Chapter 106: Homecoming (Part 1) (Pink Tickets 930)

  Because Luo Zhen Sheng's wedding is scheduled for October 22nd, if he sets off on September 20th, he may be late. There are things at home that Luo Zhen Xing can handle, and outside matters that Qian Ming can take care of. Although the old lady is bedridden with illness, the old master has decided to return to Yu Hang on the 20th, accompanied by Luo Zhen Da from the third house along the way.

  Xu Lingyi and Shiyi Niang went to see off the old master.

  Because he was going back to host the wedding, Xu's family not only gave a hundred taels of silver as a ceremony fee to the old master, but also sent three hundred taels of silver as a gift. Xu Lingyi himself took out another hundred taels of silver as a meeting gift for the bride, while Xu Lingning and Xu Lingkuan each contributed sixty taels as a meeting gift. The first lady, second lady, third lady, and fifth lady gave jewelry. The eleventh lady also sent a few more pieces of jewelry than the first lady and others.

  Back home, Amber couldn't help but hold the money box and sigh: "Miss, there's only 50 taels left! In a few days, we'll have to add more to Seventh Miss's dowry."

  The eleventh girl was also very worried.

  The lady didn't give her a single penny as the bottom line, but on the day of recognition, she received many valuable jewelry, which could only be looked at and not touched.

  She suddenly remembered that Wu Yiniang had pawned the agate bangle and said half-jokingly, "If not, we can pawn it as jewelry?"

  Amber's face turned pale: "If this is discovered, it will be terrible."

  The eleventh girl asked about Yang Hui's ancestor and Yu Lu's wife.

  "...... That Yang Huizu, now relies on bringing handkerchiefs and jade flowers to the maidservants in the mansion to make a living. I heard that Gan Laoquan, who is favored by Third Madam, approached him to help manage the kitchen. He didn't agree. His wife quarreled with him, and he slapped her twice. His wife has been shouting about seeking death every day since then. Everyone in the group house is waiting to see the excitement!"

  Eleventh Girl slightly stunned: "Do you know why he didn't go?"

  "I don't know," said Amber. "I asked around, and the people in the dormitory all say that Yang Hui Zu is a man of few words, but when he does something, it's always very reliable, so everyone likes to ask for his help with things."

  The eleventh girl asked about Wei Lu's wife: "How is she?"

  Amber hastily said, "I heard that the wet nurse and young master are very close. There's a rumor going around that in two days she'll be taking over the laundry room. The original person in charge of the laundry room, Cai Mama, is now jumping up and down, anxious to no end."

  "Just pay attention!" said Eleventh Sister with a smile, "It's just right to take advantage of this matter to see what kind of character each person has. In the future, we'll also know which people are suitable for use in which places!"

  Amber nodded repeatedly, and Mom Tao arrived.

  "...The dishes sent from the fifth lady to the third lady's place have some ordinary small dishes and some expensive big dishes. Taking turns, it would cost around 120 taels of silver." He handed a list to the eleventh lady, "I drafted one according to this, take a look if it's feasible or not?"

  The eleventh girl didn't answer, but instead asked her: "About how much silver will it take?"

  "About one hundred taels of silver - after all, it's now one person eating and two people getting subsidies in the Fifth House!"

  The eleventh girl nodded: "Then let's make a bill according to eighty taels of silver and report it to the third madam."

  Mrs. Tao's face fell: "This is too low. In this house, apart from the old lady and Master Hou, you are the greatest!"

  Eleventh Sister felt that Old Lady Tao was too stubborn: "Who can eat Buddha Jumps Over the Wall every day?"

  Mrs. Tao knew she was showing weakness and thought it made sense after some consideration. She smiled, bowed her knees, retreated, rewrote the list, and reported back to the third madam.

  Wan Yi Zong replied to her: "...The 500-acre farm is a slope land, and the 300-acre farm is a sandy land. The two farms are only about a dozen zhang apart."

  "Hilly land? Sandy land?" Eleventh Sister was quite surprised: "And it's only separated by a distance of about ten zhang?"

  Wan Yizong nodded: "In the middle is a field of Liu's family. I also asked the original manager of the farm about it. This sandy land was originally used for growing peanuts, and that slope was planted with jujube trees." As he spoke, his expression became slightly uncomfortable, "We grow rice paddies on our side. These peanuts and jujube trees are what I'm seeing for the first time."

  The eleventh girl smiled bitterly.

  Not to mention him, even Liu Yuanrui and Chang Jiuhai might have seen it for the first time.

  After a moment of silence, Eleventh Sister said: "If I let you handle it, how confident are you that you can do a good job?"

  Wan Yizong did not say anything, only saying: "I have done my best."

  Eleventh Girl had never been in contact with farm work and was worried at the moment, so she found Tao Mama to discuss: "Is there a good hand for farming at home?"

  "Matters on the farm belong to the Outer Court's jurisdiction."

  "There are several study rooms in our home."

  "There is a large study outside the house, a semi-circular pavilion in the back garden, a small study in your room, and one study each in Third Master's and Fifth Master's rooms. The Eldest Young Master and Second Young Master each have a study."

  "Help me take a look, is there any book about farming?" He added, "Similar to 'The Exploitation of the Works of Nature'."

  Old Mrs. Tao nodded and asked several servants in charge of the library, but none of them could find it. One servant even said, "Farming is not worth writing a book about!"

  The eleventh girl had no choice but to instruct Wan Yizong: "You go and take a look around, see what kind of crops everyone is planting? How's the harvest?"

  Wan Yi's expression hesitated for a moment.

