Lin Changyou felt that Captain Jin and his people should clear more farmland. That way, when the household responsibility system was implented in their village, the villagers would get larger plots of land.
In their spare ti, they could plant cash crops like Sichuan peppercorns, walnuts... and persimmons.
Captain Jin nodded in agreent, but then he recalled Lin Lan saying that the communal grain quota and agricultural taxes were paid based on the amount of farmland.
’He thought Lin Changyou had overlooked a problem: more land ant a higher grain quota to hand over, and the agricultural taxes would also be greater. It might be better to maintain the status quo and let everyone clear more land after it was distributed to the individual households.’
Sitting beside him, Jin Wei thought about the al they had that evening. ’When will my family be able to eat like city folk,’ he wondered, ’with a whole table full of chicken, duck, fish, and at? It would be wonderful if everyone could enjoy a happy al like that.’
That night, Captain Jin and his grandson went with Lin Changyou’s family to stay overnight in Lexing.
Early the next morning, just as Captain Jin and his grandson arrived at the eatery, Li Wu delivered the grain. The price was a bit more expensive than the official grain station but cheaper than the black market.
Lin Lan gave Captain Jin so of Little Douzi’s old clothes, so pumpkin seeds she had prepared, and a bag of pumpkin cakes, puffed rice candy, and Sachima.
"The clothes belonged to my son. If you don’t mind, you can take them for your grandson to wear."
"We don’t mind at all! These are such nice clothes. Thank you, Boss Lin, and thank you, Brother Lin." As Captain Jin spoke, he had Jin Wei bow to them.
"Thank you, Mr. Lin. Thank you, Ma’am."
Lin Changyou quickly stopped Jin Wei from bowing. "Brother Jin, my general store sells all sorts of things. If your team has anything they want to sell, feel free to bring it over."
Captain Jin nodded repeatedly and exclaid, "You’re all such good people!"
Lin Changyou smiled and waved his hand dismissively. "We’re all just country folk. We should look out for one another."
"That’s right, just country folk." Captain Jin smiled, waved goodbye to them, and left with his grandson, leading the mule.
Lin Lan left the eatery and headed to the shoe store.
Woodworker Li had finished renovating the shop yesterday afternoon. Lin Lan opened the door and went inside to take a look. She saw that the floor had been swept and the wood shavings on the counter had been cleared away, but when she ran a hand over a surface, she discovered it was still covered in dust.
Lin Lan ca out, planning to go to the departnt store to get so cleaning supplies. She also intended to write a couple of "Help Wanted" signs to post on the door. Just as she reached the other side of the street, she saw Zhou Xiaohong and her husband pulling a flatbed cart toward her.
Lin Lan went up to help them lift a bundle. "Sister Zhou, you’re back! What took you so long this ti?"
Zhou Xiaohong lifted the bundle into the shop with her, panting as she said, "We went to Yangcheng City this ti, but we were delayed for a few days in the provincial capital to take Dongming for a check-up at a major hospital."
"The doctor said he’s recovering well, but he needs to be careful not to overexert himself and get plenty of rest. I’m thinking of hiring soone to mind the shop. It’s exhausting for just the two of us."
Lin Lan agreed. "This shop is so big. When business is booming, how can the two of you possibly manage?"
Zhou Xiaohong nodded. "I know! And we have to wait for the kids to get back from school to help us cook. I was aning to ask, how much do you pay the girls in your shop per month?"
Lin Lan smiled. "I pay a base salary plus commission. It might not be suitable for your situation."
Zhou Xiaohong looked at her, confused. "Base salary plus commission? What does that an?"
"It ans a base wage plus a percentage of their monthly sales revenue. For example, if they sell one hundred yuan worth of goods, I give them a commission of two jiao."
Zhou Xiaohong ntally calculated her own revenue from the month before the new year and looked at Lin Lan in astonishnt. "What! That’s such a high wage! We could offer a fixed salary of thirty or forty yuan and still have plenty of people willing to work."
