freenovelworld Chapter 368 is hiring!
Chapter 368 is hiring!
Lu Xiong was extremely fast. He and Wang Erniu led their men to attack from both sides, while the men below surrounded them. Not a single Japanese soldier was missed. They were all killed instantly with a few slashes, and the Japanese were quickly wiped out.
"Pack up, let's finish this quickly." Wang Erniu was worried that other villages might be attacked by Japanese pirates.
"It's alright now, everyone can come out!"
The soldiers dealt with the body, only cutting off the head. The villagers, hearing the commotion, came out to help. Seeing the dead old man, they sadly collected his body. The village chief led the people to strip off his clothes and other belongings, and then helped bury him.
Two people died in this village, both of them were frail elderly people living alone.
Wang Erniu took out a few taels of silver from his pocket and handed them to the village head, instructing him, "These elderly people, those over fifty years old, without children or family, you should make arrangements for them to live in the same courtyard. From now on, I will arrange for someone to bring some rice and flour over every month. You can't let them live like this anymore. If anything happens again, I will hold you responsible."
The village chief nodded weakly in agreement.
This time, a total of twenty-six Japanese were killed. Most of the soldiers Wang Erniu led were new recruits, while the veterans remained in Lijia Town. This time, killing Japanese not only gave them firsthand experience and practical knowledge, but also allowed them to earn some rewards. However, there were still too few soldiers.
Looking at the heads and then at the soldiers covered in blood, Wang Erniu sighed and shook his head. It seemed that fewer Japanese soldiers coming was actually a good thing for him.
County government.
Magistrate Zheng was overjoyed to see Wang Erniu return laden with spoils.
"Commander Wang is truly capable! I will immediately write a report to recommend you for commendation!"
"This is a small matter. The most important thing is conscription. Please help me think of a solution!" Wang Erniu was a bit of a headache. He thought he had done enough, but the notice had been posted for a long time and no one had come. He only had about a hundred men. How could he guard such a large county?
"Commander Wang, don't worry, someone will be here soon!" Magistrate Zheng smiled, he wasn't worried at all.
"How so?" Wang Erniu asked curiously.
"Because you have a wonderful wife! Hehe!"
"What does this have to do with my wife!"
"Chen's Workshop will open tomorrow and be hiring. Commander Wang, you can just sit back and wait for people to come," Magistrate Zheng said with a smile, patting his chest.
Wang Erniu smiled slightly, "That would be great!"
The next day, Chen's Workshop opened its doors to hire people!
Lou Min is a capable man. Chen Wenfang originally only asked to rent one courtyard, but he generously rented the two houses next door. Anyway, there are many vacant houses in the county, so it's good to make some extra money. It's a win-win situation.
"Brother Lou, can you take me? I'm only twenty-eight and I can do a lot of work." Aunt Huangmei came up to Lou Min and tried to get close to him. Chen's pays too fast. Could she come and work for him? Not to mention a tael of silver a month, she would work for eight hundred coins. They even provide lunch. She had seen the food. It was all steamed buns, big and firm steamed buns the size of her palm.
"I can't help it, Auntie. It's not that I don't want to hire you, but it says here that we're giving priority to military dependents these days. That means if someone in your family is in the army, their family can come and work here. If you have children, you can bring them too. We have a rest room here, so you can take them home after get off work," Lou Min explained earnestly.
"If it really doesn't work out, please come back in a couple of days. Let the military dependents think about it first, and then we'll see if we need any more people."
"Sigh, alright then!"
It seems there are still many women who can work, but few of them are military dependents. The group of women looked around for a long time with reluctance, and only left when they saw that the workshop really didn't look like what they wanted.
Huang, from the opposite alley, nervously pulled at her slightly tattered clothes as she approached. The seaweed she had given them last time had all been taken, and she had dried another basket of it these past few days. Although they said they would take it back in a while, she couldn't resist the urge to earn money when she thought about those copper coins. She could earn money now, and her children at home wanted to cook meat, so she came over to try her luck.
"Um, Mr. Lou! I've dried some more seaweed, can you accept it?" Mrs. Huang asked somewhat nervously, fiddling with the hem of her clothes.
“You’ve washed this seaweed very clean, so they should be able to collect it. Go in and ask.” Lou Min was very kind.
"Thank you, Mr. Lou!"
Huang suppressed her excitement and went in to see Aunt Hu. Aunt Hu had been cooking for a few days, and last time Chen Wenfang specially taught her how to make seaweed and pork rib soup, which everyone liked. Thinking that Aunt Liu and the others hadn't tried it, she asked someone to take the remaining seaweed and letter with her. When she saw that someone was bringing seaweed again, she immediately paid for it.
Huang received the money again and was in a great mood. Passing by the notice posted at the door, she asked it out of curiosity.
"Mr. Lou, what does this say?" She couldn't read.
She couldn't hear clearly because she was far away, but it seemed like they were hiring here. Why didn't they hire people from the county?
"We recruit women for work, and military dependents are given priority," Lou Min explained. Seeing her blinking and looking confused, he added, "If there's a soldier in the family, his wife can come here to work. She gets one tael of silver a month, lunch is provided, and she can bring her children along."
"Auntie, do you have any soldiers in your family? They can come and work here. The food is good and the work isn't hard. Those people just now wanted to come in."
"Such a good thing? It can't be fake, can it?" Mrs. Huang was somewhat skeptical.
"What are you saying? The Commandant's wife gave you money in cash. When you went in to deliver the seaweed, didn't she give you the money right there? Really! Go away!" Lou Min said angrily.
"Hehe, yes, I gave it to her. I misspoke, Brother Lou, don't be angry. I have a cousin whose husband used to be a soldier. He died in the war against the Japanese. I was just asking for her, and I didn't expect such a good thing to actually happen." Madam Huang hurriedly explained, not wanting to offend anyone.
“I see!” Lou Min wasn’t petty. He sat up straight and said, “Then go back and tell her to come over tomorrow. I have the county government’s record here. I can check it. If she really is a military widow, she can come and start work in a few days. She doesn’t need to bring anything. Go!”
"Okay, thanks, Brother Lou!"
Huang excitedly ran with the empty basket on her back. "My goodness! One tael of silver a month, lunch included! I have to hurry and deliver this news to her. She really does have a cousin who is struggling to raise her child alone. With such good news, she won't have to worry about the rest of her life!"
Huang's home is in Dongqiao Village, a journey that usually takes half an hour. But because she was in a good mood and excited, she managed to get home in half the time. She put down her basket and ran eastward, arriving in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
"Sister Zhaodi, I have something to tell you!" Huang said, panting heavily, as she told her what was going on.
"Is there really such a good thing? Or is it a scam?" Zhao Di poured her some tea, just as skeptical.
"It's more real than pearls, look at this money!" Madam Huang hurriedly drank the cold tea and pulled out a string of copper coins, still warm from her body, from her bosom. "I just delivered some seaweed today. I did the same thing last time; the person gave me the money in person. Can you tell if it's real?"