in spring

Chapter 177
Seeing Aunt Qing staring at her, as if she was going to give her own answer immediately, Chunying didn't know how to respond, thought for a while, and said: "I don't understand anything about father's errands, but the shopkeeper of a shop, It's not so easy to change people, bills, customers, inventory... You have to hand over everything clearly, right? There are so many things, it's very complicated, and it can't be solved in ten and a half months. Don't worry. It is said that the shopkeepers of the shop under the name of the Huo family have been in charge of it for several years, and it is not easy to change it at will. My father seems to have done a good job in the silk and satin shop, and he has no intention of changing places. I don’t understand these, or I have time to go home and ask?"

After she finished speaking, she carefully looked at Aunt Qing a few times, and saw that there was a hint of disappointment in the other party's expression, but there was no sign of anger, so she added: "Don't be angry, Auntie, it's not that I don't know what to do, but..." He lowered his voice, "The appointment of the stewards is decided by the superiors. After all, our family can't do whatever we want, right? It depends on the superiors. If the superiors are ordered, my father will handle the errand no matter what. OK."

How could Aunt Qing not know?It's just that I still hope that the old friend's family will serve faithfully and proactively, but this is not realistic after all, so she didn't struggle for long, and nodded with a smile: "That's true, let's see what it means." She I don't have much hope, the people in charge of the Huo's shop are all appointed by An's, and Lu Yougui is working under An's, if he takes the initiative to ask for it, that's all, I suggest from the Huo's to let him go, An's He would become suspicious immediately, and instead cause trouble for the Lu family.

She raised her head and looked at Chun Ying again, sighing inwardly.Red Carp is a second-class girl, why not wait for four people to get close to his wife, and he has not been with his wife for more than 20 years, and his husband has served the new master, how can he still be loyal to the old master?Thinking about it, although Chunying has a good temper, ability, and carefulness, but she can't let go of her parents and relatives. If something big happens, she may pay more attention to the safety of her own family, and may not be able to have a heart with their Huo family, not a confidant Material.

But... Seeing such a good girl taking advantage of others, she is really not reconciled.

Seeing that Aunt Qing was looking at her all the time, thinking, Chunying felt that her heart was fluttering, and she didn't know what she was thinking, so she quickly apologized and said with a smile: "What is Auntie looking at me for? But what's wrong?" He lowered his head and straightened his clothes.

Aunt Qing hurriedly smiled and said: "It's okay, I just thought of something else and lost my mind for a while." Then she took Chunying's hand and looked at her carefully, sighed secretly, and found it from the dressing box next to her. An agate hairpin came, handed it to her and said: "I see that you don't have a lot of good jewelry all over your body. You are obviously at the age of a flower, and the lady has rewarded you with many things. Why don't you know how to dress up? This is what I used to do. I got a hairpin, but I can't wear it now, so I'll just give it to you." After saying that, he was going to stick it on her head.

Chunying glimpsed that the hairpin was bright and well-proportioned in color, with a slightly translucent texture, and what was rare was that the whole hairpin was made of agate. A small plum blossom hangs down a drop-shaped agate bead with a half-finger length and slightly irregular length. It is very valuable at first glance.She thought that she would not be rewarded for nothing, and Aunt Qing suddenly gave her such a valuable thing. It would be fine if it was a simple reward, but she was afraid that in the end, she would be short-handed and it would be difficult to evade it.

So Chunying stood up in a panic and said: "How can a servant be worthy of such a precious thing? Please take it back quickly, Auntie."

Aunt Qing is not happy anymore: "This is my reward for you, why can't you afford it? Just remind you what Miss said, and you can afford ten hairpins like this!" She forcefully pulled Chunying back Pulling it back, she put the hairpin on for her, and said: "Thank you for your words, so we can prepare early so that we won't be in a hurry in the future. Miss must have another reward, this is my share, if you don't accept it, then you won't accept it." Give me face!"

