Chapter 215

Chapter 215: Recipe Leaked?

Yu Zhi Yi gave a small laugh: “Do not worry. We will not close in the short term.”

Steward Wu blinked: “?” He somehow felt even less at ease.

Just then Red Luan came back. Hearing his concern, she chuckled: “We are not anxious, so why are you? If we lose money, we lose our own money, not yours. If you are worried you will not get paid someday, you do not have to be. I promise I will always keep your wages on hand. If it ever looks like we cannot keep going, I will settle your pay right then. I will not let you go hungry.”

Steward Wu waved his hands: “Second Boss, that is not what I meant. I just think a place this meaningful should not shut down for lack of funds. That would be a real shame.”

When he first heard they planned to open a charity to help poor folk without a goal of profit, he did not believe it. No one’s money grows on trees. Big families might do good now and then, like donating when there is a disaster under the Imperial Court’s lead, or setting up porridge stalls. Those are short-term efforts. They cost money, but the amount is limited, sometimes less than a few days of meals for those families.

A charity is different. It is not a matter of a day or a month. Once it starts, it ties to the lives and dignity of many people. Most of all, caring for the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled takes money. It takes a lot of money.

He had thought this charity was just for show and would close after a few days. He had not expected it to keep going this long.

Now Yiluan Elderly Home housed more than thirty seniors who could not care for themselves. Yiluan Orphanage had over twenty children. Quehan Institute had more than ten disabled people.

Feeding these dozens of people cost half a tael of silver a day. The bosses were kind and did not serve coarse grain mixed with sand, but white flour and rice. Each meal was set as three dishes and one soup for every four people, with both meat and vegetables. Every two days there was a small meal with ribs. On food alone, the monthly cost was over ten taels.

But food was not the biggest expense. The real burden was the physicians’ care and medicine. Whether elderly, children, or the disabled, everyone had many large and small health issues. When anyone first entered Yiluan Charity, they had to take medicine for at least seven days to adjust their body. Some serious cases needed longer. A single packet of medicine could cost from a dozen coins to tens, even a hundred.

Steward Wu hardly dared do the math. Every time he calculated, his scalp tingled.

After soothing him, Red Luan turned to Yu Zhi Yi: “I am not afraid of spending down our savings, but he is right. Yiluan Charity cannot rely on just us. Right now the numbers are small, and we can manage. But if the people increase, or if some cases need long-term remedies like ginseng or deer antler, our money will not be enough.”

Red Luan did not know how much Yu Zhi Yi charged for her talismans or when she took on work. She only reasoned from her own case. As a Gold-ranked Seamstress, she now got a share of her clothing sales, bringing in hundreds to even a thousand taels a month. It sounded like a lot, but she could not pour it all into Yiluan Charity. She still had to eat and drink. If she saw a pretty piece of jewelry, she wanted to buy it. She also planned to do business and needed starting capital and funds to keep things running.

She figured her sister was honest and would charge only a few taels or a few dozen taels per job. Even working nonstop, that was just around a thousand taels a month. That was not enough to maintain a big charity.

Yu Zhi Yi asked sincerely: “Should we have these people go out to work and earn for us?”

When Yiluan Charity was founded, Yu Zhi Yi had only offered the idea and the money; Red Luan handled the rest.

Red Luan had many ideas: “I think it is better to teach them skills than to hand out fish. The seniors who can barely move can rest and enjoy their later years. But the disabled teens and adults still have the ability to care for themselves.”

Not everyone at Quehan Institute was bedridden. Their disabilities differed: some were blind, some mute, some limped on one leg, some had lost a hand. Their lives were hard, but that did not mean they had no self-care at all. Those who were not fully paralyzed and those with only one disabled area could still live on their own.

Red Luan said: “Do you remember the distant country I told you about? There, people with disabilities can support themselves and even win glory for their country. Those who lost a leg can run with a prosthetic. Those who lost a hand can learn to write with their feet, and eat and dress themselves.”

Yu Zhi Yi said with longing: “That must be a happy country.”

Red Luan stared off for a moment, then smiled with red-rimmed eyes: “Yes, a happy country where everyone can eat their fill, wear warm clothes in winter, and sit in a cool room in summer.”

Yu Zhi Yi watched her distant look and pressed her lips. She said softly: “If goods and people from that country ever reach the Great Sheng Empire, we might find a road there. If you want to go, I will go with you.”

Red Luan’s lovely fox eyes grew misty, but she smiled: “That is only a story people made up. There is no place that perfect.” [There is. But I cannot go back.]

Yu Zhi Yi could not find the right words, so she changed the subject: “Then ask around for the right teachers. We can hire them to teach skills to the disabled.”

Red Luan nodded: “That is my plan. First teach them. Once they can support themselves, they can leave Quehan Institute. Or we can offer them a way to make a living. If we place people into jobs, we will take a small agency fee. If someone wants to run a small business, we can provide a plan and know-how, even technical support, and we take a cut or a one-time buyout. These are just first ideas. Our startup funds can last another year, so we can think things through.”

Yu Zhi Yi felt inspired, [a rough plan taking shape in her mind].

Suddenly the young lord burst in, shouting: “Second Boss Jiang, Second Boss Jiang!”

Red Luan frowned at the noise: “What is it, young lord?”

He blurted: “Are you supplying other restaurants too, or did you sell the recipe for the spicy strips?”

Red Luan stared: “What?”