Lin Lan looked at her and smiled. "A fixed salary doesn’t give them much incentive. Besides, the more they earn, the more we earn!"
Hearing this, Zhou Xiaohong thought about how Lin Lan only ca to the shop each day to collect the earnings and didn’t manage things much. Yet, her business was still better than their own. Although their suppliers and the quality of their decor were different, Little Xue and her sister were truly dedicated to the shop.
She felt Lin Lan had a point, but she was reluctant to pay such high wages. "I’ll hire two people first and try a fixed salary."
Lin Lan said, "Since you’re in the store every day, a fixed salary is a viable option."
The two chatted for a little longer before Lin Lan left Zhou Xiaohong’s place. She went to the departnt store, found so red paper, and wrote out two "Help Wanted" signs.
Old Li ca in, saw the "Help Wanted" signs, and said, "Lin Lan, a few days ago, two of Shuiqing’s old army buddies ca looking for him. They asked him to help them find work. I hear their families are having a tough ti. Why not let their children give it a try?"
Lin Lan nodded. "Okay. Please talk to Brother Shuiqing and have them bring the children to the bakery to find ."
"Alright. I’ll hold onto these signs for now. If it doesn’t work out, we can post them then." Old Li put the "Help Wanted" signs away and headed toward the back courtyard.
Lin Lan returned to the shop. Just as she finished making a batch of beef offal candy, Zhou Yongi arrived at the bakery with two middle-aged won and two young girls.
Zhou Yongi smiled and introduced the four to Lin Lan. The two girls were sixteen years old. One was nad Ren Jing, the other Yang Liu, and both were primary school graduates.
After their fathers were transferred from military to civilian work, they both took jobs at the sanitation departnt, cleaning up trash early every morning. Their mothers were unemployed and made so money on the side by gluing paper boxes for a match factory.
Lin Lan agreed to let them have a half-month trial period. If they did well, she would hire them officially, also on a base salary plus commission.
Finally, she told them to go ask Little Xue and He Li for advice on how to serve custors.
Zhou Yongi left with the four of them, who were feeling both happy and apprehensive.
After seeing Zhou Yongi off, Lin Lan calculated the days. Li Xiangyang had been gone for twelve days already; she figured he should be back today.
But it wasn’t until noon the next day that Li Xiangyang finally returned to East Market.
Everyone unloaded the goods and moved them into the warehouse. Seeing Li Xiangyang with dark circles under his eyes and a scruffy beard, Lin Lan said with a pang of heartache, "Go wash up quickly and get so proper sleep. Little Xue and the others have got this."
"That’s right, hurry back. We’ll sort the goods," Old Li said, looking at him with concern and shooing him off to go wash up and sleep.
Seeing the concerned looks from his father and his wife, Li Xiangyang felt a warmth in his chest. He nodded with a smile and handed the bag containing the shipping manifest to Lin Lan.
"Little Lan, those ten boxes in the courtyard are water heaters. Set one aside for Dongzi and Ding Bang, send another one over to Lexing, and ask Brother Shuiqing and the others if they want one."
Little i glanced at the boxes stacked in the courtyard. "Uncle Xiangyang, what’s a water heater for?"
Little Xue laughed. "You silly goose, a water heater heats water!"
Lin Lan smiled and nodded, pointing to a small hut that Shuiqing had just built. "Exactly. We can build a washroom next to it, and it’ll be much more convenient to take showers."
Seeing the won chattering away excitedly, Li Xiangyang grabbed his keys, got on his bike, and left.
Lin Lan, along with Little Xue, Little i, He Li, and Old Li, began to take inventory and reconcile the accounts.
After sleeping for just over two hours, Li Xiangyang ca to the warehouse to help with the work.
Shuiqing and the Lin brothers also ca to help. The group sorted the goods that were ready for the shelves and delivered them to the shops by category.
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