The Wealthy Eldest Sister Rules Supreme

That was why Zhou Daya was extremely grateful.

This sense of gratitude, however, made her feel a lot of invisible pressure.

“No worry, Sister Zhou, give it a try first. If it doesn’t work, we will adjust accordingly,” Zhuang Qingning held Zhou Daya’s hand and patted the back of it, “As I just said, this is my first time running a workshop too. We’re all figuring things out as we go along. Doing well isn’t taken for granted, and doing poorly isn’t necessarily wrong. Instead, it’s more common to make mistakes. If we do well, that means we’re lucky.”

“So, Sister Zhou, don’t overthink it. Just relax and give it a shot. If anything goes wrong, I promise you’ve got my support, you can feel completely and utterly reassured.”

Employing someone means trusting them, and doubting means not employing them. Now that Zhuang Qingning had decided to train Zhou Daya, she wasn’t hesitant about delegating, and she cheerfully encouraged her to work with courage and unreservedly.

Seeing Zhuang Qingning’s faith in her, Zhou Daya also felt invigorated, vigorously nodding her head, “Ah, since Little Sister Ning trusts me this much, I will give my absolute best and won’t disappoint you!”

“Good, I look forward to seeing it,” Zhuang Qingning said with a graceful smile.

Zhuang Qingning cheerfully chatted with Zhou Daya about what had been happening in the tofu skin workshop over the last few days, then she went over to check on the century egg workshop.

Nowadays, the century egg workshop was run by Mrs. Tao.

Mrs. Tao was the wife of Zhuang Facai from the village, so technically, if one goes by the hierarchical order, Zhuang Qingning should call her sister-in-law.

Although Mrs. Tao was technically Zhuang Qingning’s sister-in-law, she was around the same age as Mrs. He, very mature and diligent, as well as good at coordinating and managing people.

Originally, Mrs. Tao used to work in the tofu shop, where Zhuang Qingning came to have a good impression of her. As multiple workshops opened one after another, there were not many people left who could lead them. Zhuang Qingning thought about it and then invited Mrs. Tao to come and familiarize herself with the century egg workshop.

Mrs. Tao was able to quickly grasp the work of making century eggs, working both efficiently and effectively. She was conscientious in everything she did, and so Zhuang Qingning entrusted her to manage the century egg workshop.

And Mrs. Tao did not let her down; she managed the century egg workshop exceptionally well, with virtually no room for criticism at all.

After a brief chat with Mrs. Tao, Zhuang Qingning nodded approvingly, mentioning that someone might be coming to look around the workshop the next day and advised Mrs. Tao to make some preparations.

“It’s not an issue if they just want to take a look at our workshop since everything is usually in excellent order, and they won’t find any faults,” Mrs. Tao expressed some concern. “However, if they pretend to want to collaborate with Little Miss Ning and take that as an opportunity to observe how we produce century eggs, it would not be good.”

The incident last time someone stole our brine recipe for tofu was widely known throughout the village. It left a lingering fear in people’s minds, like the saying goes: once bitten by a snake, one tends to become leery of ropes for ten years.

Zhuang Qingning pondered for a moment, then nodded, “You’re right. While we shouldn’t harbor ill intentions, we can’t be negligent of bad possibilities. Even though it’s unlikely for such a thing to happen in our village, we must be wary of outsiders.”

“Besides, the process of making century eggs isn’t that difficult. Even if they couldn’t replicate ours exactly, they would still likely manage to produce something about seventy to eighty percent similar. Although their business won’t be as good as ours, they will still have a slice of the market.”

“Here’s what we’ll do. Tomorrow, I will carefully determine whether it’s necessary to allow people to observe the workshop. Even if it is necessary, they will only see the final product, and we won’t discuss the details of the process.”

Mrs. Tao nodded, “Ah, we always have to be more alert. Little Miss Ning, you’re so kind and still young, so you’re prone to not thinking about the worst-case scenarios. Yet, we should be more cautious to prevent any future troubles.”

“Yes, that’s the idea.” Zhuang Qingning nodded in agreement. She appreciated this kind of consideration for the well-being of the workshop and only smiled, “I’m young, and there are many things I haven’t considered, so I’m grateful for you looking out.”

Mrs. Tao was delighted and proud that Zhuang Qingning was neither irritated by her nagging nor dismissive of her warning, and even asked her to be more mindful of such matters in the future. She agreed wholeheartedly, “Little Miss Ning, don’t worry, I will surely keep a close eye on things for you.”

Zhuang Qingning cheerfully continued talking with Mrs. Tao for a while and left the workshop in a very good mood.

Everyone was doing his job well, making full use of their skills. All she had to do was manage her team of managers, and that was enough.

Just as she left the workshop, she saw Zhuang Jingye walking up quickly.

“Uncle Village Chief…”

Before Zhuang Qingning could finish her greetings, Zhuang Jingye grabbed her sleeve, “I was just looking for you, come see this.”

“See what?” Zhuang Qingning was somewhat puzzled.

“Beans,” Zhuang Jingye said, leading Zhuang Qingning to a nearby bean field. He pointed at the crops and said, “Look, those are beans.”

“These beans are from the big variety you talked about earlier. The few bunches over there are from last year’s seeds.”

Zhuang Qingning carefully examined the beans.

The beans from the new species had large, robust leaves and thick stems; they looked very vigorous. However, the ones grown from the old species, though decent in size, looked puny and wilted in comparison, and seemed inferior.

“Look at the blossoms on the plants. There are more flowers than the ones from last year’s crop. If it continues like this, we can look forward to a great harvest this year,” Zhuang Jingye said, smiling brightly.

Though he trusted Zhuang Qingning and believed the seeds she provided would be great, he still had to convince the villagers to plant these beans in hopes of a larger yield and more income.

Like any other situation, there was always uncertainty. Until the results came in, Zhuang Jingye was not completely assured.

Therefore, even though he didn’t mention it to anyone, he would stroll around the fields every day, especially observing the growth of the beans. Now, as he saw the beans growing better each day, his anxiety started to fade away slowly.

Since he happened to run into Zhuang Qingning that day, he dragged her over to take a look at the thriving beans.

The workshop was progressing smoothly, and the beans were growing robustly – the prospects were certainly looking good.

[Aside from the significant arrears of diligence values owed by the host, there’s nothing wrong.]

—II

Upon hearing such a damning comment, Zhuang Qingning’s smile crumbled instantly. She was on the verge of smashing the head of the cheeky observer.

You know, if you don’t speak now, nobody is going to think you’ve turned mute. As a debtor, I am very self-aware, okay?

Aren’t I diligently working hard to earn more money right now?