Chapter 416: Chapter 417: They Are Serious

Jin Qianqian didn’t let the others, who were just enjoying the show, off the hook. "The same goes for all of you. You have to keep yourselves in top shape. Otherwise, I’m the one who loses out."

Liu Qingmei suppressed a laugh. "Madam is absolutely right. To enjoy a few more years of good fortune with you, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep myself in top shape."

Housekeeper Fu added, "Then I’d better live a few more years. I’m still hoping to serve the young masters. When you put it that way, I really do have to take good care of myself."

...

After they all chatted and laughed for a while, Jin Qianqian turned her gaze directly to Hu Dong and asked, "There hasn’t been much going on at our shops lately, so you can just focus on your recovery. If I remember correctly, the doctor prescribed you two months of medicine. You haven’t finished it all yet, have you?"

Hu Dong said, "Taking my medicine only takes a moment each day. I’ve spent the rest of my time just wandering the streets.

"Madam, if I keep wandering like this, I’ll have counted every brick on these roads. Please, give me something to do!"

Seeing the earnest look on his face, Jin Qianqian knew he was truly bored out of his mind. "Then what would you like to do? In any case, you can’t leave the capital for now, or you’ll miss your doses of medicine."

Running around outside, it would be impossible to brew his medicine on schedule. Jin Qianqian didn’t want all his previous efforts to go to waste.

Hearing Jin Qianqian relent, Hu Dong’s eyes immediately lit up. "Madam, you’ve acquired some new shops, haven’t you? Could you put me in charge of them?"

Jin Qianqian was silent for a moment. "I’ll be going to Lu City after the spring. I probably won’t be able to look after the shops here, so I was thinking of renting them all out."

It was a blessing in disguise, acquiring so many storefronts, and Jin Qianqian didn’t want to sell them. But right now, she didn’t have the energy to make plans for them.

Hu Dong said, "Madam, while I was wandering the streets, I noticed that the locations of our vacant properties are quite good. Plus, the new shops you opened earlier are doing booming business. Why don’t we strike while the iron is hot and open the chain stores you mentioned?"

Jin Qianqian hadn’t expected Hu Dong to have already started acting on a casual remark she’d made. Just like with the soap and pastry shops, which Hu Dong had already opened all over the Dao City area, he had now quickly set his sights on Shangjing.

But truth be told, she really didn’t want to stir that particular pot right now.

After a moment of contemplation, Jin Qianqian sat down and slowly explained to him, "The waters in Shangjing run too deep. My previous clash with the Huang family was just me taking advantage of the situation, riding the wave of public curiosity to snag a huge bargain.

"Now that the incident has passed, many people have probably figured things out. This isn’t the time for us to be making waves. It could cause a backlash.

"Except for the bookstore, I plan to slowly return the other shops to normal operations, trying not to affect the business of the surrounding stores.

"Your master is no longer an official here, and I’m preparing to take the children to Lu City. Even though we’ve built good relationships with a few other families recently, they can only help us out for so long. We can’t go bothering them all the time. Sometimes, debts of gratitude are the hardest to repay.

"That’s why I’ve decided to rent these shops out. If you’re looking to do something big, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. There’s no rush right now."

Hu Dong looked embarrassed. "I was being too presumptuous."

Jin Qianqian said, "That’s perfectly normal. If your master wasn’t in such a hurry to take up his new post, I might have already started putting those shops to use.

"If you’re really that restless, you can help me manage subletting those shops. Help me wrap things up here in Shangjing sooner, and then we can all go back to Fu County for the New Year.

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"I remember you also built a new house in the county town this year. You’ll need to have a housewarming."

The moment Hu Dong thought of the home that was his own, his expression softened. He used to think just having three full meals a day would be good enough, but he never imagined that in just a few short years, he would become a man with a home and some savings.

According to the contract he signed with the Master and Madam, he wasn’t supposed to own any assets in his name. However, Madam never registered his indenture with the county government, so to the outside world, he was still a free man.

Jin Qianqian didn’t give him much time to reminisce. "How are those people Mr. Cao sent over doing?"

She liked to see things through from beginning to end. Before she left, she wanted to make sure everything that needed to be arranged was taken care of.

Hu Dong replied, "I’ve visited them at the various shops. Some are adapting quite well, but others seem to be a bit slow on the uptake. They just can’t handle the work."

Hu Dong would only be this blunt because there were no outsiders present.

Jin Qianqian said, "Xu Dawang, go to all the shops later and inform the Cao Family members to come to the residence tomorrow. You and Chief Steward Hu will conduct an evaluation for them. Record their performance and have it delivered to Mr. Cao."

’How he chooses to arrange things afterward is up to Mr. Cao himself.’

"Oh, right. Don’t forget to pay them their wages. It would be best to base the amount on their performance during this period. That way, there’s a comparison, and they’ll have a clear idea of how well they’ve learned."

Xu Dawang acknowledged the order. "Does this mean they won’t be working in the shops anymore?"

Jin Qianqian replied, "That’s for Mr. Cao to decide. We can’t have the young masters of an official family working in our shops forever, can we? If we’re short on staff, transfer some people from the household.

"If you still can’t find enough people, you and Steward Hu can figure something out. See whether you want to buy some assistants from a brokerage or recruit publicly."

Hu Dong suggested, "Let’s recruit publicly. Sometimes, locals have their advantages. They might have an established customer base and a better understanding of the local intricacies."

Jin Qianqian gave him a thumbs-up in approval. "This is why they say two heads are better than one. It seems our Chief Steward Hu can really hold his own now."

Hu Dong then casually added, "What if some of those young masters from the Cao Family want to stay on and work? Do we accept them?"

Jin Qianqian hadn’t actually considered that possibility. After all, the only reason these well-to-do young masters from an official family were learning a trade in her shops was because of an idea from Minister Cao. She didn’t think any of them would actually value such a job.

But there was one thing she had misjudged. Although the jobs were just for shopkeepers and waiters, Jin Qianqian was always generous to her subordinates. Not only did she give them a fixed salary, but she also had a novel incentive: a commission on any revenue above a certain threshold.

Her shops had all been raking in profits lately, so the income of the staff had naturally become quite substantial.

"Mr. Cao just sent them over to learn a skill. He probably doesn’t intend for them to work for us long-term."

This wasn’t just a random thought from Hu Dong. "A few of the young masters from the Cao Family approached me privately before. They want to find a proper job in our shops.

"I’ve seen that they’ve been quite dedicated in the shops, so I thought I’d ask on their behalf."

When he first heard it, his reaction was the same as Madam’s just now; he thought they were just joking.

It wasn’t until they confirmed it repeatedly that he realized they were serious.

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