First-rank palace maid Su Jixiang

Chapter 270 Military Widow

Wei Rui bowed again and left without even turning back.

Zhao Xiuwan watched Wei Rui's departing back until he disappeared, then she stomped her feet in hatred.

It’s Su Jixiang again!

Why is this person so annoying!

Su Jixiang didn't know that Wei Rui had met Zhao Xiuwan. She waited until Wei Rui came back and handled the property and title deeds before she took him home.

The shop has been bought and we are just waiting to find someone to renovate it and open it for business.

She plans to open a Caidiexuan pastry shop in this place.

Five baking kilns need to be built inside, and she also needs to train several pastry chefs before the pastry shop opens.

She waited for Wei Ling to come home in the evening and told him her thoughts.

Instead of looking for people to train outside, it is better to find a few widows of generals in the army. On the one hand, it can solve the livelihood problems of these orphans and widows, and on the other hand, it can also improve the cohesion of the Black Tiger Army and let the soldiers of the Black Tiger Army know that even if they are not there in the war, their families will be well taken care of by the Black Tiger Army.

When Wei Ling heard this, he thought it was a good idea!

So the next day he asked Xie Yingfeng to draw up a list of the widows of the fallen soldiers, and also asked Xie Yingfeng to specifically tick off the names of several people who were in Mangcheng but were having a hard time.

Su Jixiang took the list and visited each place personally.

First, we need to see what these people do on a daily basis and what kind of character they have. Second, we need to see if these people are really having a hard time. There are many widows among the military families who need to be taken care of, but we must start with the most difficult ones.

After ten days of visiting, Su Jixiang selected ten people from the list of forty given by Xie Yingfeng.

These ten people were all widows of the Black Tiger Army who were in their twenties and had not remarried yet, and were still raising children at home. Moreover, Su Jixiang had also secretly inquired about it, and found that these ten people had a very good reputation in the surrounding area, and were filial to their parents-in-law and hardworking.

Su Jixiang sent messages to these ten people separately, inviting them to meet at Caidiexuan.

After receiving Su Jixiang's invitation, these people were very nervous. After all, Su Jixiang invited them as the general's wife, and the meeting place was the famous Caidie Pavilion. So when the time came, these ten people carefully washed themselves and went to Caidie Pavilion.

Lushui was at the door and took the ten widows who came to Caidiexuan to the tea room at the back.

As soon as the ten people entered such an elegant place, they all seemed very uneasy, and they even didn't know what to do with their hands.

After everyone arrived, Su Jixiang and Qu Wanning walked into the private room.

The ten people looked at each other, and for a moment they didn't know who was the general's wife, Su Jixiang or Qu Wanning, and they all stood there in a daze.

"This is the general's wife." Qu Wanning smiled and said generously, "My wife's surname is Xie, and she is a military advisor."

"Greetings, General's wife, Military Advisor's wife." The ten people suddenly realized and quickly saluted Su Jixiang and Qu Wanning.

"Don't be restrained or polite." Su Jixiang waved his hand, "Everyone please sit down. I invited everyone here because I want you to do me a favor."

She and Qu Wanning also sat down. After the two of them were seated, the rest of the people dared to find a place to sit down.

Hua Rui personally brought the fragrant tea, and then stood beside Su Jixiang with a smile on her face.

"Madam General, I wonder what you meant by what you said just now? How can we help you?" A woman among the ten people asked tentatively. She looked more stable than the others.

"I recognize you, Ma's sister-in-law." Su Jixiang said with a smile, "Your real name is Liu Xiaojuan, your husband's surname is Ma, you have two children, the eldest is six years old, and the second is four years old. The eldest is at the age of starting to learn. But now she is still helping you collect firewood at home. You have an elderly mother-in-law at home, and others have advised you to remarry, but you have not agreed."

"Madam, you really investigated us." Liu Xiaojuan was shocked. "Madam, if you have anything to say, you can speak directly."

"The sisters-in-law I invited today have similar family situations to the sisters-in-law of the Ma family." Su Jixiang glanced at everyone, and then said, "Your men died in the battlefield, and there are old and young in your family. The burden of the family is on your shoulders. On weekdays, you rely on helping others to wash clothes and mend clothes or sell some embroidery patterns to earn some family expenses. Your life is very hard. Now I invite everyone here because I want you to help me. This Caidiexuan is about to expand its scope, and I want to hire all the sisters-in-law to help in my store. As for salary, don't worry, I can give you four taels of silver a month. This is just the initial stage. If you do well in the future, you can increase your salary."

When everyone heard this, an expression of surprise and joy appeared on their faces.

Everyone was a little doubtful whether they had heard it wrongly.

Four ounces of silver a month? This four ounces of silver could support an ordinary family for a year!

Everyone looked at each other again, but no one dared to speak first.

"I know that everyone may have some doubts about what I just said." Su Jixiang smiled, "I didn't lie to you. I sincerely invite you to come. And don't worry, I will also open a school at the same time, which is specially for the children of the people who work in my Caidiexuan. All the expenses of the school will be paid by Caidiexuan, so you don't need to worry about it. I will ask the better teachers in our Mangcheng to come and enlighten the children of your families. For the younger children, I will ask special people to help take care of them. What do you think?"

How else could this happen?

This is like pie in the sky!

Everyone was stunned by Su Jixiang's words, and for a moment they couldn't tell whether they were dreaming or not.

Some people have pinched themselves secretly, wondering if they are sleepwalking...

"Madam, this is so..." Liu Xiaojuan was also very excited. She was educated in her natal family, but because of the war, her natal family was separated. It was her husband who saved her, so she stayed in the Ma family with peace of mind. But the good times didn't last long. Her husband died in the war... Life was not rich to begin with, and without her husband's military pay, it was not a long-term solution to live on the pension given after her husband died in the war. In addition, her mother-in-law was in poor health, and she had to see a doctor every few days. The two children were also young, and they needed money everywhere. Even though she was very capable, life was still tight.

But now that Su Jixiang said this, it would bring about a drastic change in their family's life!