in spring

Chapter 93
Aunt Cheng was a little curious: "What did you say? Is he going to take him back? When?"

"I didn't say that, but I said clearly that I can't resell it or increase the punishment. If the person is broken or lost, he will ask us to settle the account afterwards! It can be seen that he will come to fetch the person sooner or later." Shopkeeper Shi said again. Yan persuaded, "Sister, please treat that girl better, she is young, and it is not easy."

Aunt Cheng sneered disdainfully: "Twelve or thirteen years old is not young! When I was my age, I had already taken care of the whole house properly. If that girl is in someone else's house, I can't care about it, but since she is here My subordinates, if we don’t ask her to do more work, shall we be thankful?! Steward Xiao Chen didn’t leave her money for food! Could it be that she should be allowed to eat and drink for nothing?!”

Chunying gritted her teeth with hatred, and Cheng Suyi, who was caught on the edge of the table, caught a glimpse of her skirt and yelled: "Xiaochun is eavesdropping outside!" Chunying was startled, and hurriedly lowered her head to bring the breakfast in before putting it on the table. At the table, Mrs. Cheng pinched her ears: "Damn girl, you procrastinated when I asked you to do some work, and now you have even learned to eavesdrop, do you know the rules?! No wonder you will be kicked out like this!" Come out!"

Chunying reluctantly said: "I bought it and came back early. I didn't dare to come in when I heard the shopkeeper and the aunt talking. I didn't mean to eavesdrop." Then he was slapped vigorously.Aunt Cheng sneered and said: "I don't care whether you mean it or not, as a girl, you have to keep your duty, and when you hear your master say something important, you should quickly avoid it, otherwise you will go in with your left ear and out with your right ear, sneaking around." What does it look like?!"

Shopkeeper Shi hurriedly smiled to smooth things over: "Okay, okay, she knows she's wrong, and it's not an important matter, so let her go. Hurry up and have breakfast, I still have things to do today." Madam Cheng let go hand.

Shopkeeper Shi said to Chunying again: "You take a steamed bun. There is still some tea in the kitchen and the leftover sesame seed cakes from yesterday. It's almost time to finish eating. Remember not to do it again next time?" Chunying bowed her head and gestured at him. After a salute, she stretched out her hand to get the steamed buns, but the Cheng brothers quickly grabbed the one they liked, leaving only the smallest one, and she had to hold it in her hand.Aunt Cheng said next to her again: "Remember to sweep the shop clean! After all the work is done, come up and help me trim the silk thread and cut the thread ends. You can do lunch. I don't have that much time today!"

Chunying agreed to step back, went back to the kitchen and sat on the threshold, drinking noodle tea that she couldn't get used to no matter how much she drank, eating steamed buns (buns?) full of fat minced meat and dry sesame seed cakes, while sucking Nose, holding back tears.

What Mrs. Cheng said gave her a big blow.Although Manager Xiao Chen said that he would take her back home when the news passed, who knew when?If you are lucky, it will be ten days and eight days, but if you are unlucky, it may be possible for several years, right?

The fact that she left the mansion this time was confusing.Who sent her out?But regardless of whether it was Lord Hou or his wife, the third young master and Zhou Nian obviously couldn't object.Was she expecting too much from them?In the final analysis, one of them is the underage heir to the Marquis Mansion, and the other is the former noble son who lives under the fence. The former doesn't care much about the little girl's life, while the latter... can't even control his own destiny, and even more so... Let alone someone else's?Maybe she shouldn't push him too much.

What would happen to her if the one who sent her out didn't call her back?There are many maids around the third young master, and there are only a few people who can stay by his side for a long time.Since she is not here, the third young master must find someone else to take care of Zhou Nian, and they will completely forget her in a short time.In the final analysis, she is just a little girl, and she is caught in the Hou's mansion.How could she place all her hopes on them?

Think about what she has done since time travel?She always said that she wanted to save money to redeem herself, but all along, she had been relying on others.I hope that my father will be promoted to management, and I rely on my father's own efforts; I hope that I can climb up to the young master and follow him to leave the Marquis in the future, and I rely on my second uncle to mediate; Yu and his wife kindly paid for her hard work; and after entering the mansion, they hoped that the third young master would reward her more so that she could save more money.

