Because Shen Juren mentioned the layout of the house, Shen Rui took a closer look at it. There were three north rooms, two dark and one light. The layout was quite refreshing, and the study was quite quiet. It didn't have any unique style. But the items are very simple. Apart from the necessary furniture, there are only two decorative items, which are banners hanging on the wall of the study room.
I had no idea last night, but when I took a closer look today, I discovered that the ink on this banner was still fresh. Looking at the four words "Master of Haichuan" written on it, Shen Rui couldn't help but laugh. These were exactly Shen Juren's words.
It's already November now, and it's the time when the weather is cold and gloomy.
Shen Rui sat in the study for a while and felt a little stuffy. He accidentally glanced at the charcoal pot in the corner and looked at the smoke rising above it, so he stood up. When he went over and took a look, the charcoal fire inside suddenly lit up. Suddenly it was dark, and there was a pungent smell.
Shen Rui walked outside and looked at the charcoal pot in the corner. The same was true. This was not the Yin Shuang charcoal that the owner had set, but the next-level pine charcoal. No wonder there was a smell in the house. Although this charcoal was unusual The charcoal is better, but it is also smoky, not as good as Yin Shuang charcoal.
At this time, Dong Xi and Liu Ya came in carrying food boxes.
Although there is a small kitchen in his courtyard, it is only used for making hot water and making snacks. Everyone's three meals are still served from the big kitchen.
Shen Rui cleaned his hands and asked Dong Xi: "What's going on with this charcoal? This is mine, so what do you share?"
Dong Xi heard this and said, "When Butler Zhao sent someone to bring charcoal, the maid was also surprised. But the boy who sent the charcoal said that in the past few years, the family has been using this charcoal, and so have the master and Lao An. The examples of maidservants are naturally even worse than black charcoal.
Shen Rui couldn't help but frown after hearing this.
The south is different from the north. In the north, you can still have a fire kang to warm the walls in winter, but in the south, you can rely solely on charcoal pots. If the charcoal is not good, the carbon monoxide will not burn completely, and you may be poisoned.
But even the elders of the Shen family use this charcoal, so how can Shen Rui be so picky. He thought for a while and said: "I can still use it. If your standards are bad, don't use it yet, but you can use it in two days." Think of a way to get some good charcoal."
Dong Xi responded, opened the food box, looked at the food inside, and was stunned for a moment, saying, "Could it be that the people in the big kitchen made a mistake?"
Shen Rui glanced at the four-layered octagonal food box and said, "The food box outside is correct, what's wrong inside?"
Dong Xi brought out the dishes and said, "Second brother, there are only two meat and two vegetarian dishes and four special dishes. Are you confusing the maids' special dishes with Second Brother's special dishes?"
Shen Rui said: "How many food boxes were delivered from the kitchen just now?"
Dong Xi said: "Of course there is only one. The rules of a large kitchen are that the master must first serve the food, and then the slaves."
Shen Rui looked at the dining table. There were two meat dishes, one steamed fish, one honey sauce fire recipe, and the two vegetarian dishes were stir-fried fungus and roasted winter melon. They looked delicious and delicious, and they didn't look like the servants Dong Xi had guessed. Food. Come to think of it, there are only four people in this family from three generations. Shen Jin lives in the mansion and does not come back. There are only three owners in the family. Naturally, they are all small stoves and the cooking is fine. Even if they are slaves and maids, Wait, a second-class maid is also a big-pot cook.
Dong Xi also reacted and set out the bowls and chopsticks for Shen Rui and said, "That's really weird. Do you want someone to ask if there were four meat, four vegetarian and eight dishes last night?"
Shen Rui thought for a while and said: "Don't rush to ask, let's take a look. Yesterday was not an ordinary day and cannot be considered a routine."
Yesterday was Sun's third anniversary. Although there was no grand banquet with guests, it was also a day of sacrifice.
