Chapter 358

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Protagonist:

Chai Mi

Hiring people to harvest the autumn crop really isn't cost-effective.

In this era, corn prices are actually still very low; the seeds aren't good seeds either, fertilizer quality is just average, so yields aren't great either. One mu of land produces only about a thousand or eight hundred catties of corn.

Calculated out, one mu yields only about 100 to 200 yuan.

After deducting seeds and fertilizer, having 100 yuan left over is already pretty good.

But labor costs are very, very expensive.

Relatively speaking, hiring people for the autumn harvest now — last year a female worker was 15 yuan a day, a male worker 18.

But that was last year's prices; now everything is rising, everything looks like it's rising with the tide; I'm afraid if prices don't double this year, that'll be lucky.

Chai Youqing jerked his head up, the dry tobacco pipe in his hand nearly falling; his eyes bulged round: "How much money would that cost?! What family savings do we have? We just plugged a 3,500 yuan hole, and Xiu'er's schooling cost dozens more!"

Su Wan also said: "Chai Mi, your dad makes sense. Hire people? Over a dozen or twenty yuan a day and you have to feed them too; ten-odd days would cost how much? How much money does one mu of corn even sell for?"

Chai Mi was also helpless: "Over twenty mu of land relies on just Dad and me. Mom's health is weak; Xiu'er can at most husk corn cobs. Dad, you're an old hand; the two of us can cut at most two or three mu a day, husking cobs, loading the cart, stripping husks... dragging it out for a whole month!"

Chai Youqing puffed on his dry tobacco pipe with his head down; the pipe had long since lost its embers, leaving only the empty "puff-puff" sound of drawing air. He knew his daughter was telling the truth.

"A month?" Chai Mi's voice sank. "What about the business? Is everyone supposed to revolve around this bit of land?" She held up two fingers. "Stop for a month? Old customers run off and are hard to pull back! Is that loss not more than the hired labor money?"

"But we can't..." Su Wan hesitated.

"Can't just stare at the field harvest!" Chai Mi cut her off decisively. "Field corn is money, the stall is even more money! Abandoning the business to harvest corn — picking up sesame seeds and losing a watermelon is what you call a loss!" She squatted in front of her father: "Dad, what if the autumn harvest drags into continuous rain, the corn molds and sprouts, you won't even find a place to cry! Hiring people spends cash, but it buys time to secure both ends!"

Chai Youqing took a fierce drag of dry tobacco, choking into a cough. Old-generation people feel labor isn't worth money; hiring people is wasteful. "Then... hire how many? How much a day?" he asked muffled, the pipe hanging by his leg.

"Strong laborers 20 yuan a day including meals, half-laborers 15. Hire two strong ones plus a cook, daily wages 55, plus grain, oil, and vegetable money comes to around 70."

"Seventy?!" Su Wan's face went white. "Ten days, seven hundred! Enough for the whole family to live on for half a year!"

"That's not how you calculate it." Chai Mi said patiently. "Doing it yourself saves wages, but what about the business money delayed? New grain sold a few days earlier is a few fen more per catty; several thousand catties is money too? Ruining your health and needing a doctor costs even more money; isn't that the logic?"

Su Wan couldn't speak, sighed, and went back into the room. Chai Youqing stayed silent for a long time, then let out a heavy breath: "Ai... you decide. You have the ideas; the money... is mostly earned by you anyway."

"Money spent can be earned back; people worn out is the real dead end." Chai Mi stood up. "I'll go find people in a couple days."

Chai Mi didn't want to dwell on this topic either, and turned to Chai Youqing: "Dad, go do something proper. Xiu'er's about to get out of school; you're not going. Yesterday it was like this, and today still like this?"

Chai Youqing rode off on his bicycle to pick up Chai Xiu, looking disgruntled.

After over half an hour, Chai Youqing pushed the bicycle back; Chai Xiu on the back seat had her schoolbag slung diagonally, her little face flushed red, gesturing animatedly.

"Sister! Mom! Today Teacher Cao had me go to the blackboard to do a problem!" Chai Xiu jumped off the bike, not even taking off her schoolbag before rushing into the courtyard. "The whole class, only I got that 'train chasing car' problem right! The teacher said I have a 'math brain'!" She shook her little head proudly.

Chai Mi was squatting by the stove pit, adding firewood to the weak flame; the pot was stewing potatoes and beans. She didn't even raise her head: "Mm, pretty good. Go wash your hands, don't bring the ash inside. Hang your schoolbag properly, don't throw it on the floor again."

"Oh..." Chai Xiu's enthusiasm was doused with a bit of cold water; she pouted, but seeing the bit of pot soot on Chai Mi's cheeks reddened by the stove fire, she obediently went to hang her schoolbag and wash her hands.

Su Wan came out of the inner room holding little sister Chai Xin, who had just turned four months old. The infant was wrapped in a swaddle washed white, waving her little fists and babbling, a pair of big dark eyes curiously sizing up the world. Su Wan's face bore the fatigue of long-term sleep deprivation, but seeing Chai Xiu, she still squeezed out a smile: "Xiu'er's back? Let Mom see, didn't you get cold at school today? Your sister's right, wash your hands first, food's almost ready."

