Ye Yaming asked further, “How are the jasmine flowers doing?”

“A few buds have started to appear. It seems in a few more days there will be a small patch of them,” Zan’er said.

Ye Yaming nodded. “Good. I’ll come tomorrow to see those servants and check on the jasmine flowers as well.”

Sun An acknowledged this and, seeing that Ye Yaming had no further instructions, took his leave and went to the farm.

Jasmine flowers thrive in high temperatures. In modern times, Hengxian in Guangxi produced seventy percent of all jasmine in the country.

But in this era with extremely inconvenient transportation, Ye Yaming couldn’t possibly travel to the south just to make jasmine tea. After all, in her previous life, the jasmine tea from Jinhua in Zhejiang was also famous. Although Lin’an was north of Jinhua, the straight-line distance was only a little over a hundred kilometers, so the climate and environment weren’t significantly different.

Therefore, she had invited three gardeners from the south to guide the farm servants in planting large fields of jasmine on the Ye family farm.

The farm had a residence for the owners to rest. This separate courtyard had three sections, plus servants’ quarters. Ye Yaming and her maids occupied the innermost section, while the outer two sections were used for tea production. The newly purchased servants all lived in the servants’ quarters.

That evening, Old Lady Ye sent someone to invite Ye Yaming to dine at the main house.

After the meal, Old Lady Ye wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and said, “I’ve already sent people to take Madam Cai away. In a few days, we will hold a funeral for her ‘death from illness.'”

She looked at Ye Yaming. “To complete the charade, you all will need to pay respects to your Third Aunt.”

Ye Yaming nodded. “As we should.”

“I’ve let her take all the cash she had. The remaining dowry estates will be given to your Fifth Sister as her personal property. When she marries in the future, these estates will be her dowry from her late mother.”

Ye Yaming moved closer, affectionately holding her arm and resting her head on her shoulder. She smiled and said, “I’m very fortunate to have been born into the Ye family, with such kindhearted grandparents. Perhaps this is why the spirits sent me dreams, allowing our Ye family to prosper day by day.”

This flattery went straight to Ye Chongming and Old Lady Ye’s hearts, and both elders beamed with pleasure.

“Isn’t that just the way of things?” Old Lady Ye patted Ye Yaming’s hand. “Indeed, good deeds bring good returns; these words ring true.”

After discussing this matter, Ye Yaming informed Ye Chongming that the Qi estate’s steward had purchased thirty-two servants.

“I plan to go see them tomorrow and explain my requirements,” she said. “I’ll need to borrow the household stewards who train servants.”

“That’s certainly no problem,” Ye Chongming readily agreed.

After dinner, Ye Yaming returned to the Second Branch and then went to Ye Yayin’s courtyard.

Upon entering the courtyard, she heard Ye Yayin’s cheerful laughter.

Following the sound, she saw Ye Yayin playing with a cat, while Ye Yayu stood nearby with her nanny and maid.

Although Ye Yayu’s eyes were still somewhat red and swollen, her condition was better than before. While one hand clutched her nanny’s clothes in a timid gesture, her eyes were fixed intently on Ye Yayin and the cat. The corners of her mouth seemed to be turning upward, and her eyes sparkled brightly.

At that moment, one of Ye Yayin’s senior maids noticed Ye Yaming and was about to announce her presence, but Ye Yaming quickly gestured for her to remain silent. She pointed toward Ye Yayu, beckoned to the maid, and turned to leave.

The maid glanced at Ye Yayin and Ye Yayu, saw that they were completely unaware, and quickly slipped out of the courtyard.

“Third Miss,” she called.

“Has the kitchen sent over snacks?” Ye Yaming asked.

In the afternoon, the kitchen had prepared both desserts according to her recipe and delivered them to Ye Yaming first. After tasting them, she had given the cooks a few more pointers, and the second attempt had turned out quite well.

She had then instructed the kitchen to send them here.

“They did,” said the maid, a smile spreading across her face as she mentioned this. “The Fourth Miss said she had never eaten such delicious desserts.”

“Did the Fifth Miss eat any?”

“She did,” the maid nodded. “Her nanny and maids had been worried because she hadn’t touched a grain of rice at noon or even drank any water. But when the kitchen sent over the desserts, the Fourth Miss shared them with her. After watching for a while, she slowly began to eat. She especially liked the fried fresh milk and ate quite a bit.”

“That’s good. Since she enjoys it, tell the kitchen to make more tomorrow. I’ll write down two more recipes for the kitchen. Take note of what the Fourth and Fifth Misses like, and have the kitchen make more of those.”

“Yes.”

……

The next day, Ye Yaming brought Steward Lu and Auntie Lin, who were responsible for training servants in the household, to the farm.

Sun An had already organized everyone to wait for her in the courtyard.

Ye Yaming entered and surveyed the group.

These people had been tidied up, changed into Ye family servant attire, with their faces and hands washed clean. The adult men had shaved their beards, revealing bluish stubble; both men and women had their hair combed and tied up, with none left disheveled.

However, their gaunt faces and sallow complexions revealed their previous miserable experiences.

Outside, refugees had first suffered hardships; after being purchased, middlemen, fearing they might escape, would give them only minimal food, just enough to keep them from starving.

Upon arriving in Lin’an, during their training period, those who learned well received extra meals, while those who didn’t went without. But even with extra meals, they wouldn’t eat very well. Thus, most had this malnourished appearance.

Seeing everyone with lowered heads, appearing docile and obedient, she turned and quietly asked Sun An, “How have these people been behaving?”

“Very well,” Sun An said. “They were specifically selected by the Qi estate’s steward; since arriving here, they’ve been well-fed and housed, and have received new clothes. When told they would learn tea production and eventually become tea masters in the factory, they were moved to tears, saying heaven had eyes and had led them to good masters.”

Ye Yaming smiled slightly.

Their previous experiences had been so tragic that now, with a stable environment where they could eat their fill and dress warmly, they felt they were already in heaven. After living like this for a year or so, they would probably become dissatisfied again, just like the servants at the tea factory.

Wanting more after getting something—it was human nature.

Ye Yaming turned and nodded to Bai Rui, who then took a piece of paper from her bosom and handed it to Sun An.

Ye Yaming said, “These are the rules I’ve written. You not only need to read them aloud for everyone to hear but also have them memorize them, with random checks from time to time. From now on, food isn’t given freely; let them earn points according to the requirements listed here. Those who work hard and follow the rules will eat well based on their points; those who are lazy will only be 80% full. Report to me about those who repeatedly fail to improve.”

Sun An lowered his head for a glance and saw that everyone had a base number of points. Below were listed numerous items such as dormitory hygiene, personal hygiene, memorization of rules, and test scores. Points were added for good performance and deducted for poor performance.

With just this glance, Sun An knew this was an excellent system.