Linxia

Chapter 211, Moving

It had rained that day and the weather was cool. Many people gathered on the open space at Xiaowushan in Xixiang Hutong.

Fang Lin, Fang's mother, and Tian Xuan came over, carrying Qiuqiu.

Over here, as soon as I came over, I saw Xin Jiasha Xiaoyun sitting with some aunties and grandmas. There were bursts of exclamations from the crowd, as if they were watching something exciting.

Fang Lin went over and saw Xin Yaer was "performing".

When Xin Yaer was born, she was as small as a little mouse, only as tall as a shoe. Now she is only about one foot tall.

Here, there is a small table that was picked up by someone. There are beams on all four sides of the table. The beams are two feet high from the table top. There are two straight beams in the center that divide the space under the table into four parts. Xin Yaer crawls in and out of these grids, as light as a swallow, winning cheers.

Qiuqiu looked at them with shining eyes and clapped her hands.

Fang Lin looked at the bustling crowd, then at the little Xin Yaer with sweat on her forehead, and frowned.

Tian Xuan had the same idea and stepped forward to pull him back: "Ya'er, stop. You are so small and it must be tiring to play around. You have only been watching for a while. You don't have to make others happy for a long time."

Sha Xiaoyun said nearby: "Only Miss Tian would say such things. Wherever I take Yaer, people want her to crawl under the table or bench to play and watch."

These aunties and grandmas felt a little awkward when listening to this. If it were anyone else, they would have said something back, but because it was Tian Xuan, they couldn't say anything. The awkward atmosphere lasted for a long time before it was cleared up.

Fang Linwan declined the seat offered by others and sat down in an empty seat at the side with Fang's mother and Tian Xuan. She pulled Xin Yaer and touched her head. She still had those few sparse hairs, but she had grown a little bigger than before. Her yellow and delicate skin had a slight luster. Her thin body supported a thin red mask. She wore blue pants and embroidered shoes. It was obvious that Sha Xiaoyun had dressed her up carefully.

He took out some dried fruits from his pocket and gave them to her, and Xin Yaer thanked him politely.

Mother Fang looked at Xin Yaer and sighed, "She was blessed to be born in your family. If it was someone else's...Xiaoyun, it's not easy for you to raise this child to this age! I see you've lost some weight recently, are you okay? Don't work too hard, your health is important!"

"I have to do it. I have Yaer and Hengzi at home." Sha Xiaoyun smiled shyly. She had indeed lost some weight because she worked so hard to make clothes and endured the hardships in order to save some money for her children.

——After Xin Yaer, the Xin family had a son. Master Ou named him Xin Heng, which means long-lasting and also means perseverance.

Fang Lin thought for a moment and said, "I am planning to open a women's weaving workshop in my weaving workshop. Sister Xiaoyun has good skills, so it's a good opportunity for her to come over and help..."

After integrating the factories of Gu, Ma, Shao and Duan, he realized that he had been slightly cheated. In the beginning, when Fang Lin expanded his factory, didn't he absorb a group of the most outstanding workers from the four factories?

This resulted in the removal of these backbone workers from the four factories, and the remaining workers became less efficient and operations became somewhat sluggish - no wonder the four factories wanted to sell their factories, if this continued, the factories would inevitably run into big problems.

In addition, after taking over the four workshops, Fang Lin promoted the system of "First Quality Weaving Workshop". The welfare system when the four families, Gu, Ma, Shao and Duan, were in power was not promising. But now that the system has changed and the welfare benefits have improved, many workers still cannot change. They still have an attitude of just getting by, and many of them fail the assessment and are fired.

Precisely because of the preference to have vacancies rather than hire unqualified workers, the factory is short of staff and cannot fill the gaps by recruiting new ones, resulting in poor operations and a significant shortage of high-quality workers.

——The party leaders came over and asked tentatively whether the conditions could be relaxed to allow those people to do the job first, but Fang Lin did not agree and firmly implemented the elimination mechanism. After all, only by scraping off the rotten flesh can there be new vitality, and only by cleaning the house can you invite guests!
'At present, male workers have almost reached their limit and there is not much potential to be tapped. We can consider female workers.' In order to avoid some problems, Fang Lin plans to set aside a female workshop as a pilot.

"This female factory is good. Last time, your factory was recruiting people and I went there, but they refused because I was a woman... But this time it's good!" Sha Xiaoyun said happily.

The people of the city have all heard about the treatment and benefits of Fang Lin's factory. If she could really get in, the money she would earn might not be less than what she is earning now if she works hard and endures the hardships. It would also be relatively easy and there would be various benefits.

The aunties and grandmas who had pricked up their ears nearby looked at Sha Xiaoyun with envy, and then asked Fang Lin questions all at once.

