Chapter 163 - Helper (2/2)

Yu Hai thought about it and her reasoning seemed to make sense. He replied hesitantly, “Then...who do you think we should hire? How much should we pay him in a day?”

“This person must have a good and honest character as well as be steady and capable!” Yu Xiaocao said with a smile. She already had a candidate in her mind.

Yu Hang pursed his lips. He hadn’t said anything throughout the exchange but now he finally spoke up, “I think Third Uncle is a suitable candidate for this job. Whenever our family is busy, he would always come over to help. We all know about his honesty and good character! Father, if you still feel guilty about it, you can just pay Third Uncle a little more money!”

Yu Hai thought about it. His younger cousin, Yu Jiang, had a flexible mind and he was a great friend to the family. He was indeed a good candidate for the job, so he nodded his head in agreement.

It was a sunny day the next day. The sun shone warmly on their bodies. Yu Hai went to his uncle’s house early in the morning and told his uncle’s family that he hoped that Yu Jiang could help him out. He was a little embarrassed when he briefly mentioned that he was planning on paying him.

Yu Hai’s eldest uncle, Yu Lichun, was very angry in the beginning. He felt that since they were relatives, it would hurt their relationship if one party paid the other party for just helping out. Yu Jiang also repeatedly stressed that he would go help them, but he won’t accept any money for the work.

Yu Hai’s heart was very touched by them. He received the family love that was missing back home from his eldest uncle’s family. He stood up to his uncle’s preaching and explained everything patiently.

“Eldest Uncle, I’m not inviting Little Jiang over to help out for a day or two. Instead, I’m planning on working with him for a long time. Let me tell you the truth, I receive a 10% profit by helping Zhenxiu Restaurant purchase seafood. How can I make my little brother work for free while I take the money all for myself? Don’t get angry yet, let me finish explaining first! Zhenxiu Restaurant’s condiment factory requires a long-term supply of seafood. Having one person from each family working on it can be considered as two families cooperating together to do business. I’m also taking advantage of your family because our Xiaosha is still half a child…”

Yu Jiang thought that it was a feasible idea for the two families to cooperate together to do business because his cousin’s family couldn’t deal with all the work they had. When he heard this, he quickly helped Yu Hang get some justice and said, “Older Cousin, although Yu Hang is young, he can do an adult’s work. Even if Yu Hang didn’t use an abacus, none of the accountants in town can beat Yu Hang when it comes to calculating accounts!”

Of course, Xiaocao already taught the multiplication tables to her brothers and sisters, so it wasn’t difficult for them to calculate using their heads.

Yu Lichun finally agreed after Yu Hai’s repeated his request sincerely. However, no matter what, he didn’t agree with Yu Hai about splitting the earnings equally between the two families. Yu Lichun understood in his heart that Yu Hai was able to get a profitable job because of his friendship with Zhenxiu Restaurant.

In the end, they agreed on a forty-sixty percent split. Yu Jiang was going to receive forty percent of the earnings and Yu Hai was going to receive sixty percent of the earnings. Yu Hai felt very embarrassed by this as he felt like he took advantage of his uncle’s family.

Yu Jiang showed up early in the morning. It coincided with the time the tide receded today, which was early this morning. There were already villagers coming to sell their oysters and non-processed sandworms. Yu Jiang had helped out a few times before, so he was able to deal with them very quickly.

He was in charge of weighing and placing the seafood they purchase, while Yu Hang was responsible for bookkeeping and settling the bill. Yu Hang had followed his younger brother for several months, learning how to read and write characters. Now, he could read and write most of the commonly used words. The two people worked together very well.

Yu Hai family’s purchase of seafood had always been honest; they never gave people less for what their seafood was worth. They also weren’t like the people in charge in the other villages where they would lower the purchasing price of the seafood. Therefore, not only did the villagers in Dongshan Village sell to them but also some of the fishermen in several nearby villages would walk a little more to sell their seafood.

As a result, the amount of seafood the Yu Family purchased steadily increased each day. Although it was hard work, their income had increased a lot. At night, when they calculated their earnings, Yu Jiang was surprised when he found that he had earned one to two taels of silver. An able-bodied man’s labor in town was only worth ten or so copper coins.

He didn’t have to do any heavy labor, and, when there were fewer people, he was able to rest for a while. However, in one day, he was able to earn more than one tael of silver… Yu Jiang wasn’t convinced and even suspected that his cousin had given him more money.

Yu Hang explained the accounts to him, and Yu Jiang couldn’t help but become speechless. He thought that he was only going to earn a little money by helping out his cousin with his business. But who would’ve thought that he would be able to earn forty to fifty taels of silver in a month? This was something he never dared to think about before!

He didn’t have a skilled trade, so if he worked all year round by doing unskilled labor, he would be able to earn five to six taels of silver in a year if he worked tirelessly. That was already considered to be quite a sum of money. Now, he didn’t need to do any heavy labor and was able to earn forty to fifty taels of silver in a month doing light labor. He would be able to earn five hundred to six hundred taels of silver in a year… Yu Jiang suddenly felt dizzy as if he was in a dream.

On his way home, Yu Jiang held the broken silver bits that added up to one tael and three hundred copper coins in his hand tightly. The skin on the palm of his hand had red marks from gripping the money too hard. Yu Lichun was tending the vegetable garden, and, his older brother, Yu Xi, who was chopping firewood, noticed his restless appearance. They stopped what they were doing and looked at him with concern.

“What happened? Didn’t you go help your second brother out? Why did you come back so early? Is your body feeling uncomfortable?” Yu Lichun wanted to touch his palm, but he realized that Yu Jiang had his hand in a tight fist.

Yu Jiang finally recovered his wits and spread his fist out in excitement, revealing the pieces of silver inside.