Chunying accepted it reluctantly, but she was a little bit secretly happy.The value is second to none. The color of this agate is very beautiful. It is rare to see such a red agate...

Slightly retracting her mind, Chunying raised her head to look at Aunt Qing, saw that she was smiling at herself, but there was a hint of tiredness between her brows, thinking that she had taken care of herself in the past few years, so she softened her voice and said: "Auntie, but Are you feeling unwell? Please take good care of yourself. Meat and soup are essential. You have been a vegetarian for many years, and you always go to bed early and wake up late. How can your body be able to bear it? I see your body, compared to just now The year I came back to Beijing, it was much worse."

Aunt Qing was startled, feeling a little moved in her heart.After all, she saw the right person, this girl really has a heart.She lowered her head and wiped the corners of her eyes, and said with a smile: "It's okay, I'm also an old man, and it's not unusual to be in poor health. It's a day to day, as long as the young lady and the young master live well, even if I When I get to the spring, I have the face to see my wife."

Chunying thinks this is really absurd, is someone in their thirties also called "a handful of age"? !Is this the idea of ​​the ancient servant girl?Because the master is dead, it doesn't matter if you live or not?She shivered secretly, and persuaded: "You are still young, how can you say such depressing words?! Even if you are thinking about your wife, it is too early to say this?! The young lady is the wife's flesh and blood. You are young and still need the care of the elders, and the young master is a child again, so why don't you just leave them alone? At least 20 years later, it's not too late for you to say this!"

Aunt Qing consciously made a slip of the tongue, and smiled coyly, thinking of the dead Li Shi, her eyes turned red, she lowered her head and twisted her veil for a long time, then raised her head and forced a smile: "That's right, I still have Miss and Young Master to take care of... "Take a deep breath: "Okay, go get busy, come and talk to me when you have time."

Chunying took advantage of the situation and retreated, recalling Aunt Qing's words, she couldn't help shivering.

Dad did a good job in the shop. When we met last time, he didn't encounter any major problems. Besides, the Huo family's shop has been under the supervision of his wife for several years. What's going on now is unknown, so it's better to live It's better not to change it if it's done well.At most, she would mention it to her father, and she would never persuade him to change jobs!
Thinking about what Aunt Qing said inside and outside the words... She began to feel that it was troublesome to behave too well.If Miss Biao becomes the Third Young Mistress in the future, she will wait by her side, no different from now, it will be very convenient for Zhou Nian to take her away, but once the father goes to the Huo family to work as a steward, then he will It's not under Miss Biao's control anymore, if she wants to get her parents and brother out, she still has to spend a lot of effort, why bother?It's better to keep it as it is.

Chunying made up her mind, and continued to do things in a peaceful manner, she didn't speak out again, and she didn't surround Miss Biao all day long like Nanqi did.Not long after, Miss Biao came down with a lot of rewards, which attracted the attention of others, and her previous negligent attitude towards Chunying quickly changed. The other one saluted her more attentively, only little lotus's respect was never less than half a point.

From then on, Chunying paid more attention to little lotus. Although Xinghong secretly told little lotus to pretend to be an idiot, pretend to be high-minded, and have deep thoughts, she still felt that even if little lotus was really scheming, it was better than not having a brain. The snobbery with no technical content is strong. Moreover, at such a young age, if Xiao Lianhua can really control her blushing, it will be too powerful. Building a good relationship with such a powerful person will benefit you more than cons.

In fact, she thinks that little Lianhua is still quite a simple child, and her mind is not stupid. What will happen in the future is a matter for the future.

One afternoon, when she had nothing to do, Chunying was in the small kitchen, carefully teaching little lotus how to make red whistle and white whistle with chicken, to absorb impurities into the freshly boiled soup, so that the bottom of the soup would become clear.

Little Lianhua's eyes widened when she saw it: "The broth is actually boiled like this! Is it because the young lady doesn't like oil?! After the soup becomes clear, can you let me have a taste?"

