Chapter 319: Recruiting
Editor: Atlas Studios
The two men stood in front of Mu Yangling uneasily. Their mouths were agape, and their faces were flushed red, but they did not say a word.
Mu Yangling sized up the two of them. One was strong and the other was thin. They had honest expressions and thick palms. Standing in front of Mu Yangling, their backs were slightly hunched. As if seeing that the person beside them was standing upright, he also wanted to straighten his back, but it was a little futile. Therefore, cold sweat gradually broke out on his forehead.
The thin man beside him had a calmer expression than him. He had a straight face, but his eyes were also filled with uneasiness. He kept rubbing his hands in front of him as he stood in front of Mu Yangling, not saying anything for a long time.
Mu Yangling had a guess in her heart. Smiling, she asked, “Uncles, are you here for the recruitment?”
The two of them nodded repeatedly. The thin guy glanced at the person beside him. Seeing that he had no intention of speaking, he said, “Miss, my name is Xu Jian. I heard that you want to recruit people who know how to farm, so I’m here to give it a try.”
After saying that, he pulled Chen Sanzhu beside him. Chen Sanzhu immediately nodded and said, “Yes, yes, me too. My… my name is Chen Sanzhu.”
“You two know each other?”
Xu Jian explained that they met in front of the recruitment notice, so they came together.
Looking at the two of them, who were so nervous that they were stuttering, Mu Yangling could roughly guess that the two of them must have come together to embolden themselves. That was because Xu Jian had already been standing before the notice for two days, and Chen Sanzhu, for an even longer time. Almost as soon as the recruitment notice was posted, he had been squatting under the wall. However, because he was dressed so badly, everyone simply thought that he was a beggar.
Actually, Chen Sanzhu was indeed a beggar. To put it more accurately, he was a refugee who had wandered over from Xiangyang Prefecture.
On the other hand, Xu Jian was from Xingzhou Prefecture. What was even more amazing was that he could recognize a few words. Although it was really just a few words, Mu Yangling was glad to see that.
After Mu Yangling invited the two of them to the central room, Liu Ting hurriedly stood up when he saw her bringing the two of them in.
When the two of them saw Liu Ting’s attire, they thought that he was a parent and bowed respectfully.
Liu Ting was a little depressed. Did someone really come to apply for the job?
Shu Wanniang had already prepared lunch. Mu Yangling went to the kitchen to bring over the dishes and asked her mother to eat with the twins and Great-aunt in the backyard. She wanted to talk to them about something.
“You should also take note of their character. Since you and your father will often be away from home in the future, you can’t recruit people with bad morals.”
“Mother, don’t worry. I’ll definitely do an in-depth investigation into their eight generations of ancestors,” Mu Yangling promised.
She could not find out what Chen Sanzhu’s eighth generation ancestor did for a living, but the previous five generations were all tenant farmers. He was also a tenant farmer, but he was more pitiful. His previous landlord was forced to sell the land after squandering away their family assets, and the new landlord did not choose to lease the land to him. Without any family assets, he could only become a refugee.
Fortunately, his parents were dead. Although he had several siblings, he was the only one who managed to survive the hunger, cold, and illness. Because he had no money, he did not marry, so he was still single without kids.
Although it was scary to leave one’s hometown, one could not survive without leaving one’s hometown. Therefore, he packed his bags and walked west. Why did he walk west?
Because he couldn’t recognize the direction, he originally followed the crowd south. However, as he walked, everyone dispersed. He felt that he had been walking in the same direction, but at some point, he had deviated to the Xingzhou Prefecture. Before getting to know Xu Jian, he had always firmly believed that he would reach the capital of Great Zhou, Lin’an Prefecture, after walking a little further.
When he found out that not only was he not getting nearer to Lin’an Prefecture, but he was also getting further and further away, he was not depressed. He felt that he could make a life for himself anywhere.
Moreover, Xingzhou Prefecture seemed to be an easier place to live because even farmers could be recruited. His ancestors had been farmers for five generations, and he was also a farmer. He reckoned he was familiar with the work in the fields and had thought that Mu Yangling was either recruiting tenant farmers or long-term workers, so he was very tempted.
However, though tempted, he did not have the guts to sign up. He could only squat in the corner to look at the notice and the people who came forth to read the notice out loud.
Mu Yangling felt that although he was a timid person, he had not done anything evil.
An ordinary person who had not done anything evil in the past 28 years would have a very low probability of doing anything evil in the future.
After understanding the other party’s life experience and household registration status, the next step was naturally to test his work abilities.
Mu Yangling handed this matter to Liu Ting, who chatted with him for a while regarding the work in the fields. As it turned out, Chen Sanzhu was very good at farming. Having started working in the fields since he was five years old, he had been farming for 23 years.
Although Chen Sanzhu was naive, he was not stupid and knew that he had probably passed most of the tests. When he spoke to Liu Ting, he could answer everything based on his extensive farming experience. Even Liu Ting had to admit that in terms of farming crops, he could not compare to Chen Sanzhu.
While Liu Ting and Chen Sanzhu were talking, Xu Jian, who was standing at the side, straightened his back and clenched his fists as he listened. Seeing that his expression was getting more and more tense, Mu Yangling asked him with a smile, “Uncle Xu, are you from Mingshui County and came to the county to do business?”
The corners of Xu Jian’s mouth twitched as he said uneasily, “No, I-I came to see if I could find work. The autumn harvest has passed, and I have nothing to do the entire winter, so I came to the county to look for work.”
“Uncle Xu, what kind of work do you usually look for?”
“I’ll do anything. I’ve been an assistant shopkeeper who ran errands, I’ve helped out in the kitchen, and I’ve also carried sacks. Don’t belittle me. I can do anything.”
Mu Yangling nodded slightly. “Your family farms too?”
Xu Jian nodded. “I-I also have a few acres of land, but farming hasn’t been easy in the past two years, so…” Since Xu Jian couldn’t even afford to pay rent for the farmland, he felt that he might as well get a long-term gig working for others. Although it was hard and tiring, at least he could consistently put food on the table and wouldn’t owe money. It had to be known that there wasn’t much harvest from this year. After paying all the grains as rent for the land, he realized that he actually owed money. He was already poor, but now, he was even poorer.
“Who taught you how to write?”
“I learned it from my great-uncle. He used to be an assistant shopkeeper in the county. Later on, he became an accountant and secretly learned some words. When he returned, he taught me some…”
After understanding about their ancestors, Mu Yangling told them her conditions and said, “When the time comes, not only will you be in charge of the experimental fields, but you’ll also have to help farm my family’s fields. It’s similar to the long-term work you mentioned, but I’ll provide your salary, food and clothing as promised. On the contrary, should the experimental fields yield results, I’ll give you a red packet.”
Chen Sanzhu and Xu Jian smiled uneasily. Regardless of whether they believed it or not, they were happy to hear it.
Liu Ting felt that these conditions were too good and could not help but tug at Mu Yangling’s sleeve.
Mu Yangling smiled at him comfortingly and continued to say to the two of them, “Since you don’t have a home now, you can move here. The old house next door also belongs to my family. Two of my people live there too, but they’re in Hanzhong Prefecture now. If the two of you can get along, you can share a room. Make do with it first. I’ll expand the house next year.”
Chen Sanzhu and Xu Jian quickly waved their hands and said, “There’s no need to expand it. Miss, we can get along well and have no problem staying in the same room.”
It was already good enough to have a place to live in. Chen Sanzhu and Xu Jian were not people who did not understand the world. Most of the long-term workers working for other families lived in wood sheds or cowsheds. They were already very satisfied to have a proper room and a brick bed to sleep on.