Chapter 72: Building the Factory

She didn’t have the time to keep an eye on Feng Chunhua herself, but there was someone who could.

She planned to make a trip to town tomorrow.

She’d already decided who to send.

She quietly reminded Hua Daling not to tell anyone else, then went back to cooking.

Hua Daling was now extremely obedient to Chu Xuan.

In her heart, Chu Xuan was her family’s lucky star.

After just a few days working for Chu Xuan, she’d already earned several dozen yuan in wages and overtime, and her family’s living conditions had improved greatly—they could now afford pork and eggs every day.

Now, many people in the village wanted to come work, but Chu Xuan wasn’t hiring anymore.

Miao Dacui, Gao Meijuan, Qin Mahua, and Fu Qing all came to help in the kitchen, and in less than half an hour, all the dishes were ready and on the table.

On average, there was one dish per person.

With food and wine, the atmosphere was lively and festive.

Chu Xuan, Chu Feng, Wang Shasha, Liu Zhaodi’s family, and the widow Wang’s son didn’t drink, but the others all had a little.

The meal went on until after nine in the evening.

After everyone helped wash the dishes and tidy up, they gradually said their goodbyes and left, returning the two large tables borrowed from the village office along the way.

Wang Depin and Gao Meijuan stayed behind to discuss business with Chu Xuan.

They went to Chu Feng’s bedroom to talk.

The furniture they’d ordered had already been delivered and set up.

Chu Feng’s room was fully furnished with tables, chairs, and benches—plenty of space to sit.

Chu Feng poured them more tea and sat quietly to listen.

Wang Depin looked pleased. “Xiao Xuan, tonight I’m here on behalf of everyone at the village office to discuss building the factory with you.”

Chu Xuan was already prepared. After all, the 2,500 jin of grilled fish fillets shipped out at dawn was the best proof of her capabilities.

“Grandpa Wang, please go on.”

“Alright.” Wang Depin pulled a blueprint from his pocket, unfolded it, and laid it on the table. “This is the architectural plan for the grilled fish fillet factory. Take a look and see if there’s anything you’d like to add.”

Chu Xuan hadn’t expected Grandpa Wang to have even the blueprints ready—he was impressively efficient.

She looked carefully. The factory would cover over 20,000 square meters.

There was a fish cleaning and processing workshop, a grilling workshop, a warehouse, office area, reception area, and plans for water and electricity lines…

Everything was included.

It was all designed according to what she and Grandpa Wang had discussed previously.

“Grandpa Wang, I have nothing to add. Where will the factory be located?”

Wang Depin pointed to the place where people usually fetched water.

“Downstream from the creek. That way, it’s convenient to get water and to discharge the water from cleaning the fish. But don’t worry, the dirty water will go through pipes and be discharged separately into the ditch near the downstream creek. It won’t affect the village’s drinking water.”

Villagers always fetched water upstream.

As for that unused ditch, Chu Xuan knew it eventually flowed into the sea.

In this era, wastewater treatment wasn’t common, so Chu Xuan didn’t object. “When will construction start?”

“We’ll start marking out and digging the foundation tomorrow. Typhoon season is coming soon, but we can lay the foundation first, and after the typhoon passes, continue building. We aim to finish by the end of September and start trial production in October.”

With that, Chu Xuan had a clear idea.

Her grilled fish fillet business at home would need to keep going at least until early October.

Before Chu Xuan could ask about the profit-sharing arrangement once the factory was up and running, Gao Meijuan couldn’t wait and spoke up, “Let’s talk about how Xiao Xuan’s dividends will be calculated?”

Wang Depin took out a document prepared by the village and handed it to Chu Xuan. “Let Xiao Xuan read it herself.”

Chu Xuan took it and understood at a glance: five percent of sales revenue, settled before the 15th of each month.

On the surface, it looked less than the ten percent of net profit Wang Depin had mentioned before, but in reality, it was more—and much safer.

No matter whether the factory made a profit in the future, as long as they sold product, Chu Xuan would get five percent of the sales.

“Thank you, Grandpa Wang! I agree to this profit-sharing plan.”

Wang Depin smiled kindly. “We’re all family, no need to be so polite. As for the others, since the factory is being built with pooled funds, their dividends will be based on their investment share and calculated from net profits. Xiao Xuan, yours is a technical share, and you also have stable sales channels. Honestly, I feel like we’re shortchanging you a bit. Once the factory is running, I’d like to give you a position as sales manager, with a separate salary…”

Chu Xuan knew Grandpa Wang was thinking of her, but that would tie her down to the factory, and she had many other plans. “Grandpa Wang, there’s no need to reserve a position for me. Don’t worry, I have other ways to make money. By the way, has the shop you bought near the train station gone through yet?”

“It’ll still be a while. Xiao Xuan, do you have an idea?”

“When you get the shop, your family can sell grilled fish fillets there. That way, your family will have income, and it’ll also advertise for the village factory. When you have time, you can think of a brand name for the fish fillets. For example, Boss Yuan, who buys my grilled fish fillets and sells them out of town, has ‘Half Moon Brand’ printed on his packaging. When your shop and the factory open, do you want to use a unified brand name?”

Wang Depin nodded repeatedly and gave Chu Xuan a thumbs-up. “You really think of everything, Xiao Xuan.”

They chatted for another half hour before saying their goodbyes and leaving.

When only Chu Xuan and her younger brother were left at home, Chu Feng finally voiced his doubts.

“Jie, why are you giving our family’s money-making business to the village collective?”

Chu Xuan gently rubbed her little brother’s head. “Because Grandpa Wang is the village chief, and I want to help him build up his achievements. Don’t forget, when we were at our lowest, his family helped us without asking for anything in return. We should always be grateful. In this world, no one is obligated to help anyone else. If someone helps us, we must repay them when we can. You must remember this. Also, I want our village to prosper.”

Chu Feng nodded vigorously. “I understand!”

“But you don’t need to worry about our future income…”

Before she could finish, Chu Feng had already taken out his abacus and started calculating. In no time, he said happily, “I’m not worried. Once the grilled fish fillet factory is running, our family will get dividends. That’ll be enough for your medicine and my school expenses. With what we’re making now, we can even rebuild two new rooms.”

“Little brother, you’re getting good at this! You can already do the math?”

“It’s not me, it’s my master who taught me well. By the way, Jie, I heard a widow from the next village has her eye on my master.”

“What’s her name?”

“Sheng Damei.”

Chu Xuan knew who Sheng Damei was. In her previous life, she’d caused Accountant Wen a lot of trouble—he even ended up raising someone else’s child.

She’d have to find a way to stop it, but didn’t plan to say more in front of Chu Feng.

“Got it. Go to bed. I’ll wash up and rest too.”

“Okay.”

About ten minutes later, Chu Xuan lay on the kang, thinking about what she needed to do tomorrow: get up early to make and take her medicine, arrange for everyone to process and grill fish, then go to town and be back before 10:30 to go to the tidal flats, and in the afternoon…

She drifted off to sleep without realizing it.

That night, she had a dream—a masked man came at her with a knife, and she was too weak to move. As the knife came down, Mu Chenze rushed over and took the blow for her.

“Mu Chenze! Mu Chenze…”

In the morning, she woke up crying.

Chu Feng heard his sister calling Mu Chenze’s name, but didn’t dare ask.

Because after quickly washing up, his sister rushed out the door…"