Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 932 - 930_1

Chapter 932: Chapter 930_1

After Xiao’er finished speaking with Zhu Yan, she turned her attention to the people who had come for the recruitment.

Some were eliminated as soon as they sat down. These people mostly had too many stains on their clothes, oil marks; or their fingernails were filled with black dirt, or even people whose hair was full of oil and dandruff.

If she couldn’t pay attention to her own hygiene, Xiao’er didn’t dare to hope she would pay attention to other hygiene aspects.

After all, if the person serving you food is unsanitary, you wouldn’t feel comfortable eating it.

The first round of selection was quick, only leaving a batch of individuals with clean clothes and hands for the second round of medical examination.

The doctor was a well-known elder from Tongde Hall, famous but seldom visited due to high consultation fees.

Now, the opportunity to have a free check-up by him was a great draw for many aspiring individuals.

Thus, the lines in front of Yang Liu and Yang Mei were extremely long.

Xiao’er and Zhu Yan watched the recruitment process from the side of a big tree.

Yang Liu and Yang Mei had helped Xiao’er with recruitment before, so their actions were efficient, showing a strong sense of female leadership.

"Yang Liu and Yang Mei have done this kind of work a lot!" Zhu Yan commented upon witnessing this.

"It’s not their first time. They are my reliable assistants; they can do anything!"

Zhu Yan was mainly recruiting young female workers. While there was a large number of applicants, few could meet her standards.

Beyond hygiene, she also required their hands to be soft, without calluses.

The requirement for soft, uncalloused hands was quite high.

Rich girls didn’t need to work, but poor girls often began doing housework at a young age, especially in this era where boys were valued over girls.

By the age of five or six, they already started helping their parents with various chores.

By the time they were seven or eight, they could cook, carry half a bucket of water for watering vegetables, feed chickens and pigs - many were already quite proficient at these tasks.

The delicate skin of children could easily become rough and hard from these chores, gradually forming calluses.

Silk is not like cotton cloth; it can easily pull threads. Therefore, Zhu Yan focused on the workers’ hands when recruiting.

She also bought a number of younger girls from a broker to train them up.

"Xiao’er, you’re almost at your target."

Xiao’er had initially planned to recruit a hundred people, and she now had over eighty.

There were still thirty people waiting in line for their pulse to be checked.

"Yes, the work in my workshop doesn’t require much skill, so it’s easy to recruit. Yours isn’t the same. Just with disqualifications based on hands alone, you’ve lost a large batch. You’re doing quite well so far."

Zhu Yan had only found a dozen or so people who met her requirements so far, but Xiao’er thought it was already pretty good.

As the sun gradually descended, the two of them chatted under the tree with intermittent exchanges.

Mrs. Fang and Wanru had been watching from their hotel room window overlooking the garden for a long time.

"Mother, with the large number of people they’re recruiting, I wonder how big their workshop must be? If I asked to join their business venture, do you think they’d agree?" Wanru, although disdainful of the vulgarity of merchants, saw that everyday life revolved around money. She wanted to start doing some business to earn some silver herself.

Especially with the dowry, it was said that when Princess Rui got married, she had more than enough to cover a parade of ten miles with her dowry. The cortege was like a dragon winding through the streets of the Imperial City.

It was said that she received a lot of additional dowry from common people on their own accord.

Comparing this with her mother’s preparation of sixty-eight dowries for her, it was too plain!

It wasn’t even a fraction of Princess Rui’s dowry. Wedding into the Shengping Marquis Mansion with such a dowry would certainly earn her the disdain of the Madam of the Mansion. How would she live her future days?

With that thought in mind, she was even more eager to do some business and earn some silver.

Mrs. Fang looked at her daughter with surprise: "I didn’t think you were interested in these mundane matters."

Wanping’s face turned red. Her mother really had a knack for pointing out the obvious!

"Although I don’t like it, Princess Rui does, and if I want to get close to her and Magistrate, I have to cater to her interests."

Mrs. Fang nodded: "You’re right. Having a business with Princess Rui now will make it easier to take over the family business when you become Marquis Shengping’s wife. I didn’t force you before because you didn’t like it, but now it’s different. The Shengping Marquis Mansion is a large family with big business. You will suffer if you don’t learn. What if the property falls into the hands of others?"

"That’s exactly what I thought, even if I don’t like it, I have to learn now."

"That’s the right attitude. Let’s go, let’s go and see what kind of business Princess Rui and Zhu Yan are creating with such a big event."

Downstairs, Xiao’er had already filled her quota. Zhu Yan, not in a hurry, decided to call it a day as well.

The matters of packing were left to the maids. Xiao’er and Zhu Yan decided to head straight back to the hotel.

Right as Wanping and her group came down, they saw Xiao’er and Zhu Yan walking into the main entrance of the hotel.

The two girls smiled and bowed to Xiao’er as a sign of respect.

Being polite, Xiao’er nodded in response and then planned to head into the hotel, passing by them.

Seeing this, Mrs. Fang quickly said, "Mrs. Shangguan, I have a favor to ask you. Could we speak privately?"

"I’m not as old as Mrs. Fang, nor as experienced, and I don’t know many things. I’m afraid I won’t be able to help Mrs. Fang. You should ask someone else instead," Xiao’er rejected without hesitation.

Mrs. Fang’s smile stiffened, taken aback by Princess Rui’s blatant snub. After all, she was also a lady of high status!

But standing beside Xiao’er, she could only swallow her anger in silence.

"Mrs. Shangguan, I’m alone here without any friends. I think we should become good friends since we’re about the same age and met by chance. I was wrong before since my maidservant said Miss Zhu bullied her. I apologize if I’ve been cold towards you. Please forgive us. Wanping here will apologize to both of you," Wanping timely said.

Having said this much, surely Princess Rui wouldn’t be petty enough to bear grudges over small matters? Otherwise, she wouldn’t appear very magnanimous, which wasn’t fitting for a mother of the nation!

"Don’t worry, I don’t hold grudges over minor issues. Do you have anything else to say? I have tasks to attend to," said Xiao’er indifferently. Indeed, she did not hold any grudge over the past incident, mainly because she didn’t really care about them.

They just needed to stop trying to force their presence on her and her eldest brother!

"I knew Mrs. Shangguan was an open-minded person! I was worried that you wouldn’t want to be good sisters with me! Now I see I was worried for no reason! Thank you, Mrs. Shangguan, for agreeing to be my friend!"

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