Chapter 153 The Silk Farm (1)

When the Wang Family heard the good news, they couldn’t hold their excitement.

“Real… Really?” They would receive three silver ingots after taking care of the new five acres of land for one year and they would even receive one-tenth of the harvest? Where else could they find such a good deal?

“As I’m here talking to you, of course, it’s real.” Su Shuilian smiled with a nod. In Fan Hua Town, the Wang family were well-known for their agricultural techniques. Moreover, their family had six members, including the old couple, their oldest son and his wife, their second son and their only daughter. All members of their family were good at farming. Besides their own three acres of fertile paddy field, it wouldn’t be a problem to take care of the five acres of land of the private mansion.

“Thank you! Thank you Madam!” Missus Wang was so happy she had to wipe the tears at the corners of her eyes. During the last three years, with the help from the Private Mansion, her neighbors could do great business, or received many commissions if they were the craftsmen, and the farmers who fed cattle also found the nice buyers. However, only their family, who had been living on farming for generations, couldn’t have good deals to sell their fresh products. Anyway they couldn’t just give up their fields to do something else.

For three silver ingots a year, it was more than enough to feed the family of six. They could even sell the grains and vegetables to earn more. If they took good care of the fields, the Private Mansion may extend their contract, and their savings would increase steadily; then they didn’t need to worry about their second son’s wedding anymore.

“It’s me who has to thank you. There aren’t many people working for the private mansion. I can ease my mind if you help with the land.” Su Shuilian smiled and said. Then, she took out two silver ingots. “It’s not that I’m worried about you. It’s the rule of the private mansion. These two ingots are the deposit. I’ll pay you the other one ingot and one-tenth of the crop after the harvest, okay?” She asked Xin Zhi to invite the Town Elder as witness for signing their contract.

“Yes yes yes.” Father Wang and Mother Wang nodded. Mother Wang urged her husband to press his finger on the contract with the Town Elder while she was receiving two silver ingots from Su Shuilian. She had thought that they had to wait until the autumn harvest to receive the payment. She didn’t expect to receive the silvers before the harvest season.

“And, for the necessary tools to take care of the land and fertilizer… you can meet Manager Xiao to receive it.” All the farming tools of the private mansion were placed in the newly built storage. People who wanted to use these tools could ask Xiao Heng to register and borrow the tools. They didn’t need to pay to use them.

“Yes yes yes.” The Wang couple nodd their heads vigorously. They couldn’t believe that they didn’t even need to buy the consumable goods like fertilizer. It meant the three silver ingots they received were purely their labor cost. The Wang Family were so touched as they understood that the Private Mansion wanted to support their family.

“Uncle Wang, Aunt Wang, if you can’t handle it… you come to see me. I will arrange for more people to help you. Don’t push yourself too hard.” Before she left, Su Shuilian couldn’t help but turn around and advised as she was afraid that the elder Wangs would have to bear big pressure due to the five acres of land, even perhaps more harm than good.

“Okay. Don’t worry, we can handle it. Madam, please don’t worry.” Aunt Wang patted her chest and affirmed. Normally, their family’s three acres of good land was taken care of by their oldest son and his wife. It was no problem for them. This did not include harvest time. However, the Private Mansion said that there would be more people coming to help them during the harvest time, so they didn’t need to harvest the entire five acres by themselves. How could they be exhausted with such support? In normal days, their men had so much free time, they often went fishing in Xiu Feng.

“Then um… Madam, if the private mansion needs more maids, could you let our Xiao Mei take a try? She’s thirteen years old this year. I’m sure she can do the work in the private mansion.” She heard from Aunt Lao that her husband could earn several silver ingots a year as a gardener in the private mansion. If her daughter worked as a maid there, she could earn about the same amount, right?

“Eh?” Su Shuilian halted her steps. She turned around and looked at Aunt Wang, whose face was full of anticipation, and then Xiao Mei, who was twisting the hem of her shirt, standing aside.

She had never proactively recruited the people living in He Yuan to be the maids or servants. First, she was afraid of rumors spreading that the Private Mansion was overbearing and forced the town’s precious daughters and sons to become the servants. Second, if the maids and servants lived near their homes, they may be distracted, won’t work as diligently, or they would violate the rules of the private mansion. At that time, it was hard for her to scold or punish them.

Thus, she only hired the long-term contracted workers from Qing Tian Town to work at the pickle shop.

She hired the orphans or the people from single parent families to work at the other places through Yang Xin House.

“Do you, yourself, want to work for us?” Su Shuilian asked Xiao Mei, who had her head lowered.

“Yes,” Xiao Mei slightly nodded. She had observed the maids working in the main house for quite a long time. They wore better clothes than most of the villagers, and when they went out, they didn’t look like a maid at all. The Town Elder said that if they worked well, they could have a chance to go to school to study or they could work at the shops in the city. She really wanted to try. Even if she couldn’t become a manager of the wood workshop like Da Bao, she could become an employee with a steady job in the shop, which would help her earn a decent and steady wage every month.