During famine years, I had a divination slip in hand, and my whole family ate chicken, duck, fish, a

After getting the land deed, Ye Qingqing didn't rush to leave. Standing on the slope, she glanced around at the men who were squatting on the ridge of the field, smoking and watching the commotion.

"Dear uncles and brothers..."

She cleared her throat and said, "I want to hire some people to tidy up this land, collect stones, and dig up the stream so that we can cultivate the land next spring."

I'm wondering if anyone would be willing to do this favor. I'll pay twenty coins a day, no meals provided, and I'll be paid every ten days. Does anyone here want to do it?

As soon as he finished speaking, the hillside fell silent for a moment.

The crowd that had been watching the spectacle just moments before now looked at each other, wondering if they had misheard.

"Twenty coins?"

"Twenty coins a day? Has this girl gone mad? Even a farmhand in town doesn't earn that much for a day's work!"

"Really? Girl, you're really giving me twenty coins?"

……

Ye Qingqing nodded.

"Really, is there anyone willing to do this? We'll settle accounts every ten days, and there will be no delays."

If there's no one else, I'll hire someone from our Kaoshantun village..."

The men looked at each other, their eyes blatantly disdainful, and said mockingly,

"Yes, of course... If it's really about giving money, why wouldn't we? Only a fool wouldn't take advantage of such a good deal!"

A man with a thick beard chuckled and winked at the person next to him, saying...

"Twenty coins? I think she's burning money! If it's just picking up stones or something, who wouldn't do it for twenty coins a day? Only a fool would."

A gaunt old man next to him scoffed and said...

"That's for sure! The year before last, the Chen family hired people to clear land for only eight coins a day, and they all ran away after two days."

"Exactly! They spent a hundred taels to buy this run-down land, and then spent a fortune hiring people to clean it up. They must have had too much money to burn!"

It seems the villagers still don't believe her and are taking her words as a joke!

Ye Qingqing sneered, her gaze sweeping across the crowd before landing on the peasant woman who had led the way, and asked loudly,

"Auntie, do you have anyone at home who can come and help with the chores?"

The peasant woman's surname was Liu, and the villagers called her Liu Ersao.

The men in her family are honest and simple, while her son is a strong and capable laborer.

When Ye Qingqing called her name, Liu Ersao was stunned for a moment, and said in disbelief,

"Sure! Why not if you pay me? My son Dazhu can do it. That kid's just lazing around at home anyway. Twenty coins a day, where else can you find such a good deal!"

I don't have much free time usually, and I can do it too!

In the dead of winter, there's not much work to do. They're just hanging around, tightening their belts to eat. If the mother and daughter can earn forty coins a day, they'll eat cornbread if they want, and porridge if they want!

Ye Qingqing curled the corners of her lips and pointed at her.

"You're the one. Is there anyone else willing to do it? We only need ten people. They need to collect all the stones in the field over the winter."

Before the words were even finished, the villagers erupted in an uproar.

"Oh my god, this is for real!"

"My Erniu can come too!"

Count me in!

"Little girl, I've spent half my life doing farm work; I'm a pro at picking up stones and digging ditches!"

……

The men who had been so disdainful just moments before suddenly swarmed around him, chattering and vying to sign up.

The bearded man squeezed through the crowd, brazenly pushing his way in, and said somewhat embarrassedly,

"Um... Miss Ye, right? My name is You Laosan, one of the strongest laborers in Shili Slope!"

"Hire me, and I can collect ten baskets of stones for you in a day!"

Ye Qingqing found it amusing to watch these people change their expressions faster than flipping through a book, but she remained outwardly calm.

She stretched out a hand and pressed it down, raising an eyebrow as she said...

"Don't rush, don't rush. I don't need that many people for this land, I'll just find ten."

Aunt Liu…

Liu Ersao quickly came over, smiling ingratiatingly, and said...

"Here it is, here it is, girl, tell me!"

"Since you know many people, help me pick out about ten reliable ones. They need to be quick and efficient, and not lazy."

Ye Qingqing said with a faint smile,

"From now on, you'll be in charge of these people. If any of them don't work properly, just tell me when you come to Kaoshantun to collect your wages, and I won't hire them."

Ten days later, I went to Kaoshantun to settle my wages with Ye Youliang's family.

"Me...me?"

A look of surprise flashed across Liu Ersao's face, and her eyes immediately narrowed into slits with laughter.

"Don't worry, girl! The people I've chosen for you are all incredibly capable! I won't hire those lazybones; I've only picked honest and reliable people!"

"OK."

Ye Qingqing nodded and instructed, "You lead the people to do the work. I don't care how you do it, but you must sort out the stones on the slope by the end of the winter."

The stream channel needs to be widened and deepened... Good job, I'll hire you again next time.

Aunt Liu excitedly patted her chest.

"Girl, you can rest assured! Everyone at Shilipo knows how honest and reliable I am!"

The men next to him who hadn't been chosen looked dejected, and one of the younger men couldn't help but mutter something under his breath.

"If I'd known they'd actually give me money, I wouldn't have said that..."

Ye Qingqing ignored him and turned to Ye Youliang,

"Dad, Brother Dazhuang, let's go back first. We can ask Zhao Laosan to come and check on us again in a couple of days."

Ye Youliang still looked reluctant, but his daughter had made up her mind, and he couldn't stop her. He could only shake his head and sigh.

"Let's go, let's go, this money wasted..."

I'm so heartbroken!

The carriage swayed and rattled out of the village entrance, and Ye Qingqing could still hear Liu Ersao shouting behind her.

"Everyone, disperse! We'll meet at the field first thing tomorrow morning. No latecomers, please!"

Ye Youliang sat in the carriage and said in a muffled voice,

"Second girl, twenty coins a day, ten or so people working for ten days, that's more than two taels of silver!"

Including the cost of buying the land, over a hundred taels have gone down! Even if that land is developed, will it... will it be profitable?

Ye Qingqing leaned against the carriage wall, stretched out her hands to warm them on the charcoal stove, and smiled faintly.

"It's okay, Dad. I'm lucky, I'll definitely make it back."

Ye Dazhuang, who was driving the cart ahead, suddenly turned around and said,

"Uncle, you can't go wrong by listening to Qingqing."

Ye Qingqing glanced at his retreating figure without realizing it, and a smile unconsciously crept onto her lips.

"Of course! It has to be my brother Da Zhuang!"

When they arrived home, Mr. and Mrs. Ye looked after Xiao Huanhuan, helping with tidying up and cooking.

Ye Youliang was feeling very frustrated, and now someone was finally talking to him about it, so they started rambling on and on about buying land that day.

When the elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Ye, heard that they had bought a rocky plot of land for one hundred taels of silver, they were heartbroken and gasped for breath.

"My goodness, what can you grow on that land? Stones?"

"Second Sister doesn't seem like a foolish child. Did she bump into something?"

Ye Qingqing smiled mysteriously and shook her head at Ye Dazhuang, "Brother Dazhuang, let's go up the mountain and get some wild vegetables and fish. We'll ask Boss Zhao to deliver them to the shop tomorrow."

Ye Dazhuang nodded silently, packed his things, and followed behind her.

……

The next morning, Ye Qingqing had just gotten up when she heard a commotion outside the courtyard gate.

"Is the Ye family girl here? Tell her to come out!"

"Who is it? What are you shouting about so early in the morning!"

Ye Youliang, wearing his clothes, limped out to open the door, while Ye Qingqing, lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), frowned unconsciously.

The voice sounds familiar...

She got up slowly, dressed and washed up, and went out to look around at a leisurely pace.