Chapter 71: Auntie Lin, the Outstanding Employee
Lin Daniang and Convoy Guard Mu agreed without a moment’s hesitation.
Both of them assumed that when Lin Sanniang mentioned bringing future items to the employer “for a look,” she meant gifting them to her. Little did they know, Lin Sanniang was planning to use this pretext to quietly set aside a portion of her own wages to supplement her sister’s household.
As for tailoring clothes, Lin Daniang was an expert.
She was actually far more skilled at needlework than Lin Sanniang. However, after her hands were injured, other people looked down on her missing fingers and refused to hire her for labor or day jobs. Lin Daniang was a proud woman. Since she could no longer do work that required facing clients, she put extra effort into her needlework. Over the years, she had frequently taken on mending and embroidery jobs. It was only because she was heavily pregnant with the little monkey, and subsequently suffered from postpartum blood stasis, that she had stopped taking on work.
Making two outfits? It was exactly what she ought to do.
Lin Daniang smiled, waiting for the moment Lin Sanniang gave her the measurements so she could unveil the “truth.” Lin Sanniang was completely oblivious, feeling nothing but pure joy. Working at the mountain estate had truly brought so much change and hope to her family.
In the modern era, at the mountain estate.
Jian Xingxia and Liang Chengcheng played by the creek for over an hour, only returning home once the sun began to dip in the west. The watermelon they couldn’t finish didn’t need to be carried back; burying it right under the trees turned it into natural nutrients for the plants. However, they meticulously gathered up all the empty beverage bottles and snack packaging they had used.
Liang Chengcheng remarked, “This creek water is so clean and completely unpolluted. It must be carefully protected.”
Jian Xingxia thought to herself: Of course it is. There wasn’t a single soul on the mountain day in and day out. Forget about industrial or domestic pollution, there wasn’t even any farming. In such a purely wild environment, the creek water was bound to be vastly clearer than anywhere else.
Wearing their slippers, the two girls walked back home, their footsteps making a steady clack-clack sound.
The moment they arrived home, Jian Xingxia was stunned. “Huh? What happened to the grass?”
Because she was worried about the villagers occasionally wandering into the mountains, Jian Xingxia had never let the temporary workers enter the front yard. Consequently, she pulled all the weeds in the front yard herself. As for the wild grass outside the front yard, she hadn’t touched it at all—it had only been slightly trampled down by them walking in and out these past few days.
Yet in the mere two hours they were out, a substantial patch of the wild grass outside the front yard had gone completely bald.
Liang Chengcheng squatted down to inspect it. “Whoa, this goose is seriously formidable. Look at all this grass—it actually ate it so clean that not a single leaf is left.”
The vines and stalks had also been trampled flat by the goose’s massive webbed feet, exposing a wide clearing.
Seeing this, Jian Xingxia noted, “Well, this is great. Saves me the trouble of weeding.”
However, she began calculating in her mind: she would have to plant a few more trees outside the front yard. Although the mountain path had trees blocking the line of sight all the way up, she still ought to plant an additional row of trees right against the courtyard wall to prevent any unnecessary trouble.
Liang Chengcheng, naturally oblivious to all this, was solely concerned with what they were having for dinner tonight.
Lin Sanniang had cooked quite a few dishes today, all of which Jian Xingxia had stored in the refrigerator, letting Liang Chengcheng pick whatever she wanted. Knowing that these dishes were meant to be “saved to eat slowly,” Lin Sanniang had taken their shelf life into consideration. She had made two cold dishes—a shredded three-delight salad and a smashed cucumber salad. Kept chilled with well water, they could be eaten for both lunch and dinner. Not to mention, the young mistress possessed a unique method for freezing cooked dishes.
As for the remaining dishes, there was pumpkin soup, pearl meatballs, braised free-range chicken, cured duck and radish soup, sweet and sour ribs, and braised pork belly with chestnuts… There weren’t many green vegetables. Jian Xingxia had instructed her to only cook enough leafy greens for the day, so Lin Sanniang had only stir-fried four vegetable dishes: vinegar-glazed napa cabbage, garlic stir-fried rapeseed greens, plain stir-fried luffa, stir-fried pork with peppers, sliced pork with cucumbers, and sour and spicy shredded potatoes.