——For them, even if they don’t go, knowing this information and talking to their relatives about it is also a favor!

At the same time, they also have a sense of superiority in their hearts. Living in the same alley as the Fang family, they can gain the upper hand by hearing a few words from others, which is a considerable advantage.

Fang Lin did not promise anything else to others and only talked about some assessment matters. However, this was enough to satisfy these aunties and grandmas.

As they were talking, Sister Guihua and Geng's wife Su Xiaoqing also came over and listened with their children in their arms.

——After Sister Guihua and Qian Wenyan got married, they gave birth to a baby girl named Qian Zhi; and Su Xiaoqing, after giving birth to Geng Xueer, is now pregnant again.

"If a man is in charge of the management of a female factory, there may be some problems. It is better to choose a woman, such as Sister Guihua or Sister Xiaoqing. You can try to train them."

Su Xiaoqing is a smart person, not to mention Sister Guihua. Fang Lin has great confidence in Sister Guihua's abilities. However, there are many people here, so he has not told them for the time being. He plans to find an opportunity later.

'In addition, it's time to call the villagers, such as Fang Yuyu from the first wife, Cao'er and Fang Xiaoxiao from the second wife, and the fourth wife... and other villagers.'

With the reputation Fang Lin has accumulated in Xiaohe Village, it would only take a word for this to be accomplished.

This is also a win-win situation.

According to the other party, the villagers of Xiaohe Village can be regarded as "fellow villagers". When they came to the capital, they had no one to rely on and were unfamiliar with the place. They could only rely on themselves. Compared with the people recruited in the capital, they were naturally more trustworthy.

With these people, they can integrate and digest the factories and fleets purchased from Gu, Ma, Shao and Duan more quickly, and also strengthen their control.

This is also a good thing for the people of Xiaohe Village.

As far as Fang Lin knew, life in the countryside was becoming increasingly difficult. Although there had been tax reforms like the Single Whip System to simplify the tax system, 10 or 20 years had passed and taxes had become heavy again.

——This is Huang Zongxi's law, 'harm that has accumulated for a long time cannot be reversed', that is to say: every time the tax system is reformed, the tax burden on farmers may decrease in the short term, but in the long run, this burden will rise again to a higher level than before the reform.

These villagers will definitely have a better life in the city than in the countryside. Besides, when the Tartars march south in the future, the world will be in turmoil and chaos, and human life will be as cheap as grass. Following Fang Lin will also be a good choice.

'When I first came to this world, I tried my best to take care of myself and my family. Later, I came to the capital, and as people like Huang Di, Chai Yiwei, Fang Chuanhui, etc. opened bookstores and workshops, these relatives and friends benefited from it. Now, the villagers in the village can also benefit from it... This kind of influence is like a circle of light gradually expanding outward.'

Fang Lin was thinking about all this, and came back to his senses when Qiuqiu in his arms called him "Daddy".

Next to them, Fang's mother, Tian Xuan, Sha Xiaoyun, Guihua's wife and others were chatting about neighbors and family matters.

"Man Gensheng of the Man family is getting married again. No one wanted to marry a good virgin girl, so he ended up marrying a widow with a baby. I heard that he spent a lot of money on this!"

"Yes, that widow Niu is not like Chuntao. She tolerated being beaten and scolded, and worked like a slave for the Man family. She has a bad temper. We lived next door, and we often heard them quarreling... Grandma Man was so angry that she became thin!" "Alas, the Bodhisattva that Grandma Man prayed to was ultimately unable to bless her."

As they were talking, Mr. Man and his wife, Grandma Man, passed by.

The old man, Man, was hunched over, his face was pale and the muscles on both sides of his mouth were drooping limply.

——In the beginning, in order to pay back the money to Man Gensheng, Man Laoguan went to the porcelain workshop, which paid the highest wages but was the most tiring. It was a place where people were eaten alive, and at his age, the hard work seemed to have drained him dry, like a piece of old tree bark.

Grandma Man's hair is dry and yellow, and the fan-shaped wrinkles at the corners of her eyes are deep and numerous. These are the traces left by life. The round and plump look on her face when the Fang family first came is now gone.

Fang's mother and the others talked about the Man family, and then the Lu family - the Lu family is the family on the side of Master Ou's family. When the city government repaired the embankment, Father Lu went there and got stabbed by a stone, which made him lame. Speaking of the Mo family at the entrance of the alley, Grandma Mo's dog 'General' ran away...

Fang Lin listened, picked up his daughter, and walked towards the entrance of the alley.

At the Mo family's thatched hut in the corner, there was only Peony, all alone, with a litter of puppies beside her.

