Chapter 272: Helping Others is a Pleasure

Translator: 549690339 |

“What’s going on?” Zhuang Qingning automatically asked, “Is there something you wanted to buy that we don’t have?”

“No, that’s not it.” Mrs. Cao replied, “The girl came to ask if we needed extra hands in our shop. She said she’s hardworking and can endure hardship. As long as she has a place to stay, she’d bring her grandmother to live with her.”

“I told her that the cloth shop nearby was hiring a few days ago. She could go there and see. But although the cloth shop has a backyard for workers to stay, they might not accept her since she has to bring her grandmother.”

“I think she hesitated, probably worried about this issue…”

It was a reasonable worry. Hiring a worker means expecting that person to do their part. Hiring an elderly person means having one more individual, and they might need to accommodate their necessities. Even though they wouldn’t necessarily need to cover their food and drink, it still wouldn’t be convenient. Moreover, old folks being of advanced age means that they are susceptible to health risks anytime. That’s why most shops would disagree with hiring someone with an elderly dependent.

However, seeing a girl at such a young age seeking work, needing to find a place that would allow her to bring her grandmother to move in suggests that there’s no one else in her family to rely on. The heavy burden of her family fell onto the shoulders of a young girl. That was pitiful.

[Ding, congratulations to the host for triggering the mission of helping others. After completing the mission, the host will be rewarded with a basic century egg recipe. ]

Helping others?

Is it referring to the girl who was looking for work just now?

And this century egg recipe, she had been eyeing it for a few days now. Thinking about the hot summer days, a plate of cold century eggs with green pepper, or century eggs and tofu, or even century egg and lean meat porridge would definitely be a delicious appetizer.

It’s just that the price of the century egg recipe was not cheap.

Anticipating that Ding Gaochang may find a good resource land, and they can develop a new workshop around it, Zhuang Qingning has reserved many diligent points in case of future needs. Because of this, she had been coveting the century egg recipe but hadn’t had the heart to buy it.

Seeing that the recipe she was reluctant to buy was about to be rewarded through this mission, Zhuang Qingning quickly decided to take it on without even thinking about it.

It’s just helping others, helping the young girl find work, right? The tofu skin workshop is about to open. Arranging an extra pair of hands is not a difficult task.

While thinking about all this, Zhuang Qingning hurried up and caught up with the disheartened girl who was anxiously looking at the shops. “Excuse me, are you looking for work?”

“Yes.” The girl nodded. Seeing that Zhuang Qingning was panting, she could tell that she had come running after her. Immediately, her eyes sparkled, “Are you hiring? I’m hardworking and can endure hardship. I don’t demand high wages as long as I have food and shelter. However, I have to tell you in advance that my grandmother and I are dependent on each other. If I work, my grandmother must come with me…”

“I’ve opened a tofu skin workshop and I need to hire workers. I can provide room and board. As for your grandmother, she can also stay with us. However, the workshop is not in town, but in Enji Village nearby. If you are willing, you can come with me to see it.” Zhuang Qingning said.

Seeing the girl’s eyelids drop, her body becoming a bit nervous, Zhuang Qingning could guess she was worried about Zhuang’s character. Zhuang gave a slight chuckle, “Don’t worry, I’m not a bad person. I run a tofu shop in town, Zhuang’s Tofu Shop. It’s my shop. I just heard from Aunt Cao in the shop that you are looking for work. I thought since my tofu skin workshop is about to start operating and we are short of hands, since you claimed to be hardworking and can endure hardship, I decided to see if we can find a good worker.”

“By the way, what’s your name?”

“My name is Zhou Daya. You can just call me Daya.” Zhou Daya replied, her eyes showing less caution and more surprise and admiration at Zhuang Qingning. “Are you saying that you own Zhuang’s Tofu Shop? You’re the manager?”

“Yes.” Zhuang Qingning saw the disbelief on her face and laughed, “Is there something wrong?”

“No, no.” Zhou Daya hastily waved her hands, “It’s just that you’re young, even younger than me, and you’ve already opened a tofu shop in town?”

And also, from what she said, she has even opened a tofu skin workshop?

This is somewhat incredible, isn’t it…

“When it comes to life and work, age and gender don’t matter, it’s all about abilities.” Zhuang Qingning responded with a smile.

“Well said.” Zhou Daya nodded, “Then it’s decided. I’m willing to work at the tofu skin workshop. But I need to tell my grandmother first. I was afraid she would be too tired to go back and forth with me. I let her rest under the locust tree there. Do mind if I fetch my grandmother and we can go back together?” “Oops, I don’t even know your name yet, Manager?”

“My name is Zhuang Qingning. You don’t need to call me ‘manager’. You can just call me Ning or Little Sister Ning.” Zhuang Qingning said, “Well, go and tell your grandmother. If she agrees, you can both come to my tofu shop. When the goods are delivered to the tofu shop later, we will go back together.”

“Okay… Ning…”

It took Zhou Daya half a day to say “Little Sister Ning”.

After thanking Zhuang Qingning profusely, she finally went towards the locust tree to find her grandmother, Mrs. Han.

Mrs. Han was sitting under the locust tree, enjoying the shade and resting while looking at Zhou Daya’s silhouette. When she saw Zhou Daya running over, she took out her handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead, “Take a rest here? I bought some tea for you, hurry up and have a drink.”

“Look at how cheerful you are, did you find work?”

“Yes.” Zhou Daya nodded excitedly, “I found work. But it’s not in town, it’s in Enji Village nearby. My employer is a young girl who’s even younger than me. She has a tofu shop in town. The new tofu skin workshop in the village is short of hands. If I’m willing to go, she said she can hire me.”

“She also said we should go to the tofu shop and wait for a bit. When the bullock cart delivering tofu arrives, we can go back together.”

“A tofu shop?” Mrs. Han frowned, “Isn’t there only one tofu shop in this town?”

“I guess so…” Zhou Daya looked around, “I’ve been presenting around town and I haven’t seen a second one. Grandma, what about this tofu shop?” “Nothing really, just that when I was here earlier, I overheard others saying that the tofu shop in town tastes good and does good business. It’s impressive. I thought to myself that if this Manager Zhuang could make such delicious tofu, a new tofu skin workshop surely wouldn’t be bad.”