On the first day of October, there was a shiny layer of frost on the ground early in the morning. You had to be extra careful when walking on it.
Still in the open space in the front courtyard, the servants of the Zheng family gathered around with different expressions.
The housekeeper sent a message to them all to come here, saying that the eldest grandma wanted to lecture them.
Many of them have already packed their luggage. Although it has not been officially announced, they have vaguely heard that people are being evicted.
Of course, those who stayed had already known about it, and those who didn't get the hint were probably going to leave.
Ah Li also came back and came over to tell everyone: "Grandma said the weather is too cold and asked everyone to go to the flower hall on the east side to squeeze in."
The East Flower Hall is the place where the Zheng family entertains guests. It is very spacious and can accommodate dozens or hundreds of people.
When everyone walked in, they found that not only grandma Xu Chunjun was there, but also his wife Fang.
But then I thought about it, although my wife no longer cares about the house, she still needs to be informed about major matters like layoffs.
Then the chief steward Zheng Zhenglong also came in, and the accountant Lou Qian came in with the account books and put them on the table next to Xu Chunjun.
Because Xu Chunjun said that he had to explain to everyone that he had to reduce the number of people due to family difficulties, so he had to bring the account book for everyone to see.
However, Lou Qian knew in his heart that this was just a pretense. Who would have the time to look through the account books at this time?
When Zheng Long saw that everyone had arrived, he cleared his throat and said, "Everyone, be quiet and listen to grandma's instructions!"
Everyone stopped whispering and turned their attention to Xu Chunjun.
Today, Xu Chunjun is wearing a dark green soft satin cotton jacket and a snow-green cotton silk skirt. Her expression is as gentle and elegant as usual, calm and quiet.
Just as she was about to speak, the concierge came in from outside and said, "Grandma, my aunt sent someone to deliver things. She also said that she would like to take the old lady to live there for a while."
"Let them all come here first! We don't have time to receive them alone right now, and we can't let them freeze in the yard. When we're done here, we can take them to the old lady's place," Xu Chunjun said.
She was right. Now that my wife and she were here, it was not a good idea to leave everyone behind.
People from the Lu family came in. Except for the two women, the rest were young men.
This is okay, after all, it takes strength to lift things, and you also have to lift an old lady.
"It's really a bit of a neglect," Xu Chunjun apologized to the leader, Mother Ye, with a smile, "Please bear with me."
"Grandma, you're welcome. You go ahead, we're not in a hurry." Mother Ye stepped aside with the others.
Xu Chunjun just said to everyone: "A few days ago, I discussed with the chief steward that we need to fire a group of people out of the house. This is why I called everyone here today."
As she spoke, she raised a piece of paper in her hand. She folded the paper several times and could vaguely see words inside.
"This piece of paper was given to me by the chief steward, but I won't rush to announce it yet." Xu Chunjun looked around for a week and said calmly, "Because before that, I have to deal with a few people."
No one expected that she would have such a skill, but at this point, who dared to stop her?
After all, she is now the official head of the Zheng family.
Mrs. Feng glanced at her husband uneasily, and Zheng Long gave her a calm look in return.
Although he didn't know in advance that Xu Chunjun wanted to deal with people, he felt that with Xu Chunjun's ability, he could only deal with some small fish and shrimps, and he would not be able to find anything on his head.
Over the years, he has learned to remain calm, and even if Xu Chunjun asks him, he will never panic.
"Yu Xingzu," Xu Chunjun said, calling Yu Daxia by his real name, "you have been working as a comprador in the kitchen for so many years, and you have used inferior goods to enrich your own pockets. The food you feed your master is moldy and rancid, but you are delicious and spicy.
, as a blessing. Do you agree?"
When everyone heard it, they immediately understood.
A few days ago, Zhu’s mother and Yu Daxia had a quarrel in my wife’s courtyard, and I went to see my grandma for comment.
The eldest grandma did not pursue the matter at all at that time. It seemed that she did not let it go lightly, but held back and then went to find out the truth.
Of course, Yu Daxia refused and admitted the blame, saying sophistry: "Grandma, please don't wrong a good person. When did the things I bought turn out to be good? Our family has limited money, and I can't buy good ones!"
"I knew you would say this, but you can't cover up the sky with your mouth." Xu Chunjun smiled, not aggressive at all, "Lvchun, you should take people to the kitchen now and eat all the rice, noodles and vegetables he bought.
Bring it in for everyone to see."
Lvyan took Aunt Huang, Aunt Zuo, and A Li A Li from their courtyard.
After a few people arrived, they brought some of everything. When everyone saw it, the rice was old rice with worms, the dried vegetables were moldy, and the green vegetables were all yellow.
The meat was not fresh either. The two white-striped chickens were very skinny, there was no meat on the whole body, and there was a dead fish that was almost dried out.
"You said that the money in your account is limited, but you never underreported it every time," Xu Chunjun continued, "According to the price, you should buy good things. What do you say about this?"
Yu Daxia looked at the cashier, but the cashier looked away in a hurry.
Xu Chunjun smiled and said: "You don't have to deny it anymore, and I don't want to waste words with you. I know who you bought things from in the past, and those people have also been called, so I can talk to you the same way.
right."
After saying that, he asked people to take Yu Daxia down: "Lvchun and Ah Li, you two go and watch them confront each other. I have arranged for someone to write it down in detail and then hand it over to the Yamen."
"Lou Qian, do you know about Yu Xingzu?" After Yu Daxia was taken away, Xu Chunjun asked the accountant with a smile, "He comes to your place to report accounts every day, you have no doubts?"
Lou Qian quickly explained: "Sorry, grandma, I am just an accountant. How do I know the price of rice and the price of vegetables? I am a down-and-out bookworm. The more I read, the more stupid I become. I am not popular.
I am not good at making a living. What’s more, I am just a bookkeeper. I have a master above me and a steward in the middle. It is not my turn to check these things anyway!”
"You have read books for so many years in vain. At least you don't know the word benevolence and righteousness." Xu Chunjun smiled lightly. Even though she had clearly seen that the other party was a shameless person, she would not speak harshly, but every sentence was full of meaning.
Let’s get to the point: “To put it bluntly, the accounting books in the past five years have been full of holes.
On April 11th of the Yichou year, the old lady's birthday gift was added up to eight hundred and seventy taels. This was a gift list from the lady's place, but it was not summed up.
But you only remember seven hundred and eighty taels.
In the twelfth lunar month of the Bingyin year, the concubine of my aunt's family came out of the palace, and our family took one hundred taels of silver with her.
I saw this account when I was at my aunt's house, but you wrote down two hundred taels.
This is bulk.
In addition, all our family's expenses are on average 30% higher than the normal price. Most of the books have a lot of odd changes recorded, which makes it difficult to calculate. But when you look at the general ledger, you have to add a little more to each item.
Come on, maybe a few dollars or one, two, two taels.
A little can add up to a lot, and when added together, it’s not a small amount.
Let’s talk about this year. In the past few months, the cost of repairs in the house, whether it was labor or materials, was more than 20% higher than the market price. Not to mention, the wood used was only forty cubic meters, but you remembered fifty-five
Fang. Even if you are not familiar with business, you still have to check the numbers before recording. Were you dazzled at that time?"
