Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 269 - 268: Each to Their Own Duties

"This is Uncle Jiu, everyone knows his full name, so I won’t repeat it."

When mentioned by name, Uncle Jiu quickly stood up, smiled at everyone, and then sat down to continue listening to Liu the carpenter. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

As Liu the carpenter introduced, Uncle Jiu supplemented with his responsibilities, and the others followed this pattern as well.

After all, this was the first formal meeting, and such clear job distribution, Liu the carpenter couldn’t describe too explicitly.

However, no one minded, as everyone understood anyway.

Uncle Jiu used to be the team leader of the quarry group at the water mill, mainly managing the quarry area.

Now, the water mill only has one production room left, occasionally taking some small orders, and most of the former workers have been transferred to the stationery factory. Hence, Uncle Jiu has been promoted to the General Manager of the entire water mill, leading two people under him, fully responsible for the subsequent maintenance and manufacturing of the water mill.

Also, with the construction of a new factory, Uncle Jiu temporarily takes on the role of head of new factory construction.

Shunzi is still responsible for sales, handling external affairs. He is tactful and eloquent, thick-skinned enough to adapt, having coordinated the recent lumber deliveries to the factory.

Liu Bai and Liu Fei are currently the team leaders of the transport team, with Liu Bai also serving as the guard team leader, responsible for preventing theft and fire of raw materials.

Liu Zhong is in charge of procurement, responsible for all the woodworking tools needed by the factory, as well as overseeing the purchase of daily fruits, vegetables, oil, and grain for the kitchen.

Anything that needs to be purchased outside the village is handled by Liu Zhong.

Since the only transport tool is the ox cart left by Qin Yao’s family, the three brothers have basically been traveling together in it for the past half month.

"Steward Qin, if we have enough money, I’d like to propose buying another carriage for our factory, for convenience," Liu Zhong tentatively suggested.

Afraid the funds might not be sufficient, he quickly added that if finances were tight, they could borrow from villagers with cattle or horses and pay them a fodder fee.

Qin Yao smiled at him, "We’ll focus on discussing this issue shortly."

Liu Zhong was pleased, trying to contain his excitement as he waited for Liu the carpenter to finish the introductions.

The remaining topics pertain to the production group.

Liu the carpenter is personally in charge of book box production, with several assistants overseeing various production stages.

The lacquer work is the most crucial aspect of the book box, elevating the status of the lacquer team above other production groups, currently led by Yun Niang.

Currently, the production team comprises eighty workers, and with the added management and Mrs. He and Mrs. Qiu from the kitchen, the total amounts to exactly one hundred.

Yun Niang stated that her lacquer workers are trained well enough and ready to be put into production at any time.

Liu the carpenter’s side is also ready, as each person only needs to be responsible for a small part of the process, with experienced workers mentoring newcomers, ensuring that each group has met the basic employment requirements.

With these introductions, Qin Yao gained a deeper understanding of everyone’s roles, allowing the next sections of the meeting to unfold smoothly.

Among those present, only Qin Yao, Liu the carpenter, and Liu Qi could write, making three literate people in total, with Liu the carpenter being barely proficient. Qin Yao realized this situation wasn’t sustainable.

Thus, the first topic of discussion was organizing a literacy class.

Everyone was quite surprised since, in Qin Yao’s absence, illiteracy didn’t hinder communication or work.

However, reading and writing have always been regarded as sacred by the villagers, leading to unanimous approval without opposition.

Nonetheless, the specific plan for the literacy class, the target audience, and the learning standards all still needed preparation.

Qin Yao looked at Shunzi, whose workload was currently lightest, "Shunzi, you’ll be responsible for organizing the literacy class. Draft a plan and inform me once it’s ready."

Shunzi quickly nodded in agreement, "Got it!"

Though he agreed, he frowned, being someone who had never attended school, he felt at a loss regarding literacy matters.

However, Shunzi soon relaxed, recalling he had a good brother, Liu Ji, who could provide advice!

After addressing the literacy class, Qin Yao took out a prepared plan and read it to everyone.

"The construction of the new factory is nearly complete, and with the existing facilities, starting tomorrow, we can begin rotating workers for trial production."

"On the last day of this month, the new factory will be completed, and by the first of next month, we will enter full-scale production!"

"In mid-July, we must deliver the first batch of three thousand Divine Power Book Boxes, with the remaining six thousand to be handed over by the end of September. To ensure timely delivery, we will need to work hard during this period."

"However, despite the tight schedule, we cannot deceive customers with subpar products. We must ensure quality and quantity, delivering the goods on time!"

Qin Yao, who had been smiling earlier, became stern and stated solemnly:

"If the quality of this delivery passes inspection, we might receive subsequent orders for ten thousand, twenty thousand, or even thirty thousand units!"

Upon hearing this, the room was filled with sharp inhales.

They understood that, for endless orders and prosperous days, they were determined to complete this shipment beautifully!

The village head’s concerns were alleviated by Qin Yao’s words, realizing this factory had a promising future with ongoing orders, leading to a contented smile that couldn’t be suppressed.

The Clan Leader started calculating on his fingers, wondering how much silver a ten thousand-book box order would bring.

Before the elder could finish, Liu Qi stood up excitedly, incredulously asking:

"Steward Qin, for ten thousand book boxes, won’t our factory earn a few thousand taels of silver?"

Qin Yao nodded, explaining that anyone who could do basic math would come up with a rough estimate. She informed the group that this was a large order requiring a total investment of two thousand taels of silver.

"The investment alone amounts to two thousand taels?" Liu the carpenter was stunned, learning this number for the first time.

Earlier, he had seen the fifty taels sent by Qin Yao along with a letter describing it as a big order, originally thinking four to five hundred taels would be the maximum, but never imagining it would be in the thousands.

For a moment, everyone felt a mix of laughter and tears, both due to joy.

Qin Yao promptly resumed the meeting, noting they hadn’t finished yet.

"Our operation has expanded, requiring a professional account manager and subsequent warehouse management. Liu Zhong, Liu Fei, your guard team will temporarily cover these duties."

Aware that relying on them to find an accountant was unrealistic, Qin Yao took on the responsibility, "I’ll personally look for one. Until then, I’ll temporarily handle the accounting."

"Next, I’ll discuss the formation of our own transport team."

Finally, reaching his suggested topic, Liu Zhong sat up straight, ready to listen intently.