But after all, how much effort did she put in herself?Apart from learning how to needle and thread, I just get by, and even needle and thread are not outstanding.In the future, even if you successfully get out of citizenship, won't it be the same as relying on your family to make money?Do business?She has no experience at all, who knows if she can do well?Even if she is opening a small restaurant, her cooking skills are not yet to the point where she can stand on her own!
Knowing a little about everything and not outstanding in anything, a girl like her should be able to find someone to replace her at any time, right?She can't go on like this anymore, if she doesn't work harder, if she doesn't make herself more useful, she will be sacrificed at any time!
Chunying raised her head and glanced around, then looked at the hard-to-eat biscuits in her hand, gritted her teeth and made up her mind.She will never live a life like this!
Aunt Cheng yelled again from outside: "What is it taking so long for you to eat?! Do you think you are a lady?! Come and clean the shop! We will open for business soon!"

It was clear that there was still an hour to go, and their family had just started to eat breakfast. Could it be that she was forced to suffer from stomach problems? !
Chunying slandered secretly, but she didn't dare not listen, so she could only hastily swallowed the remaining half of the steamed bun, drank two sips of noodle tea, grabbed a broom and ran to the front of the shop.

All she has to do is clean the floor. There are bolts of silk on the shelves, and there are ledgers and money on the counter. She won't touch these important places.But this does not mean that she can enjoy leisure time. After cleaning the shop, she has to clean the tables and chairs in the shop, boil water, wash the tea sets and make tea, then clean the two small buildings in the front and back of the backyard, and finally go to Mrs. Cheng to help her Straighten out the thread for embroidery.Near noon, she would go out to buy groceries and prepare lunch. After the meal, she would clean the pots and pans, and then starch and wash the clothes of the whole family. After finishing the work, she would go to Mrs. Cheng to help. She is no worse than Mother Lu. She took a lot of clothes, handkerchiefs, bed sheets and curtains and other jobs, but she didn't care about the trivial things such as seaming, fringing, ironing, and thread cutting. She simply left it to Chun. Ying, I concentrate on embroidering more flowers to make money.

Chunying didn't expect that her mediocre needlework would come in handy. Thanks to this little skill, Aunt Cheng didn't skimp on her food and clothing, and didn't deprive her of sleep time. And when he is in a good mood, he will teach her a few tricks with sarcasm and scolding.Chunying originally had no other ideas, but now she has changed her mind: If she can do a good job in sewing, it can be regarded as a way of making a living, right?In addition, there are kitchen work, cleaning, observation, and the daily customs of the people of this era. After she has learned all these, even if she cannot return to the Hou Mansion, she can still survive in this world by her own ability !

While Chunying was setting her ambitions during the days of being enslaved, there was another scene in the Qingguohou Mansion.Huanhuaxuan was peaceful, and the girls, big and small, were still doing needlework leisurely as usual, and occasionally exchanged recent gossip and joked a few words.

Manru did not participate in this kind of communication, she sat alone under the veranda not far from the main house, covered half of her face with a branch of sweet-scented osmanthus tree, buried herself in making a new dress for the third young master, and looked up from time to time Glancing at the door of the left ear room, a trace of worry appeared between his brows.

Lu'er saw her sitting here alone from a distance, so she walked over and said with a smile: "What are you doing here alone? How lively are you chatting and laughing with the big guys? This job is not in a hurry."

Manru smiled unnaturally: "Although it's not in a hurry, but I've done it earlier, and I feel more at ease, so go ahead." She couldn't help but glanced at the ear room again.

Lu'er said, "What's wrong? It's getting hotter every day. Even if your clothes are ready, at least you won't be able to wear them until autumn!" She sat next to Manru and followed the latter's gaze Looking at the anteroom, he smiled and said, "You think it's weird for Nan Qi to come to visit, so you pay more attention, don't you? Don't worry, she is now a member of the wife's house, and besides, she has known her since she was a child. It's normal to come to our courtyard to sit and sit, sister Mei Xiang knows what to say and what not to say."

Manru forced a smile, lowered her head to work restlessly, and accidentally poked her finger. Fortunately, Luer was attracted by Chen'er who was walking in the opposite corridor, so she didn't notice her abnormal state.

Lu'er watched Chen'er go away, frowned and said: "I wanted to say it yesterday, the jasper pendant with bamboo on Chen'er's waist seems familiar, I remember Chun'er has one, it's the third young master Reward her. She put it in the dressing box like a treasure, and never put it on. It is a good thing. Our family's fleet brought it back from Nanyang. Only a few young masters and ladies have it. The carvings are also different. It’s not the same, and there’s nowhere to buy it outside. How could Chen’er have it? Even the color and style of the tassels are exactly the same as Chun’er’s!”

As soon as Manru heard her mention Chunying, she felt uncomfortable: "Really? Maybe Chen'er saw that Chun'er's jade pendant was in good shape, so she made an identical one. It's not unusual."

