Objections

In the Beining Workshop, Blacksmith Li's youngest son, Li Si, tossed a finished part into the pile with a clang, wiped his sweat, and whispered to his third brother, "I've never seen anything like this before. They don't tell us what they're doing, they just give us a drawing and tell us to copy it. We have no confidence, how can we make anything good like this?"

He gestured towards the next room with his chin, "They even sent a shrew to keep an eye on us. This is really annoying..."

Before he could finish speaking, Blacksmith Li slapped him on the forehead.

"What nonsense are you spouting? If you keep talking nonsense, believe me, I'll report you to Steward Zhou and have him kick you out of the workshop!"

"Hehe, Dad, I was just saying, just saying." Li Si quickly grinned at his father.

Just kidding, working here pays way more than outside, and you don't have to deal with customers or worry about business being bad. The working hours are fixed each day. While there's not much free time, it's not too tiring. There's also a day off every ten days, which is much better than running your own blacksmith shop. You know, running a blacksmith shop means working year-round without a break. Sometimes customers are rushing you to deliver, and working through the night is a common occurrence.

Aside from the stricter requirements and the criticism from that woman surnamed Feng if things didn't meet the standards, there was nothing to complain about here.

On the day they arrived, Manager Yang Daxing read them some "rules and regulations." As long as they didn't violate the workshop's rules and could exceed their targets while ensuring quality, they would receive a bonus of one to three taels of silver each month.

Of course, if there are too many defective parts, wages will be deducted.

With that thought in mind, Li Si quickly stood up and went back to work.

Blacksmith Li looked around the room and saw that everyone was working diligently. He figured no one had heard what Li Si had said earlier, so he felt relieved.

After dinner, he called all four of his sons into his room and said sternly, "No one is allowed to repeat what the fourth son said today. If anyone in the workshop talks about it, you all just laugh it off."

"What did the fourth brother say?" Neither the Li Laoda nor the Second Brother Li knew what had happened.

Seeing that his father and third brother wouldn't speak up for him, Li Laosi had no choice but to repeat what he had said that afternoon.

He defended himself, saying, "That's how it is. In the past, whatever we did, we had a clear idea in mind before we even started casting. That's how we ensured the quality of the finished product. But now the client doesn't tell us anything, just throws over a drawing and tells us to make it exactly like that. How can that be acceptable? What if we make it wrong?"

"Isn't someone helping us with the inspection?" Second Brother Li said.

"The inspection is done afterward. What's the point of saying it's substandard afterward? Wouldn't it be better to make it clear beforehand?" Li Laosi retorted.

Everyone actually knows why Li Laosi has such a strong opinion about this.

Among the five men, the fourth son was the most talented blacksmith. In his more than ten years as a blacksmith, his work was repeatedly praised by customers. Some customers would come to the shop to order swords and knives and specifically ask the fourth son to make them.

As a result, Li Laosi became somewhat arrogant and didn't take the dimensions on the blueprints seriously after entering the workshop. He felt that with his skills, he could figure out how to do it at a glance.

But when he finished making it, Lady Feng inspected it and said that it was all defective, and told him to correct it properly. Li Laosi was not convinced and made it again, but it was still judged to be unqualified. Laosi had a bad temper to begin with, and although he was new and did not dare to argue with Lady Feng, he still retorted to her several times.

Fortunately, Lady Feng didn't hold it against him and didn't complain afterward. However, she still judged him as unqualified when he should have.

So, although Li Laosi was the most talented and skilled among the five of them, he had become the one who produced the most scrap. No wonder he felt uncomfortable about it.

Blacksmith Li took his pipe out of his mouth, tapped it on the ground, and said to Li Laosi, "Alright, I called you here to talk about this."

Everyone quieted down and looked at their father.

Blacksmith Li raised his head, looked at Li Si, and said with a serious face, "Fourth brother, after all this fuss, haven't you thought about why the employer only gave us the dimensions and didn't let us know what we're making?"

Li Laosi was stunned for a moment and didn't say anything.

Blacksmith Li looked disappointed. "You were very talented, so I had high expectations for you, hoping that a famous blacksmith would emerge from our family. But now..." He shook his head and didn't finish his sentence.

Li Laosi retorted, "So what? Now I'm the best ironsmith in the family, aren't I?"

"What's the use of that? You don't even use your brain when things happen!" Blacksmith Li said, exasperated. "Think about it, think carefully, see if you can figure it out."

Now, not only Li Laosi, but also his other three brothers started to think about it.

They were illiterate, and from the time they could lift a hammer, they helped their families with blacksmithing. They were basically the type who were simple-minded and physically strong. At most, they would think about how to forge the black tools better, but they didn't think about anything else.

Li Laosi simply didn't think about it. But once he did, he realized he was more quick-witted than his brothers.

He looked at his father and said, "Could it be that she wants to make something new?"

Blacksmith Li was very pleased.

He nodded and said, "That's exactly right. That's why she only gave us the dimensions and didn't let us know what we were making, because she was afraid that someone would be greedy and secretly sell the designs to others for huge profits. And the employer is paying us such generous wages precisely because they want us to keep quiet."

He pointed at Li Laosi: "So don't let me hear you complain about the boss again. If someone leaks a secret later, you might be the first one suspected. Who told you to always be so grumbling and dissatisfied with the boss and the people she sent to monitor us?"

Li Laosi pursed his lips and remained silent.

After a long pause, he finally said in a muffled voice, "I understand."

That afternoon, Zhao Ruxi finished her training class and was resting at Green Plantain Courtyard when Zhou Chun brought in a food box and took out the snacks inside, placing them in front of Zhao Ruxi.

"Young lady, please try these snacks."

Entrusted by Qian Duoduo and instructed by Zhao Ruxi to buy cooks to make pastries and use up the grain in the estate's warehouse, he had been busy with this matter for some time.

He didn't place the cook on the estate, but rather in the courtyard of a small kitchen in the neighboring workshop. This made it convenient to serve Zhao Ruxi hot snacks to taste and confirm her comfort while she rested.

As the head steward, he shouldn't have needed to do these specific tasks; he could have delegated them to his subordinates.

However, all three workshops were operating normally, and even if there were some minor problems, they were all handled by the workshop managers. Zhou Chun felt that these pastries were a big deal, so he focused his attention on them.