Chapter 187: Unexpected

oment she came to her senses, she gasped in surprise. When she looked back at her granddaughter, her neck creaked and popped incessantly like machinery."Oh, Funiu'er, we have something good here. Can...The first-class set meal consists of rice with four dishes and one soup, enough for four people to eat, priced at one or two silver coins.

The second-tier package includes a rice dish, one meat and one vegetable dish, plus a soup. It is sufficient for two people to eat, priced at five hundred wen.

The C-grade set meal consists of rice, one meat dish, and a complimentary side dish. It is priced at one hundred wen.

The Ding et al. set is mixed rice made from glutinous rice and millet, with a vegetarian dish and a complimentary side dish. The price is fifty mon.

This price was strictly determined after discussion among everyone.

A, B, and C are for guests, while D and the rest are prepared for servants.

The village chief originally thought that vegetables were not valuable and the price should be set lower.

But Li Laoer insisted, preferring to give away more side dishes rather than lower the price.

Once the price is set, winter greens become more expensive, but it's difficult to raise the price.

Conversely, as a gift of food, no matter the amount, it would always please guests and leave them with an impression of the host's generosity and hospitality.

Soon, Lao San Li bought the vegetables back.

Tao Hongying saw that they had everything they needed, so she immediately led the women to start steaming rice. Meanwhile, the mischievous children ran off in all directions, counting how many sets of meals were required.

They had been learning arithmetic from Li Lao Er intermittently for over a year, and now it was finally coming in handy.

The lightning-fast ordering, quoting, and billing process left customers amazed once again.

But some guests found the dishes too simple. Lao Er Li had already given instructions, so the young guys smiled and said, "Because it's the first day we're welcoming guests, there will certainly be some shortcomings. We hope that the guests will forgive us, and it will get better gradually. Besides, our chef is very skilled, you can rest assured that you won't be disappointed."

The guests weren't overly concerned, they didn't dwell on it.

Even some who had just met, in high spirits, went ahead and ordered the deluxe package together.

But this created another problem: who pays, and how much

In short, all sorts of minor problems kept popping up, and eventually they all converged on Old Li Er.

Li Lao Er also frowned. He had worked as an accountant before, but it was for a textile shop, not something this complicated.

Jia Yin has never managed a hot spring bath, but she has never eaten pork. She has always seen pigs walking, after all.

She thought for a moment and then took out the little wooden horse from her purse, waving it in front of her second uncle. "Second Uncle," she said, "my little horse also needs to eat grass. Remember to make it pay."

Lao Er Li couldn't help but laugh and cry. He hugged his niece and kissed her cheek, but suddenly a thought struck him, and his eyes lit up.

He didn't have time to put down his niece and shouted to Li Laosan, "Laosan, Laosan, come here quickly!"

Li Laosan was helping to build a fire and hurried forward, "Second brother, is something the matter"

"Yes, yes! You go find some wood and carve out some signs. For now, don't worry about any patterns, just write simple numbers. Like, which courtyard is number so-and-so, or which visitor is number so-and-so. That way, whoever has extra expenses can show their sign to keep track, and we'll settle up together when they leave."

Li Lao'er grew more and more excited as he spoke, "After I have some free time, I should carve some unique markings on the back of the sign to make it easier to identify."

Li Lao San was a taciturn man, but he was extremely intelligent. He also enjoyed carpentry work, so he immediately took on the job. He went back to the village and called in several young men to help him get started.

On the other side, Tao Hongying was busy cooking with the women. The delicious aroma soon filled the valley.

The guests scrambled ashore, changing their clothes and getting ready for a meal.

Once all the dishes were served, the guests nodded in approval after taking a bite. Only then did Lao Er Li and his team feel utterly exhausted.

In the afternoon, the guests who had booked a wooden house and a courtyard went back for a nap. The casual visitors played until the sun set and then left.

It was a flurry of activity again, even bringing out the mule carts to transport the guests.

