in spring

Chapter 142
Yulan immediately took two steps out anxiously, but Jinxiu came out of the room very quickly: "What are you doing here?!" Yulan tugged Chunying in a panic, and said with a dry smile: "I just finished cooking, Auntie. I was afraid that my aunt would wait to take the medicine, so I brought it here right away." While speaking, she held the medicine bowl over, but she didn't know that the medicine juice had splashed out and stained half of the back of her right hand.She retracted her right hand embarrassingly, and wiped it on her skirt.

Jinxiu stared at her suspiciously, and then turned her gaze to Chunying. Chunying was feeling a little sorry, so she had to lie for Yulan: "Yes... please drink it while it's hot, Aunt Qing."

"I see, put the medicine on the table." Aunt Qing stepped out the door and said calmly. Upon hearing this, Yulan hurriedly sent the medicine bowl to the table in the room, saluted hurriedly and left.

Chunying put down the jujube with some embarrassment: "This... Sister Linglong said that she would bring it with the medicine..."

Aunt Qing frowned and asked: "Chun'er, I just clearly saw you walking from the other end of the corridor, when did Yulan leave with you? Did you see what she was doing outside the door?"

Chunying was flustered, and wanted to explain a few words for Yulan, but she thought that Aunt Qing treated her pretty well, and it seemed unkind to help others lie to her, but Yulan eavesdropped because of herself. I did it just now, and it would be even more unkind if I confessed to the other party, so I squeaked and said for a long time: "I didn't do anything... just... sent the medicine... I Just one step slower than her..."

Jinxiu flicked her head angrily, and said to Aunt Qing: "Forget it, Auntie, they are all born in this house, why do you make things difficult for her?" Then she taught Chunying: "See you later. If she is so sneaky again, remember to remind us that my aunt values ​​you so much, you must not disappoint my aunt's expectations."

Chunying bowed her head in embarrassment.Jinxiu said again: "What's the matter with this Magnolia? Every day, I like to ask around for something. Our family doesn't have this kind of rule! At first I looked at her and she was fine, except she was a little talkative, she was pretty smart She has a good memory and can serve others, and I was thinking of promoting her, but I was blind! Linglong always said that she is unreliable and likes to listen to the wall, I still don't believe it, but today I bumped into it! "

Chunying was so guilty that she didn't dare to raise her head, and she reflected in her heart that she would never eavesdrop again, no matter how curious she was!Otherwise, once someone finds out, they will be looked down upon like Yulan.

Aunt Qing noticed Chunying's uneasiness, she didn't become suspicious, she just persuaded Jinxiu: "Forget it, there are many maids sent by the mansion, why are you getting angry with her? When it's necessary, ask her to help her, there's no need I told her to go back to the house to do needlework, so she couldn’t see it!” Then he sighed: “I didn’t expect her to be like this either. I found out that her family was accompanied by the previous uncle and wife when I asked about her parents. There is an older sister in the upper room who is the dowry of Concubine Jing. When the Concubine Wang came to visit his wife that day, one of the four maids who came with her was. I looked at her elder sister who is very responsible and well-behaved. She should It’s not bad, but I missed it when I didn’t expect it. When you choose people in the future, just pay more attention.”

Chunying continued to stand there in embarrassment, neither leaving nor staying, feeling a little annoyed in her heart.It turned out that Yulan was valued by Aunt Qing and Jinxiu, but because she took a picture of herself, she completely lost the opportunity.And I actually did eavesdropping...

Jinxiu didn't look at her at all, but concentrated on talking to Aunt Qing, with a worried expression on her face: "Auntie, I'm also impatient. The young lady has already mentioned that when the young master is brought back, she will send me to take care of her. Now I have to I left, but there is only Linglong with the young lady, how can it be enough? The wife is like that..." Her eyes were red, and she lowered her head to wipe it off: "When the funeral was held, I blamed the clan elders for being picky. The wife and the young lady dared not Violating the etiquette, but broke the body. My wife was hurt, and she was too sad... After several months, I was able to go back to Beijing. On the way, because of the rush, I couldn't eat or sleep well. When I arrived in the capital, After living in the Hou's mansion for a few days, I fell into an old illness... Now my wife can't even eat, and the young lady has no appetite after seeing her. If this continues, what will happen..."

