Divorced by her husband's family and rejected by her own! She defiantly turned her life around

Looking at the two little girls' happy faces, Liu Siyue felt as if she were seeing herself when she was a child, pampered by her parents. She didn't know when the atmosphere at home changed. Perhaps it started when her father began to frequently socialize and travel for work. That's when she started keeping a mistress.

These past few days, Liu Siyue has been arranging things at the workshop. It's April, and mosquitoes have already appeared. He tried out the mosquito coils and found they were quite effective at repelling mosquitoes. The mosquito coils burned for less than 5 minutes before the mosquitoes stopped buzzing.

Liu Mancang handed the list of people he had found to Liu Siyue. The village chief also handed her a list a while later. Liu Siyue glanced at it and realized she wasn't very familiar with these people, but she trusted them. "Uncle Village Chief, Brother Mancang, I trust your choices. I'm going to open a workshop, so the people must be reliable, honest, and tight-lipped. To prevent the recipe from getting out, everyone who comes to work will have to sign a confidentiality agreement with me. This is the agreement I wrote; please take a look."

The village chief and Mancang huddled together to examine it closely... If the recipe were leaked, they would be compensated with 500 taels of silver; if they had no money, they would be handed over to the authorities directly.

After reading it, the village chief and Mancang frowned. "April, isn't this compensation too much? I'm afraid no one will sign it."

"Village Chief, as long as they work honestly, this contract is just a piece of waste paper. If they leak my formula, who can I ask for compensation?"

Besides, if I were to sell this recipe, it would fetch far more than 500 taels.

Those who refuse to sign are showing impure motives. If they have no other intentions, why would they care about this piece of paper? I will not allow anyone who refuses to sign the contract to work.

I prioritized the villagers because I wanted to take care of them. I could buy people from the brokerage firm, which would solve everything once and for all, and they would be loyal. I could also recruit people from other villages; some poets wanted to come.

"Uncle Village Chief, Brother Mancang, I'm leaving the signing of the contract to you. Uncle Village Chief, please make several copies, and I'll act as a witness, signing my name and having the workers sign their names and put their fingerprints on them as well."

"Okay, I misunderstood earlier. I'll give them a talking-to."

"The wages are settled monthly, 600 coins per month, 2 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon, with four days off per month, and wages are paid for all four days. Of course, wages will be deducted if you take leave. Please make sure Uncle Village Chief and Brother Mancang explain this to them."

"This workshop has just opened, and business is good. We'll need more people in the future, and everyone's wages and benefits will be adjusted accordingly."

"Don't worry, Shu will definitely handle things perfectly."

"Thank you for your hard work. The contract is signed, and you can start work tomorrow."

The village chief and Mancang hurried off to work on the contract. A little while later, Bai Qiming, Bayue, and Zaohua arrived. "Second Sister."

"You've arrived, please have a seat."

"I'm going to open a workshop here, and the products I make are quite valuable. Qiming, Bayue, and Sister Zaohua, the three of you will work in the soap workshop. I will have someone train you to learn how to manage the workshop. Whoever is suitable will be the person in charge."

"Okay, we'll definitely study hard in April."

"I have temporarily hired 10 people to work in the soap workshop. With you, there will be 13 people. You are working here under contracts signed by Yu Ao. This is not due to distrust, but to the workshop's rules. Since there are rules, they cannot be broken."

"Second sister, let's sign."

"Yes, in April, we signed the contract. We'll do whatever you tell us to do."

"I'll have the technical instructor teach you what to do. Qiming, go to town first thing tomorrow morning and buy all the pork fat there."

"Let me go with Qiming in April. He doesn't know anything about shopping. We'll buy so much, but he won't know how to bargain with anyone."

"Okay, we'll buy it every day from now on. If business is good, we might even need to buy pork fat from other places. Your wages will be set at 600 coins for now, and we'll adjust them after a month."

In the afternoon, the village chief and Mancang came with 20 contracts. "In April, I told everyone what you meant, and they all trusted you and signed them directly. They promised that they would never mention the workshop to anyone, including their families."

Thank you!

As long as the world is at peace, my workshop will open, and before long, the villagers' lives will improve.

The next day, the workshop officially started operations. Liu Siyue had a string of firecrackers set off, explained the workshop's rules to everyone, and then had the servants in her household begin teaching them how to make mosquito coils.

She invited Chunhua, Xiahe, and Qiuyue to the workers. The workers stood in two rows, with the men in the back and the women in the front. Liu Siyue pointed to the three of them and said, "These three are the technical instructors in the workshop, namely Chunhua, Xiahe, and Qiuyue. They will teach you how to do things, and you must strictly follow their requirements."

Liu Mancang is the manager of the mosquito coil workshop. If you need anything, just go to him.

The soap workshop will be temporarily managed by Akizuki, who will also provide technical guidance, while I will assist him.

That's all for now. Everyone, get to work. I'll post the workshop rules and regulations later; please make sure to follow them.

The mosquito coil team started preparing the raw materials, working hard and busily. The soap-making team hadn't even started yet. Qiuyue began explaining the steps and precautions for soap making to everyone, and Liu Siyue supplemented what she hadn't mentioned.

Next, Qiuyue began assigning tasks and making preparations in advance, waiting only for the lard to arrive.

About 2 minutes later, Bai Qiming and Zaohua returned. "Second sister, we've bought the pork fat."

"Okay, let's move the things inside and get to work with them."

After four busy days, Liu Siyue made soap, and also soaps of various colors, flavors, and shapes, with flowers pressed on them.

With things going smoothly, Liu Siyue prepared to go to the county town. She was getting a little bored staying in the village for too long, so she wanted to go out to enjoy the flowers and the spring scenery to relax.

After handing over the work at the workshop, Liu Siyue went to Liu Dawang's house. "Mother, isn't Second Uncle home?"

"Yes, he went to the estate early this morning. My uncle told him to rest for two days, but he refused, saying he felt uncomfortable having nothing to do. That's just his life of toil; he doesn't know how to enjoy his good fortune."

"Hehehe, Second Uncle is just too diligent. We'll head to the county town tomorrow."

"Your second uncle really suffered a lot in the past few years. He never dared to rest because of my illness. This time when we go to the county town, we must let him stay for a few more days and get some rest. Overworking will make people age faster."

"Look at those two in the old house. They've never done any work in their lives, and they look much younger than other people their age in the village. It's only since you came back and things have gotten better at home that your second uncle's health and complexion have improved. If it were before, if you put him next to his father, people would think he was his father's older brother."

"Mother, if you want to keep Second Uncle, go ahead and do so. Don't worry about the family; I have people looking after them, and nothing will happen."

The next day, Liu Siyue took Liu Dawang's family to the county town. They went to Yun's residence first and asked Qingye to tidy up the house on the estate so they could stay there before dark.

When Madam Feng arrived in the county town, she asked about Liu Ruxue's situation. "April, go and ask for your mother if Madam Xu and Ruxue have returned. Your mother hasn't seen her for a long time and misses her terribly."

"Mother, since you can rest assured that with Madam Xu here, Ruxue will be fine. I'll send someone to ask next door."

"What are you going to ask next door in April?" Yun Chenxin asked.

"Have Sister Wang and Ruxue returned yet?"

"Then you don't need to go. He hasn't come back yet, but he sent a message a few days ago saying that he will not come back until after the academy exam, and that we shouldn't worry about him."