Chapter 542: Thriving

“Miss Lian is really quick at handling things!” Su Jin said, delighted.

Then Lian Fang Zhou mentioned Bai Shi Ling, saying that since they would work together in the future, why not meet today and have her introduce them.

Seeing that Lian Fang Zhou completely regarded her as one of her own people, she couldn’t help but feel a burst of gratitude in her heart.

As they were talking, Madam Li came in and said with a smile: “Miss, my husband has brought Shopkeeper Bai and is waiting at the main room.”

Lian Fang Zhou looked at Su Jin and laughed: “What a coincidence! Since he is here, let’s go out to meet him.”

“Alright!” Su Jin agreed, following her out. At the same time, Lian Fang Zhou called someone to bring Lian Ze over.

After everyone was introduced, they went over to the weaving room together to look at the cotton cloth.

It had to be said that Su Jin was a smart person with a strong sense of circumspection. She knew what should be said and what needed to be kept to herself. In the end, everything was reported thoroughly. There was no need for Lian Fang Zhou to hint at anything.

When Bai Shi Ling had first gotten off the carriage, he had been both disappointed and skeptical. How could there be an outstanding workshop in such a remote place? Even if there was, it would likely be a mess!

Although he was not a out-and-out old Nanchang native, he had lived there for nearly thirty years after becoming an apprentice. He was used to the bustling provincial capital and city life. It would be strange if there were no doubts in his heart.

However, after entering the compound, he was very surprised.

He knew that the countryside was dirty and messy and hadn’t thought much about it. He hadn’t expected that the courtyard in front of him was clean and well-organized. At the time, the flowers were in full bloom and the whole compound was full of vitality.

The disgust in Bai Shi Ling’s heart was half gone and he laughed at himself. Miss Lian was an extremely intelligent woman, why would her compound be disorganized and dirty?

When Lian Fang Zhou stepped out, he saw an outstanding woman behind her and shuddered. He no longer dared to belittle anything and greeted them with a warm and friendly smile.

After that, things progressed naturally.

Although Su Jin didn’t go into much detail, people who were intelligent had eyes and brains in addition to their ears.

Eyes observe, brains think.

After some inspection, Bai Shi Ling was both surprised and delighted. Thinking to himself, he thought: This Lian family has some real skills! Many other counties and cities were promoting their cotton but how was it that only the Lian family had success? This showed that they were unusual.

Having been in business for decades, Bai Shi Ling could recognize that the cotton cloth was a good thing when he saw it. It could not only be developed to be very fine but it could be woven to be both high-end luxury items or ordinary cloth. In this point alone, it was destined to surpass the high-end silks and rough linen cloth. Even the best linen was not as good as this.

And since Lianjia could grow cotton successfully, so could others.

This meant that though the price of cotton was high at the moment, it would gradually decrease and become something that even ordinary people could afford.

Selling it as a rare item to the rich would make money but ordinary people made up the largest percentage of the world.

One could imagine how big the market would be!

If Lianjia seized the first opportunity, it would be difficult not to develop in the future.

It was only then that Bai Shi Ling understood why Lian Fang Zhou had gone all the way to Nanchang City to recruit shopkeepers. This was a matter of vision.

The more knowledge she had, the broader her horizons. She planned to expand, so she set the tone high from the start. Naturally she needed to hire better shopkeepers with broader horizons.

Bai Shi Ling was extremely flattered: He was a talent!

When Lian Fang Zhou asked him to think about it for a few days, he refused without hesitation and signed the contract on the spot.

But when he saw the unusual contract, cold sweat broke out on his back. All the arrogance and pride in his superiority instantly shattered into pieces and his speech became more humble.

Lian Fang Zhou saw this and smiled secretly.

Bai Shi Ling discussed the contract with Lian Fang Zhou and went back to pack his bags, returning immediately. He also took the opportunity to recommend two small stewards to her, saying that they had worked together before and were familiar with each other. They would be able to cooperate well when working together in the future.

He might be familiar with them, but was his boss interested in this? Huddling together in front of her, how could there be such a good thing?

Regardless of whether he had such thoughts or not, Lian Fang Zhou would not agree to such a thing. Familiar people tended to group together in an unfamiliar environment, helping each other and covering each other’s weaknesses. This was inevitable and she wanted to avoid this from the start.

This was a good example, she would need to explain this to Lian Ze later.

Glancing at Bai Shi Ling with a half-smile, she said: “I already have two middle level managers here. I won’t need any new ones for a while, just bring over one.”

Bai Shi Ling didn’t think much of this. He nodded and smiled. “Okay, I will bring them over!”

“Let’s talk about it first!” Lian Fang Zhou laughed. “Before you come, you should make it clear to the people that you are working here and can only abide by our rules. I don’t care how other people run things, if you violate our rules, you will be punished accordingly. My younger brother Ah Ze will tell you in detail.”

This was also to remind Bai Shi Ling to be cautious when introducing new people. He would not be implicated if something happened, but it would not look good for him.

Bai Shi Ling shuddered and quickly agreed. His tone couldn’t help but raise two points of respect.

After everything was settled, Lian Fang Zhou didn’t want to keep him anymore. She let Lian Ze go back to the city with him. He would discuss the rules and treat him to dinner tonight, then hire a carriage to take him back to his hotel and bring him here tomorrow.

Bai Shi Ling was so excited that he wished he could start working right now. He left with Lian Ze right away.

Over the next few days, Lian Fang Zhou and Ah Jian checked the various fields.

Shitouping and Sanchakou had the foundation of last year. Just follow the steps and there was nothing to worry about.

The fruit trees on Xiaohuaguo mountain were blooming and the clusters of pink peach blossoms, snow-white pear blossoms, and plum blossoms were pleasing to the eye.

Walking among the flowers, the fragrance of the flowers rose and fell. When the sun shone, the smell was particularly strong, warm, and slightly intoxicating.

Countless bees were flying around, buy gathering pollen to make honey. The buzzing sound of their wings could be heard from all around.

The bee colony they raised last year had expanded several times and the orchard benefited a lot from the local water source.

Lian Fang Zhou planned to wait for everything to be sorted at Luosi mountain and then divide them into several boxes.

She was not a professional beekeeper, the bees were only to increase the population of the fruit trees. Now that the colonies were large enough, she had no plans to expand the colonies. Otherwise in winter, it would be too much work to feed them. Why bother? Moreover, it was troublesome to prevent the bee colonies from getting sick from overcrowding.