Aunt Qing also became worried when she heard the words: "I can't help it... I can only try my best to let my wife eat something... Didn't you say yesterday that the old lady asked someone to bring over the soup?"

"My wife thinks the soup tastes fishy, ​​so she threw up after taking two sips." Jinxiu's eyebrows frowned deeper, "Now I can only have some ginseng soup and bird's nest porridge, and cook some light soups for drinking. In order to persuade Madam to eat something, Miss even delayed her own meal."

It doesn't sound like a good idea.Chunying thought to herself, the aunt was already weak and sick, and still refused to eat well, so she would collapse from starvation before she got sick.She thought of what she had done badly just now, and she wanted to make up for it, so she interjected: "If you think the meat smells fishy, ​​you can put some other ingredients into the soup to get rid of the fishy smell, or you can stew some chicken soup." , I don’t think the chicken soup is fishy, ​​and it won’t be greasy after being stewed in water.”

Jinxiu turned her head and said: "Don't you think we didn't think of it? We tried it long ago. There is a girl named Hongdou in the old lady's house who is best at making soup. Since we entered the mansion, we have brought a cup of soup every day. But the wife just couldn’t drink it, no matter it was meat, chicken or fish, the old lady once persuaded her face to face, the wife drank it, and vomited it out as soon as the people left. The lady said that it was because the wife didn’t want to eat meat in her heart, she just wanted to eat meat Vegetarian, so my wife can barely drink half a bowl of the cabbage soup sent by Hongdou."

Cabbage soup? !Isn't that what Zhang Xiaomei must eat every day when she loses weight?But she remembered that Hongdou was Mungdou's older sister, who used to work in the wife's yard. With their sister's skills, they definitely couldn't make pure cabbage soup.

Chunying put aside this doubt, and said: "You can nourish your body even if you don't eat meat and meat. Among the vegetarian dishes, soy milk, shiitake mushrooms, red dates... many of them can nourish your body. Ah, yes!" She clapped her hands: "Rice oil! No, it's rice soup! I've heard people say that porridge made with round-grained rice is very thin, and the layer of porridge oil on the porridge is very nourishing for the body. Isn't that just vegetarian?! Besides, it’s easy to get! In addition, you can add some other things into the porridge, and try to make the aunt eat too much rice. It can be cured if you are not healthy, but you can’t digest it even if you are hungry. of."

Aunt Qing frowned: "Porridge is common, this porridge oil..." Jinxiu was a little happy: "You reminded me! This rice soup was used to be eaten by poor families in the south of the Yangtze River, and it is the most nourishing My mother also ate it when she was sick, but rich people seldom eat it. But now my wife is able to eat this, and there is no need to disturb the big kitchen outside. We can boil it in a small stove in the tea room. I Just tell people to prepare the polished round-grained rice!" Then he hurried out the door, turned back in two steps, looked at Chunying, and said with a smile: "If this method works, I will go back to Miss and promote you to serve. But it’s a good job, it’s cheap for you!” After saying that, she smiled sweetly and turned around to leave.

Chunying was still in a daze, and Aunt Qing looked at her approvingly: "Well done, I will do the same in the future, if you have any good suggestions, feel free to bring them up. If it works this time, you will be by our lady's side in the future People. Auntie and Miss came from Nanjing thousands of miles away. Many of the people who were originally employed were dismissed, and only a few confidantes were brought with them. There were only a dozen or twenty maids, and most of them were in the old house. If you get Miss His blue eyes are much better than being qualified in the Hou's mansion. I know that your father is very popular among the housekeepers now, but there are so many talents in the Hou's mansion, can he compete with others? Your mother is an old lady who was used by the wife before. Knowing the basics and knowing the bottom line, and your family has a duty, wouldn’t it be a great thing for your wife to bring your whole family over in the future?”

