Free Web NovelChapter 119: Chapter 119
Chapter 119
Even though Mu Heng was profiting from this by hiring Mu Tian at a low wage compared to their rates and the amount of work left, this was still the easiest job compared to usual employment. If he announced this hiring, hundreds of people would likely line up for it.
He had only one condition: work as much as you want and get paid accordingly, with no tiny details involved. Some housewives would work till their backs ached, sewing for days just to sell a dozen pieces to earn money, and sometimes their employers would return the work, saying they did not follow the instructions, reducing their pay.
But with Mu Heng’s job, all she had to do was weed his vegetable plots, and she could cash in daily. If she was too lazy to work in the sun and preferred working at night and sleeping during the day, no one would complain. This job offered quite a bit of freedom.
Even someone as greedy and selfish as Mu Tian liked this job. Such jobs were rare; most landowners preferred to do the work themselves rather than spend money hiring others. But Mu Heng was different. He believed that helping Yueqian with her books copying work earned more money, allowing him to have two income streams.
First, he earned money from books copying work. Although he spent little on hiring Mu Tian to weed the plots, he still earned money when he sold the vegetables.
When thinking about it, both Mu Heng and Mu Tian would benefit from this. Additionally, Mu Heng’s employment of Mu Tian earned him praise, as it meant that the villagers would no longer been troubled by Mu Tian.
He even gained a reputation as a filial nephew, despite Mu Tian always causing trouble for him. Mu Heng still provided her with money, as long as she “helped” with small tasks in the vegetable plots.
"Alright, I accept. Can I start right away?" Mu Tian didn’t need much time to think. She had never encountered someone hiring people for such work. She assumed Mu Heng was so annoyed with her that he made this job offer. Fearing he might change his mind, Mu Tian quickly agreed.
"Yes, you can start now." Mu Heng did not speak much. He waved his hand, about to head back into the house. But Mu Tian stopped him.
"Wait, what happens when this job is finished? If I weed all the plots quickly, will you stop hiring me?" Mu Tian considered Mu Heng’s farming plots. There was a limited number, and once she finished, what could she do next?
Having a job, Mu Tian’s greed seemed to grow. She didn’t want to stop earning money, so she asked that question.
"I’ll stop hiring you for weeding, but if your work is good and you don’t cause trouble, I might consider hiring you for other tasks like pest control or even tilling the soil." Mu Heng pretended to say. However, Mu Tian felt hopeful.
"Good, then I’ll finish weeding quickly and ask you about the next job," Mu Tian smiled with satisfaction. Thinking about the money she would earn; she might even be able to earn up to 2 taels by the end of this year. A greater success than anything the Mu family’s main household had achieved.
Mu Heng said nothing further, letting Mu Tian leave with a smile. He wasn’t sure how persistent she would be, so he didn’t promise that he would hire her now. He would wait until Mu Tian did her job, then considered how diligent she was.
"Do you think she can do this job?" Yueqian, who had initially intended to rest, became interested after hearing their conversation.
"At first, I didn’t think she would take on the job at all. I never imagined your belief that she was so money-driven would be correct," Mu Heng nodded to his wife. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Indeed, the idea that Mu Tian was greedy came from Yueqian herself. She had mentioned Mu Tian’s nature earlier, suggesting it could be useful. However, this notion was dismissed because Mu Tian was more foolish than expected. When she accepted two silver taels to administer the poison, she didn’t suspect anything and took the job easily.
Yueqian decided not to use that woman anymore. This time, when Mu Heng saw Mu Tian, he decided to employ her again, but with a task that required no thinking or trust. He intended to use her physical labor for the job and then be done with it, keeping her away from any of his secrets.
Mu Heng’s thought made Yueqian interested in the outcome. If Mu Tian could work hard, she could still be used. It was something to observe over the long term.
"Then let’s wait and see her work. For now, you should rest. There’s something I need your help with this evening," Yueqian gently touched her husband’s shoulder, urging him to take a rest with her.
She and her husband still had much work to do. She had spent the morning copying texts and the afternoon studying fermentation techniques. She believed this would be beneficial when they moved to the Bai Kingdom.
Their hard work continued, including Mu Tian’s. They never thought she could work well. Every day, she would come to collect her wage of four or five brass coins, and as she was currently working faster, she began earning more than six brass coin daily.
Mu Heng also hired her to fertilize and spray pesticides, among other tasks. By now, Mu Tian had become a full-time laborer for Mu Heng’s household. Moreover, it wasn’t just Mu Heng’s household; members from all five families began hiring her to tend to their vegetable plots as well.
