sovbooks Chapter 568: Hired
Chapter 568: Hired
"What’s wrong with me? Why are you rejecting me?"
Tong Huaqiong decided from the beginning that jobs like spinning, weaving, and batting cotton would only hire women workers.
Of course, male workers were not completely excluded. Positions such as running the market, driving carts, delivering goods, collecting cotton... these required male workers, because with the public safety situation of that era, it was truly dangerous for women to travel far.
However, for these positions, Tong Huaqiong planned to slowly select people, without publicly recruiting them.
So when weavers came to apply, they were all young women and wives. Hearing a man’s voice suddenly surprised Tong Huaqiong.
Seeing a man with a sharp face and protruding ears standing among the women, questioning Gu Xiaoxue.
Tong Huaqiong knew this man; he was Yang Tieniu from Moon Bay.
The reason she was familiar with him was because Yang Tieniu was notorious around Moon Bay and Qinghe Bay. Gu Dashu used to go to the gambling dens with him when he was young.
And Yang Tieniu had harassed his first wife to death, only to remarry and harass his second wife the same way.
Tong Huaqiong sneered. Was he deaf? Clearly, they said outside they were hiring female workers, so what was he doing there?
Yang Tieniu’s eyes were fixed on Gu Xiaoxue, his intentions clear. He was just counting on Gu Xiaoxue being a young girl with thin skin, hence unlikely to confront him.
Tong Huaqiong wanted to see how Gu Xiaoxue would handle it, so she remained silent.
After all, Song Qiaoniang and Gu Taohua were there, as well as a group of able wives from Qinghe Bay, who would never let Gu Xiaoxue suffer.
Gu Xiaoxue lifted her head and calmly said, "We are a weaving workshop, only hiring female weavers. Do you know how to spin or weave?"
Yang Tieniu neither knew how to spin nor weave.
He had heard that Tong Huaqiong’s weaving workshop was recruiting, with many young women and wives from Moon Bay applying. His wife wanted to come, too, but he stopped her. He wanted the opportunity to earn money for himself.
Thus, he came to Qinghe Bay to apply.
But he wasn’t there to apply for spinning or weaving; such hard work wasn’t for him. He figured he could get in and slowly climb up using his relationship with Gu Dashu, who was the second owner at the workshop.
A weaving workshop run by women should be easy to manage, right?
But Gu Xiaoxue and Song Qiaoniang didn’t even lift their eyes before rejecting him.
"Your workshop can’t only be spinning and weaving? These female workers will need supervision, right? The woven fabric needs to be sold, doesn’t it? How can these women manage, surely a man is needed." Yang Tieniu babbled on incessantly.
Song Qiaoniang directly replied, "That’s already being handled, no need to hire more people."
Gu Taohua couldn’t stand it anymore and directly told him off, "You’re shameless, even if we needed a man, it wouldn’t be you. Get lost back to where you came from."
The wives around who were applying rolled up their sleeves and yelled at Yang Tieniu to get lost.
They certainly didn’t want someone like Yang Tieniu coming in to supervise.
Yang Tieniu coldly said, "I’ve only ever heard of brothels hiring women, so your weaving workshop only hires women. Are you in the pimping business or what?"
As soon as the words were out, Tong Huaqiong stuck a hairpin into Yang Tieniu’s mouth.
Seeing Tong Huaqiong, Yang Tieniu wiped the blood from his mouth and said, "Aunt Tong, it’s me, Tieniu, Dashu’s brother."
"You eat nothing but shit, no wonder your mouth spits nothing but filth. Just because you have something extra in your pants, you think every gap in the world is open for you? What are you, daring to come here and act wild?" Tong Huaqiong cursed angrily.
The more he claimed to be Dashu’s brother, the angrier Tong Huaqiong got, continuing to stab with the hairpin.
Yang Tieniu backed off repeatedly from the stabbing, raising his hand as if to retaliate.
Su Chengmin gripped his arm from behind and twisted it backward, causing Yang Tieniu excruciating pain.
"We’ve said we’re only hiring women, why are you causing trouble? Do you want to have what’s in your pants cut off?"
"If you’re so determined, then head to Shengjing to serve the concubines in the palace. Coming to our weaving workshop is a waste of talent; we don’t have the fortune to utilize you."
Yang Tieniu’s foul language angered the young women and wives applying. They were all good, honest people, and some of them had already faced objections from their families about the idea of women earning money, saying it was improper. To have Yang Tieniu bring up virtue made them wish to cut his tongue off.
The surrounding wives joined Tong Huaqiong in cursing him.
Two women cursed fiercely, while the others couldn’t help but laugh.
Liu Yueer’s mother, Mrs. Zhao, took advantage of the situation to kick Yang Tieniu a couple of times while Su Chengmin held him down.
"Any Tom, Dick, or Harry trying to make connections, who do you call a brother? Maggots in the outhouse are more like brothers to you."
Mrs. Zhao resented him trying to associate with her son-in-law.
Her son-in-law’s heart was in the right place and she couldn’t let these low-life scumbags corrupt him.
"Throw him out. Next time, if he shows up, break his hands and feet and cut his tongue," Tong Huaqiong said to Su Chengmin in a stern voice.
Su Chengmin dragged Yang Tieniu away; soon enough, Yang Tieniu stopped making a sound from the pain.
Su Chengmin’s Hidden Guard and military skills were precise, leaving no visible marks on the body but breaking him inside.
Yang Tieniu’s wrist was crushed.
Tong Huaqiong watched coldly as Yang Tieniu’s arm dangled and his eyes rolled back, knowing that Su Chengmin had used underhanded tactics. Yang Tieniu’s arm was likely ruined.
But he deserved it.
His hands did nothing but abuse his wife; crippling them served as protection for her.
"...fifteen weaving workers, ten spinning workers, ten batting workers, five cotton picking workers, five silk steaming workers. A total of thirty people. Owner, take a look, if there are no issues, I will post their names at the door and the village entrance."
After several days of assessments and interviews, Gu Xiaoxue and Song Qiaoniang picked the suitable candidates, Su Qing awaited Tong Huaqiong’s final decision.
Tong Huaqiong glanced at the list and said, "I trust you. Since these people have been hired, post the list tomorrow morning."
Su Qing cut out sheets of red paper and wrote down the names of those hired.
Early the next morning, under the thin sunlight of autumn, the list was posted on the big willow tree at the village entrance and the workshop door.
Not only in Qinghe Bay but also in Moon Bay and several surrounding villages, Tong Huaqiong sent Su Chengmin to post them early in the morning.
There were few literate people in the village, so many who were early out collecting dung or going to the fields mistook the red list for a court document or tax notice and rushed to alert the village chief.
The women and girls who had applied already knew the hiring results would be posted, so they gathered eagerly at the list to see.
They were illiterate, so Er Gou’s mother saw Gu Ruinian carrying a water bucket and shouted to him, "Rui Nian, help us check who the weaving workshop has hired?"
Gu Ruinian hadn’t appeared in the village for a long time, but he’d recently been forced to show up carrying water by Old Lady Gu.
He didn’t want to interact with the Qinghe Bay villagers at all, but Er Gou’s mother grabbed him and pulled him to the list.
Due to Er Gou’s mother’s strong grip, Gu Ruinian’s right leg hurt from being dragged.
"Quickly help everyone out, they’re all waiting."
Urged by Er Gou’s mother, Gu Ruinian read the names on the list.
"Wang Erni, Li Mingxiu, Gu Qingmei..."
The women and wives whose names were read cried tears of joy.
They were hired!
They were hired!
They could earn money now!