Chapter 301: Factory Planning
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After hearing Shen Qiuhua’s words, Dong Xiaolei’s gloomy expression immediately brightened up. “Is that true, Miss Shen?”
“Of course! I would never lie to you. There must be something suitable for you to do, so don’t be discouraged. You’re a good child, Little Lei.”
“Thank you so much, Miss Shen!” Dong Xiaolei thanked Shen Qiuhua profusely.
Shen Qiuhua did not return home until she finished notifying the applicants on whether or not they got hired. When she reached home, she breathed a sigh of relief and drank some water, feeling refreshed.
“So many people want to work for us, but the rest know their bodies are weak. Some are even too young or old to work at the factory. Those who didn’t get hired enviously look at their neighbors who we hired.”
Su Binglan heard her mother’s words and started thinking before she said, “Mother, I’m going to buy more land to build another factory.”
“Huh?” Shen Qiuhua was stunned.
‘Xueye had just finished building the factory for our tofu products, so why would Binglan want another?’
Shen Qiuhua wondered what other factory her daughter would want to build, but she guessed it would be similar to the tofu factory.
She recalled her daughter wanting to buy more land, and it seemed Su Binglan was more interested in the large plot of land connecting the village to the town.
However, it was a thousand acres of land, and Su Biniglan would not have enough money if she wanted to buy all of it. Indeed, the hotpot restaurant had been open for a while, and she had earned more money, but was Su Binglan honestly going to use it to buy more land?
Although Shen Qiuhua was surprised, she was still very supportive of her daughter. Moreover, the more her daughter did, the more people the family could hire. When the time came, everyone would benefit and improve their lives.
Su Binglan had long thought of this, but she wanted to save up first since buying more land would be costly.
She said, “We’ve spent a lot of money on the tofu factory and the hotpot restaurant. We also spent much on the new house and the furniture. Still, we’ve earned more from the hotpot restaurant, so we still have money.
“I asked around about the land prices from the towns and village folk. Since that plot of land is not a part of town or suitable for farming, it only costs one silver per acre. Since that’s the case, a thousand acres should cost a thousand silver.
Shen Qiuhua responded thoughtfully, “But we don’t have a thousand silver right now, do we?”
Previously, the county magistrate gave Su Binglan one thousand silver when she saved the county magistrate’s son.
When Su Binglan went to the capital to look for Su Wenxiu, Shen Qiuhua told her daughter to bring some of the silver she received from the county magistrate.
Shen Qiuhua even used some of it for the new house and furniture. Later, she also insisted on giving her daughter the remainder of the one thousand silver. Shen Qiuhua believed the silver would be in better hands with her daughter.
Although the hotpot restaurant made more than a hundred silver daily for the first three days, there would not be much left to cover the restaurant’s costs and expenses. After the discount period, the restaurant only earned dozens of silver daily.
Su Binglan said, “I have a few hundred silver with me now. I plan to keep two hundred silver on hand as a backup. As for the rest, I can use it to buy land. I can buy a few hundred acres now and then the rest when I earn more.”
She did some calculations and discovered she still had more than six hundred silver. She could buy four hundred acres of land for the time being and do many things with it.
Su Binglan wanted to leave behind some money in case the hotpot restaurant needed more ingredients. Moreover, saving some money for a rainy day was always good.
Shen Qiuhua said, “I have more than a hundred silver with me, Binglan. I’ll give it to you instead of keeping it.”
Su Wenzhe and the others would typically give Shen Qiuhua what they had earned throughout the day. She used a portion of it for the tofu factory and still had more than a hundred silver left.
Su Binglan replied, “You can keep those, Mother. We need to have some extra money around for later use. Besides, once the tofu factory opens, we’ll need it for the initial operation.”
Indeed, Shen Qiuhua felt it was the case as she still needed to keep some money aside. Still, she was curious. “Binglan, do you have other ideas? I know you’re someone who always does great things.”
Su Binglan nodded. “Yes, I do. I have other plans, but they require some thought since it’s just a trial period. For the time being, we should ensure the tofu factory and hotpot restaurant gets off their feet first.”
“Yeah, I also think we should do one thing at a time.” Shen Qiuhua was still more conservative. She felt it would not be too late to do other things after getting the hotpot restaurant and tofu workshop off their feet.
When work officially began in the factory, Shen Qiuhua and Su Fengmao were in charge. Su Fengmao supervised delivering goods to the clients, while Shen Qiuhua oversaw the factory.
When the villagers first came to the tofu factory, they did not know what to do. Shen Qiuhua, Qiu He, and Luo Juan were the ones who taught everyone how to pick soybeans, wash them, soak them, and grind them.
No one feared hardships, and after learning how to do that, they followed Shen Qiuhua’s instructions. Of course, different steps were in different rooms. Su Binglan had also arranged shifts for everyone. Initially, the villagers were nervous when they went to work at the factory. They were afraid they would not do well. However, everyone quickly learned what to do and felt more comfortable.
Those who worked the morning shift would wake up early and have breakfast before going to the factory. Even when the villagers did not have work in the morning, they would not sleep in—instead, they would get up at dawn and start cooking.
The villagers habituated to doing this all year round. Their bodies had formed an automatic biological alarm clock that would metaphorically ring before dawn.
The afternoon shift workers would finish work in the evening and reach home just in time for dinner, while those who worked in the morning could make it home in time for lunch when their shift ended.
The villagers would work three morning and afternoon shifts with one day off to rest every week. Everyone felt satisfied with this.
After a few days of getting used to working at the factory, the villagers chatted and laughed together whenever they got off work and headed home.
“It’s not that tiring to work at the tofu factory. I don’t feel overwhelmed when it’s time to get off work.”
“You’re right. We earn so much monthly and even have a day off once a week. It’s great!”
“Yeah, working here doesn’t delay my housework either. I can feed my ducks and chickens when I get home later.”
“It’s good to be close to home. My family and I can have three meals a day now. It wasn’t easy to find a job in town back then. Even if we did, we couldn’t go home often.’
“Some of us who worked short-term in town wouldn’t even earn much. Also, we had to wake up early and leave to take a long journey to town.” “Exactly. Back then, we all went to town looking for work and inquired about the market situation after the autumn harvest. I heard the owners even reprimand some workers. However, the Su family is so good to us, especially since they patiently teach those who don’t know what to do at the factory.” “That’s right, so we must work hard.”
“Yeah, it won’t feel tiring, no matter how hard we work at the factory.” “I also heard everyone will receive some tofu at the end of the month.”
“That’s great!”
