Rebirth of a wishful life

Chapter 38

Aunt Wang went out, one against three.Aunt Wang is not familiar with the nanny in charge of the Hou Mansion.In addition, Aunt Wang also wanted to help Mrs. Shen take over the housekeeping power of the Hou Mansion, so Mrs. Shen didn't have to worry about being tricked by Aunt Wang.

For one morning, Mrs. Shen didn't even see anyone in her own yard. She brought Aunt Wang, Nanny Qiu, to meet all the nuns in charge of the Hou Mansion.Of course, it's not just a meeting, the old lady didn't give Mrs. Shen any buffer time. As soon as these nuns came up, they just reported things first and had to match their cards.

"This is what we will use for lunch today. The vegetables have to be bought on the spot, and the meat is delivered by Butcher Zhang. The servants calculated it, and the total is 20 taels of silver." The nanny in charge of the kitchen was serious. With a face in front of him, he crackled and said everything he wanted to say: "There is also firewood. There is not much firewood left from the firewood I bought a few days ago. It will be used up in three days. Buy firewood once. It is [-] taels of silver, madam, if there is no problem, then I will match the cards to the servant, so that the servant can go to the cashier to collect the silver."

Mrs. Shen looked at the account book in front of her, and asked after a long time: "In the past, buying vegetables here was only more than 50 taels of silver. How come it has become more than 100 taels today?"

"Returning to Madam, the old lady didn't like to eat big fish and meat in the past. Master Hou always ate out, and the second and third masters were often away from the house, so the expenses were less. Now that the madam and the girl are back, lunch Each room is used separately, and Master Hou will also come back, and the more dishes he cooks, the more expenses will be incurred."

The nanny said calmly, and Mrs. Shen frowned slightly: "What kind of dishes do you cook in the past?"

"When you go back to Madam, it's different every day. In the past, when the Second Master and the Third Master didn't come back, the Second Madam and the Third Madam would go to the old lady's place for dinner..." Before the nanny could finish speaking, Shen The madam laughed and said, "Now that I'm back, I also want to eat with the old lady. I don't need to be separated. Is it possible that because I'm back, as a daughter-in-law, I don't have to serve my mother-in-law for dinner? So it used to be What it looks like now, the food is the same as before, but there are a few more people, Hou Ye also said that he wants to come back to eat, so just add more portion when buying vegetables, 60 taels of silver enough."

Mrs. Shen said with a smile, she reached out and took the pair of cards and handed it to the little girl standing beside her, Qingsi. Both the green silk and the green cotton were brought back by Mrs. Shen from the Zhuangzi, so it is best to listen to Mrs. Shen's words and go there immediately Handed the pair of cards to the nun.

Mammy frowned a little unhappy, Madam Shen also frowned slightly: "Why, ten taels of silver is not enough to buy? Otherwise, tell me about today's menu, and I will calculate for you whether the silver is enough for you?"

After the words fell, the nanny immediately thought that Mrs. Shen and Shen Ruyi used to live in the Zhuangzi. It is said that the Zhuangzi is very small and there are not many people serving it. Maybe it is necessary for Mrs. Shen to do the cooking. , the price of vegetables and meat, is it very clear when you think about it?

With this thought in mind, looking at Mrs. Shen's expression, I can't refute. If I really want to make a menu and compare them one by one, then maybe who is unlucky.However, in the end, I was a little unwilling: "I still have to buy all kinds of things for making snacks, such as vegetable oil and beans..."

"You want to say that Ruyi and I have to eat more than a dozen taels of silver every day for dim sum?" Mrs. Shen raised her eyebrows slightly: "Is this flour or something sent by Zhuangzi once a month? And this vegetable oil, these beans, didn’t they all come from Zhuangzi? The molds were bought a long time ago, what do you want to buy now? Nuts and the like? That won’t cost much, right?”

But although Mrs. Shen could control the nanny who was in charge of the kitchen, she couldn't control other things.

For example, Nanny He from the sewing room: "The old lady said that there was a brocade cushion missing in the room, and she needed to use golden silk thread. Now there is no storeroom, so I need to buy it separately. For the other fabrics, I asked my wife to open a storeroom." Take two blue ones. The third girl is missing two outfits and needs water cloud gauze and Sichuan brocade; the third aunt Chen is missing a whole outfit and needs half a bolt of piqué brocade..."

The said Mrs. Shen was at a loss. After looking through the account books for a long time, some fabrics could be found, but some could not be found. What should I do if I could not find them?I had to send someone to buy it, but the old lady's room was not made of ordinary fabrics, and Mrs. Shen didn't know the price, so she had to turn her head to look at Nanny Lu.

Nanny Lu whispered a few words into Madam Shen's ear, Madam Shen nodded, and looked up at Nanny He: "Could you change the blue fabric from Madam Shen to Fuwen brocade? This color is also very dignified. Fuwen is also very auspicious, and there is enough in the warehouse. It is better than the fabric you mentioned before, what do you think?"

Madam He hesitated for a moment, and Madam Shen raised her eyebrows slightly: "If it doesn't work, I'll send someone to buy some fabrics later, and you will come back tomorrow to get the right card?"

