Chapter 191 - Doing Business
“Mother, my dear mother. We should go back for lunch. Even if you’re not hungry, would you be willing to starve your precious son to death? If that happens, no one would be left to look after you.”
Bruiser couldn’t take it anymore. His mother kept talking nonstop. Didn’t she see Madam Li’s awkward expression?
Widow Wang was interrupted and looked at everyone’s expressions.
She smiled awkwardly and smacked Bruiser’s head. She said angrily, “Brat, why didn’t you remind me earlier? Let’s go. Just you wait, I’ll starve you to death.”
If Madam Li politely said that they could stay for dinner, Widow Wang would feel even more embarrassed.
She had been freeloading at the Song family’s residence for the entire winter. She wanted to give them money, but Madam Li would not accept it. She could only cook delicious food at home every few days and ask Bruiser to send it over.
After lunch, Shen Yijia called the entire family together and prepared for a family meeting.
Other families had work to do in the fields at this time. Even Widow Wang had rented an acre of land this year.
None of the Song family members knew how to farm, but they couldn’t just sit around and do nothing. They had to have a stable source of income.
“I want to open a shop.” Shen Yijia was the first to speak. “But I haven’t thought of what to sell. Do you have any good suggestions?”
It was said that even three rascals could come up with better ideas than one Zhuge Liang, not to mention that there were more than three of them here.
In her opinion, her beautiful husband alone was comparable to Zhuge Liang in terms of intelligence.
However, Shen Yijia was wrong this time. The first to speak was Lin Shao.
He blushed a little and said excitedly, “Our family used to run a fragrance powder shop. I often hang around my father, so I know a little about it. Besides, I can make my own spices.”
The Song family treated him and his sister as a family, and so did he. Previously, he had been wondering what he could do for the family.
Now that he had the chance, he was naturally happy.
After saying that, Lin Shao glanced at Song Jingchen. That time, he had caused something to happen to Shen Yijia.
He didn’t sleep for the entire night. Although he was reluctant, he still went to tell Song Jingchen about leaving with his sister the next day.
Unexpectedly, Big Brother Song, who usually looked unreasonable, only said, “Since she brought you back, she treats you as family. Just stay here with us and live peacefully.”
At the time, these words sounded like he was only accommodating them because of Shen Yijia.
However, Lin Shao also knew that if Brother Song didn’t agree, Shen Yijia would definitely not go against him.
All this time, the two of them had been respecting each other’s wishes.
Shen Yijia patted the back of Lin Shao’s head and praised him generously. “Good lord, this is a great idea. But can you make enough fragrance powder to sell in a shop?”
Shen Yijia wasn’t looking down on his abilities simply because he was young. Didn’t she do many big things in her previous life when she was Lin Shao’s age?
She used to throw the mental hospital into chaos.
“You can ask the women in the village to help out.” Song Jingchen suddenly said, “You can teach them simple things, but keep the formula in your hands.”
He had seen the changes in the villagers of Xiagou Village. Moreover, their family could not remain isolated forever. If one day, he…
Lin Shao didn’t expect Brother Song to support him. His face turned red and he nodded hurriedly.
“I can also teach everyone what to do.” As he spoke, Lin Shao’s eyes turned red. “Without you, Miaomiao and I would have been killed long ago. I- I really treat you as my closest family.”
He had long wanted to reveal the formula to them, but Song Jingchen didn’t want it.
He also knew that Big Brother Song was doing this for their own good. After all, that was something his parents wanted to protect with their lives. However, he felt that this created a barrier between them.
Moreover, he believed that if his parents were still alive, they would definitely support him.
Madam Li wanted to say that there was no need, but Song Jingchen glanced at Lin Shao and nodded.
After discussing it, everyone started to work together.
Madam Li called Widow Wang over and asked her to help find some hardworking and quiet women in the village who were willing to work with them.
The women did not refuse. They could only do some light work in the fields or do housework at home.
In the past, they didn’t even dare to think about earning ten copper coins a day.
After finding the workers, they had to find someone to build a small workshop. This time, they directly asked for the help of the villagers in Xiagou Village.
For the first time, Song Tiegen did not charge them to use the land. It was rare that the villagers did not have any objections.
This surprised Shen Yijia, who had already prepared the money.
“Miss Song, we’re overjoyed that you’re willing to help us again. How can we accept your money again?”
“It was our fault in the past. We’ll apologize to you this time. Don’t take it to heart.” After saying that, Song Tiegen looked a little flustered.
Without waiting for Shen Yijia to speak, he brought his boys to measure the land.
Many people were invited, and it took them five days to build it. Two large tiled buildings were built in the empty space behind the Song family’s house.
“Grandaunt, can we help out?” The Saber Tyrant looked for Shen Yijia and offered to help.
Although this group of men used to be good citizens, they had been bandits for a long time and were suddenly not used to living in a community with others.
Shen Yijia gritted her teeth and pointed at the Saber Tyrant. “You’re called the Saber Tyrant, right? Can you stop calling me Grandaunt?”
The Saber Tyrant glanced at Shen Yijia, scratched his head, and corrected her. “Well, I’ve changed my name to Shen Dali.”
He cleared his throat and continued. “They said that it was easier to get married with a proper name. I don’t know my surname either, so I might as well take your surname.”
This was an eight-foot-tall man with a scar on his face, and yet he looked shy and embarrassed. Shen Yijia felt awkward no matter how she looked at him.
When she heard him say that he had her surname, her eyelids twitched. This nephew of hers was doomed.
She gritted her teeth. “I said don’t call me Grandaunt.”
“Alright, Grandaunt.”
“I suspect that this man is a fool.” she thought.
She was curious again about how this person became the boss. He had even taken in more subordinates than she did.
However, it was not unreasonable for him to be schemed against by his subordinates, seeing as he was a fool.
Since she could not correct him, Shen Yijia stopped trying.
After thinking about it, she realized that there was something they could do.
It just so happened that flowers were needed to make spices. The Song family would need to buy flowers in the early stages of production.
However, if they wanted to stabilize the business in the future, it would be safer to have their own flower field.
Hence, Shen Dali led his group of brothers on a pioneering journey. It was all physical work. Shen Yijia even hired two women from the village to cook for them.
When the time came, Lin Shao would teach them how to plant the flowers, and Shen Dali would be in charge of the flower fields.
Now, the wasteland belonged to whoever developed it. They just had to go to the government office and stamp their names on it.
Shen Yijia did not let them suffer too much. Apart from their daily salary, she also gave them 30% of the market price for flowers to buy flowers from them.