“When we return, I’ll have the accounting office show you the ledgers,” Ye Chongming said.

This was precisely Ye Yaming’s intention in asking.

Accounts were the core of any enterprise. As the family manager, it was natural for her to examine the accounts. Many insights could be gleaned from them.

During the meeting, apart from Ye Chongming and Qi Ji, it wasn’t appropriate for the others, especially the stewards working under Lu and Qi, to know how much each of the three parties had invested and how much profit they had earned. They only needed to focus on their assigned tasks to prevent their minds from wandering and harboring unnecessary thoughts.

That was why Ye Yaming had waited until now to bring up this matter.

Grandfather and granddaughter were separated from the others at a fork in the road, their carriage heading directly to the Ye family villa outside the city.

Sun An and another steward, Chen Xin, had been waiting at the villa entrance for some time. Seeing the carriage approach, they hurried forward to greet it.

“Old Master, Miss.”

Upon seeing Ye Yaming, Sun An’s eyes revealed excitement.

As Ye Yaming walked inside, she asked, “How many people are here now? How many are usable?”

“There are seventy-eight people in total, sent in three batches. Some have been here for only a short time, so we haven’t been able to assess them yet. About forty-five are qualified and usable,” Sun An replied.

Compared to family-born servants, Ye Yaming preferred people who were carefully selected and purchased.

Although she hadn’t been in Lin’an for most of the past half year, the purchase of servants had continued uninterrupted. They were selected through the Qi family’s stewards and then sent here to be trained by Sun An. During the training process, they were further screened and selected, with the capable and reliable ones chosen to become tea-making masters.

The rest would be assigned to tea gardens, tea factories, or teahouses according to their characteristics. Those who couldn’t perform any task adequately would be resold through brokers.

The most outstanding individuals became management trainees and would enter her evaluation process.

Sun An’s place had essentially become her talent training center.

The batch of tea masters sent to Minzhou had been trained here before being dispatched.

Servants purchased locally had family nearby. After learning tea-making, they would be subject to family interference, increasing their error rate.

Lin’an was a prosperous metropolis, and these servants had been brought and sold from all directions. There were a few locals among them.

She entered the room and examined the documents Sun An handed over.

These documents were the quantitative evaluation forms she had previously designed for Sun An, recording each person’s daily performance and summarizing it monthly.

In tabular form, it was immediately clear who excelled and who lagged.

She said, “You know these people best. I won’t review them further; you select for me.”

“First, pick out the handsome and clever young men and ask if they’re willing to serve as tea masters in the newly opened teahouses. If they are, bring them before us. Also, select thirty tea-making apprentices to be sent to the tea garden in Baifeng County three days from now.”

“Yes,” Sun An quickly went to prepare.

Ye Yaming stopped Chen Xin, who was about to leave with Sun An: “Chen Xin, bring me the accounts from here to review.”

Chen Xin brought the accounts, and Ye Yaming questioned him about the specific situation while reviewing them.

After a while, there was a commotion outside.

Meng Ji frowned and was about to go check when Sun An entered, bowing to Ye Chongming and Ye Yaming: “Old Master, Miss, the girls here are asking why only men are wanted as tea masters, not women.”

Ye Chongming asked, “Was the commotion outside due to this matter?”

Sun An looked embarrassed: “Indeed.”

Ye Yaming frowned.

“Which ones asked? Call them in, I’ll speak with them,” she said.

Sun An acknowledged and left, but it was quite a while before he returned with two young women.

One of the young women was visibly anxious and knelt immediately upon entering.

The other first glanced at Ye Chongming and Ye Yaming before kneeling beside her companion, saying, “Greetings to the Old Master and Third Miss.”

The one who had knelt first hurriedly followed suit, but her voice was much softer.

“What are your names?”

The one who had knelt second waited a moment before replying, “This servant is called Lu Daya.”

The other said, “This servant… this servant is called Ma Chunxiang.”

“Both of you, raise your heads.”

Both raised their heads.

It was evident that both had been trained in proper etiquette. As they raised their heads, their faces lifted, but their eyes remained lowered, not directly looking at Ye Yaming.

Seeing that both were quite attractive, Ye Yaming asked, “Do both of you want to be tea masters?”

Lu Daya bit her lip and said, “Not necessarily. We could do other jobs as well. It’s just that this servant doesn’t understand why only men are wanted as tea masters, not women. This servant thinks women could do it too.”

“What if a customer sees you brewing tea well and verbally harasses you? What would you do?”

Lu Daya was stunned for a moment, looking up at Ye Yaming, as if she hadn’t considered this.

“And if they not only verbally harass you but also try to touch you inappropriately, what then?” Ye Yaming continued.

Lu Daya lowered her head, looking dejected, and bowed to Ye Yaming: “This servant now understands why women are not wanted as tea masters. Thank you, Miss, for considering our welfare.”

Ye Yaming nodded: “We of the Ye family are merchants; we cannot contend with those who have power and influence. If a female tea master were harassed, we might not even be able to seek justice for her. To avoid such situations, I simply don’t arrange for women to serve as tea masters. I hope you understand.”

Lu Daya glanced at Ye Yaming, a flash of admiration in her eyes.

Ma Chunxiang bowed and said, “We servants were just confused and wanted to ask. Now we understand. Thank you, Miss, for not blaming us for our rashness and for clarifying this for us.”

Her voice was much louder than when she had first entered, and her expression had become more composed.

Ye Yaming didn’t say anything more and turned to Sun An: “Let them leave.”

Sun An gestured to the two, indicating they should go.

Lu Daya bowed and left promptly, but Ma Chunxiang bit her lip, looking at Ye Yaming as if she wanted to say something but hesitated. Seeing that Ye Yaming didn’t look her way again, she reluctantly left.

After the two had left, Sun An said to Ye Yaming: “This humble one will now bring in those young men for Miss to inspect.”

Ye Yaming nodded.

Soon, Sun An led the men in. Ye Yaming glanced at them, had them introduce themselves, and identified those who weren’t articulate. She then said to Sun An, “These will do.”

When they had arrived, Ye Yaming had matters to discuss with Ye Chongming, so they had taken the same carriage. Her carriage had followed. Now, as they were returning, she boarded her carriage and called Zan’er to join her.

She asked him, “What happened at the villa just now?”

Zan’er had become quite adept at gathering information. Earlier, although he had accompanied Ye Yaming to the villa, he hadn’t entered the room with her but had wandered around the villa, chatting with people, and had basically figured out the situation.