After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 705 Daily life
Adding someone to the family seems to be a foregone conclusion.

Ma discussed with Aunt Cui for a while, and called the second daughter-in-law Hu over. The two who were most in need of manpower at the moment were Hu and Haitang. Haitang said she had no objection, and it didn't matter whether there was a maid or not. Ma just thought she was well-behaved and considerate, and didn't want to cause trouble for herself, so she asked her to just wait for the arrival of the new maid, and she went to discuss with Hu what kind of person to buy.

Ma was more used to buying people rather than hiring them, and she liked to buy a whole family at a time. The Hai family had bought maids and servants before, or hired people, but in the old days, exiled officials would stay at home from time to time, and the hired people might not be reliable. If the news leaked out, it would be troublesome; and the servants bought individually often refused to follow the Hai family when they moved to another place, preferring to stay in the border town they were familiar with, closer to their relatives. After this happened several times, Ma was now more inclined to buy a whole family, with both male and female servants, so that when the master wanted to leave, they could also go with him, and would not refuse to leave because of nostalgia for relatives and friends.

At present, the Hai family is preparing to go to Beijing next year or the year after, and among the servants in the family, the Ma family is very likely not to leave with them. Firstly, they are natives of Chang'an, and their relatives and friends are all in and outside Chang'an City. Secondly, they were originally transferred from Zhou Ma to her younger sister Ma. Now that the third branch of the Zhou family is no longer headed by Madam Ma, the Ma Youli family no longer needs to consider her opinion and can return to the Zhou Ma family with confidence. In addition, Ma Youli's eldest daughter is still in the third branch of the Zhou family, and the eldest granddaughter Putao is about to marry Zhou Xiaojian, a son of a military household. If Ma Youli's family leaves with the Hai family, it will be the result of separation of flesh and blood. Ma, considering their many years of friendship, will not bear it.

If Ma Youli's family didn't leave, the Hai family would suddenly be short of manpower, and without adding new people, they would have difficulty making ends meet.

Ma and Hu, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, discussed for a long time and both felt that they must recruit new people this time, and they should choose a family with as many people as possible. It would be best to fill the staff all at once so that they would have enough to use after arriving in Beijing.

They discussed finding the most famous brokers in Chang'an City, preferably ones who knew the situation in the capital, so that they could prepare in advance for going to Beijing next year.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were discussing enthusiastically. Haitang was listening from the side, but she found it boring and left first.

She actually didn't really want a new maid. Now it was enough for her to have Shi Liu to help with the chores in the yard and the house. When Grape was still with her, she stayed in the house every day and rarely went out. Although she served her attentively and attentively, Hai Tang would be restricted if she wanted to do something without telling others.

In recent years, she sent grapes to her second uncle and second aunt, leaving only pomegranates for odd jobs. She usually claimed that she stayed in the main courtyard during the day and did not need anyone to stay in the house to help her, so she won a certain amount of private space. If she wanted to tinker with some small gadgets, write something, or climb over the wall to meet someone, it would be convenient for her to move around without anyone watching the yard.

As for the sewing room in the backyard, it was Ma Changnian's wife's territory. As long as there was work to do, she would be busy from morning till night and would not leave the house often, so it would not cause any trouble...

Unfortunately, the free time of the past few years is finally coming to an end. When the new girl comes into the house, there will be new eyes in the backyard. If she wants to do something extraordinary, it will not be as convenient as before...

Haitang was in a daze in the west wing study for a while, sighed, and then spread out a piece of paper and pen and started to draw. She had a new idea...

In the afternoon, Jin Jiashu came again. He often went to Hai's house to chat with Ma recently, which made Ma very happy. She always praised him for being considerate in front of others. But today Ma had something important to do, and she would call the matchmaker to her house to question her soon, so she could not take care of him for the time being. After a few pleasantries, she urged him to go home and study.

Jin Jiashu left the room and did not go home directly. Instead, he stood outside the west wing window and asked Haitang casually, "How many days has it been since Brother Hai left? Have they passed Huashan Mountain?" Haitang looked up at him and said, "Huashan Mountain is only about 200 miles away from Chang'an. Brother and his friends rode fast horses and I think they passed Huashan Mountain in less than a day. They may have already left Shaanxi by now."

"They are walking pretty fast, but they must have suffered a lot on the way." Jin Jiashu said this as he walked into the west wing study very naturally and sat down in front of the desk. "When I came to Chang'an from Zunhua Prefecture, it was uncomfortable enough to ride in a car. What's more, Brother Hai has to ride a horse? He rides from morning to night every day. It's amazing that he can hold on."

Haitang smiled and said, "It will be fine if you practice more. My brother and I rode for more than 2,000 miles on the way back to Chang'an from Suzhou, and we managed to survive. Now they are traveling on the official road that is closer to the Central Plains and more prosperous. The conditions are much better, and it's not as hard as you think." She glanced at Jin Jiashu, "Brother Jin, it's because you don't exercise enough on weekdays and your riding skills are not well practiced, so you feel that riding a horse is very hard. In fact... even if you take the official road, riding a horse is much more comfortable than taking a car. Ordinary cars don't have anti-vibration measures, and they are too bumpy. After a day, your waist is almost broken, and the carriage is stuffy. It's better to ride a horse! Brother Jin, you will return to Beijing sooner or later. In order to make the journey more comfortable, you should take some time every day to practice riding a horse?"

Jin Jiashu laughed dryly and looked away with a guilty look: "Well... I'm busy with my studies right now, and I'm going to enter the government school next year..."

"Work and rest together." Haitang said, "Don't you feel dizzy staying in the room reading and writing all day? Riding a horse is more interesting, right? If you find it troublesome, then practice running, boxing, etc. As long as you are strong, even if the carriage is bumpy, you can withstand it better than the average weak scholar. I wanted to teach you in person, but I heard that Guard Lin has returned. Wouldn't it be convenient for him to teach you?"

Jin Jiashu blinked and sat up straight. "In fact, Guard Lin still has important things to do. Although he has returned to Chang'an, he may not have the time to teach me how to ride a horse. Maybe I really need to trouble Sister Hai to teach me. It's a pity that the yard at home is too small, and it's not convenient to ride a horse. There are too many people in the training ground in the city. Where should I go to train my horse? Should I buy a farm outside the city?"

Haitang raised her eyebrows, "Everyone is training in the training grounds. We are not a wealthy family like the Duke of Zhenguo. Do we really need to buy a farm just for horse training?" Seeing that Jin Jiashu was about to speak, she quickly stretched out her hand to stop him, "Forget it. If you want to buy property in Chang'an, it's not a bad thing. Just buy it if you want. Ma Ma will take care of it for you anyway. You don't need to distract yourself to take care of it."

Jin Jiashu paused and said, "If I really want to stay in Chang'an for a few more years, it would be nice to have a farm, but it would be troublesome to deal with it when I leave. I will ask my friends if they have an idle farm that they can lend me to train with horses. If I can find a place, I will have to trouble Sister Hai to teach me riding and archery, so that I don't have to practice blindly..."

Haitang was puzzled: "Can't Guard Lin teach you? What important things does he have to do that he can't spare any time to teach you?"

Jin Jiashu hesitated for a moment: "He brought back some bad news from Yunyang Prefecture. Cousin Jin Wu is missing..."

　Grape is actually the eldest granddaughter of Ma Lili and his wife... Did I write it wrong before?

　　(End of this chapter)