"Granny Mo, why can't I see the general? I came over to hold the puppy a few days ago, and it was still there!"

"The general ran away. It happened in the past two days."

"I think it's smart. If it runs away, it should know to come back..." Fang Lin didn't say anything else, perhaps it was caught by someone.

In this era, some people steal dogs for their dog meat.

Granny Mo probably thought of the same thing and sighed softly.

Fang Lin brought Qiuqiu over and watched as Peony fed her children and then sat there alone and dejectedly. Even when he approached her, she would just wag her tail gently.

Qiuqiu looked up and said, "Daddy, it seems unhappy."

"Yes, it has lost its partner, just like... your Grandpa Ou's house, Grandma Ou has passed away."

"Oh!"

Qiuqiu squatted down and watched silently, looking at the sadness on Peony's face. Looking at it was like a person missing a loved one, very deep and sad.

"Grandma, why are there only three or two puppies left in this litter? The others have been sent away? Aren't they weaned yet?"

"It's not weaned yet, but it's a month old and can be kept alive. I said I'd keep it for a few more days, but my eldest brother wouldn't let me, saying that puppies attract mosquitoes."

Fang Lin listened and said nothing more. He thought about the couple, 'General' and 'Peony', who used to play and chase each other freely on the green grass under the blue sky and white clouds all day long. He then looked at the lonely 'Peony' now and felt a little bored.

On the way back, the neighbors he met were all polite and flattering, which suddenly gave him an idea: "Maybe it's time to move."

As mentioned before, he mentioned changing houses once, but Fang's father and mother didn't want to, so it was put off.

This place is relatively small, and even if there were maids or guards, they would not be able to live here. Later, we had to find some guards from Xu Kuo Lao to keep an eye on it. Now that the business is getting bigger and bigger, and there are more and more family members, it is becoming more and more inconvenient. Whether for safety or other considerations, we need to move to another place.

……

That night, Fang Lin told this matter to Fang's father, Fang's mother, and Tian Xuan.

Wherever Fang Lin is, there is home. Tian Xuan naturally supports this and looks at Fang's father and mother.

This time, Fang's father and mother were reasonable and agreed.

"Linzi's business is getting bigger and bigger, and our house is becoming more and more conspicuous in the alley. It's not convenient to live here anymore."

"Yes, I see Xiaoxuan's belly is getting bigger again. If we buy a maid after the baby is born, we won't even have a place to live."

They said so, but they looked a little reluctant to leave. After all, they had lived here for several years and had quite some feelings for the place.

Fang Lin consoled them, "Dad, Mom, it doesn't mean that I won't come back from now on. This place is not for sale anymore. If you want, you can come and stay for a few days anytime."

After making the decision, he started looking for a house the next day, and prepared maids and servants, and moved in ten days later.

……

Although I said I was moving, I actually didn't take any of my belongings from Xixiang Hutong with me. I had to buy everything from scratch. Before leaving, I just told neighbors like Mr. Ou, and that was all. Since we were living in the same city and it was not like I wouldn't be back forever, there didn't really feel like parting.

The Fang family's new home is in the east of the city - they didn't squeeze into the center of the city. That place has long been developed and there are many dignitaries. With Fang Lin's current status and connections, it is not difficult to find and buy a large and comfortable mansion. The key is to have other ideas.

"If something happens, this place is not far from the pier, so it's convenient to run away. In addition, the land in the center of the city is very expensive and attracts a lot of attention. It's not easy to set up nearby, but it's fine here!"

In addition to purchasing this mansion, Fang Lin also made arrangements nearby. He bought several places and deployed dozens or even hundreds of people. Most of them are guards found by Xu Kuo Lao, and they are armed with cold weapons. In the future, he plans to replace them with his own confidants and equip them with hot weapons. By then, even if there is an accident and the court arrests people, he will be able to resist and leave calmly.

These are the unspeakable thoughts.

Speaking of the Fang family’s new home, it is divided into two courtyards, the inner and outer courtyards. The outer courtyard is needless to say, but the inner courtyard is exquisite.

There is a garden in the courtyard, with crabapples and peonies planted in it. According to the previous owner, when the crabapples bloom, they are like three feet of fragrant snow, which is pleasing to the eyes. And when the peonies bloom every year, there can be more than 300 flowers blooming, filling the garden with fragrance and clusters of flowers, which is beautiful beyond words.

Opposite the garden, there is another stone platform, on which several Taihu stones are inserted, forming a small rockery. Next to the rockery there is a plum tree with vigorous and ancient branches. Under the plum tree, several camellia stems are planted, adding charm to its surroundings.

Qiuqiu, Guaiguai and Huahua were very happy when they came to this new environment, chasing each other and running around happily.

……

(End of this chapter)