Extreme Cold Icefield, in front of the log cabin. This was the second time Ina had convened such a large-scale meeting. In front of her, a crowd of people stood, men and women, old and young, almost all of them were Rize people working in the summer house and the rabbit house.
Everyone was holding their breath waiting for Ina to speak.
"I don't know if you have noticed that as you get more and more proficient in your own work, you have more and more free time each day."
Old Quint didn't quite understand what Ina wanted to do, but he went along with her words, "Indeed. At first, we didn't know when to water, fertilize, and catch bugs. Sometimes we were busy all day and everything we did was useless. Now that we have harvested the radishes twice, we are very familiar with the whole process from sowing to harvesting. Sometimes we only work for less than half a day..." He got here and suddenly felt like he understood what Ina meant.
Was the Saint not satisfied with their work and was planning to dismiss them? But they really did all they could do and only rested when there was nothing else to do. However, thinking about it, if there wasn't that much work to do, it didn't really require that many people work. It would be reasonable to dismiss some of the surplus staff.
Old Quint felt his heart leap into his throat, then heard Ina ask, "Uncle Quint, you are now in charge of the cultivation of two types of vegetables, lettuce, and radishes, with four people in the group. So, do you think, if I only give you two people, can you finish the current work?"
As expected, Old Quint, had a moment of clarity, but he couldn't deceive the Saint, so he could only grit his teeth and say, "Yes!" He looked at the people in front of him. Because of the Saint's prestige, even though they more or less realized that they might lose their jobs, they didn't whisper or create a disturbance. Their eyes, however, still revealed worry and anxiety.
"That's good. Everyone, listen to me," Ina clapped her hands, seeming to have made a decision. Everyone held their breath, just waiting for the cruel command to be issued.
"From now on, each group will be divided into two batches, taking turns to come here for classes."
"Classes?" The Rize people were all stunned.
Ina explained the more detailed arrangement, "Take Old Quint's group as an example. Two people work in the summer house in the morning, and the other two come here to the cabin for class. The afternoon arrangement is switched. If there are five people in a group, it is divided into two people and three people. The number of points you earn each day will still be the original amount. I will not dismiss you because I still desperately need enough helpers, but," Ina emphasized, "I need helpers who can read and keep accounts. I know most of you can't read, but that's okay, start from scratch."
Old Quint only felt a cold sweat, although the risk of being dismissed was gone, he was at such an age, and he had to start learning to read. Could he learn? But this was the Saint's intention, Old Quint, as the group leader, getting more points than others, thought more long-term.
If he didn't support the Saint's request, would she let him remain as the group leader? Or to say, if there were smarter people in his group who learned to read faster and the Saint valued literacy and arithmetic so much, would he be replaced? Old Quint suddenly had a sense of crisis, but he quickly became filled with a fighting spirit. What about literacy? Isn't reading just like farming, both are learned from scratch, he grew such good radishes, how could he not learn to read?
Ina turned her gaze to the priest, "You count the number of people coming to class in the morning and afternoon, it's best not to differ too much." If the number of people in each group was even, there wouldn't be much difference in the morning and afternoon. However, there were not a few groups with five people each, Ina was afraid that the extra person would all choose the same half-day, making the number of students in the two classes too different.
Finally, Ina had someone catch a snow velvet rabbit.
"Literacy and arithmetic, whether for me or for you, are both good things. You may not understand this principle now, but that's okay. As long as you learn well, there will be rewards."
Ina pulled out a dagger and cut the snow velvet rabbit's thigh which was tied up tightly. The fresh blood instantly stained the white rabbit fur. The snow velvet rabbit was injured and struggled even harder, the blood flowed faster.
The Rize people stared at Ina's actions, not understanding what they meant. But as excellent hunters, they all felt that this snow velvet rabbit might not live long. The Saint's cut was precise, cutting the arteries. This kind of blood was almost unstoppable. The snow velvet rabbit would continue to bleed until it died.
But Ina quickly gave this snow velvet rabbit a potion. She then simply bandaged it with a cloth strip, and the bleeding wound actually stopped bleeding quickly.
Ina shook the pale red potion in her hand, "Hemostatic potion, even if severely injured, as long as you reduce activity, bandage in time, and drink this potion, there is a high chance of survival."
The crowd couldn't keep quiet anymore, they had been living here for generations, living by hunting. Almost everyone had lost relatives due to excessive bleeding from injuries sustained in fights with wild animals. Now their eyes turned fervently towards this potion.
Unexpectedly, Ina took out two more potions, one green, and one purple. "Detoxification potion and pain relief potion. There is also an enhancement potion that can make weapons sharper, these can be exchanged with your points. In the future, there will be more and more items that can be exchanged with points, but there is no need to save too many points. If everyone performs well, the points you earn each day will continue to increase."
There was no need for another experiment with the snow velvet rabbit, everyone had no doubts at all. They only worried that there would not be enough potions, and everyone who worked for Lady Saint was sparing with their points. On one hand, they had two work meals a day for free. On the other hand, the exchange price for common vegetables in the summer house was very low. They almost never exchanged for expensive fruits like strawberries, only those with children in their families would exchange for a small handful once a week. The points they had saved were almost the same, they only worried that there wouldn't be enough potions, and they wouldn't be able to exchange even with points.
"These potions, priority is given to those with the best grades in class. I will have the teachers who teach you to read and write rank you based on your performance, only when the people in front give up or have already exchanged, will the people behind have a chance."
When these words came out, those who were still hesitating about learning to read and write also made up their minds. These potions, at the critical moment, could save a life!
Seeing everyone eager to try, Ina finally nodded in satisfaction. She was in dire need of trustworthy hands. Now she could only use Dusì, Anty, and Lesley. Lusen couldn't stay in the Dragon Flame Restaurant all day. Donne was expected to resign soon and return to the imperial city to continue being a member of his knight's group. Xavier no longer harbored hostility towards Ina and she had let him go after the festival. Although there were many Rize people, they were almost all illiterate. Even if they were loyal, they could not handle jobs that required more. Even being a waiter was a stretch, let alone Ina had far greater goals.
She had no choice but to start with literacy. Ina asked Lusen to find some students from the Star Academy, their families were not well off, and they would also do some part-time jobs on ordinary days. All they needed to do was let Anty or Dusì take the people to the log cabin, and then bring them back to the academy after the teaching was over. The remuneration was more generous than other jobs, they were all very willing.
The restaurant had upgraded to level four a few days ago and could open a new branch. But Ina suppressed this matter, the operating conditions of the Imperial City branch had not been improved, and she didn't have so much energy to manage a new branch. Let's consider new branches after dealing with the affairs of the Imperial City branch!