Chai Youqing pushed the bicycle against the wall and set it down, squatted under the eaves puffing on his dry tobacco with his head down, eyelids drooping. Chai Mi glanced at him, knowing he was still sulking over the hired labor matter, and couldn't be bothered to bring it up again. She lifted the pot lid, stirred the vegetables, and asked Su Wan: "Mom, did the third act up today? Is the milk enough?"

"Morning was okay; afternoon she got a bit fussy, like her tummy was uncomfortable," Su Wan gently patted the baby in her arms, sighed. "The milk... it's just that situation; mixing in some rice paste can make do." She worried inside; with her body, taking care of Xin'er was scorching enough; the autumn harvest was truly not something to count on. Chai Youqing, this mute gourd, expecting him to readily agree to hiring people — hard.

Chai Xiu finished washing her hands, sidled up to Su Wan, carefully touched her little sister's tender tofu-like cheek with a finger, lowered her voice with a bit of excitement: "Mom, does the third recognize me? She looked at me! Sister, quick look, she smiled!"

Chai Xin indeed cracked open her toothless little mouth, letting out a "gurgle" of air. This tiny smile instantly dispelled some of the stuffiness in the room.

"Mm, she smiled." The corner of Chai Mi's mouth also curved; she ladled the stewed vegetables into a large basin. "Bring it in. Dad, time to eat."

At the dining table, a large basin of potatoes stewed with beans, a plate of pickled vegetable lumps, a few corn flour pancakes. Chai Xiu held her bowl, slurping down the thin porridge while unable to stop talking about school again: "Mom, someone in our class, her mom bought her a new pencil case, iron! With a magnet! The pencil goes 'snap' when it sticks, so impressive!"

Su Wan was feeding Chai Xin watered-down rice paste; hearing this, her movement paused, her gaze dimming a little; she only vaguely "mm"ed. She sighed inside; other people's kids all have new stationery... Xiu'er is sensible, didn't ask for it, but me as a mom...

Chai Mi picked up a big chopstick of beans and put it in Chai Xiu's bowl, voice flat: "Eat when you eat, so much talk. Can an iron pencil case help you score two more points on the exam? Put your thoughts in the right place. Your pencil case is still plastic, isn't it? Much more high-end than hers."

At the dining table, Chai Xiu was retorted at by her sister, pouted, buried her head shoveling beans from the bowl, but her eyes still glanced at the void, clearly still thinking of that "snap" sounding iron pencil case.

Chai Youqing buried his head and bit a mouthful of pancake, chewing until his cheeks bulged, mumbling indistinctly: "Studying... costs money... pencil case... iron... gold one, ah?"

Chai Mi's chopsticks picking up pickled vegetables paused, didn't pick up her dad's line, turned to Chai Xiu: "Eat looking at the bottom of the bowl! What are your eyeballs wandering for? Homework finished?"

"Finished! Teacher Cao assigned little!" Chai Xiu immediately straightened her back, then couldn't help muttering softly: "Just... just that character, I always write it ugly..."

"After eating I'll take a look." Chai Mi finished the last mouthful of rice, put down the bowl. "Go wash dishes."

"Oh..." Chai Xiu unwillingly got up to collect the bowls and chopsticks.

Su Wan held the lightly patted, nearly asleep Chai Xin, looking at Chai Mi, wanting to speak but stopping: "Chai Mi... that autumn harvest hiring people thing... really no other way? Seventy yuan a day... heart trembles."

Chai Mi ladled hot water from the pot into the basin to prepare to scrub the pot; steam rose up: "Mom, tremble or not, we have to hire. The corn in the field is yellow and won't wait for people; the stall closed one day, old customers drop by a few. Neither end can be delayed." Her tone was decisive, not a shred of room for negotiation.

Chai Youqing "pa" slapped the remaining half pancake on the table: "Hire! Hire! Your idea is right! Money is earned by you, you call the shots! Ruin it then! Let's see how many Gold Mountains you can earn back!" Finished, face dark, he stood up, shuffled out in his slippers, squatted at the courtyard gate to knock out his tobacco pipe, his back radiating anger.

Su Wan looked at her husband's back, then at her eldest daughter scrubbing the pot expressionlessly, her eye rims a bit red; holding the child, she sighed softly and returned to the inner room.

Chai Xiu carefully carried the bowl in, peeking at her sister's face: "Sister... Dad's angry?"

Chai Mi splashed the dishwater out the door, water rushing: "Ignore him. He'll be fine once the anger passes. Bring your homework notebook, let me see."

Chai Xiu hurriedly ran into the room and brought out the Tianzige Notebook Notebook notebook.

Chai Mi took it; those characters, damn it, looked like earthworms crawling, horizontal strokes poking all the way to maternal grandmother's house!

"Erase it all! Start from horizontal, vertical, left-falling, right-falling strokes, write ten times! Write properly before you sleep!"

Chai Xiu wailed: "Ah? Ten times?! Sister..."

"Twenty times?" Chai Mi glared.

