Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 267 - 266: Cleaner Pockets Than His Face

After a dreamless night, Qin Yao naturally woke up when it was still early.

The sound of sweeping came from the courtyard. Qin Yao got up, opened the door, and looked out. She saw Liu Ji holding a broom, sweeping the dust in the courtyard, while Da Lang and his siblings sat quietly in front of the open window, reading softly in the morning.

Since returning from the Prefecture, they had developed the habit of morning reading. The brothers and sisters kept to this routine, getting up early to read every day, only allowing themselves to sleep in on the two days of the week they could rest.

Da Lang generally didn’t sleep in; he also practiced martial arts and couldn’t afford to skip a day of basic training.

Second Lang couldn’t keep up with this; he often slacked off. Since Qin Yao saw that he wasn’t interested, she didn’t press him to practice martial arts, and his efforts became inconsistent.

Still, Second Lang’s physical condition was better than most children his age.

Qin Yao glanced at Liu Ji and pointed at the cobweb on the window grid, signaling him to clean it up. Afraid of disturbing the children’s morning reading, she didn’t greet them. She returned to her room, combed her hair, changed into light clothing, and headed to the village well with a bucket.

There were two large water tanks at home, which she filled with three trips to the well, treating it as a warm-up.

After filling the water tanks, she headed to the backyard that Liu Ji had cleaned, and joined Da Lang, who was already in position, to complete their daily exercise.

By the time they were done, Liu Ji had finished making breakfast. The family of six sat around a low table in the courtyard, eating and discussing their plans for the day.

As soon as Second Lang sat down, he raised his hand to make a request, "Mother, can we go to the mountain later?"

Si Niang imitated her brother, raising her little hand with effort, "Mother, Mother, can I go to the fields with Sister Jinhua to dig for wild vegetables?"

Though it wasn’t a rest day and the school was on a long break, they still had to report their outings in advance.

This was a rule set by Qin Yao. She wasn’t home often and sometimes was busy in the factory from morning till night. If the children wandered off, she wouldn’t know where to find them in case something happened.

So reporting in advance was a good practice, ensuring she knew roughly where they were playing, making it easier to locate them.

Since the procedure was right, there was no problem with them wanting to go out.

Qin Yao nodded, reminding them not to go too deep into the mountains.

Da Lang and Second Lang exchanged gleeful glances, and Sanlang whispered to his brothers, "Big Brother, you should bring the bow and arrow."

Da Lang quickly nodded, afraid Qin Yao might hear, and immediately focused on eating his food seriously, but in reality, the three brothers’ hearts were already out in the woods, thinking of the joy of bird hunting and fishing.

Liu Ji also wanted to take a stroll. He quickly finished his bowl of porridge and put down the bowl, raising his hand, "Wife, I’m planning to fetch the ox later, then head to town to check the grain prices."

Ever since knowing Qin Yao wanted to sell grain, his mind had been restless, thinking that since she was busy at the factory and had no time to inquire, the task of selling grain fell on him.

After having his entire secret stash confiscated by Qin Yao last time during the dragon boat festival in the Prefecture, his pockets felt cleaner than his face.

He had had enough of these penniless days, determined to stash away something this time!

Thinking of this, Liu Ji couldn’t help but let out a hearty "Hehehe" laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" Qin Yao gave Liu Ji a suspicious look.

Realizing he forgot his expression management, Liu Ji quickly withdrew his facial expression and mumbled, "I just really miss our big green ox, haven’t seen it in a while."

Qin Yao tutted, but she wasn’t buying his lie.

However, since Liu Ji wanted to go out, he could help her with something.

Qin Yao instructed, "I’m planning to start a reliable convoy of carts myself. On your way, gather information on the carters in nearby villages and towns around Jinshi Town for me."

As she spoke, seeing the excitement on Liu Ji’s face vanish, Qin Yao narrowed her eyes dangerously and asked, "Can you handle it?"

If not, don’t bother going out!

"The weeds in the vegetable patch at home are growing taller than the vegetables. And the rice and watermelon fields need your attention, fertilizing if necessary, weeding where needed, guiding water from the channel where it’s insufficient, there’s loads to do. I think you better stay home today and take care of the field work..."

"No, no, no!" Liu Ji hurriedly intercepted, quickly saying he could, "Wife, your factory work is priority now and can’t be delayed. I’ll go help you inquire first. The field work can be done anytime, no hurry. I’ll tidy it up later."

Qin Yao nodded, put down her bowl and chopsticks, went inside to grab the plan she had written, and went out to focus on her work.

The father and sons left home right after Qin Yao, the family gathered briefly at the old house, each calling their friends, then dispersed.

In the past, Liu Family Village was lively with people working on the farms. A glance showed busy farmers in the fields.

Today, the busiest place was the stationery factory at the village entrance.

Before Qin Yao even reached the stationery factory, she saw from afar a group of people, under Uncle Jiu’s command, lifting heavy beams for the soon-to-be-completed new workshop.

The drawings she sent earlier for the workshop had almost been brought to ninety percent completion.

To save time and facilitate the workers’ construction, the new workshops were built around the perimeter of the original one, enclosing it on all sides, encompassing the old workshop in the middle.

Thus, only a passageway between the old and existing workshops was needed, naturally forming a tightly-knit whole.

Thankfully, the original factory site’s large area avoided any relocation trouble.

Of course, with the area expanding, the rent increased a bit too, requiring an annual payment of two taels of silver to the tribe.

Compared to outside, this rent was quite fair.

Outside, such a vast area wouldn’t come for less than twenty or thirty taels a year.

This time, the approach was long-term, unlike the previous hurried establishment of the factory. With Uncle Jiu, a professional, leading the team, the main structure used half walls of blue bricks and half walls of adobe, and all rooftops were tiled.

When Liu the carpenter initially received the design, he exclaimed at its luxury. But after thinking it over, since it was a workspace for carpentry, which feared both water and fire, using bricks and tiles was indeed necessary to prevent accidents.

After Manager Fang transported the timber, under the intense sun casting mirages, Liu the carpenter specifically assigned two people to take turns guarding the timber.

Firstly as a fire precaution, and secondly to prevent theft.

These available materials, each piece, was worth quite some silver coins, especially with the current chaos of wandering refugees outside, extra security was necessary.

However, there was an advantage, as the factory was mainly staffed by village people, greatly reducing the chances of timber theft.

Under the diligent construction by Uncle Jiu and others, the new workshops outside were left with only the final two steps of beam installation and tiling, and estimated to be completed within two days.

To ensure dry and ventilated conditions, every room was made with cross ventilation on two sides, only the storage warehouse had walls on all four sides.

Considering the increased workforce, an additional spacious cafeteria was also built.