After finishing the banquet, Zhou Jun originally thought that Yin Darong said that each household should bear half of the expenses, which meant that accounts should be set up first, and monthly settlement expenses should be divided into two, with each household paying one share.
Unexpectedly, on the second day after Yin Darong moved in, the housekeeper Yin An directed several servants to bring five large boxes of copper and silk, and told Zhou Jun that this was an advance payment for half of the expenses.
I'll use it for now. If it's not enough, let me know and I'll send it back.
Zhou Jun looked at the five large boxes of goods and was a little confused for a moment.
This prepayment method is a bit too simple and crude.
Even a rough calculation shows that these five large boxes of goods are enough to cover the expenses of everyone in the Villa for two years.
Compared with Zhou Jun's hesitation, Qiu Yong, the subordinate in charge of the treasure room, was not surprised. He counted the belongings, sealed them directly in the locker, opened the store slip, and handed it over to Yin An.
After collecting the treasury note, Yin An led Zhou Jun to a deserted place outside the door and said hesitantly: "Erlang, I have something to do."
Seeing this, Zhou Jun asked: "But it doesn't matter."
Yin An: "Yin Gong sent someone to ask if the meals in his room can be prepared by Pang Mansion's kitchen?"
After asking this question, Yin An felt ashamed and added: "I don't know what happened, but my master had lunch at Mr. Pang's place yesterday at noon. When he came back for dinner in the evening, he said that the food was bland and tasteless.
"
"Originally, the kitchen thought it was because there was too little salt and sauce, so they added more ingredients for breakfast today."
"Who would have thought that Mr. Yin just tasted the breakfast and vomited it directly? He got angry and didn't say anything. He even sent someone to ask if he could come to Pang Mansion to join us?"
The head of the family doesn't like the food cooked by his own cook, so he insists on taking a bite from someone else's kitchen pot.
This kind of thing would be shameful for any housekeeper.
Zhou Jun finally understood what was going on.
Yin Darong ate the stir-fried vegetables twice, and he was afraid that the flavor would overwhelm him. If he ate other steamed or boiled vegetables, he would naturally find them bland and tasteless.
So, Zhou Jun nodded to Yin An and said, "What's the problem? I'll inform the dining room and ask them to prepare more meals and send them to Yin Gong."
After hearing this, Yin An took a long breath and thanked Zhou Jun repeatedly.
After seeing off Yin An, Zhou Jun was walking around in the outer garden in the morning, but saw the noise of people in the courtyard of the outer garden.
After walking through the courtyard and the middle street, Zhou Jun passed through the arch of the courtyard and came to the side of the pavilion by the lake.
In the open space in the courtyard, a group of servants were setting up a stage, while a group of musicians were playing and practicing their instruments on the side of the stage.
Seeing Zhou Jun approaching, the musicians stopped making noise and looked towards him.
Zhou Jun looked at the hands of the musicians, and saw that the eighteen musicians had different musical instruments, such as zither, ruan xian, pan flute, transverse flute, yu, waist drum, etc., all of them were available.
Seeing that Zhou Jun was young, handsome and with a warm complexion, the musicians thought he was one of the servants from the Pang Mansion and approached him without any fear.
The leading woman smiled and asked Zhou Jun: "Can Mr. Lang go to the theater on weekdays?"
Zhou Jun shook his head and said truthfully: "Very few."
The woman covered her mouth and smiled: "If you have some free time, why not stay and watch?"
Other musicians also came over, chatting and laughing one after another.
Before Zhou Jun could speak, Yin An's scolding voice came from behind him: "Practice carefully, don't be lazy!"
Zhou Jun turned around and saw Yin An walking quickly, and said bluntly: "Don't be surprised, Erlang, these young ladies usually lack discipline."
The leading musician heard Yin An's respectful tone and couldn't figure out Zhou Jun's identity for a while, so he cautiously asked: "Old man, is this gentleman...?"
Yin An stamped his feet and said anxiously: "I told you this morning, but I think it fell on deaf ears!"
"This is Mr. Pang's guest and the steward of Mr. Pang's house. He is Mr. Zhou!"
The musicians looked at the young Zhou Jun with disbelief in their eyes at first. After they realized what he was doing, they screamed in surprise and hurriedly greeted him.
Zhou Jun waved his hand and said to Yin An: "It's nothing, don't blame them."
Yin An nodded, first told the musicians to practice on their own, and then said to Zhou Jun: "I dare you to teach Erlang that these girls in the troupe are most cared for by their masters. Not to mention the good food and drink, the monthly routine
The offer is also high.”
"I have said several times that I need to be disciplined more strictly, but my master always indulges me."
Zhou Jun turned around and looked towards the stage, and saw the musicians forming a circle. The two girls were singing in harmony while others played musical instruments to accompany them.
Zhou Jun asked Yin An, "What are you doing?"
Yin An replied: "What is being rehearsed is 'The Army Returns to the Gate'."
Zhou Jun asked again: "What are you talking about?"
Hearing this question, Yin An was a little stunned.
"Lu Junjun Returns" was a very famous drama about joining the army in the Tang Dynasty. Yin An thought that Zhou Zuilang might not like to watch operas on weekdays, so he planned to explain it in detail.
Yin An first asked: "Erlang, do you know the difference between good plays?"
Zhou Jun shook his head.
Yin An secretly thought that it was true, so he explained: "This ordinary opera can be roughly divided into song and dance and excellent opera."
"Singing and dancing dramas are easy to understand, such as "Bo Tou", "Huntuo", and "Da Mian", with singing and dancing, and the sound of music."
"The excellent opera is more complicated. It can be divided into joining the army, pretending to be an official, playing Confucius, playing a fake woman, playing a Brahmin, playing gods and ghosts, playing the three religions, etc."
"Just saying that joining the army means that one person pretends to join the army, and the other person uses words to ridicule him, and then adds fun and drums."
Zhou Jun nodded while listening.
Looking at the group of musicians who were performing the drama of joining the army, Zhou Jun looked more and more like a cross talk in his previous life.
One is funny, the other is flattering, and some background music and sound effects are added in the audience.
Looking back, Zhou Jun asked Yin An: "In this opera, are there any pieces where multiple people take the stage and perform a story together?"
Yin An was a little confused: "There are multiple people on stage, acting together? Yes, there are, such as "Making Li's Jealous Wife" and "Treading the Rocking Girl", which are all popular and excellent opera repertoires."
Zhou Jun asked again, what are these two excellent plays about?
Yin An said that "Making Li's Jealous Wife" tells the story of a court lady named Li who was jealous of her family's concubine. She was in trouble several times and not only failed to get her, but was also scolded by her husband.
And "Ta Yao Niang" tells the story of a man who was evil-looking and addicted to alcohol in the late Sui Dynasty. When he got drunk, he would beat his wife. When the wife came to complain to her neighbors, she would shake her body and step on her feet at the same time, so she was called Ta Yao Niang.
Shake your mother.
After listening to Yin An's explanation, Zhou Jun felt a black line on his forehead.
The wife is jealous of the concubine, the husband beats the wife, it is all a messy drama.
With this kind of plot, people in the Tang Dynasty are still watching it with gusto?
Yin An saw Zhou Jun's expression was different and thought he was attracted to him. He was eager to take a look, so he touched his chin and said, "If Erlang wants to watch a play, the theater troupe will be performing here after dinner today. You can come and watch."