Liang Chengcheng went to look in the refrigerator and felt thoroughly satisfied.
“Xiaxia, the auntie you hired today looks a bit peculiar, but her skills are honestly quite good.”
Liang Chengcheng felt the cost-effectiveness was absolutely maximized. “She’s incredibly efficient. How many hours did she come for? About five or six hours, I think. She even went to help you pull weeds in the middle of it, yet she still managed to whip up so many dishes.”
Liang Chengcheng added, “The specialized cooking nanny my family hired before cost eight thousand yuan a month, and it would take her three days just to make this amount of food.”
Yet this “Auntie Lin” only required one hundred yuan to cook enough food to last her and Jian Xingxia for two or three days.
Jian Xingxia took the opportunity to say, “Yeah. So even though Auntie Lin is a bit peculiar and doesn’t care to talk much, I’m still willing to hire her.” She further explained, “The earth stove has three burners—one for stir-frying, one for steaming, and another for braising or simmering. Auntie Lin uses earth stoves regularly, so firing up all three burners at once makes her far more efficient than us.”
Furthermore, with a large rural iron pot, placing a steaming rack inside meant steaming three or four dishes simultaneously was no problem at all.
Since Liang Chengcheng didn’t harbor any suspicions, she fully agreed with Jian Xingxia’s mindset. “Not being talkative is a virtue.”
In the evening, the two of them simply reheated the food. Liang Chengcheng casually remarked, “Xiaxia, your place is still missing a microwave.”
Jian Xingxia replied, “Mhm. Once I earn some money, I’ll buy one myself.”
Liang Chengcheng dropped the subject, turning instead to the quality of the food. “Auntie Lin’s skills are remarkably good. The ingredients used are all local, and the style is very rustic. It actually fits the high-end specialty restaurants my family wants to build perfectly.”
Compared to the trendy internet-famous dishes and pre-packaged meals that had been highly popular over the past two years, the dishes Lin Sanniang made were sufficiently home-cooked and rustic. The ingredients were simple, and looking at them, there was no need for any “high-tech” artificial additives. Liang Chengcheng was highly satisfied. This “scouting trip” had yielded excellent results.
After finishing dinner, Liang Chengcheng told Jian Xingxia, “Xiaxia, I bought a plane ticket for tomorrow. I’ll be heading back tomorrow.”
“So soon?” Jian Xingxia was a bit surprised.
Liang Chengcheng smiled. “I’ve gathered almost enough ingredients, and I’ve tasted the specialty dishes, so it’s about time to head back.” She giggled, “My family has two hundred storefronts, after all. My dad said I have to rotate through at least ten stores before he’ll let me return to headquarters for management.”
“Besides, since graduation up until now, I haven’t even completed a full month at the first store. I feel it’s not quite right myself, so I should head to the second store as quickly as possible to assess the situation early and spot any problems.”
That was true. Jian Xingxia had always known that although Liang Chengcheng was “delicate,” she was also highly driven. She wasn’t just a wealthy second-generation heir who only knew how to eat, drink, and play; she and her older sister were bona fide family heiresses who knew exactly what they were doing.
“Plus, the courier just called and said they won’t come into the village for a pickup. Paying extra is a small matter, but mailing certain things is rather troublesome, so I might as well just carry them back myself.”
The dry goods were readily available, and she could harvest the fresh fruits and vegetables directly tomorrow morning. Once her flight landed in the afternoon, she could deliver them straight to the testing center. It was slightly more convenient than using a courier.
Seeing this, Jian Xingxia didn’t try to keep her any longer. “You’re welcome to come back anytime!”
“I definitely will!” Liang Chengcheng winked. “But Xiaxia, you have to step up your game too. Don’t go scavenging for scraps while sitting on a gold mine. I hope that the next time I come, you’ll be able to properly utilize these mountain peaks and build a grand career.”
We aren’t meant to just be best friends and roommates who knew each other when we were broke. We are a league of wealthy women destined to join forces and build a business empire!