Since some individual travelers came by carriage, they had no carriage to return home. They couldn't walk all the way, could they

After finishing all of that, I prepared dinner for the overnight guests...

Not until everything was done and the moon was high in the sky, leaving a few men to guard the grain storage, did Li Lao Er and his team finally drag their weary feet back to the village.

And the village head and most of the villagers were waiting in Li's courtyard, everyone wanting to know how today's mountain valley business was going.

Li Lao Er drank a bowl of water and then, with a smile, announced, "Today we collected over 330 jin of grain and over 60 liang of silver."

Everyone looked at each other, a little confused. This was really beyond their expectations.

When they came to their senses, everyone cheered!

"This is too much! Over three hundred catties of grain in a day, enough for our whole village to eat for three days."

"With that silver, over sixty taels, wouldn't we have our investment back in two months!"

The village head was also beaming, waving his pipe bowl and tapping the table to quiet everyone down. "Quiet down all of you! If word gets out, people will laugh at us for being so naive. Besides, this is just what we've collected, not including the cost and the wages for everyone's hard work!"

Li Laoer also nodded and smiled, "The capital hasn't been deducted, but the profit is at least forty taels. Similarly, there are a lot of problems that need to be solved slowly."

The village head cleared his throat and called out to Jiarren, "Get me some paper and a pen! Since everyone is here and business has started, let's set some rules tonight!"

Everyone nodded quickly and leaned forward.

The village head pointed at Li Laoer, "I'll say it again, the day I die or get old, our village's Laoer will be the village head, no one objects to this, right"

“No objection, we follow the second brother’s lead!” The villagers almost responded in unison.

Li Lao Er could read and write, had been a shopkeeper before, and was also smooth in his dealings. Now he is in charge of the business at the Hot Spring Valley.

No one can replace him in all these matters!

Then the village head said, “These past few days I’ve been wandering around our village and its outskirts. I’ve divided up the livelihoods in our village into several categories: Hot Spring Valley, Riverbank Land, two mountaintops, and the village itself. In our village, we work together as a team. No one cares whose land is on the mountains or who owns the riverbank land. We all work together and share the burdens equally.”

"But when it comes to work, we can't be sloppy. The more you do, the more you get, the less you do, the less you get. Nobody should take advantage of anyone else. From now on, we'll divide all the jobs into three categories: first-class, second-class, and third-class. For example, someone like Hongying and Lao Er, who do heavy work and endure hardships, even if they are considered first-class workers, they will get more work points. For example, sweeping the streets or tending crops is light work, so they get fewer work points."

Someone couldn't help but ask, "Uncle, how many work points does it take to clear the weeds with a shovel, and how much is one work point"

"What are you in such a hurry for Listen to me slowly." The village head glared at the impatient youth, suppressing his eagerness.

He continued, "I just want to let everyone know about this. What specific tasks and how many work points there are will be discussed later when we have time. We can all get together and figure it out. We can't let everyone lose out."

Li La Er had also heard a few words from the village head beforehand, and at this moment he said, "What I mean along with the village head is that in the future, the whole village, including hot springs, mountains, and riverbanks, all will be included. Half of what comes in will be used for wages, and the other half will be distributed according to each household's investment."

For example, if the whole village earned 1,000 taels in a year, then 500 taels would be distributed as dividends, leaving 500 taels. This 500 taels exactly equals the combined work points of all villagers, which is 50,000 points. So, one work point is worth ten wen. If your child goes to tend the melon fields for three work points, that's thirty wen earned for the day.

Finally, everyone understood. They were all listening intently and realized that the Li family and Master Ye were making concessions.

After all, since the two of them invested the most money, if they took out half of the profits to distribute, they would receive more silver.

Someone then asked, "Village head, everyone benefited from this. Should we ask Young Master Ye again before making a decision"e Consort. Could it be..."He didn't finish his sentence, but the Marquis already understood.The Lord pondered for a moment, then instructed everyone, "From now on, no one should ever mention these wor...