The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 264: Chapter 264: Suitable Candidate

All was quiet, save for the chirping of insects.

After a long silence, a hoarse voice spoke.

"I have no home, and no family."

Ji Huan had said so much, and while she was genuinely speaking from the heart, her baring it all to the vagrant was not entirely without purpose.

On a night like this, with such moonlight and in such an atmosphere, she had thought the vagrant might lower his guard. She figured that chatting with him about home and family would be an easy way to break through his defenses and learn something about him.

Unfortunately... the man truly lived up to his reputation as a conversation killer.

Ji Huan didn’t entirely believe the vagrant’s words, but at the same time, she felt that no one would lie about something like family.

This made her a little annoyed with herself.

’I’ve already saved him and have been looking after him for so long. Even if he turns out to be trouble, it’s too late to find out now.’

’Now look at this. I didn’t achieve my goal, and I ended up rubbing salt in his wound.’

"Um... I used to have nothing either, but now I have everything—land, a home, family, friends... And every day, I feel fulfilled and happy."

Words of comfort felt too pale and weak, so Ji Huan tried to remedy the situation by using herself as an example.

"So... you’ll have them one day. Don’t lose heart, and don’t be sad. Focus on your recovery, live your life to the fullest, and in the future, you’ll have a home and family of your own too."

After hearing this, the vagrant was silent for a moment before turning to look at her. "I’m not sad."

"..." ’Never mind. I’ll just pretend I didn’t say anything.’

Ji Huan stared at the vagrant’s face for a while, realizing that such bright moonlight wasn’t necessarily a good thing. It made the scars on his face perfectly visible. She turned her head and went back to gazing at the night sky.

For some reason, her thoughts suddenly drifted to Song Jing.

’On such a beautiful night, he probably isn’t in the mood to appreciate the scenery.’

The official examinations start tomorrow. She wondered how many people would be too restless to sleep tonight.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the weather gradually grew cooler.

The last batch of this season’s spices on Nanshan also needed to be harvested quickly.

Widow Xie had originally planned to go break rocks at the quarry. She couldn’t stand being idle and panicked at the thought of money only going out and none coming in.

She only stayed home after Ji Huan told her she couldn’t manage all the work by herself.

Ji Huan didn’t want Widow Xie to take on such a dangerous job, but it was also true that she was overwhelmed with work.

There were still nearly two *mu* of spice fields on Nanshan left to be harvested, and harvesting was just the first stage.

Once the picking was done and the spices were brought back to the courtyard, the second stage required sorting them according to how they would be used day-to-day.

After the sorting was complete, they would move on to the third stage: pre-processing before use. This part was even more delicate and mentally taxing.

As she listened, Widow Xie’s brow furrowed with worry.

"With all these steps, the two of us really can’t handle it alone. Does this mean we actually have to hire people?"

Ji Huan had mentioned hiring people to Widow Xie before.

At the time, Widow Xie hadn’t been very supportive of the idea.

She had assumed they just had to pick the spices, clean them up a bit, and then they could be sold. She never imagined there would be so much follow-up work.

"So who should we hire? Should we ask the same people who helped us with the dehydrated vegetables? But Wang Min’s family and the Xu Family are selling hot and spicy soup in town now, so they probably don’t have the time. And Old Gao, Old Feng, and Lu..."

Ji Huan thought for a moment, then said, "Let’s not ask them for now."

Widow Xie assumed it was because Ji Huan was still wary after their dehydrated vegetable recipe was stolen.

Widow Xie herself was also unsure.

Although Ji Huan had guessed that the mole was Aunt Lu, there was no concrete proof. Besides, who could guarantee there wasn’t another mole among the workers besides Aunt Lu?

What if there was someone else who was better at hiding than Aunt Lu? If they managed to sneak in again, and then decided to cause trouble, it would be impossible to guard against, wouldn’t it?

The dehydrated vegetables had been a one-time deal, but Ji Huan planned to be in the spice business for the long haul. She absolutely couldn’t afford any mistakes.

"Then maybe we shouldn’t hire anyone after all! We can just do it ourselves! You can’t know what’s in a person’s heart. They might be smiling at you, but who knows what treacherous thoughts they’re hiding? They say one bad apple spoils the bunch. If someone leaks your spice formula this time, it’ll be a total disaster!"

Ji Huan couldn’t help but laugh. By Widow Xie’s standards, they’d have to cut themselves off from everyone.

"We don’t have three heads and six arms. As the workshop grows, we’ll always need to hire people. And with more workers, you can’t guarantee everyone will have the workshop’s best interests at heart.

"Since ancient times, wealth has always moved people’s hearts. That’s just human nature. Not even a saint could change it, so what can we do?

"But for most people, as long as you provide them with a decent job, good pay, and have certain measures in place to keep them in check, there won’t be any major problems. When people have a bright future to look forward to, who would want to cast aside all decency and take such a risky gamble?

"Of course, there are always those who are naturally greedy and ruthless. We have to be careful during the selection process and absolutely must not give them a chance to join our team."

Like Tian Jiao, for example, or Aunt Lu.

"How would we keep them in check? Do you have a plan?"

"I do have a plan, but... now isn’t the right time."

The workshop was just starting out; the core members had to be people she could trust completely.

Ji Huan mulled it over for a whole night and finally came up with suitable candidates.

This wasn’t Ji Huan’s first time visiting West River Gully.

When Dabao was abducted, many warm-hearted villagers had lent a hand. Afterwards, Ji Huan had bought pastries and visited each of them to express her thanks, which naturally included Ji Liansong’s family.

If Ji Mingfang hadn’t happened to see what was going on, Dabao might have been taken out of the village long before. He never would have had the chance to slip away and then be carried up the back mountain by the vagrant.

During the search that followed, his family had also helped out without a second thought, putting in both time and effort.

For that reason, in addition to the pastries, Ji Huan had also brought a strip of cured meat and a jar of wine for them.

But she had come at an inconvenient time that day. No one else was home except for Yang.

Ji Huan had thought that after moving out of the main Ji Family residence, free from a domineering mother-in-law and bullying sisters-in-law, Yang would be living a much more comfortable life. After all, both Ji Mingfang and Ji Xuelan were heading in a good direction.

Unexpectedly, Yang was no different from before.

She still seemed timid and withdrawn when looking at people, and her speech was just as evasive.

Ji Huan handed her the gifts. She hesitated for a moment before accepting them, but she kept her eyes lowered, not looking at Ji Huan, as if she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t invite Ji Huan inside to sit, either.

Ji Huan, holding Dabao’s hand, stood awkwardly with her at the gate for a little while before leaving.

This time, she had deliberately set out extra early, afraid that the siblings, Ji Mingfang and Ji Xuelan, would be out again.

Luckily, her timing was perfect.

Just as she was about to knock, the mottled wooden door was pulled open from the inside. Ji Xuelan stood there with a bulky bundle on her back, looking as if she was about to head out.

She froze for a second when she saw Ji Huan.

"Wan? What are you doing here? Are you looking for your uncle? He’s not home right now. If it’s urgent, I can go call him from the brick kiln for you. I’m heading to town anyway, so it’s on the way..."

"There’s no need to trouble yourself. I came to see you."

"Me?"

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!