This was Yueqian’s suggestion. She had given them the right to lease large tracts of land, but when it came to sending someone to manage the store or guard the shed, they still had a lot of work to do. Therefore, this general hiring made them interested in hiring Mu Tian, who would take on any job just like Mu Heng had done.
This led to the emergence of a general labor profession in the village, as well as in neighboring villages. Initially, people were reluctant to spend small amounts of money on hiring help, not considering the consequences if they couldn’t finish their work on time.
Now, after comparing, it turned out that hiring labor for tasks like weeding resulted in unexpectedly good yields. Spending money to hire weeders was no longer a big deal. Subsequently, more people began to follow suit.
As more people adopted this practice, the number of hired laborers increased, and they began to separate into groups, according to their expertise. For example, someone skilled at weeding would only take weeding jobs as demand increased because they did it well and saved time, which led to higher wages. Those who weren’t good at weeding took jobs like tilling the soil or harvesting.
Various jobs were outsourced, and recently, they no longer needed to ask for neighbors’ help in harvesting their crops. They worked on their parts, then relied on small hiring, which gave them more time to do other things while getting their work done without any conflicts arising from someone slacking off.
Initially, helping each other’s house had many disadvantages. For instance, some people wouldn’t work diligently when working in someone else’s field, some would slack off, some would arrive late, or some might not even be skilled. This often led to conflicts.
However, with hired labor, if they weren’t diligent, news of their laziness would prevent others from hiring them again. Additionally, they could take jobs they were skilled at and avoid tasks they weren’t good at, preserving their reputation.
Who would have thought that Mu Heng hiring Mu Tian would lead to such a cultural shift? Certainly, this change impacted traditional relationships, such as the belief in large households working together to earn a living.
As time passed, the situation in the village changed as well. It seemed this small village was starting to gain some fame. In just over a month, they had made significant progress in many areas.
The family that underwent the most change was the one Yueqian entrusted to manage their shop. Now, all five families had built houses around Yueqian’s home. These were large houses, resembling those of minor nobles. However, building these houses had completely obscured the path to Yueqian’s home.
No matter what angle one looked from outside, it was impossible to see what Yueqian’s household was looking because the houses of the five families blocked all views. Yueqian did not lag behind either. She built another layer of fencing around her home, making it resemble the village of nobles in the capital.
This made many people very envious of them. Naturally, no one dared to cause trouble due to their influential positions. Everyone was well aware of the reputation of these five families. Everyone saw them become wealthy through trade, but who would know that in fact, those money they earned did not come from the trading, but the wages paid by Yueqian?
Currently, their work was going smoothly, and Yueqian and her husband were living well too. However, the situation they had been waiting for had finally arrived.
A month and nineteen days after the people from the capital left, the Qin family sent someone with a letter to this remote town. The letter stated that Yueqian’s mother, Li Ailing, had suddenly fallen ill and wanted Yueqian who was her daughter to return to the capital as soon as possible.
Upon receiving the letter, the Qin family’s people went to rest at the tavern in town, allowing Yueqian to prepare with her husband at home.
"Is it time already?" Mu Heng asked after seeing the letter she received. Time had passed so quickly, although they had prepared for this, they hadn’t expected it to come so soon.
"We have only one month and twenty days left. It should take about twenty days to reach the capital, considering we have the children with us. After we arrive, we shouldn’t need to stay long," Yueqian also sighed deeply.
Thinking about having to enter the capital again, she felt unhappy. If her husband didn’t have matters to attend to near the capital, Yueqian wouldn’t have considered wasting her time traveling there.
Being a villainess already, why couldn’t she refuse her ailing mother’s request? However, this time was different. Mu Heng had to play the role of the hero, rescuing a princess from another kingdom who was coming to form an alliance. Thus, they couldn’t refuse the journey to the capital.
"Thankfully, my mother helped. Otherwise, the Qin family would have sent someone to fetch me a month ago," Yueqian laughed bitterly. It was fortunate that she had informed her mother to delay as much as possible. In fact, she had even asked for a full two months, but it seemed her mother had run out of options. If not, that despicable father from the Qin family might have become suspicious and acted himself.
"Mmm, then let’s prepare for the journey. As for the belongings we’ve prepared, have someone gradually send them out bit by bit. I don’t think it will raise suspicion if we move things slowly," Mu Heng told his wife. He had made some contact with the Wang’s people. After the Wang had returned safely to his kingdom, they had kept in touch.Mu Heng had asked them to send people over the mountains to take some items out. Most of these items were to aid the people of their city, so there was no refusal. As they prepared to go to the capital, the possessions in this house should be left for the five families to continue handling.
