The peaceful days passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, more than a month had gone by.
October was now more than halfway through.
"Wife, has he grown a bit bigger?" Gu Jinchen asked softly as he looked at Luo Ge's belly.
Upon hearing this, Luo Ge lowered her head and glanced at her belly, nodding.
"It seems so."
More than a month ago, her belly was still flat, with no noticeable changes.
But over the past month or so, they could sensitively detect a slight increase every eight or nine days.
Now, if she wore more fitted clothes, it could be seen as well.
Wang Sister-In-Law even said that she showed her pregnancy quite early.
"Hey, don't look anymore." Thinking this, she stretched out her hand and pushed his leaning head away.
"I just want to listen, didn't the doctor say before that he would start moving after a while? Why hasn't there been any movement yet?"
His large palm felt for any movement in her belly, slightly puzzled.
"That's after four months, it's only been a little over three months now, so of course there's no movement yet."
At most, they could only hear the heartbeat, which was very faint and could barely be detected.
"Alright." Upon hearing this, Gu Jinchen straightened his body and placed his hand on her waist.
"Are you still feeling unwell today?"
The little one in her belly was quite unruly, having just settled down for a period before causing trouble for his wife again recently.
Luo Ge shook her head: "No problem."
"Then let me take you to see the workshop? I finished cleaning it up yesterday."
After confirming that she was indeed fine, Gu Jinchen spoke.
The general layout of their house had now taken shape, with high walls enclosing the old residence. Since they were going into business, the small workshop was the first to be built.
Luo Ge had been looking forward to this for a long time, but previously he hadn't allowed her to go before it was built and cleaned up.
"Okay." Upon hearing this, Luo Ge's eyes lit up.
Over the past month or so, their salted duck egg and preserved egg business had stabilized.
Business was good, and Elder Brother Li's shop had passed on a few suggestions, recommending that they increase production and try selling in other shops as well.
Although the Fuxin Shop in Yiyang Town had very stable sales, it had already reached saturation.
Over the past month or so, they had accumulated quite a bit of inventory.
But the other shops hadn't been considered yet, in case they couldn't meet the supply when the time came, which would be bad.
"I got a lot of jars from Elder Brother Li's suppliers, and also brought back the materials and shelves. Everything is ready to start, wife just needs to choose the workers."
In fact, the workshop had been built a few days earlier, but he went to prepare these necessary supplies over the past couple of days, and only brought her here after everything was arranged.
Although it was called a small workshop, it had an actual usable area of over 300 square meters, with half for production and half for storage.
Seeing the appearance of the workshop, Luo Ge's eyes sparkled, clearly very pleased.
"Do you have any candidates in mind?" Only after hearing his words did she turn her gaze back and ask.
"Wang Sister-In-Law, Aunt Zhang, Sister Ya, Elder Sister Xiu Niang, Ma Feng Auntie, Luo Auntie?"
Not bothering with too many considerations, she naturally chose first those with good character and integrity who had always helped them.
"Hmm, we'll also need people for delivery and warehouse management, maybe hire two more? We'll also have to go 'collect eggs' ourselves."
At the current rate of egg collection, the present situation could be maintained, but if they wanted to expand production, the collected quantity would be 'insufficient.'
Her thinking was the same as Gu Jinchen's, those mentioned were the necessary choices for now.
"Okay."
...
In the afternoon, they invited Wang Sister-In-Law and the others over and told them about the small workshop.
"Monthly wage of 700 copper coins, paid monthly. Working hours will be the same as the current construction site, with two days off per month.
Everyone will take turns coming in, and if you need more time off, you can let us know. How about it?"
The current working hours at the construction site were from 8 AM to 5 PM, with a one and a half hour break for lunch.
"Sure, I have no objections."
"Me too."
Before Luo Ge finished speaking, Wang Sister-In-Law and Aunt Zhang were the first to readily agree.
Sister Ya, Elder Sister Xiu Niang, and Ma Feng Auntie all cheerfully accepted as well.
They were all farmers who eked out a living from the fields, so now that they had an opportunity to earn money, and so conveniently located within the village, what reason did they have to hesitate?
Moreover, the terms were so good.
And they were familiar with Luo Ge's family, who were not overly conservative or held the view that women should not go out and work.
There was nothing to fuss about; what's wrong with women working? Just look at Luo Ge, she could still earn good money with her skills, no different from men.
Many women in the village even envied Luo Ge.
Luo Auntie hadn't arrived yet; they had scheduled a later time with her as she had other arrangements.
"Alright, if everyone has no objections, let's sign the work contracts first, and you can start work the day after tomorrow."
Hearing everyone's agreement, Luo Ge nodded.
"I'll state again that you cannot disclose any matters or situations related to the workshop to anyone, including family and friends. This is also written in the work contract."
"Violation will result in a penalty of 20 taels of silver, and if it's serious, it will be reported to the authorities."
She had mentioned this when they were coming over, but she reminded them again.
Although they were all acquaintances, this procedure was still necessary.
Fortunately, everyone understood the situation.
"Sure, Luo Ge, you can rest assured. We have tight lips."
"We know better than that. This is your livelihood. Only those with ill intentions would leak your good fortune to others and harm you."
"We would never do that! Anyone who dares to do so will surely have a foul mouth, and won't be able to have children in this lifetime."
Before Luo Ge could speak, Ma Feng Auntie had already started cursing.
"If someone really does this, you don't need to show any mercy. We'll report it to the authorities, and Auntie will support you."
The usually quiet Aunt Zhang also spoke up solemnly.
"Okay."
Upon hearing this, Luo Ge smiled, and Gu Jinchen placed the prepared work contracts on the table.
He read through the contents aloud once.
"These are two-year contracts. I'll read through them once for you to confirm, or you can find someone to help review them if you'd like."
Afterwards, he added, "No need, no need, we trust you. We can just sign directly."
With that, Wang Sister-In-Law pressed her handprint on the red seal below the contract. She glanced at it, then pointed to a spot and looked at Luo Ge: "Luo Ge, it's here, right?"
"Yes, that's right. There are three copies in total, one for us, one for you, and one to be kept by the village chief as a record. You need to stamp all three."
"Got it, understood."
"My turn now." After Wang Sister-In-Law finished, Ma Feng Auntie came over.
"Okay, Auntie, yours is here."
Since none of them could read, Luo Ge had written their names in advance for them to stamp their handprints.
Led by Wang Sister-In-Law, the work contracts were quickly signed.
After seeing Wang Sister-In-Law and the others off, Luo Ge and Gu Jinchen went with Elder Sister Xiu Niang to the village chief's house to submit the copy for record-keeping, and also to find Luo Auntie.
