423 That Makes Sense
“In short, including Xue Dagui, we should hire about fourteen people, or fifteen if we don’t count Dagui.” Xue Sifu concluded.
Fifteen?
“That many?” Liu Guixia’s mouth was wide open. “Why do we need so many people? Especially those who will be sending ice and selling popsicles. Wouldn’t Wufu be selling popsicles as well? What about Yifu and Sanfu? Aren’t they in charge of giving you the ice?”
“Mother, I’ve thought about it all.” Xue Sifu laughed.
“It’s only the first day, and there are already restaurants and rich people coming to order more ice. There will definitely be more people ordering more ice in the future.
“Just the Lakshimi Restaurant and the Yan Manor alone would add up to three hundred kilograms of ice a day. You, Father, and the rest would definitely be too busy and would need the help from Erfu, Sanfu, and Wufu. When the time comes, they would definitely need someone to deliver the ice.
“Lakshimi Restaurant would only send a carriage to pick up the hundred and twenty kilograms of ice and send it to the county at top speed, but the hundred and twenty kilograms of ice in town would still need to be delivered by our family.
“If the box is too big, it would be difficult for one person to get the ice off the ox cart, so we would need another person to carry it, so two people would have to deliver the ice in one piece.”
“Besides,” Xue Sifu continued, “We’re not only sending ice to Lakshimi Restaurant. We’ll have to send ice to other people as well. Our stall will have to send ice two or three times a day, you won’t be able to handle the workload. Otherwise, if we send ice to our stall all the time, how can you make so many ice and popsicles, sour plum juice, liangpi, and so on? Today’s liangpi sold very well. You and Hongyan can steam it in the morning and in the afternoon. Then, when the ox cart sends the ice to the stall, ask them to bring it along.”
“The ox cart is slow.” Xue Sifu kept on going, “The round trip will take about four to six hours. How many hours do we usually have in a day? We already have an ox cart at home, so we have to borrow three more ox carts from others. If one ox cart is for two people, that means we would need six people.”
“You haven’t even counted our ox cart.” Xue Sifu did not give them a chacn to speak at all.
“How many popsicles did we sell today? I’m sure we’ll be able to sell more in the future, and it’s more flexible than eating crushed ice at our store and can be sold everywhere.
“If I wasn’t afraid that you guys wouldn’t be able to do it, I wouldn’t just hire three people to sell popsicles, I’d definitely hire two more. The town is actually quite big, and there are only so many people living in it. I think it won’t be a problem to sell a thousand popsicles a day.”
“Good Heavens! When do you breathe?” Liu Guixia couldn’t help but say. “We really do need that many people.” If he didn’t explain his reasoning, hse wouldn’t know, but once he did, it started to make a lot of sense.
“Sifu won’t make a mistake on such matters. Mother, don’t worry about it. Alright, I’ll go find people to hire.” Xue Erfu smiled.
“Wait,” Xue Sifu said with a smile. “Erfu, actually, it’s best to find a quick-witted lady to do the dishes and prepare rice noodles with liangpi. They’re good at doing things like these.”
“I understand, I understand.” Xue Erfu laughed. “Qingshu and Jinshan’s mothers are particularly nimble in the kitchen. They will definitely be suitable for this job.”
Finally, Jiang Yue spoke.
“I think that when we hire people, we have to consider whether they have the time to work for two months. At the end of this month, we’ll be having double jobs, and some families will also be having double jobs.
“If they can’t work for our family during that time and have to tend to the crops, won’t we have to find people again, right? It’s better to find someone who’s free for the next two months and won’t take a break. It’ll save us some extra trouble.”
“That’s true.” Xue Erfu and Xue Sifu both nodded in agreement.
“Also,” Jiang Yue continued, “Our family will be very busy for the next two months. At the end of this month, we’ll be rushing to harvest the early rice and plant the late rice. I don’t think our family has the time to do these things if we have to keep helping with the shop. We’ll have to spend money on someone else to help us. This can’t wait, so it’s best to find someone in advance.”