, watermelons, or a basket of melons and such.

Lian Shouxin, Wu Lang, and Xiao Qi worked alongside the long-term and temporary workers in the fields, returning for the same meals as everyone else. Lady Zhang arranged the meals generously, earning high praise from both household and temporary workers.

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Sending an update, on New Year’s Eve, greetings to everyone. Happy New Year of the Snake, wishing everyone health and success.

...O(∩_∩)O Seeking red envelopes, pink O(∩_∩)O (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)