  The eleventh girl smiled and said: "What's there to say? Three smelly shoemakers can still surpass a Zhuge Liang!"

  Wan Yizong carefully observed the expression of Shiyi Niang and said, "I heard that the sandy land and slope were also originally Liu's family. The old master of the Liu family was an official and was exempt from land taxes. However, last year the old master died, and the income from the sandy land and slope was not enough to pay the land taxes. That's why the Liu family sold the two pieces of land."

  Eleventh Girl had long guessed that her two fields would not have a good harvest, but she did not expect it to be this bad... Fortunately, she was not the kind of person who shied away from difficulties.

  "You used to plant paddy fields. On the same piece of land, some people harvest eighty kilograms of rice, while others harvest one hundred kilograms." She said calmly, looking at Wan Yizong.

  Wan Yizong's expression changed slightly, and he lowered his head: "I'll go around the neighborhood to ask about it now."

  The eleven girls showed a satisfied expression.

  Wan Yizong's face turned red and he hastily left.

  That day, Shiyi Nang was always thinking about this matter, occasionally revealing a few moments of absent-mindedness.

  On the way back from having dinner at Madam Tao's place, Xu Lingyi suddenly asked her, "Has there been any change in your mother-in-law's condition?"

  The eleventh girl didn't know why he asked this, and smiled: "No. Today I sent Hu Po to see him, saying that he can already eat porridge."

  Xu Lingyi didn't make a sound.

  At night, Shiyi blew out the lamp and lay down, and Xu Lingyi suddenly said: "I see that you are worried, is something wrong?"

  This thing isn't something you can accomplish just by being arrogant.

  She told Xu Lingyi about what happened at Tianzhuang.

  Xu Lingyi let out an "oh" and then lay down to sleep.

  The eleventh girl poured out her feelings and soon fell asleep with a much better mood.

  Who knew that soon after Xu Lingyi left the next day, General White suddenly asked to see him.

  The eleventh girl was startled.

  What does Mr. Bai want to see her for?

  It seems that Xu Lingyi must have said something to him.

  She invited Director Bai to sit in the hall.

  "…Our family's estate manager, Gao, has gone to Tianjin to collect rent and will be back in a couple of days. At that time, I'll have him personally go to your estate to take a look and then discuss with you what crops to plant."

  The eleventh girl politely presented tea and sent off the guest, her mood suddenly soaring.

  Although this farm is not good, after all, it's our own. If we can have a good harvest, we can support several rooms and even ourselves without worrying about food and clothing.

  She is currently short of money.

  Amber was also delighted and chirped to tell her: "Madam, Chen Zheng is two quarters of an hour away."

  It's time to go and pay respects to the mistress.

  At this time, the eleventh girl always arrived at Old Lady Zheng's place one quarter of an hour earlier. She also brought with her a list of names of those who stayed in Yuan Niang's courtyard to serve and those who were transferred to her own courtyard to serve.

  Arriving at Tai Fu Ren's place, San Fu Ren and Wu Fu Ren had yet to arrive.

  Du's mother then invited her to go in first.

  Eleventh Girl shook her head and refused: "I'll just wait here!"

  Who is willing to meet people with disheveled hair?

  Du's mother nodded in agreement, thinking that Eleventh Sister was a proper person. She smiled and said: "Madam is getting old, she sleeps little and woke up early. She specifically asked me to invite you in."

  The eleventh girl listened and followed Du's mother into the house.

  Old Mrs. Tao was reclining on a large pillow drinking tea when she saw the Eleventh Sister and called out to Wei Zi: "Bring Fourth Mistress a bowl of mutton soup."

  Wei Zi responded and left, bringing the sheep over.

  The eleventh girl thanked her and, holding her nose against the smell, drank it down.

  The old lady smiled and said, "You southerners are not used to this, but it's nourishing." She also instructed Du Mama, "From now on, send her a bowl every morning."

  Du's mother smiled and replied.

  The eleventh girl took out the name list and handed it to Madame Tai: "You take a look, is it proper or not?"

  The old lady looked at the word and was surprised, smiling: "This word is written quite well!"

  The eleventh girl smiled and said: "In the past, the master always said that it was not delicate enough. I didn't expect to get praised by my mother."

  "It was you who wrote it!" The old lady was even more surprised.

  The eleventh girl smiled and said: "It's written badly, I'll take some time to practice more in the future."

  The old lady was silent for a while, then suddenly said: "Make me a set of underclothes!"

  This time it was Xiāng's turn to be surprised, but also delighted.

  Making undergarments...

  Doesn't it mean that her mother-in-law has begun to accept this daughter-in-law?

  She smiled and agreed, then used her hand to measure the size of Tai Fu's clothes, and asked what kind of fabric she usually liked to wear. She let Amber go to the warehouse to fetch the material, and then returned to the room to cut out the clothes with powder and iron them.

  Xu Lingyi returned and couldn't help but feel a few parts surprised: "What are you doing?"

  The eleventh girl smiled and called out to Chun who had yet to enter: "Make something small for me."

  Xu Lingyi spun around a few times on her face, "oh" and entered the toilet.

  Old Mrs. Tao ordered Du Mama: "Get out those two pairs of shoes with embroidered 'Fu' characters."

  Du's mother and Wei Zi, Yao Huang found it in a special ear room for cages after searching for two quarters.

  The old lady walked around on the ground in it: "It's quite fitting!"

  Du's mother couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh: "Didn't you say these shoes were too flashy?"

  The old lady said with a somewhat disapproving tone: "I'm getting on in years, and it's quite common for me to repeat myself."

  Du's mother couldn't help but burst out laughing.