After paying the helper team, it was the procurement team's turn.
In contrast to the helper team, which was composed entirely of women, the procurement team of nearly twenty were all young men. They seemed even shier than the young women when they stepped forward to collect their pay.
Only one young man, who had a scar cutting through the tail of his eyebrow, appeared relatively composed. After receiving his wages, he didn't rush off. Instead, he asked Ji Huan, "I heard you'll be hiring again. Will you be hiring men?"
Ji Huan found his face unfamiliar; he didn't seem to be from their village.
Widow Xie leaned in and whispered, "When Liangzi was putting together the procurement team, there weren't enough people, so he found one from the kiln... from the neighboring village."
Seeing Widow Xie's evasiveness, Ji Huan knew she wasn't telling the whole story.
It wasn't that Widow Xie was deliberately hiding something from her, but this wasn't the right time or place to discuss it.