Chunying smiled and said, "You can try it if you want, but you can only take a small bite. This soup is just the base, and the dishes are not ready yet."

Little Lianhua's eyes widened: "What else should I do?! Do I need to put in more ingredients?!"

Chunying shook her head: "Does Aunt Li recognize her? She is the mother of the red bean and mung bean sisters. She is now working in the big kitchen ahead. I have agreed with her to give her two yuan before three quarters before Shenshi (15 to 17 p.m.) Fresh tofu is here. When the time comes, I will use this soup to simmer the tofu until it is delicious, ready for the lady to eat for dinner."

"Tofu?! The soup that has been boiled for almost two hours is used to simmer tofu?!" Little Lianhua had a look of disbelief.

Chunying smiled, and her reaction was almost the same as that of her back then: "I didn't believe it before, but now I'm used to it. The young lady is not used to eating big fish and big meat. If you eat it at the old lady's place, it's fine. If you make it in a small kitchen, it is naturally to your own liking. Do you think this stewed tofu soup is not worth it? That’s because you rarely see it, and sometimes you use this soup to pour cabbage cores, and pour the vegetables from raw to cooked!" The wealthy family never tires of fine food. In this world, there is no such thing as "waste".She's pretty calm already.

Before little Lianhua woke up from the shock, Chunying smiled secretly, and suddenly saw Dong'er calling her outside, so she told little Lianhua to pay attention to the heat, took off her apron and went out: "What's the matter?"

Dong'er looked her up and down, and said with an unnatural expression: "There are two stewards in our old house, both of whom have just returned from the south, and will stay in Beijing for work in the future. Miss ordered you and Nan Qi to go out See you, recognize someone, it will be easier to do things in the future."

Although Chun Ying felt a little weird, she still agreed, and was about to turn around to look for Nan Qi, when Dong Er called her back, frowning, and said, "Aren't you going to tidy yourself up? It's too rude to go out to meet people in this way, isn't it?" ?!"

Chunying looked inexplicably at herself in the maid uniform of the Marquis Mansion, because she had to work in the kitchen, she didn't wear any jewelry, only two silk flowers and a silver hairpin, isn't it pretty?What's the faux pas?

Dong'er also seemed to know that he was looking for trouble, cleared his throat, and said uncomfortably: "Then go, Nanqi has already gone first, it is on the second gate."

Chunying gave her a few strange glances before walking out of the courtyard. As she approached the second gate, she saw Nan Qi talking to two men outside the gate. One was about forty years old, and the other was a man. Younger, fatter, with short stature, big round face, squinting eyes, kindly, with a three-point smile before opening his mouth, he must be a businessman?
Chunying walked over and called "Sister Nanqi" first, Nanqi turned around when she heard the sound, but her expression changed: "You...how did you come?"

"Dong'er asked me to come, saying that he asked me to recognize the two stewards." Chunying smiled and saluted the two, "I have seen the two stewards, but I don't know how to call them?"

The older man stroked his beard and smiled, and the fat man smiled and said, "My surname is Cai, and this is Guanshi Zhou. You must be Miss Chunying? I've heard Sister-in-Law Tong mention that this is a polite place." Big bow to say hello.

Sister Tong was Jinxiu's post-marriage address, Chunying smiled back, Nan Qi looked puzzled, and after a while he forced a smile and said, "Just now, the two stewards just came from the south. Did it go well along the way?"

Manager Zhou said with a smile: "It's pretty smooth, all the way is by water, the boatmen are all familiar with it, and they have crossed the South Seas, but this canal is a trivial matter."

Chunying grasped "Nanyang" and "Boatman" Er'an with the tip of her ears, and hurriedly asked: "Could it be that you came from the Nanyang fleet?!" She was a little anxious to know what happened to Hu Fei!

(Facing the wall to...)
(End of this chapter)