At dawn the next day, Sister Xiu came over with her two children.
It was winter, and there was nothing to do in the fields, so Sister Xiu mostly went to the workshop to help with some chores. Because she was grateful for Qiao Mingjin's support to her man, she asked for no wages at all.
Her husband, Yue Dalei, now has a fixed amount of two taels of silver every month, and he can get part of the bonus after selling the things he makes. The two of them have saved dozens of taels of silver now. The two children can also eat meat every now and then.
, very satisfied.
As long as he had free time, he would go to the workshop to work, or see what happened at Qiao Mingjin's house and do it as if it were his own business without saying a word.
Sister Xiu saw her two children playing with Wan'er Mingqi, and whispered to Qiao Mingjin: "I don't know what went crazy about Mrs. Wu. She scolded her all day at home yesterday, and she didn't stop even after nightfall.
.After I sent Da Lei out this morning, I heard her yelling in the courtyard again. This time, she was scolding Zhong Yao for being unfilial. It seemed that Zhong Yao could have rested for two days, but he didn't expect it so early this morning.
I left without saying hello to my family, so my family didn’t know."
He glanced at Qiao Mingjin and said: "Every time I come back for vacation, I see him dragging his feet and turning his head three times. This time, he didn't finish his vacation and left early in the morning. It's very strange. Didn't he come to tell Wan'er?
?”
Qiao Mingjin shook his head: "No."
She was also very surprised. Didn't she leave just the day after tomorrow? Is it because of what happened yesterday?
"When Mrs. Wu was scolding her at home, I heard Xiaoman say that her third brother didn't eat dinner last night and only drank a bowl of ginger soup, complaining that his mother didn't care about her third brother. Wan'er, she
Is dad sick?"
Qiao Mingjin thought for a while and said: "When he came to my place yesterday, his face was flushed, and I saw that he was also top-heavy. Wan'er touched his forehead and said he felt a little feverish, so I cooked him a bowl
Ginger soup, later he also slept in the wing room, and I don’t know if he got a fever or not. Wu is a careless person, so I’m afraid he couldn’t find anything wrong with him.”
Sister Xiu shook her head after hearing this and said: "That's a powerful person. He can't see anything except money in his eyes. It's also a bad fate for Zhongyao to have such a girl in his stall. Now the whole family is pointing at his salary.
His mother is more interested in him than before. In the past few years, he was silent. Yue Lao Er and Yue Lao Si were good at playing tricks. What kind of work in the field was not handled by Zhong Yao? It was catching soldiers.
It all fell on his head. If he hadn't gotten such an errand after he came back, Wu would still have to send him everywhere. Fortunately, Wu is currently busy with Xiaoman's marriage and doesn't have much time to take care of his affairs.
.It seems that I haven’t heard of Mrs. Liu for a while.”
Qiao Mingjin didn't want to hear any news about Yue Zhongyao. Anyone with a discerning eye would know that she and that man had constant disagreements and quarrels. But in her eyes, there was really no grudge against that man.
She is her, he is him.
"Xiaoman is almost sixteen, isn't she? Her marriage has been talked about for a year, hasn't it been decided yet?" Qiao Mingjin changed the subject.
Sister Xiu sneered and said: "Then Mrs. Wu is just looking for golden tortoises. She picked over the young men of the right age in the nearby villages, but she didn't like any of them. The matchmakers changed several times. You know what the matchmaker has in her hands?
Each has a booklet. There is a list of people looking for them to be matchmakers. There are many people who are only looking for one matchmaker. So the people on the list are only on a certain matchmaker's booklet. Then Wu must be trying to find a matchmaker nearby.
I have read through the list in the matchmaker's hand, and there have been several matchmakers. She is reluctant to give up money. I heard that every matchmaker who comes out of her house is scolded. There were many people coming to the door a while ago.
It’s getting quieter now.”
He added: "Does she think her daughter is the one to be loved? All the young men in the neighborhood let her choose, and no queen in the palace was so picky. She was thinking of marrying her daughter to a popular person in the city.
I heard that every time Zhong Yao came back, she would drag Zhong Yao to ask him to find a son-in-law from a wealthy family in the city for his sister. I also heard Sun whisper about it. It was said that Zhong Yao also found a few sons-in-law for his sister, but
Mrs. Wu is not satisfied either. She either dislikes this or that, but now it’s good that Zhong Yao doesn’t care about it anymore, and no matchmaker has come to visit. No, she’s anxious again.”
Qiao Mingjin was thinking about Yue Xiaoman. When she lived in Yue's house, Yue Xiaoman was very lucky because she had three sisters-in-law working at home. She only embroidered handkerchiefs and did needlework at home. Fortunately, Xiaoman's temperament was pretty good and she didn't
He was no longer pampered by the Wu family.
Later, when she first moved out, Yue Xiaoman would occasionally bring some vegetables secretly, and occasionally come to see Wan'er and play with Wan'er for a while.
But every time she came back later, Yue Donggen would come after her, either grabbing Wan'er's food or grabbing Wan'er's toys, which made Wan'er cry. Later, Yue Xiaoman didn't come often.
