Ah Ji saw that her tone was not good and her face did not look pleased, but she did not flare up; instead, she suddenly smiled and said, "You, girl, are really straightforward in your speech." Gu Jinli: "It’s mutual." Ah Ji: "You call me ’uncle’, so I am considered your elder. You are being quite impolite. Do you know that the young ladies from noble families would never speak like you?" Gu Jinli disdainfully said, "You mean those young ladies who deliberately pinch their voices, speak half and leave half unsaid; even though they clearly despise someone, they still insincerely praise them? Then, I really don’t want to learn from them." Ah Ji: "You are really... this is not good, you will cause trouble for others." Gu Jinli frowned, looking at Ah Ji: "What exactly are you trying to say? Can you just speak plainly?" She had no interest in beating around the bush with him here. Ah Ji did not answer, only looking into the distance at the wheat fields. In April, the winter wheat had already reached the earing stage, and in another two months, by the time of Big Summer, it could be harvested. Big Summer, that just happens to be that gentleman’s birthday. "I just want to remind you, Great Chu is particular about social hierarchy. Those who vainly try to break through the constraints of social status not only harm themselves but others as well." He turned to look at Gu Jinli, who was sitting on the grass and making a flower crown for Yuanyuan: "I hope you remember, do not harm others or yourself." Gu Jinli: "I still don’t understand." He felt a sense of powerlessness, as if playing the lute to a cow. Forget it, he had said what he needed to say. Whether or not she listened was her own business. If she really caused trouble for Third Grandpa, he would not go easy on her. It was also during this visit to Da Feng Village that he came to know how much Third Grandpa cared for Gu Jinli. In order to help her save Gu Daya’s family, he ran to Prefecture City for several days. In fact, with his or Lei Family’s Trading Team’s capabilities, they could have saved the people without having to run to Prefecture City. However, he did not want his own family and Lei Family’s Trading Team to be too exposed, nor did he want to make it too easy for Gu Jinli. "How is the preparation for the seasoning spices? Delivery is in ten days, and your workshop better not be unable to deliver the goods, or there would be a penalty to pay." Ah Ji changed the subject to the matter of seasoning spices. Gu Jinli said, "Don’t worry, by the 26th of April you will definitely have your goods." The workshop had already ground two thousand pounds of spices; only four hundred more pounds were needed. Now the workshop was in the process of mixing and frying the ingredients, with ten days to go, delivery would certainly be made on time. "As long as that’s settled." Having said this, Ah Ji took his leave. Gu Jinli looked at Ah Ji’s retreating figure and muttered, "It makes no sense." She became even more suspicious about Ah Ji’s identity. "Sister Xiao Yu, what does ’it makes no sense’ mean?" Yuanyuan finished asking but did not wait for Gu Jinli to answer, she just let the question drop, put on the flower crown, and asked Gu Jinli, "Does it look good?" "It looks good. You truly are a little chubby girl who loves to eat and to look beautiful." Gu Jinli picked up Yuanyuan and took her back to Mrs. Jiang. In the afternoon, they left the Soybean Oil Workshop and went home. After returning home, Gu Jinli was concentrated in the workshop every day, keeping an eye on the seasoning spices. Finally, on the 23rd of April, she finished preparing and frying all the seasoning spices, packed them into double-layer cotton bags, then into large jars, covering them with lids. "Uncle Wang, Uncle Zhu, you must guard this warehouse closely for the next three days. Apart from me, my elder brother, and Third Grandpa, nobody is allowed to enter," Gu Jinli instructed Wang Yongfu and the other three men: "If you dare let anyone else in privately, you know the consequences." "Yes, Young Master, rest assured, we will guard the warehouse well," Wang Yongfu and the others responded, with He Sanlai being particularly loud. Since selling themselves to the Gu Family, it’s only been two months, and the married couple has already gained weight, no longer needing to suffer from hunger or cold. Now that they live a better life at home, they also have gained some respect in the village. Now everyone greets them when they see them, unlike before when they would avoid them from afar, even spitting in their direction. Such good days with both face and wages to earn, they’d have to be mad to mess it up. Compared with He Sanlai, Wang Yongfu and Old Zhu are even more grateful to Gu Jinli’s house; if not for Gu Jinli’s house buying them, they would not know where else they might have been sold. Although they are now sold servants, they do not serve the masters but instead work in the workshops and live separately, in another courtyard. Their life is almost like ordinary peasants’, not at all like that of sold servants. Gu Jinli nodded, exited the warehouse, locked the door, and sealed it with a seal. The seal was drawn by her own hand, tough for others to imitate. In this way, even if someone could open the lock, it would be impossible for them to find an identical seal to reseal the door. Thus, the warehouse would be even safer, with no one being able to tamper it without her noticing. Mrs. He Yang approached Gu Jinli with a seal applied, boldly and with concern: "Young Master, once this batch of goods is rushed out, can we continue to grind spices?" The workshop was equipped with handy tools, and after getting used to them, each person could grind at least five pounds of spices daily. Now, with servants bought by the Dong Family, there are twenty people just for grinding spices, allowing the workshop to produce at least a hundred pounds of seasoning spices each day. With so many spices ground each day, and with Lei Family’s goods rushed out, if they can’t sell that much in one day, might the Dong Family only let the bought servants work and not allow them to continue? After all, for the bought servants grinding spices, no wages are needed, just a monthly salary of three hundred cents, which is much cheaper than paying them. Mrs. He Yang and others were worried about losing their jobs and had been anxious these past two days. Gu Jinli said, "Continue grinding; the more, the better. Our workshop doesn’t just have Elder Lei’s family as customers; new ones will come." Master Qi has been coveting the seasoning spices for a long time. If it goes as expected, on the twenty-sixth of April, Master Qi will come from the Prefecture to negotiate a deal with our workshop on seasoning spices. Upon hearing this, Mrs. He Yang was overjoyed and quickly thanked her: "Thank you, Young Master, for giving us work. You can rest assured, we will work hard and never do anything to harm the workshop." Mrs. He Yang happily returned to the main room of the workshop, informing the dozen or so people waiting inside, including He Shengzi’s grandmother and He Tugou’s wife: "The Young Master said, we will continue to grind spices in the future, there is no intention of not letting us come." Holding her granddaughter He Daosui’s hand, He Shengzi’s grandmother finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Good, good, it seems we have secured the job." "Aunt Dazhuang, why worry about this? As long as the Young Master doesn’t stop us from working, we just go on as usual. Mere speculation will only scare ourselves," said Mo Qinzi while grinding spices, feeling that Mrs. He Yang and the others were worrying over nothing. Now reassured by Gu Jinli, Mrs. He Yang and the others were putting aside their worries and worked even harder, grinding more than three hundred pounds of seasoning spices in three days. On the twenty-sixth of April, the sky was clear, and the families of Qin, Gu, and Luotian in Da Feng Village were up before dawn, not setting up their stalls, just waiting for Elder Lei Wu and his group to arrive. Just past the hour of Chen, five mule carts and three fast horses charged into the tail end of Da Feng Village – it was Elder Lei Wu and his men.