The steamed fish looked okay, but because it was a bit cold, it had a fishy smell. Shen Rui ate it with chopsticks and stopped moving. The honey sauce fire recipe was soft, glutinous and fragrant, but Shen Rui ate it at Xilin Temple.
After three years of vegetarianism, I felt tired of eating such a large amount of meat, so I just had two vegetarian dishes and a bowl of rice.
When he put down his chopsticks, another woman from the big kitchen came to deliver food boxes.
Because Shen Rui was also curious, Dongxi and Liu Ya brought the food boxes to the north room. A red lacquered three-layered food box and a black lacquered double-layered food box. When they opened it, there was a plate in the red lacquered food box.
Shredded pork and cabbage, a plate of roasted tofu, a bowl of rice, and two pairs of bowls and chopsticks; in the black lacquer food box, there was only a large bowl of roasted tofu, a bowl of stale rice, and four pairs of bowls and chopsticks.
For ordinary people, such food is considered good, but this is not the standard meal for the second- and third-class maids of the Shen family, or it is not the standard meal for the second- and third-class maids of the Shen family three years ago.
Shen Rui looked at the direction of the charcoal basin, and then at the meal in front of him. He still didn't understand. The fourth room of the Shen family was now living "frugally". Speaking of the expenses of the fourth room before, it really didn't look like someone's family status.
, the food and clothing are more exquisite than those of ordinary officials. Judging from the income of four rooms, the expenses are really high. Saving in this way is the long-term solution.
It's just that there are two people in the second class and four people in the third class, which is very boring. He doesn't think that the big kitchen is well-informed and knows that Qiuyue and Dongyue have gone to the study, so he arranged it like this. In that case, the ones served would be four.
A dinner for one person. Apparently Zhang Laoan wanted to give him a blow, so he ordered Dong Xi and Liu Ya, who were not in the fourth room, to be treated as third class.
This old lady lived a very leisurely life.
Liu Ya has been in several houses in the past three years, but she still has a simple temperament, as long as she has food to eat, and does not care about the amount of food; Dong Xi is a little older, but a little worried. After dinner, after returning to the north room, she whispered to Shen Rui
: "Although it is a good thing that I am diligent and frugal in managing my family, if the weather is good every year, and if there is a bad year, I might have an excuse to ask about my second brother's property."
Hearing Dong Xi's reminder, Shen Rui also knew that this was indeed a possibility. The property on Sifang's books was not much, just because Shen Rui's great-grandfather was addicted to gambling and sold almost all of the family property. If he hadn't died early, he might have been
Even the ancestral home was sold. Now there are only a few dozen hectares of land and two rent-collecting shops on the books, half of which were added after Sun's marriage.
If the times are bad, Shen Juren may indeed interfere with Shen Rui's property, but so what, those properties are all decided by the clan and managed by the Guo family on their behalf. As long as Shen Rui doesn't speak, Shen Juren has nothing to do. And there is
Shen Jin is in the front, why does Shen Rui need to speak?
All the properties under Shen Jin's name were managed by Shen Juren. Even if Shen Juren needed money to supplement his family's income, there was no reason to go beyond the eldest son and the second son's request.
Thinking of this, Shen Rui once again regretted why there will be no college examination next year. If there is a college examination next year, the time he needs to endure will be shortened by half.
Inner house, upper room.
Zhang Laoan finished a bowl of bird's nest, looked at the food on the table with disgust, and said to Hao's mother who was standing next to him: "This plate of fish is for the third sister, and that plate of fire is for the fourth sister."
Faced with such meals, Zhang Laoan would have been unable to bear it if there was not a bowl of bird's nest in the small kitchen every day. But she knows that her son is a left-handed mother. How can she still fight with her son for a bite of food?
I can bear it.
Mother Hao smiled and agreed, but she couldn't stop complaining. The steamed fish dish only required a few chopsticks, and all the tails were shaved off, so it was considered decent to serve. The honey-glazed fire recipe used up most of the plate, leaving only the remaining
The two pieces of meat the size of walnuts, Lao An actually had the nerve to reward me.
