Chapter 336: Allocating Staff

Gu Fei smiled. "Mother, they’ll all be useful."

"I just discussed this with Father. From now on, Third Uncle will be in charge of the family’s land. Steward Liu will assist him with rent collection and managing the tenants."

She turned to the servants. "Steward Qin and Liu Fu, you will work with my father. For now, you’ll be handling the purchase of a boat and merchandise."

"Qin Shun, you will accompany my second brother when he goes out. Learn diligently. If you do well, you might be promoted to Shopkeeper in the future."

Qin Shun’s heart pounded with excitement. "Miss, I’ll be sure to study hard."

Gu Fei then looked at Housekeeper Liu’s daughter. "From now on, your name will be Yan’er, not Ziyun. You will serve me directly. I need a maid who can read."

Yan’er lowered her head obediently and answered, "Yes."

"Liu Zhu, your daily job will be to wake up early and go into town for supplies. You’ll also be in charge of the fish pond for now. Aunt Liu, you will remain in the kitchen."

"Aunt Qin and Fang Fang, you will work in the inner courtyard doing laundry, cleaning, and other odd jobs, and you’ll attend to my parents."

Hearing this last part, Mrs. Chen interjected, "No, no, that’s not necessary. Why don’t you take them with you? We don’t need anyone to wait on us here at home."

Gu Fei smiled. "Sister-in-law is pregnant, so there are many things she can’t do conveniently. It’s better to have someone here to handle the chores."

Li Chunhua quickly chimed in, "Sister, I can do any kind of work. We really don’t need so many people at home. Why don’t you take them to the shop? They can help you there."

Aunt Qin kept her head bowed and remained silent. She was the most disappointed of all. In her previous post, she had been the madam’s most trusted head housekeeper. Now, here she was, relegated to menial chores like cleaning and laundry.

’At least the whole family is together.’ With that thought, her small bit of resentment vanished.

Fang Fang stared at Gu Fei with hopeful eyes. She wanted to serve her. ’The young miss is so beautiful,’ she thought, ’a hundred times more beautiful than the one I used to serve.’

Gu Fei asked Fang Fang, "Can you read?"

Fang Fang answered quickly, "Yes, Miss! I can read. Ever since I was little, my father told me that if I wanted to become a head maid or a female steward, I had to be literate."

Gu Fei considered for a moment. ’There really isn’t much to do at home.’ She nodded. "Alright, Fang Fang, you’ll come with me too."

Gu Fei then turned to the pregnant Mrs. Zhou. "You’re with child, so it’s not right for you to be working. For now, just focus on resting and having a healthy baby."

Once everyone had been assigned their roles, Gu Fei addressed the group. "As you can all see, we are a modest family, not like the grand households of your former masters."

"The two stewards will each receive a monthly salary of one tael of silver. Aunt Liu, as head of the kitchen, you’ll also get one tael. The rest of you on duty will receive five hundred cash per month. If you do your jobs well, your monthly salary will be increased."

Everyone bowed their heads. "Thank you, Miss."

Gu Fei paused for a moment before continuing. "Now that you’ve come to my household, you will abide by my rules. Rule number one: you are not to disrespect your masters. I know that as servants from an official’s family, you are more worldly and might look down on country folk like us. It’s what they call ’an overbearing servant bullying the master.’ But a person must sing the song of whatever mountain they’re on. No matter how worldly you think you are, you are still a servant. You will not overstep your master."

"Let me be blunt. If I find anyone disrespecting the masters, or trying to slack off and be clever about it, I will deal with you according to the severity of the offense. For minor infractions, I will dock your monthly salary. For serious ones... well, I’m afraid this family won’t be able to keep you. You’ll be taken out and sold immediately."

"And when that happens, I won’t care if you are torn from your own flesh and blood!"

Everyone hastily replied, "We wouldn’t dare."

Gu Fei waved her hand. "You’ve all had a long day and must be tired. Go and get washed up and change your clothes. If any of you have lice, my mother has medicine. Make sure you get yourselves completely clean."

Everyone acknowledged her and sprang into action, some fetching water, others lighting the fires.