Since Qiao Mingjin opened the workshop, she doesn't go to the village often. She used to occasionally go to the village to buy some grains, vegetables and the like. Later, after the workshop opened, Yun Jin went to the city every now and then to buy, and Sister Xiu and Ma helped her buy it.
She rarely goes into the village to use some useful things, and she doesn't meet Xiao Man anymore.
Mrs. Wu only kept Xiaoman at home to prepare for the wedding, and rarely sent her out. It seemed that the two had not seen each other for several months.
Sister Xiu mysteriously came to Qiao Mingjin's ear and said, "I heard from my family, Dalei, that one time Wu came to the workshop and told Mr. Saturday to help Xiaoman see if there was any suitable family.
Woolen cloth."
Ah, no way?
"Why not? Mrs. Wu is so shameless. She told Mr. Saturday that Xiaoman is your sister-in-law, and she was fawning and said a lot of nice things. She also said how her Xiaoman was doing. She was thinking about marrying a bride.
, while taking advantage of your relationship. I really don’t know how she got such shame."
Qiao Mingjin was speechless. This Wu family is really...
Sister Xiu glanced at Qiao Mingjin and said, "Didn't Master Saturday tell you?"
Qiao Mingjin shook his head.
"Yes, it's not easy to talk about this kind of thing. But it seems that the matter has not been accomplished. How can Mr. Liu have time to care about her."
"I really haven't heard him say this. However, Mr. Zhou may have someone suitable there. With so many shops in his hands, some stewards who haven't signed the deeds should still be worthy of Xiao Man. Xiao Man looks like
I haven’t imitated Wu’s temperament, but she is good at running a household and is very skilled in raising children. The person in charge is in charge of the shop, and I have a stable income every month. There is no shortage of food and drink when I live in the city.”
Sister Xiu sneered: "Do you think Mrs. Wu would like those little stewards? People pointed out that Xiaoman married into a big family and became a housekeeper. I heard Mrs. Sun muttering several times, saying that it was Mrs. Wu who was in charge.
The family's money is to prepare a thick dowry for Xiaoman. She doesn't look down on the rich people in our countryside, but how can she like those in charge? They want to marry their daughters to those who have houses, fields and shops.
Woolen cloth."
Qiao Mingjin stroked his forehead.
The two chatted for half an hour, all about gossips from inside and outside the village. Qiao Mingjin couldn't match up with some of the people, but she couldn't take away Sister Xiu's luck, so she had to listen attentively...
It was not until 6 o'clock that the two of them saw that it was getting late, so they each gave instructions to a few children, and then went to the workshop together.
Sister Xiu has nothing to do at home since her man went to work in the workshop. She always likes to come to talk to Qiao Mingjin, or go to the workshop to help He and Ma.
Then the three women stayed in the kitchen, working and talking to each other, which was happier than if she was alone at home.
So during this period, I was like a master in a workshop, going to the workshop on time every day to work.
When they arrived at the workshop, Sister Xiu went to the kitchen in a familiar manner, while Qiao Mingjin walked around the workshop, looking inside and outside.
The masters in the workshop have two days off every ten days, but in order to prevent the workshop from being empty, the holidays are staggered.
And after these masters' works were sold at high prices in shops in the city, and whether they were masters or juniors, they got bonuses, so they worked even harder.
Some masters, like He Xia and He Sanliang, had nothing to worry about at home and did not choose to take a vacation.
They were all disciples of He's father, but they were not married, and there was nothing important at home. Whenever He's father went back, or Yun Jin went back, they were only asked to take the money back, and they themselves stayed busy in the workshop.
, after all, the sooner the work is completed, the sooner the money will be earned.
So now the row of rooms behind the workshop can no longer be regarded as guest rooms. Several masters' families are here.
Qiao Mingjin looked around and found that everything was complete, and she was very satisfied.
There was a row of bamboo poles in front of the door of the wing, where the masters' clothes were hung, and there were quite a few bamboo poles hanging to dry. At a glance, Qiao Mingjin saw that it looked like hanging fabrics in a dyeing workshop, with seven or eight bamboo poles hanging full.
This is a bit of a waste.
With more than a dozen masters, even if they wash clothes every day, there is no reason to use half the yard to prop up bamboo poles to hang clothes. If there are hangers, one bamboo pole will be enough, and there will be more.
Look at the clothes in this half of the yard. There are nearly ten bamboo poles supported by them. If we put the quilts in the air, the open space in this yard is not enough to support the bamboo poles.
Qiao Mingjin felt that she seemed to have ignored this matter for so long.
How does she hang clothes at home?
It seems that since Mingqi came here, she hasn't washed her clothes for a long time, right?
The sensible Mingqi does all the household chores. She does most of the laundry, but it seems like she hasn't done much of it, right?
It seems that every time after washing the clothes, adding water, and wringing them out in the basin, Mingqi takes them to the backyard to dry. It seems that collecting the clothes is not her job.
It seems that the clothes hanging in her backyard also use bamboo poles.
Why hadn't she noticed before that the bamboo poles were so troublesome to poke around? Every time she wanted to use them, she not only had to take them up and take them off, but she also had to take a rag and wipe them on the bamboo poles. There was no dust left.
Then hang the clothes up, or poke the bamboo poles into the sleeves and trouser legs.
It’s really not an ordinary hassle. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
