Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 141 Jealousy

Li An rubbed his brow with a headache, looked at the helpless little girl holding a broom and asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is…"

As soon as the little girl opened her mouth, she remembered that the maid needed to salute, so she quickly let go of the broom in her hand and saluted: "Back...back to the second young master, my...my name is Cai'er."

Seeing that the little girl was a little nervous, Li An smiled and said, "Don't be nervous. Tell me, why did you come to my courtyard?"

"Back to the second young master, the mistress asked the slave to come and serve the second master in the courtyard. The slave saw that the courtyard was a little dirty, so she wanted to clean it up."

Perhaps Li An's smile had an effect, but Cai'er was not so nervous anymore.

"you…"

Li An originally wanted to say that he didn't want her to serve him here, but if she and Shi Zhu could see each other in the future, it wouldn't be appropriate for her to serve him.

But he was worried that the little girl would think too much, so he paused and said, "From now on, you will be responsible for cleaning the yard and washing clothes."

"Yes." Cai'er responded.

"Zhuzi, come with me."

Li An brought Shi Zhu into the house and said, "I'm not your wife now, so don't yell, okay?"

"Oh." Shi Zhu scratched his head aggrievedly and said, "But didn't Brother A Niu say before that she would be my wife?"

"Then do you want a wife?" Li An said speechlessly.

"Yes." Shizhu said.

Li An was stunned and asked doubtfully: "Didn't you ask for it yesterday?"

"But aunt said that my daughter-in-law will help me wash my clothes and cook for me." Shi Zhu said with a smile.

Li An: "..."

Are you looking for a wife, or a nanny?

No, in ancient times, washing and cooking seemed to be the responsibility of the daughter-in-law.

Unlike in later generations, washing and cooking were almost exclusively for men.

It’s not that Ang Lee is sexist, but it’s true that he does have some machismo.

Washing and cooking is better than being rejected.

Li An was really afraid that one day Shi Zhu would marry a wife, so he would kick her down when she went to bed at night, saying that she would compete with him for the bed.

"Zhuzhu, your wife has to be married before you can call her. You haven't married her yet, so you can't call her, you know?" Li An said.

Shi Zhu nodded as if he understood, and asked: "When can I get married?"

"You have to go back to Bianjing and talk to the master about this matter. Remember not to shout in the future." Li An warned.

"I know, Brother A Niu." Shi Zhu nodded.

"Okay, help me pour the water first."

Li An called Shizhu to carry the bath water and pour it out, but he was thinking that he would have to take a shower later.

By the way, the toilet also needs to be renovated.

Although it feels better to squat, the smell and flies in the summer are really unbearable.

When Li An returned to the front hall, he learned from his mother that his aunt sent Cai'er back and then left.

Perhaps because the meeting was a little awkward, Li Nan stayed with her for lunch and said he was not willing to send her back after the meal.

"Cai'er is a pretty good girl. She's always rushing to help with the work and can't even take a break. I asked her about it. Her father, a gambler, is often away from home. She and her mother farm the fields at home, do laundry and cook. All the land in the city. Now that her family's land has been sold by her gambling father, her mother still doesn't know how to live in the future." Mrs. Liu sighed.

Li An couldn't do anything about this kind of thing. There were far worse things in the world than Cai'er's family, so how much could he care about?

Moreover, no matter how much you help this kind of gambler, it will be in vain.

Li An had a friend in his previous life. He originally just played cards during the Chinese New Year, but he was just lucky and won every day during the Chinese New Year.

After a year, I won 70,000 to 80,000 yuan, and finally bought a car directly.

As a result, people saw gambling as a way to get rich. Within a year, their car was gone and their house was also sold.

At that time, Li An and several friends also helped him.

However, he got the money and continued gambling.

At that time, Li An understood the truth that gamblers couldn't help him. It’s not like there are no gamblers who can finally realize their mistakes and correct their evil ways.

But Cai'er's father has sold his daughter, and he is hopeless.

"Stop talking about this, mother, why do you let her serve in my courtyard?" Li An asked.

"Didn't you say you bought her back to be Zhu Zhu's wife? I think this girl is good, honest, responsible, and hard-working. Zhu Zhu is an honest child. If you find someone with a lot of ideas in the future, she might be sold to help. How much does it cost for people? I asked her to go to your courtyard because I wanted to have more contact with Zhu Zhu." Ms. Liu said.

"But it's not convenient for her to live as a girl in our courtyard." Li An said.

If she was just an ordinary maid, Li An wouldn't think anything of it. That's how it is in this era.

It's normal for a maid to wait on her master to take a bath and so on. If she is not taken into a concubine by her master in the future, she is still married.

But since Shi Zhu was to be his wife, it would be inconvenient for her to serve him in the courtyard.

"Then what do you think we should do?" Liu said.

"I just told her to let her be responsible for cleaning my yard and washing clothes for me and Zhu Zhu. Normally, let her follow my mother, and let her go to the yard to clean up in the morning. Then I can hand over the clothes outside. Wash her." Li An said.

"alright."

Mrs. Liu thought about it and thought it would be okay, and said, "Then I'll ask her to come with me to the kitchen to cook."

……

For the next period of time, Li An studied at home every day, and occasionally went out for a walk at night when the weather was cool.

As the county examination approaches, Yangzhou City becomes more and more lively.

Yangzhou City is the state city and the administrative seat of Huainan East Road. The county examination held in Yangzhou City only faces people from villages, towns and villages directly under Yangzhou and Yangzhou City.

Surrounding counties are held in their respective counties.

However, there are many students like Li An studying in other places in Yangzhou City.

As the imperial examination approached, these students who were preparing to take the county examination returned to Yangzhou.

There are various poetry gatherings and theme gatherings every day.

Li An went out to hang out and met some students from Yangzhou, and was dragged to participate several times.

I found it too boring, so I seldom went out and concentrated on studying for the exam at home.

……

Bianjing, inside the Shengjia Academy.

Because the county examination was approaching, Zhuang Xuexue focused all his attention on Sheng Changbai, Sheng Changfeng and Qi Heng. He talked about articles every day.

Several girls were not interested in this, and Zhuang Xuexue didn't care much about them.

In early September, the temperature dropped a lot, and it rained, making the weather cooler.

It was the time when people felt sleepy in the afternoon. Except for Mo Lan, the other three girls all dozed off.

Qi Heng listened to Zhuang Xuexue's lecture, but his eyes were fixed on Minglan, who was sleeping with her chin clenched.

Minglan nodded from time to time, looking very cute.

When Mo Lan turned to look at Qi Heng, she saw him looking out the window with a smile on his face. He thought something interesting was happening outside. When he looked out the window, he found nothing.

Confused, Mo Lan turned her head and looked back, only to see that Qi Heng was looking at Minglan.

Mo Lan is the eldest among the girls, almost fourteen years old this year.

Although the ancients matured early, at this age they actually don’t understand what liking is.

But she couldn't bear the fact that she had a girl who told her about her every day. Under the influence of Lin Xiaoniang, Mo Lan always regarded Qi Heng as her future husband.

Seeing Qi Heng laughing at Ming Lan, he felt very angry. He rolled his eyes and stood up.

"pedant!"

Xuexue Zhuang was giving a lecture and was unhappy when he was suddenly interrupted. He looked at Mo Lan and asked, "What's the matter with the fourth girl?"

Mo Lan suddenly stood up and spoke, waking up Ru Lan, Ming Lan and others who were dozing behind, and Sheng Changbai and others also looked at Mo Lan.

(End of this chapter)