Chapter 178 – Lapis Lunaris

The original houses on the estate were not enough for these newly hired people to live in, so from the time these people started moving in they lived in temporary shacks, and after that a portion of the people were taken out to be building new accommodations.

The five small workshops of Wei Ruo were also constructed.

The five workshops are now finished, and those residences, because of their larger number, are still under construction.

Wei Ruo hopes to get everyone moved in before the subzero temperatures become freezing.

As soon as Wei Ruo arrived, Steward Yu took her to inspect the newly constructed houses, “Look, proprietor, in a few days all the beams will be put on, and all of them will be completed by the end of the month.”

“Well, you guys did a great job.” Wei Ruo said.

“This is all due to your kindness, proprietor, everyone knows that you built all these houses for them to live in, they are very grateful and work extra hard.” Steward Yu said.

The land was so valuable that other families must have wanted to keep more land for cultivation or to build houses for themselves, but the proprietors were not shy about releasing large tracts of land to build more houses to better house the hired laborers and their families who had no place to live.

The original long laborers on their manor used to live in places smaller than this one, usually several long laborers squeezed into one room, how could they ever be so comfortable with a small room to sleep in?

“I want them to work wholeheartedly on the manor, to treat the manor as a home-like place, then naturally I have to provide them with a home-like place capable of sheltering them from the wind and rain, to have food to eat and clothes to wear, or else on what basis can I ask them to be able to do things properly for the manor, to treat the manor as a home-like place.”

“The proprietor’s heart is kind!” Steward Yu couldn’t help but lament.

He had been a longtime laborer for twenty years and then a steward for the past ten years, and it was the first time he had encountered a proprietor with such an idea.

“You just follow what I said to do, don’t worry about the problem of high expenses on the farm, as long as it is a reasonable and compliant expenditure, the silver is realistically made in the place where it should be made, I won’t be stingy. In the next year, the ground to produce more crops, these are also back.”

Currently Wei Ruo had a few stores that were steadily making a profit, expenses would not be a problem, and after that, when the cooperation with Drunken Immortal Residence began, it would be able to add an additional income.

Moreover, Wei Ruo’s ambition was not only in a Drunken Immortal Residence, the market of ordinary people she was also prepared to open up, as well as other local restaurants, were all inside her future plans.

“Good, don’t worry proprietor, I will keep a detailed account of every expense on the manor no, to ensure that proprietor spends every penny in a clear manner.”

Wei Ruo nodded, the books of accounts were naturally clear.

And then Wei Ruo went to the workshop, because just started, it is inevitable that there will be some problems, Wei Ruo in the past few days or to spend more effort to supervise the work, and found the problem will be corrected in a timely manner.

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The time has passed into the waxing moon.

A heavy snowfall covered the whole of Taizhou Province.

Inside and outside the Prefecture, the city was covered in silver, and there was a thick layer of white snow on the eaves of the houses, on the branches of the trees, and on the steps.

It was freezing cold and the temperatures were a little colder than usual.

Such a yearly schedule is really hard for the people whose families are in dire straits.

Some people even began to sell their daughters, the better sold to the big family as a maid, regardless of whether the signing of the dead contract or live contract, at least can eat, if you do well, there is a run.

The less fortunate ones were not so lucky, those who were sold to be concubines, those who were bought by the toothbrush to go north, and those who were made into thin horses.

Although these things Wei Ruo did not see with his own eyes, he also knows that it is a real occurrence.

Wei Ruo Zhuangzi’s houses were all completed in time for the snow, and everyone moved in.

The grain on the estate is also enough to eat, in addition to the rice stored in the warehouse of the estate, Wei Ruo also has a few carloads of sweet potatoes transported from the Xingshan County, plus a large number of vegetables made of pickles (pickled turnips, pickles, mustard greens, etc.) planted and produced after the fall harvest of rice in Xiaoyang Mountain in Xingshan County.

These grain reserves were enough to get the more than two hundred people on the estate through the winter.

After seeing what happened to the poor people outside in the freezing cold, many of the stragglers who were taken in had a deeper and stronger appreciation for Wei Ruo.

If they hadn’t been taken in by Wei Ruo, they would have either frozen to death or starved to death at this moment.

Even the local residents who were employed were equally grateful, for not every proprietor treated the long laborers so favorably, and in time for such a year, not only did he not reduce their wages, but also gave them extra cotton clothing.

The school captain’s house gave each house a share of charcoal, the share is smokeless charcoal, better than ordinary black charcoal, burning the house will not be black smoke, making smoke.

Also each yard was given two new quilts for this year.

All of this is attributed to Wei Mingting’s promotion, not only did he receive a reward, but his salary was also increased, and naturally the situation of the school lieutenant’s residence was much better.

Then Yun invited a tailor to her home and measured each young master and young lady to make the clothes they would wear in the New Year.

Of these, Wei Ruo made three sets, while the others, including eldest son Wei Yi-chen, made only two.

This is because Wei Ruo’s own clothes less, now to the capital city, can not help but attend some occasions, Wei Ruo is the eldest daughter of the house, naturally can not be changed only so two or three sets can wear out.

Originally, Yun also wanted to give Wei Yi-chen more of a body, Wei Yi-chen just went to study in Anzhou Academy, contact with a lot of people, need to be decent.

But at the time of quantification Wei Yi Chen refused, he told Yun that he went to An Zhou Academy to study, not to run to compare with others, there is no need to care about these external things.

Wei Yi Chen knows in his heart, the school lieutenant’s house is not rich, not enough food this year and the weather is exceptionally cold, there are more to spend silver place.

And he had made enough clothes in past years to save some this year.

Wei Qingwan was sad and upset for a while after she found out.

But none of her sadness or resignation made any difference, and no one else in the house knew of these emotions or thoughts of hers, except her two loyal servants.

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On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, the day before the Lunar New Year Festival, Wei Ruo and Xiu Mei made several large pots of Lunar New Year congee and distributed them to the people on the manor.

Although the Laba Festival was not until tomorrow, because Wei Ruo had other plans for the day of the Laba Festival, the Laba congee for the people on the manor was distributed a day earlier.

Wei Ruo and Xiu Mei made the Laha congee with sufficient ingredients, the people on the farm to drink this porridge have opened the mode of wolf swallowing.

In addition to the people on the manor, Wei Ruo also packed a few buckets wrapped in cotton to bring back to the city.

Nurse and Uncle Xu’s share was definitely not to be missed, as well as the shopkeeper and fellow of Four Treasures, Chen Aqing of Xu Ji’s haloumi store and another small fellow.

In addition to the manor in Xingshan County, Wei Ruo has also sent a letter a few days in advance, so that the steward of the manor on the day of the Laha Festival cooked Laha congee distributed to everyone.

meso- (chemistry)