"Huh?!" Chunying was taken aback, she never thought about quitting!It was not easy to get rid of the Hou's mansion, at least the third young master and Zhou Nian had promised her that if she really jumped to the Huo's house, who would let her go?It's okay to serve Miss Biao, but if she gets married and brings me along, wouldn't it be impossible to get away? !
Chunying was about to speak, when Aunt Qing suddenly asked: "You seem to have a younger brother, don't you? How old is it?" Chunying choked, and then replied full of doubts: "Yes, my younger brother is three years old this year. Years old."

"That's just right!" Aunt Qing seemed very happy, "In a few years, let your old man send him to the young master, to study and play with him, and learn some housework when he grows up. Will inherit the master's title, your younger brother grew up with the young master, even if he is not the chief housekeeper, at least he will be the chief steward in the future, just like the Lu family, okay?" Thinking of the old sisters, except for the red carp. She's doing well, and she simply helps her family, so that her husband and children can have a good future, and she is also happy in her heart. Besides, Lu Da is capable, and the Huo family is in need of manpower. He will definitely be of great help ...

As soon as Chunying heard her mention the Lu family, she remembered that Aunt Lu's family had already left their citizenship. The family had a house and land, and her son was planning to take the entrance examination for children... After hesitating, she kept her mouth shut and did not refuse.It is better to ask the parents about this kind of important matter that concerns the future of the whole family.

In the evening, Jinxiu made rice soup and offered it to her aunt, although the latter only ate half a bowl, it was good news.Miss Biao changed her sad expression, praised Chunying with a smile, and even rewarded her with a piece of jade.The next day, Chunying received a notice that she had been promoted to second class, and from now on, she will be serving in the main room.

There are quite a lot of benefits for being promoted to the second-class maid.In addition to the five qian and monthly silver from the Hou Mansion, because the Huo family also issued another monthly money, Chunying could receive one or two five qian silver just for the monthly salary, and the food she ate was like a little girl. It's more than twice as good.Although the masters are vegetarians, the girl has meat, vegetables and soup, and there is a snack the next day.

She still lives in the original room, sharing the room with Shi'er, but the bedding is covered with pillows, and someone brings over new ones immediately, as well as a basin, a bathtub, hair-combing tools, and so on.Shi'er touched it enviously, made an appointment with her to use it, and urged her to go to the main room to kowtow to thank her.

It was only at this time that Chunying realized the unexpected incident. Although she felt a little awkward, she still gave a big gift to Miss Biao honestly.Miss Biao smiled and said: "I will have to work hard for you in the future, if you don't understand anything, just ask Linglong."

Chunying bowed her head in response, and saluted Linglong again.Although the latter had a faint expression on his face, he didn't say anything.After exiting the room, he said: "Because you are not from our Huo family, I can't say anything about you. Since you want to serve in the lady's room, you have to follow the rules. You can't let others laugh at our family. Courtesy."

Chunying was a little puzzled: "It's... what is the rule?"

Then Linglong listed them one by one, including wearing plain cotton clothes, no embroidery on the clothes, simple and elegant hairstyles, no restrictions on styles, but flowers and gold head ornaments are not allowed, and red headbands should be avoided; walking should be light and small. Walk at a moderate speed, don't run and jump around, speak softly, don't be careless, but you must enunciate words clearly, and the movements of saluting must also be standardized (she will teach you this in another class); eat politely and drink soup Don't make noise, don't eat food with strong smell, so as not to bump into the lady; when you go out with the lady, you must be five steps away from the lady, and you have to bring a cloak when it is windy, and remember to bring an umbrella when the sun is fierce...

After counting a lot, she emphasized one more point: "Our lady is not the daughter of an ordinary family. The reputation of the boudoir is the most important thing. We serve by the lady's side, and we must restrain our words and deeds. We cannot chat and laugh with men at will. If you associate with men in private, or people will know about it, it doesn’t matter if you ruin your reputation, if you hurt Miss’s reputation, you should die.” At this point, she stared at Chunying closely: “I know you have served Sanbiao before. Young Master, I am naturally familiar with him, but in the future, you have to pay attention to your behavior, and you can't be as presumptuous as before, remember?!"

Chunying was already in a daze, and when she heard her words, her eyes widened even more: it's a tragedy to be controlled like this, if she can't talk to the third young master, can she even contact Zhou Nian? !
(End of this chapter)