Third Sister Zhang and Fourth Sister Zhang lived in the east wing of the Lao Nursing Home. The two sisters occupied one end of the three rooms, and there was a small hall in the middle. When Hao's mother arrived, their food boxes had just been delivered, and there were two pretty girls.
The maid is serving food.
Mother Hao glanced at the dining table. A dish of steamed pork with vermicelli and a dish of shredded pork and cabbage were exactly what the first-class maidservant in Lao Anren's house had to offer. Her eyes couldn't help but reveal a hint of contempt, what a bullshit "cousin", the master wouldn't admit it.
The kitchen does not even prepare meals for guests, but only follows the rules of a first-class maid. Lao An once said, but the master has spoken, there are only four masters in the Shen family, and it is useless for Lao An to be upset. Even if he is a spoiled guest, he can
Who knows that these two are the Zhang family, and the Zhang family is the one that I hate to listen to the most.
Lao An had no choice but to take his two nieces and nephews to eat with him. However, within a few days, the old man took the lead in "frugality" and reduced the number of dishes from ten to four, and the plates changed from eight-inch plates to five-inch plates.
.One person is rich enough to use it, but three people use it to be a little shabby.
Lao An had no choice but to send the Zhang sisters back to their house for their own use. The Zhang sisters didn't realize that they were being slighted. If they wanted to leave with dignity, they would go home, but they refused to leave.
Now Lao An's mother and maid in this courtyard are still respectful on their faces, but in their hearts no one looks down on their sisters.
The two sisters picked up Lao An's leftovers more than once or twice. After inviting Hao's mother to have tea, the two sisters sat down and started using chopsticks. Even though there were only two chopsticks left in the fire, Fourth Sister Zhang still ate with gusto.
Mother Hao saw her standing by, with a smile on her face and her stomach churning. After the two of them had dinner, Mother Hao put down her tea bowl and said to Fourth Sister Zhang: "Lao An said, Qiuyue and Dongyue have served Si
My sister has been with me for three years, and I have developed a deep relationship with my fourth sister. Now she goes to serve our second brother. If my fourth sister is reluctant to leave those two maids, she will often send someone to have a look, or send someone to come in and talk."
Fourth Sister Zhang responded with a smile and said, "I can't bear to leave them both for a day. I'll send someone to have a look tomorrow."
Third Sister Zhang was beside her, and although she also laughed with her, there was a hint of sadness in her eyes.
After Hao's mother finished delivering the message, she went back to the upper room to serve.
Fourth Sister Zhang waved her hand, sent two maids to remove the table, and then took Third Sister Zhang to the back room.
"Sister, I don't want to follow my great-aunt's arrangement. I'm only fifteen, and I'm not in a hurry to get married. Besides, my second cousin is so easy to fool. There's a champion behind me, and the lady next door is also said to be very powerful.
.The Zhang family is sorry for their second cousin. They just designed him. He is three years younger than me. Outsiders will only say that I am frivolous. Who will accuse him of being rude? When the time comes, let alone being a wife, I am afraid that I will not be able to be a concubine. My aunt is now
If you are not a master, her words cannot be trusted." Fourth Sister Zhang said sternly.
After hearing this, Third Sister Zhang said hesitantly: "But our family is in decline now. If you don't agree to my aunt's arrangement, how can you have a proper marriage?"
Fourth Sister Zhang smiled and said: "Although my aunt is not a family member, she has good calculations, but the selection is not appropriate. Why did she choose me and my second cousin? My sister and my eldest cousin are such a talented and beautiful couple."
Third Sister Zhang's face turned red, and she smiled bitterly and said, "We have been here for three years. If my great-aunt had been interested, she would have mentioned it long ago. I think in her eyes, she must find a young lady and cousin who is both lustful and beautiful."
Fourth Sister Zhang raised her eyebrows and said: "Sister, please think carefully. After passing this village, there will be no such store..."