stingy landlady

Chapter 206 Gui Xiang Gets Beaten

Li hurriedly grabbed a feather duster and started whipping Guixiang. While trying to whip her slowly, she called out to Guixiang:

"Quickly apologize to your father! Guixiang! You've really angered him! Admit your mistake!"

Gui Xiang had nowhere to hide on the ground, and with Da Zhu watching from the doorway, she ran back to the kang (a heated brick bed) in fright. But she still couldn't escape Li's feather duster. Da Zhu kept an eye on Li, so Li dared not stop hitting her, and while hitting her, she kept shouting for Gui Xiang to admit her mistake.

Dazhu looked at the feather duster that had struck Guixiang, and hearing her cries, his anger gradually subsided. Then, Guixiang sobbed and apologized:

"Father! Mother! I was wrong! I won't do it again! Waaah!"

"Dad! Mom! Stop hitting me! I'm sorry, okay? Mom! Stop hitting me! It really hurts! Waaaaah!"

Dazhu rolled his eyes at Li and said to Li:

"Alright! Stop hitting her! And stop pretending with those two light blows, they won't even hurt! You have to hit her hard enough to scare her!"

He then asked Gui Xiang:

"You really know you were wrong? What did you do wrong? Tell me!"

Gui Xiang wasn't genuinely apologizing; she was clearly forced into it after being beaten. When Da Zhu asked her what she had done wrong, she couldn't answer, she just kept sobbing!

Dazhu also hoped that Guixiang could truly learn her lesson and stop associating with Jiang Hongliang. As for what Guixiang herself was thinking, that remained unknown.

Guizhi wasn't idle in Huanghua Village either. The sows were giving birth, and more than a dozen sows were having litters one after another; one or two people really couldn't manage it all. These sows were transported from afar by Xu Hong and bred with local boars.

There were some pleasant surprises; some sows gave birth to twelve piglets, while others gave birth to ten. Only one sow gave birth to the fewest, eight piglets. In total, one hundred and twenty-six piglets survived.

Each sow's pen was lined with straw because there were no heat lamps, and they were worried the newborn piglets would get cold. Luckily, they had chicken and duck eggs, which provided extra nutrition for each sow, encouraging them to produce more milk! The piglets also grew better after nursing!

After arranging for staff to take turns assisting the sows with farrowing, a dedicated person in charge should also be assigned to the workshop. Previously, it was Guixiang and Wanrou. Now Wanrou is in postpartum confinement, and Guixiang has gone home, leaving no one to manage the workshop. With so many people, disputes are likely to arise.

Three women make a drama, let alone dozens in a handicraft workshop. Taozhi is steady but not very good at dealing with people. Jushuang is a good choice. Guizhi also arranged for Jixiang to work in the workshop as Jushuang's assistant.

That way, if Ju Shuang gets pregnant and has a child, there won't be a shortage of workers. Jiang Xiaoyu left the workshop, even though she had signed a confidentiality agreement. But it's better to be safe than sorry.

Guizhi drew several more pajama designs and also improved the underwear. The previous designs were gradually discontinued, and once the old designs were sold out, all the new designs were put on the market.

The first group of people in the village to get married collectively also had children around the same time as Wanrou.

The village was filled with the cries of children, and several female workers in the handicraft workshops actually took a liking to the men there. People in nearby villages and towns were also starting to consider the people of Huanghua Village.

The people of Huanghua Village have a stable income and have always built thatched huts. Once married, they receive their own room, free from the need to serve or be controlled by their in-laws! They are independent from the moment they enter the family, and many families genuinely consider their daughters' well-being and thus approve of this arrangement!

The reputation of being a "bachelor village" is slowly being resolved! Guizhi finally breathed a long sigh of relief! She no longer needs to worry about matchmaking. Whoever is capable can get married!

Guizhi went to check on the cattle pen. The larger ones already weighed five or six hundred, or even six or seven hundred jin. If they continued to be raised until the New Year, they could easily weigh seven or eight hundred jin! Since it was just an estimate, she didn't know how accurate it would be.

However, the sale of this cattle needs to be prepared in advance. Fortunately, Lin Qian is at home these days, so he can apply for a letter of authorization from the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion before he sets off again.

They've been granted special permission to slaughter their own fattened cattle and sell the meat freely. Although there's no official ban on cattle slaughter here yet, in the Central Plains, draft cattle aren't allowed to be slaughtered at will. Having an imperial edict is better than having someone find fault with it. Besides, that would make them a very good buyer.

Guizhi walked through the village, pondering to herself. Seeing that the fruit trees in front of her had grown quite tall, she estimated that they would gradually blossom and bear fruit in another year or two, so that there would be all kinds of fruit to sell.

The farmhands have taken good care of the orchard; the weeds are quite clean. It looks like there shouldn't be any problem intercropping corn or soybeans this year.

Looking at the other side, after the vegetables were sold, the paddy fields were being plowed out by the farmhands with oxen, and seedlings were already being planted. It was estimated that in another ten or twenty days, after all the vegetables were sold and the fields were plowed, the water would be released and the rice seedlings could be transplanted.

They had stored cow and pig manure themselves, so they didn't need to buy cow manure fertilizer, saving money on fertilizer. Guizhi inspected her property, stopping to carefully examine everything and think about whether she had missed anything.

The grain cannot be sold. There are too many people in the village, and Changping Village has only recently started cultivating the land and has not yet harvested any grain. The village relies entirely on the small amount of grain from Huanghua Village.

After careful consideration, Guizhi concluded that the only real money-makers were the timber and handicraft workshops, as well as the sofa workshop. The pigs would be sold in batches, but the cattle hadn't been sold yet.

As for the wheelchair and the dividends from the Prince's Mansion, there are too many uncertainties. It can't be considered a fixed income, but in any business, there are gains and losses. Guizhi only considers profitable deals; unprofitable transactions are disregarded.

They were incredibly wealthy, not counting livestock. They raised chickens, ducks, and geese, so they had no shortage of eggs. Occasionally, they would accumulate a large harvest to sell, but most of the eggs were shared among the villagers.

To improve the meals for the farmhands, chickens, ducks, and geese were often slaughtered, but rarely sold.

Guizhi wandered around and saw several wedding families on the road; they all seemed quite diligent. The front yard was clean and tidy, and the back garden was planted with all sorts of small green vegetables.

Guizhi felt a surge of relief. She turned to the doorway of Wanrou's room and heard Wanrou softly humming to her child. Xu Hong was speaking quietly to Wanrou from the inner room. Guizhi turned and went back to her own room, lost in thought.

Gui Xiang and Gui Hong are getting engaged and married. Da Zhu's family doesn't have any property to give to his daughters as dowries. The only income comes from the fast food shop in Cao Mu Jian and the produce from his dozens of acres of land.

The fruit trees in the vegetable garden haven't grown yet, and dozens of pigs have died from disease. There's also a large family to support. The only things they can offer Guixiang and Guihong are probably some fabrics and jewelry.

The lingerie shop in the county town was called Lirenfang, and Guihong managed it very well. If Guihong got married, Guizhi thought she would give Lirenfang as part of her dowry!

It just so happens that the Zhou family, to whom she was engaged, also lived in the county town, so it would be convenient for them to stay close to each other and take care of the shop after they got married.