With a finger from Liu Rui's family, the two women behind him were assigned to lead a team to arrange accommodation. Walking deeper into the yard, there were several houses in the corner. When Caiwei's row reached the second house, the daughter-in-law opened the door and said, "Enter in order, one person at a time. No fighting is allowed."
There are Datong shops on both sides of the house, with a five-meter-wide open space in the middle. There are wooden cabinets lined up on the floor. The upper and lower floors are painted with black and red paint. There is no visible wood. The cabinet door is equipped with a lock, and the key is hung on the lock.
Cai Wei was standing at the end of the row, at the very back of the bunk, with her small bundle placed on the bunk, not daring to move, waiting for orders.
"There are two sets of clothes in the cabinet, two pairs of shoes, quilts and pillows, face and head oil, and eight headbands. Check them carefully and report any missing items." They have been assigned long ago. Where can there be any missing items? The little girls didn't open their mouths.
Since he didn't report anything missing, he went to the next step, "Get new clothes and go to the bathroom opposite to wash your hair and take a bath. Report those who have head lice." All the girls in the room started talking, saying that they had head lice, and only picked some weeds. Said no.
Few rural people pay attention to personal hygiene. The daughter-in-law couldn't help but take another look at Caiwei and nodded approvingly. Caiwei curved her mouth, bent her knees, squatted down and made a blessing ceremony, "I wonder what you call me sister?"
No matter how old a woman is, she always wants to look young. When she hears her sister being called, she feels happy in her heart but does not show it on her face. She only raises her eyebrows and says, "I will be in charge of your house from now on. Call me Mother Zheng!"
There is a big difference between ancient and modern times. The person who is born is called mother or mother, but the grandma and mother-in-law who are in charge have to be called mother. Caiwei sighed, put the baggage in the cabinet, took the clothes and went to take a bath with the little girls.
The room opposite has a hot water room on one side and a bathroom on the other. Two people use a bathtub. They work together to carry the hot water, get a piece of powder to remove lice, take turns to soak in the bath and rub the back, and use soap beans to beat the head and feet carefully. , scrubbed them once, washed them twice, and helped each other twist their hair. Mother Zheng checked them one by one, and let those who passed the test wear new clothes, and those who failed to pass the test were washed again.
A ginger shirt, turquoise trousers and a vest. I have never worn such good clothes during the Chinese New Year. I have always worn linen. If I am more pampered, it would be great to make a coarse kudzu shirt during the Chinese New Year. Putting on fine cloth clothes for the first time, the little girls chattered excitedly, combed their hair with two small buns, tied up their hair with yellow ribbons, swayed their red cheeks, and complimented each other.
Mother Zheng looked at everything from the bathtub to her clothes and hair with a straight face, and nodded with satisfaction. The girls in Caiziwu were all good. The duty of cleaning the bathroom and Datong shop was arranged, with two people working in teams, rotating every five days. Today, Cai Qin and Cai Lan, who live in the shop, gave guidance while cleaning. After everything was cleaned up, Zheng’s mother took the The little girls went to the servants' kitchen to eat.
Everyone was hungry, and when they heard that they wanted to eat, their faces showed joy, and one of them blurted out, "Okay, okay!" Mother Zheng glanced over with a sharp look, "Whoever yelled, come forward." It was none other than Wu Zhaodi. , now called lotus pickers, have a big belly, and they can't help but be hungry.
Cai Lian shook her body and took a step forward. Mother Zheng walked up to her and taught Cai Lian, "Today I will teach you the first lesson. When entering the house, you are not allowed to make any noise. You will be punished if you violate the rules. Slap five times for yelling." In the house, special wooden boards are used for slaps. The little girl was the first offender and she was so young, so Mother Zheng only slapped her five times. There was a "pop" sound five times. After a few clicks, I shivered. I was so scared that I covered my mouth. No one dared to make a sound again.
