The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 166: Just be a stubborn old mule, let’s see how long you can keep it up!

Chapter 166: Chapter 166: Just be a stubborn old mule, let’s see how long you can keep it up!

"People working in the shoe factory can earn forty to fifty yuan a month."

"That’s not all, Ma Laoliu from the next village made seven to eight hundred last year! He brought back a thick stack of bills, which made his wife so happy that her smile was crooked."

Listening to two female workers discuss this with envy, Shen Mingzhu asked indifferently, "If the shoe factory makes so much money, why didn’t you both try to go there?"

The two female workers hesitated, "We wanted to go, but they only hire male workers, not female workers, so we had to come back here."

So her food factory was just their second choice.

Without further ado, Shen Mingzhu announced the good news that the production license had been obtained, sticking to the original plan.

Shen Chaobei and Du Juan were especially excited, and even Daya, who was playing with a toy horse cart on the side, clapped her little hands knowingly.

However, the two workers didn’t react much; either they had become listless from a month of idling at the factory or they were depressed for not having gotten into the shoe factory.

With such attitudes and states of mind, it would be impossible to do the work well.

"Once the food factory officially starts operation, as long as you work diligently and obediently, I can guarantee that your monthly income will not be less than forty, even more," she said.

After this motivational speech, the enthusiasm of the two female workers was noticeably lifted, and their faces showed anticipation.

"In addition, in the future you’ll have the chance for an annual evaluation, with the base pay increasing by 5% to 20% based on the results," she added.

"For example, if your base salary is thirty yuan this year, and you achieve an excellent rating in next year’s evaluation, your base pay will increase by six yuan. If you continue to be rated excellent the following year, you will get an additional seven yuan and twenty cents on top of the thirty-six yuan base pay, raising your base salary to forty-three yuan and twenty cents, and so on."

The two female workers were so inspired by Shen Mingzhu’s salary increase system that their blood boiled with excitement.

"Does that mean if we work here for over a decade, just the base salary alone would be over one hundred?" one of them asked.

Shen Mingzhu nodded, "That’s right—but only if you don’t quit in between. If you quit and come back, your salary will start over from what is for a newcomer."

With that, the two female workers no longer envied the men working in the shoe factory and couldn’t wait for the food factory to start operating so they could earn more money.

After successfully appeasing the female workers, Shen Mingzhu called Shen Chaobei and Du Juan into the office for a small meeting.

The meeting mainly discussed the preparations needed before official production commenced, as well as recruitment.

This time, Shen Mingzhu planned to personally head back to town for recruitment, intending to bring the new hires straight to the factory the same day to save time.

In the evening, after dinner at the food factory, Shen Mingzhu and Pei Ziheng strolled home.

The food factory was three streets away from their residential compound, almost a twenty-minute walk.

But mother and son were taking their time, and by the time they reached the compound, the sky was almost completely dark.

Many people sitting at the entrance of the compound by the flowerbed to enjoy the cooler evening air turned their various gazes upon the mother and son as they arrived.

Shen Baolan had just found the time to come downstairs for a stroll and seeing Shen Mingzhu hurried over eagerly as a dog would to a big bone, "Yo, Mingzhu, you’re only coming back now. Is your factory that busy?"

Shen Baolan’s gibe elicited a chorus of snickers from the residents of the compound.

Everyone knew that the food factory hadn’t officially started operations yet, so what could possibly keep her busy?

Shen Mingzhu treated Shen Baolan as if she was a yapping dog, not worth bothering with, and continued straight home with Pei Ziheng.

Shen Baolan was not one to easily miss the opportunity to ridicule and jeer at Shen Mingzhu, and persistently followed behind, "I told you that business isn’t easy, but you wouldn’t listen. Now look, you’ve thrown your money away for nothing, and even the workers at the factory have run off. I think you’d be better off closing down sooner rather than later. There’s still time to rein in at the brink of the precipice."

Shen Mingzhu coldly retorted, "I’m losing my own money, and I can afford to lose it. Do I need you worrying about something that’s none of your business?"

"You can keep playing the tough duck all you want, but I’ll see how long you can keep it up!"

After smirking at the retreating figures of the mother and son, Shen Baolan turned and ran to the flowerbeds to spread the news about how the workers at the food factory had run off.

No sooner had Shen Mingzhu stepped through her front door than the entire residential compound knew the workers from the food factory had fled.

By the next day, rumors that the food factory was about to go bankrupt were swirling fiercely throughout the residential compound.

Shen Mingzhu was unaware of this and, of course, even if she had known, she wouldn’t have bothered with it.

After dropping off Pei Ziheng at school, she went with Shen Chaobei to the bus station, ready to head back to the town.

Despite it being autumn, the weather remained oppressively hot and sitting in a crowded minibus filled with the stench of sweat, foot odour, and body odour was simply not a pleasant experience.

Shen Mingzhu kept applying cooling oil to fend off the odours, while reminiscing about the various convenient modes of transportation available forty years later.

Once she made enough money, she was determined to buy a car.

Once in town, Shen Mingzhu found a spot with a lot of foot traffic and hung up her handwritten recruitment poster.

In the countryside at that time, it was not difficult to fill one’s stomach, but earning a little extra cash was quite a challenge.

No sooner had Shen Mingzhu hung up her recruitment notice than a large crowd immediately gathered around.

Shen Mingzhu reached back for a megaphone and announced the hiring conditions.

Female, under 40, literate and numerate, married with children.

The "escape" of the two male workers had taught Shen Mingzhu a lesson; though men were physically stronger and could work harder, they also harbored greater ambitions and could easily be tempted by better opportunities elsewhere.

Women, by contrast, tended to seek stability, especially mothers, who were reluctant to move far from home due to their attachment to their children.

Her decision to hire only female workers, as expected, sparked skepticism and even foul language from the men.

Shen Mingzhu had a reasonable explanation for this; the food factory needed workers with good cooking skills.

With that, the dissenters had nothing more to say.

In Fengcheng, the men generally upheld strong patriarchal values, particularly in rural areas where the notion of men working outside and women staying at home was deeply ingrained, and the vast majority of men wouldn’t step half a foot into a kitchen.

Half an hour later, Shen Mingzhu had successfully interviewed and accepted three female workers.

However, these three women still had to discuss the job with their families and pack their belongings, so Shen Mingzhu arranged to meet them at two o’clock in the afternoon at the guesthouse entrance; if they were late, it would be considered a forfeit of the opportunity.

Shen Chaobei packed up the recruitment poster and megaphone, gazing eagerly at Shen Mingzhu, "Little sister, are you really not going to visit mom and dad?"

"Mhm, I’m not going back."

Without a word of additional explanation, Shen Chaobei didn’t dare to ask more, much less pressure her, and had no choice but to turn around and walk towards the town entrance.

Meanwhile, Shen Mingzhu headed toward the guesthouse at the other end of the town, planning to rent a room and rest for a while.

Upon entering the guesthouse, she saw a familiar face.

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