Chapter 151: The Covenant

Under the witness of the village chief and several clan elders, Qin Huiyin and Zhang Dazhu completed the signing of the formal contract.

Zhang Dazhu offered her a fifty percent share of the profits. After a moment of thought, she accepted, though she added a few clauses to the contract, such as helping to promote Zhang’s Carpentry Shop.

Once the agreement was finalized, it still needed to be registered at the local government office. Although this was a private arrangement, it involved their cooperative profit-sharing; registering it would make it legally binding and less prone to future disputes.

Li Taoe was the one who stepped forward to negotiate all of this. Li Taoe figured that since Qin Huiyin was just a young girl, she might let her emotions guide her and hesitate to put forward certain demands. She, on the other hand, had no such reservations, so she made them.

Li Taoe had always been assertive, and everyone in the village knew she was not someone to be trifled with. She spoke her mind freely without worrying about formalities. Thus, once the contract was signed, right in front of the village chief and the elders, she had a few more words for the Zhang family.

"The design of this dining table was provided by my daughter. Without her design drawings, you would never have been able to craft something like this. You might be happy now because you’ve finally found a way out. However, as time passes, you’re bound to think that our family gets half of the money for doing nothing at all. Therefore, in front of everyone here, I want to reiterate the key points. First, without my daughter's designs, you would never have had this opportunity to make money.

Second, our family will help promote it. As you know, my daughter's business is doing quite well and she knows many wealthy merchants. We will contribute our efforts to the promotion. Third, if any of you ever feel that this profit-sharing is unfair, we will simply dissolve the partnership. You will no longer be allowed to produce such tables for profit, and naturally, you won't have to share any money with my daughter anymore. Tomorrow, I will go to the government office to register this contract and have the official seal stamped. Does anyone have anything to add?"

The Zhang family members listened in a daze, shaking their heads hurriedly.

Even if they had a hundred lives, they wouldn't dare to cross Li Taoe and her daughters.

Tang Luhua gazed at Li Taoe with burning eyes, filled with deep respect.

"Your drool is coming out," Tang Yixiao teased quietly beside her.

Tang Luhua grabbed Tang Yixiao's arm, looking at him expectantly. "Can I grow up to be a woman like Mother? She is so formidable."

"Then you'll have to work hard," Tang Yixiao said. "You have to become Second Sister first before you can become Mother."

Tang Luhua furrowed her brows in distress. "But I'm not as smart as Huiyin."

"Second Sister said you are very smart, diligent, careful, and capable of enduring hardship. She also said everyone is unique, and walking your own path is what matters most."

Witnessing Li Taoe's formidable nature once again, the village chief and the elders quickly stepped in to say a few kind words on behalf of the Zhang family. The general gist was that the Zhang family knew how to repay kindness and would certainly remember this favor.

Zhang Dazhu said earnestly, "Sister Huiyin is a benefactor to our brothers. If not for her, we would never have dared to take this step. Auntie, rest assured, Sister Huiyin is like our own sister. The fifty percent share was my idea. Sister Huiyin even mentioned that we could adjust it, but as Auntie just said, without Sister Huiyin, there would be no business for us. This profit split is entirely fair."

The carpenter Zhang and his wife, along with Zhang Erzhu, all chimed in. In front of everyone, they swore they would never regret today's decision, adding that anyone in the village who tried to sow discord between them would be regarded as harboring malicious intent.

With matters settled, the Zhang brothers set out to make the samples.

Since Qin Huiyin’s investment was essentially her technical expertise, the better the Zhang family's business did, the more she stood to benefit, earning her a larger profit. Consequently, that very day, she drew up numerous design sketches and handed them over.

When the Zhang brothers laid eyes on the design drawings, they treated them like priceless treasures. They were more grateful than ever for making such a wise decision. Otherwise, Qin Huiyin would never have gone out of her way to look out for their interests.

At the same time, they marveled once again at Qin Huiyin’s agile mind. If they possessed even a fraction of such ingenious ideas, they would surely become master craftsmen in no time.

"Sister Huiyin, do you want to learn carpentry from us?" Zhang Erzhu asked.

Smack! Zhang Dazhu delivered a sharp blow to the back of Zhang Erzhu's head and scolded irritably, "What kind of foolish talk is that?"

"I just thought Sister Huiyin is so smart. If she were a carpenter, she’d definitely be famous near and far."

"What can't Sister Huiyin do? Why would she do heavy labor like ours?" Master Zhang said dismissively. "Do you have any idea how well Sister Huiyin's business is doing?"

Zhang Erzhu chuckled awkwardly. "Well, that's true too."

"Brother Erzhu, my older brother is a foreman now, so he must be very busy, right?" Qin Huiyin asked.

"Brother Ze is indeed very busy. Sometimes we don't even catch a glimpse of him."

"Ruize is younger than you. How do you have the nerve to call him older brother?" Zhang Dazhu asked as he sawed a piece of wood.

"Everyone calls him that. In the village, whoever is older is called brother. Out in the world, whoever is stronger is called brother," Zhang Erzhu replied. "To be honest, I resented it at first. Over the years, our family earned so much money, but Grandmother would rather clutch it in her fists than spend two taels of silver to buy him that spot. Now, I actually want to thank her; if it weren't for going to the dam this time, I never would have witnessed so many things."

"Ruize is young and has no family with him. He must have suffered quite a bit of grievance at the dam, didn't he?"

"You don't need to worry about him. He has us now, and we'll take care of him. But most of the time, it's actually him taking care of us. Last time, that foreman Tong secretly plotted against him and deliberately played tricks to force him out. He could have pushed someone else out to take the blow and nothing would have happened to him, but he didn't. He took dozens of heavy board beatings all by himself..."

"My brother was beaten?" Qin Huiyin paused her movements. "When?"

Zhang Erzhu: "..."

It was over.

He had let it slip.

Last time, the eldest brother had worked so hard to keep it a secret, doing everything he could to stop her from visiting. Just as they had managed to weather the storm and successfully pull off the deception, it was ruined by his loose lips.

"Was it that period when I wanted to see him, but he refused to let me and came up with all sorts of excuses?" Qin Huiyin frowned. "I thought it was strange. So there really was something being kept from me."

Zhang Erzhu said weakly, "Sister, can you please not tell anyone I was the one who blabbed?"

"Don't worry, I won't," Qin Huiyin said calmly. "I have a million things to do all day, I'm busy!"

Zhang Erzhu muttered, "That's a relief."

Zhang Dazhu glared at Zhang Erzhu and lowered his voice. "Don't breathe a sigh of relief too soon."

Although he hadn't taken a wife himself, judging from the people he had interacted with, a woman's pettiness was immeasurable. Sister Huiyin was certainly not the type to let herself be taken advantage of; the calmer she seemed now, the more troublesome things would be later.

Hearing his brother say this, Zhang Erzhu broke out in a cold sweat. "Brother, what should I do?"

"Pray for your own blessings," Zhang Dazhu gloated. "You've been riding high lately; it's about time you learned a lesson."

"You're just jealous that I'm about to get a wife," Zhang Erzhu retorted.