After being beaten, Cai Lian couldn't help but huddled up and followed Cai Wei out of the yard, turned onto the corridor, and walked for about a quarter of an hour to the kitchen where the servants ate. There were three rows of long tables and benches in the dining room, and Mother Zheng asked the two of them to sit across from each other. The person on duty was also responsible for preparing meals, picking celery and indigo to prepare meals, including a bowl of white steamed buns, a bowl of stewed radishes with potatoes, and a bowl of stir-fried cabbage with eggs. The oil was so full that the girls were so greedy that they were salivating. When the last bowl and chopsticks were served, Mother Zheng said, "Eat!" The ten little girls held the steamed buns and picked up the vegetables without saying a word, only hearing the sounds of chewing and swallowing. People in the countryside have never had such good food before the drought, let alone being hungry for so long.
The little girls didn't eat less. After all, they hadn't had a full meal for a long time. Caiwei stopped after eating one and a half steamed buns and didn't dare to eat more for fear of getting upset at night.
Cai Lian, who was opposite, had been beaten just now. She turned her grief and anger into strength and ate four steamed buns. Seeing Cai Wei break off half of it and eat it, she took the remaining half of her steamed bun, dipped it in the vegetable juice, and wiped the two vegetable basins. Gotta be clean. How big is the stomach of this little bean sprout? I'm really afraid that she can hold it in. Thinking this in her heart, Cai Wei's eyes showed it.
"Caiwei, don't worry about me. I'm the best at eating. I could eat four steamed buns in one meal when I was three years old." Cai Lian swallowed the last bite, chuckled, and patted her belly, "If there are more, I will I can still eat two more.”
After dinner, Zheng's mother led ten Cai Lan out of the kitchen, pointed at Cai Qin and Cai Lan, "You two remember, from here to the plum forest over there." She said with a straight face. : "Listen carefully, everyone has the same sweeping routine. Sweep catkins in the spring, cicadas in the summer, fallen leaves in the autumn, and snow in the winter. There can't be any dirt or debris in any corner. Except in winter, you have to sprinkle it on after sweeping. The water must not raise dust. You two start from here." Along the way, ten tasks of picking were arranged, and two of them, picking Wei and Lotus, were responsible for the area around Yingyue Lake.
"Caiwei, you get the dustpan, I'm strong enough to get the broom." There were various tools in the tool room, Cai Lian stuffed a dustpan for Cai Wei, and picked up two brooms for herself. The brooms were about the same size, not much lower than Cai Lian. Cai Lian held the broom and walked as fast as flying. Cai Wei trotted behind her. She was indeed very strong after eating so many steamed buns.
Although the area around Yingyue Lake is large, there are very few trees. Catkins in spring and fallen leaves in autumn are the most difficult to take care of. Fewer trees mean easier work. Caiwei has been used to doing work since she was a child, and Cai Lian seems to be more capable than her. One person can do as much as Cai Wei and two. Cai Wei is so happy that Cai Wei gave her an extra bowl of rice for dinner.
From then on, the life of the little maid began. She would get up at midnight every day, wash up and go to the lake to clean, eat at Chen, learn the rules at four quarters, take a rest at noon, sweep at four quarters, and study at four quarters, blow out the lamp, light tea, and do needlework and embroidery. Tailoring, matching clothes and jewelry, you have to learn everything.
This year, the Zhongyong Marquis's family had a few maids, so he bought 20 maidens from outside. They started from sweeping and sweeping, then learned various jobs, trained them for a year or two, and then assigned them to various masters. As an errand.
Dinner is served at four o'clock in the Shen hour, and lamps are blown at four o'clock in the garrison hour.
Two meals a day, four pieces of whole-grain snacks to fill her belly at noon. Cai Lian can't bear to be hungry, so Cai Wei has to give her three snacks every day. After all, this girl doesn't hide her crimes when she works, and she grabs everything. They can do it, their hands and feet are still nimble, and they can do up to two-thirds of the lotus-picking work.