"Who said no?" Lu'er looked at her disapprovingly, "I don't believe you didn't see it! On the day Chun'er fell and hurt herself in the garden, because she was rushing to the second gate and Mei Xiang wasn't there, it was Lan Xiang asked Chen'er to pack up a copy of her luggage and send it away, and Lan Xiang locked up the rest. Now that Chen'er has several old things from Chun'er on her body, who doesn't know what happened? She You have done too much, do you really think we are all blind?! You have always been on good terms with Chun'er, why are you talking nonsense?"

Manru was startled inwardly, and laughed quickly: "Look at my mouth, I didn't mean it. It's just that Chen'er is on the same level as us, and she is favored by his wife. Even if we want to blame her, we have to think twice. Chun'er's stuff doesn't have her name written on it, if Chen'er denies it, what can we do with her? If she tells us that we are jealous and deliberately slandered her, the one who suffers is We are."

Lu'er's expression softened: "That's true...just letting Chen'er do whatever he wants. Has there ever been such a thing in Huanhuaxuan before? Sister Lan Xiang is too confused, I have to tell Chen'er to know The rules are good! Besides, the things that Chun'er accumulated on weekdays are worth a lot of money. Now that she is seriously injured, it is time to use the money. If she loses something, why worry? Let's find a way to get her money back. Get the things back and send them back to her home, so that it can be rescued.”

Manru thought of Chunying who had been missing for several days, and felt uncomfortable.She remembered hearing other girls say that she ran into the second young master and his entourage in the garden, and that the third young master took Chunying out, but there was only one person when she came back, and she also said that Chunying was injured and sent out of the mansion But her mother proved that Chunying had not returned to the compound, and it was obviously a lie to say that she was injured and left the house.

All these signs show that Chunying's disappearance is absolutely inseparable from the second young master.Maybe, because the second young master saw her wearing pearl flowers, she was silenced. The third young master did not dare to speak out because of his brother's reputation.Manru was relieved at first that she had got rid of the suspicion, and then she couldn't bear Chunying's tragic ending. After all, she grew up with her as a child. Although she has separated from her recently, the old friendship is not lost. can be lost.

Asking for the "relic" for Chunying, is it considered doing something for her?Manru was about to agree to Lu'er, when she suddenly thought that Lu'er was going to be promoted to a big girl, so she was naturally not afraid, but her own future was uncertain, and she might have to rely on her wife's backing. Would it be unwise to offend her?Wouldn't it be bad if I annoyed my wife?He also thought that if it wasn't for Chunying, he wouldn't have gotten into trouble like the second young master, so he gritted his teeth and said: "We can't get out easily, so how can we send it back to her house? What if Chen'er loses something How many things, if Chun'er's family says we took it, so what should we do? Besides, these things are not something we can do, Chen'er is not a little girl, how can she obediently listen to us?" She was quite sure in her heart, Lu'er's temperament is soft, as long as she coaxes her afterwards, the matter will be over, and there will be no knots in her heart.

A look of surprise flashed across Lu'er's face: "What's wrong with you? Don't your family belong to the same yard as Chun'er's? Just ask your mother to pick up the ride, and even if it's not good, you can hand it over to Qiuyu. Qiuyu is by no means People who are unreasonable will naturally know that we have good intentions."

"I've been with her family for many years, so of course I know it well. If you don't believe me, go by yourself." Manru insisted, not wanting to tell Luer any more, so she packed up her sewing basket and got up, "I'm tired, take a rest." Go, sit down."

She hurried across the veranda to go back to her room, but she saw Mei Xiang lifted the curtain of the ear room and shouted: "Shi'er, come here." Shi'er answered in the front yard and ran over, muttered a few words at the door and entered the room.Manru vaguely heard the word "Zhuhua", her expression changed, she saw that Lu'er got up and left her place, and no one around was paying attention to her, so she walked lightly to the window of the left ear room and listened carefully.

The voice of the people in the room was a little strange, and Manru recognized that it was Nanqi: "You said that when you made bead flowers that day, Chunying got a pair of pink and purple lotus flowers with pink bead cores, and only one with purple bead cores. It’s just that Manru has got it, isn’t it?”

Manru's heart tightened, and she heard Shi'er reply: "That's right. Chun'er often wears it on her head, but a few days ago... that was the day she fell and hurt herself. When she got up early in the morning, she wanted to I looked for the pair of bead flowers, but one was missing, and I don't know where I lost it." She was a little curious, "Second sister, why are you asking this?"

"Just ask casually." Nan Qi whispered, "A girl picked up a bead flower of similar shape, but didn't know who it was. I'll just ask for her. It's just that I heard that the flower core is purple. The bead, so it must be Namanru's?"

Manru broke out in a cold sweat immediately.

(came back……)
(End of this chapter)