So when Gu Lao Er stood in the queue waiting for the interview according to the rules of the Li family, he was very nervous, for fear that when it was his turn, he would already be full. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Fortunately, the Li family recruited a lot of people this time. The interview team moved forward little by little, from morning to noon, and finally it was Gu Lao'er's turn before the Li family master had lunch.

Gu Lao Er nervously walked into the hall and answered more than a dozen questions from the young family master, and then he was happy to hear: "You have been hired, gather here at the end of the day after tomorrow, and then take you to the weaving workshop together." ”

Gu Lao Er seemed to have picked up the gold ingots all of a sudden, his mouth was grinning wide, his whole body was fluttering, and he didn't know how he came out of the Li family's courtyard.

After getting such good news, the first thing Gu Lao Er did was to go to the pawnshop and buy a bag of rice in a rice store for 60 yuan for a cotton jacket and cotton pants.

Walking home with rice, Gu Lao Er had a long-lost sense of pride. As the head of the house, I finally got some rice to live.

The family lives in a shared yard with others, and the three of them are crammed into one room. As soon as Gu Lao Er opened the door, he heard his daughter-in-law's weak voice: "Gu Lao Er, what did you bring back with you?" ”

Gu Lao Er proudly lifted the rice bag and said loudly: "I bought rice!" ”

"What? Did you buy rice? Gu Laoer's daughter-in-law got up from the bed, and grabbed Gu Laoer's pocket a little anxiously, the family's money had already run out, and Gu Laoer had not found a job before, and the family had not opened the pot for two days. Gu Lao Er was running around outside looking for a job, and in order to support his physical strength, he also ate a piece of bread yesterday. The Gu family's daughter-in-law and the old mother, who had not eaten anything for two whole days, saw the rice at this time, and the Gu family's daughter-in-law was happy.

"Where did you get the rice?"

"I took the padded jacket and cotton pants as a substitute for sixty yuan!"

"What?"

Hearing Gu Laoer's words, the Gu family's daughter-in-law was very disappointed, and her face darkened. He also thought that Gu Lao Er had earned dozens of dollars from where, who knew that it was the money from the cotton clothes. The daughter-in-law of the Gu family thought that Gu Lao Er would have no cotton clothes next winter, and tears immediately flowed: "Gu Lao Er, how will you spend next winter?" ”

"Daughter-in-law, listen to me!"

Hearing the quarrel between her son and daughter-in-law, the old mother of Gu Lao Er in bed woke up. Raising her head and staring at the rice bag in her daughter-in-law's hand, the old mother said with straight eyes: "My son, I'm going to faint from hunger for the past two days, and I really can't resist it." Since you bought rice, go cook some porridge and drink it! ”

After saying this, the mother-in-law lay on the bed with her head tilted, and she didn't have the strength to say more.

When the daughter-in-law of the Gu family heard her mother-in-law's words, she no longer argued with Gu Laoer. Biting her lip, she leaned against the wall and walked to the shared kitchen, where she lit a fire and made porridge. After half an hour, the porridge was cooked, and the Gu family's daughter-in-law vigorously carried a small pot of porridge and slowly walked back to her house.

Smelling the porridge, the old mother on the bed struggled to get up. Gu Lao Er found a few broken bowls, first served the porridge to the old mother, and then served a bowl to his daughter-in-law and himself.

The daughter-in-law of the Gu family was still worrying about Gu Er's cotton clothes, and she turned her back to Gu Lao Er and refused to speak.

The old mother didn't care about the porridge, drank hard, and swallowed it all. The hot porridge flowed into her stomach, and the old mother was in good spirits, so she said, "My son, I am not starving to death, you should also drink a few sips!" ”

Gu Lao Er was not in a hurry to drink porridge, but pulled his daughter-in-law with his back to him, and said: "Daughter-in-law, listen to me, I dare to take cotton clothes as a job, I have found an errand!" ”

Hearing this, the Gu family's daughter-in-law shook her body and slowly turned around: "What errand?" ”

"As a weaver of the Li family, I have two taels of silver a month, and I also have three meals and meat!"

"What?"

"The Li family in the east of the city! It's what I told you last time, the Li family who sells soap! His family has built a new weaving mill and hired me to be a weaver! Two taels of silver a month and a month to take care of food! That's why I dare to get rid of the cotton clothes, and I will be able to redeem the cotton clothes when I get the monthly money next month! ”

When the daughter-in-law of the Gu family heard such good news, she felt that God had finally opened her eyes, and she sat on the chair and was stunned for a long time, and then laughed happily. Laughing and laughing, she began to cry again. This time, though, she was crying with joy.

Two or two months' money is enough to buy 200 catties of rice, enough for food, clothing, housing and transportation for three people. Finally, the sunrise in my home opened and I had something to eat.

In this year when the soldiers are in chaos and the people are not making a living, what a happy thing to have food to eat.

Gu Lao Er hurriedly raised the rice bowl containing porridge in front of his daughter-in-law, and said loudly: "Daughter-in-law, you eat a few mouthfuls of porridge, and then go to Li's house for an 'interview'." I heard that his family also recruits female workers, if you are hired, our family will be prosperous! ”

The daughter-in-law of the Gu family took a prune, then quickly wiped away her tears, picked up the porridge bowl and drank the porridge in a big gulp. After a few sips, she patted the firewood ashes on her clothes and wanted to go to Li's house, but was stopped by Gu Laoer.

"Daughter-in-law take two more sips, don't fall to the ground halfway."

The daughter-in-law of the Gu family nodded, drank two more mouthfuls of porridge, and then ignored Gu Lao Er, pushed open the door and ran towards the courtyard of the Li family in the east of the city.

Recruiting 400 newcomers, Li Zhi divided the weavers into 40 groups. Each organization is assigned a team leader, and a capable relative is selected from the soap workshop to serve as a supervisor, and the monthly salary is three taels. The forty positions vacated by the soap workshop were replaced by new recruits.

At the end of March, Li Zhi's customized shuttle loom was fully assembled. After Li Zhi repeatedly explained the confidentiality regulations to the weavers, and warned the weavers of the consequences of leaking secrets, he let the weavers go to work.

In order to protect the secret of the shuttle loom, Li Zhi did not emphasize the weaving experience when recruiting people, but paid attention to the honest duty of the weaver. So in the beginning, some weavers were not skilled. But Li Zhi's welfare is so good, the weavers are very attentive when they work. Those who are not skilled will become proficient after practicing for a few days.

Although they did not get their monthly pay for less than a month, the weavers were still shocked by Li Zhi's benefits of three meals and meat. Every morning or eat steamed buns or porridge, fixed with an egg. Every afternoon, there are two taels of pork per person. Not to mention that the host also provides an extra meal at noon every day, and there are also two taels of pork!

For the poor people of the Ming Dynasty, who only ate two meals a day and rarely ate meat, this was simply aristocratic treatment. In the hearts of the poor who have never seen the world: even those old men who do big business can only eat like this, right?