Chai Xiu instantly fell silent, face bitter, lay prone at the kang table, resignedly starting to write.

Chai Mi watched her sister pouting, writing stroke by stroke; her eyes softened for an instant, then quickly returned to normal.

As for the hiring people matter, Chai Mi couldn't be bothered to argue with them anymore; mentally exhausted. These few people are just like this; can't do it themselves, yet are damn thieves with too many opinions, just makes one irritated.

So Chai Mi went to sleep early.

Early the next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Chai Mi and Song Qiushui pushed the inverted donkey and had just left the village entrance when they saw Wang Pozi, Li Dajiao, Zhao Kuai Zui and a few others gathered again under the old locust tree by the road, muttering. Catching sight of Chai Mi and her group, their voices suddenly rose several octaves.

Wang Pozi shouted at the top of her lungs, as if speaking to the air: "Oh my, in this day and age daughters are truly precious! Studying requires picking the best school, schoolbags and pencil cases all have to be brand new! Not like in our day, being able to recognize a couple of characters was already not bad!"

Li Dajiao immediately chimed in, eyes slanting toward Chai Mi's cart: "Exactly! Heard that Ganzhu'er Primary School, tuition and miscellaneous fees added up, is a good deal more expensive than our village school! Tsk tsk, with that money, how many catties of salt could you buy, how many chi of cloth could you get? Worthy of a daughter who can earn big money, the purse strings are just loose!"

Zhao Kuai Zui then pursed her lips at Song Qiushui: "Qiu Shui, is your mother's waist any better? Sigh, landed with that mess of a troublesome affair, money down the drain, and the person still suffers... unlike some people, maternal aunt's house could collapse the sky, she'd toss out thirty-five hundred without blinking an eye, but toward her own birth father she's stingy..."

Song Qiushui exploded the moment she heard it, stopped the cart and was about to retort, but Chai Mi pressed down on the handlebar with one hand.

Chai Mi's face showed no expression, she pushed the cart straight ahead, voice neither high nor low, yet clearly drifting over: "Aunts really get up early, quite a lot of things to worry about. My Xiu'er wants to study, I can afford to support her. My dad is willing to be frugal, that's because he dotes on me. As for how money is spent... it's, none, of, your, business."

The last four words, one word one pause, smashed down so that those few women's faces froze.

Chai Mi didn't even look at them again, pushed the cart and sped up: "Let's go, Qiu Shui."

Song Qiushui spat hard at those people, hurried to catch up, still fuming: "Chai Mi, why didn't you let me curse them? Cheap-mouthed things!"

"Waste saliva on them?" Chai Mi sneered, "With that effort, better wrap a few more dumplings, sell a few more yuan is the real business."

"Right." Song Qiushui frowned: "You said that day about hiring people for autumn harvest, can your dad agree? This morning I saw his face pulled long, like Changbai Mountain."

"He doesn't agree, he still has to do it." Chai Mi's tone was flat: "The land can't rot in the field, the stall can't go bust either. I'm going to ask my Second Aunt after I close the stall today... Old Sun is capable, she basically takes any work."

Song Qiushui opened her mouth, wanted to say something, ultimately just sighed: "Alright, as long as you have a plan. But Chai Mi, if hiring people gets out, your dad's face probably won't be able to hang on even more..."

Chai Mi sighed, said helplessly: "Can he do it himself? He's just that kind of person, can't do it himself, whenever he works he counts on my mom. Now my mom can't do it anymore either, he still insists on micromanaging. If I don't hire people what can I do? I can't count on him, can I?"

"Chai Mi, you really plan to go ask your Second Aunt today?" Song Qiushui asked panting, face showing a bit of worry, "Your dad's side... I think it's unlikely."

"Unlikely, still have to do it." Chai Mi's tone was firm: "The crops in the field can't wait, the stall can't wait either. Second Aunt, that person, works nimbly, hands and feet also fairly clean, her family has many laborers, can spare some. Wages... just as said yesterday, strong laborer twenty a day, includes one noon meal."

Song Qiushui clicked her tongue: "Twenty? Last year it was only fifteen! This rise is too fast! Second Aunt that sly fox, afraid she won't jack up the price on the spot?"

"Even twenty is uncertain, if you give less they won't work well either." Chai Mi knew the score, "Now what doesn't rise in price? Manual labor is even more precious. As long as the person is diligent, doesn't slack off, it's worth this price."

The two hurried and arrived at County No. 1 Middle School. Today's prepared fillings and fried chicken were double yesterday's, and sure enough, the moment the noon dismissal bell rang, the stall was instantly surrounded by students so tightly not even water could leak through.

Business was even more booming than expected, despite the increased portions, in less than forty minutes, pots dry bowls clean again.

On the road back to the village, Chai Mi had Song Qiushui go home first to check on Meng Clan, she herself rode the cart, turned into Second Aunt's courtyard.

Second Aunt Sun Baihe was sitting under the eaves rubbing corn kernels, seeing Chai Mi enter, a smile piled onto her face: "Yo, Chai Mi's here? How come you're free today? Heard your business is booming! My Second Uncle was just mumbling yesterday wanting to go taste something fresh at yours."