222 Salary
“Oh!”
Everyone was overjoyed and shouted in unison.
After holding back for so long, the crisis was finally resolved the day before the New Year. The weight in everyone’s heart was finally unloaded.
There was a fire pit outside to keep the others warm. The flames were reflected in everyone’s eyes, and everyone’s chests were puffing as they surrounded Zhao Zhan. It was unknown who reached out first, but a few strong men threw Zhao Zhan high up into the air.
Zhao Zhan also laughed out loud, infected by the joyous atmosphere.
That group of people made a ruckus until late at night before they happily bid farewell and went home with the meat in their hands.
The house had been empty for a few days. It was going to be the New Year the next day, so they all rushed to light the oil lamps and torches to start cleaning their places.
Yang Dashan and Zhao Zhan walked home side by side.
“By the way, Yang Dashan,” Zhao Zhan suddenly said, “Chengfeng came home by himself. Don’t worry about what happened. The little guy just wanted to go up the mountain to play.”
“Today, many of the prey that we distributed to the people were caught by Chengfeng himself.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Li Miao has been crying every night these past few days, saying that she’s too ashamed to see you and Jiaojiao. She’s lost a lot of weight. I’ll let her know later and she’ll finally be able to sleep well tonight.”
Yang Dashan breathed a sigh of relief and he spoke more casually.
“If it doesn’t snow tomorrow, I’ll move the soybeans and chili back to the warehouse, and you can keep them up there.
“The chilies have been skewered as well. Back then, everyone gathered in the warehouse to avoid the disaster. Fortunately, Maozhong’s wife had a plan. She brought Li Miao and a few others to skewer the chilies in front of everyone.
“Does Li Miao have an account book?” Zhao Zhan had been busy since returning and had almost forgotten about this matter. When Yang Dashan mentioned the business, he asked, “If there is, I’ll take a look now. Since everyone is still awake, I’ll pay everyone their wages so that they can follow Lizheng’s ox cart to the town to buy more things for the New Year tomorrow.”
“I’ll go and have a look.”
The two of them had just arrived at the door of Yang Dashan’s house. Zhao Zhan nodded and stood outside the door waiting.
“Zhao Zhan!” Li Miao’s face was sallow. As Yang Dashan helped her out, he placed one hand in front of her body and walked very slowly. “We are illiterate. We’re afraid that you won’t be able to understand what we’ve memorized.”
As she spoke, she took out a piece of cloth from behind her. “We don’t have pen and paper at home, so everyone who worked for the whole day sewed a line on the cloth. Every piece of cloth represents a person.”
Li Miao told Zhao Zhan all the names that each line represented and then settled the accounts with him. “It’s rare to have a job specifically for women. There were seven of them in total, and each of them worked for thirty-five days. Four copper coins a day, so each person’s salary is one hundred and forty copper coins.”
“Thank you, Li Miao. You look pretty tired, please rest well.”
“Alright, I’ll be heading back first.”
“Hey, you should go back too.”
Zhao Zhan nodded and walked back. He took out a string of copper coins from the money box and went to Yang Maozhong’s house. He knocked at the door and waited for the people to come out. He handed the copper coins over. “Yang Maozhong, Li Miao checked the accounts for me just now. Please pay them according to their hours.”
“It’s late, it’s not appropriate for me to go to someone else’s house. These copper coins must be given to the people who work. As for the extra money, just take it as me adding a celebration to everyone’s New Year.”