Chapter 332: The Mistress of the House
The servant who came first has reserved a small courtyard for the second time at the inn. The guards and some male servants lived in the front courtyard, while the master, a few personal guards and the maids lived in the inner courtyard.
Chen Afu and Chu Lingxuan lived in the north room of the east wing, while Aunt Wei and Li Xuan lived in the south room. The old man and Mr. Chu lived in the upper room, and Wang Cheng and his family lived in the west wing.
Go into the house, put away your things, and go to the upper room for dinner. Wang Cheng's family became nervous when they saw the Chu family's grandfather and grandson. They couldn't get enough to eat together, so Chen Afu had their meals sent to the west wing and Wang Cheng was given a jug of wine.
What Chen Afu didn't know was that Wang Cheng and his wife didn't have enough to eat during the few days they were in the Hou Mansion. The family was frightened when they suddenly entered a wealthy home, and some people said unpleasant things. Although they were later beaten up and sold, Wang Cheng and his wife felt that they had caused trouble for Chen Afu and were extremely sorry.
A lot of food was delivered to them every day. They were afraid that the servants would laugh at them for eating too much and would embarrass Chen Afu. Except for the little brother and sister who had a full belly, they all only ate a little full. Chen Afu also took a lot of tonics to replenish Wu's body, and the couple did not dare to use the small kitchen to cook.
Now there is only Mrs. Tan who Chen Afu bought for them, and there are no servants from the Chu family. Although the food on the table is not as rich as the Houfu, several people ate deliciously, and Wang Cheng also drank happily.
Thinking that he would finally be able to see his sister the day after tomorrow, Wang Cheng shed tears again while drinking.
Mrs. Wu smiled and tried to persuade her, and then discussed, "...our family can't live in my sister's house all the time, and we can't always rely on Ah Fu for support. Although the head of the family can get one tael of silver every month, I can't do embroidery now. , my younger brother is already so old, I have to let him go to school for two years before he can find a future. Ah Fu gave each of the two children twenty taels of silver when they left, and Mrs. Chu San and her eldest aunt each gave fifty taels when they left. Cheng Yi, who had two taels of silver, plus the money from selling the house, had a total of 148 taels of silver. He spent 5 taels of silver to buy tea and snacks for his sister's house, and there was still 143 taels of silver left. Can this be done? , first buy 20 acres of land and rent it out, and with the rent collected and the head of the family, we will be very comfortable. We can use the remaining money to build a house, and we will have everything."
Wang Cheng nodded and said, "I think so too."
The two took out the supplements that Chen Afu gave to Wu. The ginseng inside was the most valuable. They wrapped the ginseng together with the tea leaves and snack candies they bought. This was a gift for their sister’s family.
Mrs. Wu regretted it so much. She felt that if she had known that she would see her sister so soon, she would have made clothes for her sister and Ah Fu.
Wang Cheng couldn't say that Mr. Chu had promised that if the matter was investigated clearly, the court would compensate him, and he would definitely become an official. He smiled and said, "You don't need to regret it. When I perform well and get promoted, I will have money. Then we will honor my sister and thank Ah Fu."
Wu laughed angrily, "You're just a family member, but you're also an official? That's ridiculous."
Even Wang Xiaodi and Wang Xiaomei were very happy.
Wang Cheng said proudly, "Don't laugh, just watch."
There was constant laughter in the west wing, but the east wing was not so good. At night, Li Xuan, who had not seen his parents for a long time, began to cry non-stop. Chen Afu and Aunt Wei took turns holding him and coaxing him to no avail.
Chu Lingxuan looked at Li Xuan who was crying loudly, feeling very helpless. There is another young man at home who is competing with him for a blessing, and here comes another one.
Chen Afu had no choice but to take out a small piece of green-leaf agarwood and put it on his bedside. The fragrance filled the air, and the little guy slowly fell asleep to Chen Afu's "Lullaby".
This agarwood stick belonged to Chen Afu herself, and she quietly returned most of the agarwood stick given to her by Princess Rui to Mrs. Chu San.
After coaxing little Li Xuan, Chen Afu sat by the window and waited. After waiting for a long time, he didn't see Jin Yanzi coming back to look for him. This little thing has been running wild as soon as it came out. It should come back to report that it is safe. I originally wanted to pinch the palm of my left hand to bring it back. But he was afraid that something would interrupt his fun and the little thing would lose his temper.
It started to rain at night, and the ticking sound hit the roof, making Chen Afu even more unable to sleep.
When I got up in the morning, the rain had stopped. Opening the door, a burst of fresh air hit my face. The bluestone pavement in the yard is still wet, with many small puddles, and a few strings of raindrops occasionally fall on the eaves. Grandpa Chu Lingxuan and his grandson are all practicing boxing under the eaves.
There is an old locust tree in the yard, with new leaves already hanging on the branches. The chirping of birds came from the trees, and many of them could be heard, not only sparrows, but also swallows.
Suddenly, Chen Afu heard several familiar calls mixed in, chirping—"Mommy, Mommy."
Chen Afu was so happy that he picked up his skirt and ran under the tree. He raised his head and shouted, "Is it Jinbao? Is Jinbao back?"
A small black bird suddenly flew down from the tree and hung on her lapel. It curled up its lips and said with a smile, "Mommy, it's me. I've avenged you."
Chen Afu pulled it off and held it in his hands, kissed the little pointed mouth twice, and smiled in a low voice, "Yeah, um, Mommy knows, thank you."
Golden Swallow stretched out her little tongue and licked her pointed mouth, and chirped happily, "Oh, oh, mommy kissed me several times."
Chen Afu raised his voice and laughed again, "Oh, it's Jinbao, it's really Jinbao. What a coincidence, I met you here."
Originally, Chu Lingxuan was still laughing that she missed Jin Yanzi so much that she called him Jinbao when she saw Yanzi.
After hearing Chen Afu's words, the old man and Chu Lingxuan, as well as Xia Yue, Chu Huai and others who were familiar with Jin Yanzi, all hurried over.
I saw that the feathers of this swallow were slightly golden and slightly smaller. It was indeed a golden swallow.
"Hahaha, it's really Jinbao." The old man laughed loudly.
Xia Yue said in disbelief, "How did Jinbao know that Grandma was here?"
Chu Huai said, "Could it be that Jinbao couldn't find his home and happened to fly here?"
No matter what they said, Chen Afu happily took Jin Yanzi back to the east wing.
Li Xuan was woken up by the people outside and cried again. Chen Afu took Jin Yanzi to his room. When Li Xuan saw Jin Yanzi, he stopped crying and said a classic phrase with tears in his eyes, "The birds are laughing."
After everyone had dinner, they took a car to the dock. After getting on the boat, they waved goodbye to Master Chu who came to see them off.
With Jin Yanzi's showmanship, the days on the boat were not difficult to pass. Not only did Li Xuan stop crying for his mother, but even the shy Wang Xiaodi and Wang Xiaomei ran out to watch the fun.
At dusk, the big ship arrived at the canal dock outside Dingzhou Prefecture. When everyone got off the boat, Yang, the chief steward of the General's Mansion, had already led people to pick them up.
It was already dark when they got back to the General's Mansion by car.
Chen Afu came to the General's Mansion this time not as a needlework master, but as the mistress of the house.
Outside the main gate, many servants stood to greet them.