Glancing at Nanny Lu, Nanny Lu met her gaze, just smiled, then pointed to the words on the account book and said a few words, Mrs. Shen nodded hurriedly, and changed her head when she looked up: "Our family Didn’t your aunt always use hang silk to make clothes? Why is Aunt Chen from the third room going to change? I see, but no one uses brocade, Aunt Chen’s face is so big?”

"As for the third girl, isn't there a rule in the mansion that there are eight clothes for each season throughout the year? Who doesn't have enough clothes to wear, isn't it all subsidized by each house? Why is the third girl an exception?"

After talking about looking at Aunt Wang, Aunt Wang hurriedly came out to testify: "Returning to Madam, the clothes for autumn this year have already been made in summer, and the clothes for winter will take a month to start. There is no missing girl. The custom in our house is that if a girl doesn't have enough clothes, each house will subsidize it by itself, and can no longer get cloth from the public house."

If there is an account book, then there are regulations, and if there are regulations, it will be much easier to handle.Although Mrs. Shen is not very good at reading books, she can't stand the guidance of Aunt Lu and Aunt Wang, especially Aunt Wang, who knows all kinds of rules of housekeepers in the mansion, which is better than Aunt Lu.

Aunt Wang mentioned a few things about Mrs. Shen.In a short period of time, there were really no major issues to be resolved. The Mid-Autumn Festival had just passed, and the Double Ninth Festival had not yet arrived. Everything was done according to the rules, so nothing would go wrong.

Mrs. Shen also gradually changed from the original anxiety to calmness. Sometimes she can find out the rules by herself without Mammy Lu's reminder.

However, it is impossible to look through the ledgers for everything, because what she holds in her hand is the ledgers for nearly a month. The Hou Mansion spends so much every day, and there are two or three ledgers a month. This is only for the inner courtyard.

"The incense candles in the old lady's Buddhist hall should be added. This time, the old lady wants to change to the Chen family's incense candles. The incense candles in the Chen family's shop are more authentic, with a strong smell and Zen, but the price is [-]% higher than the previous ones. "

A woman who bought it said that Mrs. Shen looked through it for a while, but found no precedent in the account book, so she had to ask the woman: "I have never used such incense candles before, how does the old lady know what the Chen family's incense candles look like?"

"I met the old lady when she was a guest at Zhao's house." The old woman hurriedly explained: "Afterwards, she felt better, so she asked the old lady in Zhao's house, and then ordered to change the incense candles of Chen's house next month, little Buddha. The incense candles in the hall cannot be broken, so the servants have to buy them a few days in advance."

Mrs. Shen nodded: "Okay, I will accept the matter of changing incense candles, but don't go shopping for now, you will invite the shopkeeper's wife of Chen's shop to sit down..."

Before Mrs. Shen finished speaking, the woman's eyes widened: "Madam, do you want to meet a lowly merchant woman?"

Mrs. Shen frowned slightly, and the woman's eyes seemed to be looking at a self-willed depraved person: "Ma'am, what is your identity! The lady of the majestic mansion! The court ordered! Some time ago, she was a court wife! How can you meet a lowly merchant woman?"

Madam Shen turned her head to look at Nanny Lu, and Nanny Lu nodded invisibly, Madam Shen's attitude immediately became a little tougher: "Why, can you make the decision for me?"

The mother-in-law choked immediately. She thought that Mrs. Shen must have had low self-esteem and pride when she came back from the Zhuangzi after a lot of trouble. She was most afraid of being laughed at by others, so she dared to say that However, Mrs. Shen asked another question.

"Who does this lady want to see and who does she want to talk to, can you make the decision?" Madam Shen asked again, a little puzzled: "According to what you said, if Master Hou wants to buy something, he must ask you to negotiate." Okay, can't see those shopkeepers outside at all?"

The woman's face turned pale immediately, and she hurriedly knelt down: "This is not what I mean..."

"Then what do you mean?" Mrs. Shen followed up and asked, but the mother-in-law hesitated and couldn't answer, so Mrs. Shen shifted her gaze and looked at the next woman: "Which errand are you in charge of? "

Mrs. Shen had never made a mistake before, and now she took the opportunity to catch a mistake to make an example of others. Even if the people behind had more thoughts, they had to stop now.

After finishing the morning's work, Mrs. Shen was so tired that she couldn't sit still. She never felt tired even if she sat on Zhuangzi for a day.

While pinching her shoulders, Shen Ruyi said with a smile: "Of course, when you are in Zhuangzi, you can do whatever you want, and if you can't sit still, you can talk to me or Nanny Chen, Eat some snacks and drink a cup of tea, you don’t need to use your brain or anything, but now, sitting there, I don’t dare to relax at all, because I’m afraid that what I said is inappropriate, and I have to maintain my demeanor so that I won’t be laughed at, and I won’t be tired No wonder, but mother, you performed really well today, I thought you would make mistakes in a hurry, but I didn't expect that you didn't make any mistakes at all. "

Looking sideways at Mrs. Shen, she smiled brightly: "Mother, I'm so happy, you performed so well today."

(End of this chapter)