On the last day before the start of the Royal Academy, Zhu Hao and Jinghong went to Gongsun Yi's residence to deliver gifts.
Students always need to express their gratitude when their husband is married or has a son. Although the husband is no longer in the palace now, he has been the husband of his two children for a period of time.
"Come in, come in!"
Gongsun Yi went out to greet him personally.
At this time, Gongsun Yi was fairer than before. It must be because he hid in his room reading all day long and rarely received sunlight. As a result, he looked more like a pretty boy.
But at this time, he was also radiant. After all, his wife gave him a son for the first time, and the relationship continued.
Zhu Hao said: "I should have come years ago, but I was busy, so I postponed it until now. This is just a little thought..."
Zhu Hao and Jinghong took out their respective gifts.
They were all small wooden boxes, and I didn't know what was inside. Gongsun Yi wanted to open them and take a look, but he was embarrassed.
On Jinghong's side, there was only one servant from the Yamen following him, while on Zhu Hao's side, there were four sturdy men in fancy clothes. They seemed to be even grander than Jinghong.
"Sit inside...the space is a bit narrow, don't be surprised."
Gongsun Yi smiled broadly and led the two of them into the courtyard. Zhu Hao looked around and found that it was just a small courtyard with only three rooms.
Directly opposite the courtyard gate is the main room.
The main room is divided into three parts. The left is the kitchen, the middle is the place for worshiping ancestors and eating. The right is originally a warehouse for storing sundries, but it was temporarily transformed into a study. From the courtyard, you can clearly see the bookshelf behind the window. Then
There are two wing rooms on the left and right. One side is probably for him and his wife and children, and the other side is for my mother.
"Ms. sir, who is here?"
Mrs. Gongsun's voice came from the west wing.
Because there were female relatives inside, even though Zhu Hao and Jinghong were young, they knew it was inconvenient to enter. The key issue was that Mrs. Gongsun had just given birth to a baby, and if she was breastfeeding... it would be embarrassing to go in rashly.
"It's Zhu Hao and Jinghong, they came to visit."
Gongsun Yi's tone was somewhat proud.
As if to say, look, these two students still remember me.
"good!"
Mrs. Gongsun responded.
When Zhu Hao saw this posture, he stopped walking inside, pointed to the small bench with a basket of shelled beans in the yard, and said, "We can just sit over there."
It can be seen that although Gongsun Yi passed the scholar examination, his family background is indeed not very good, but he can live in a small courtyard in the city and live a worry-free life for the time being, which is considered good.
But now I have to prepare for the provincial examination, and I'm afraid my family will lose their source of income.
"OK!"
Gongsun Yi was not polite and directly brought two small benches over.
The three teachers and students sat in front of the basket.
As soon as he sat down and before he said anything, he saw Mrs. Gongsun coming out of the west wing with her child in her arms.
"Madam, why are you out? It's not good to see the wind."
Gongsun Yi loved his wife very much and hurried over to help her.
Mrs. Gongsun looked a little paler, probably because she had not kept up with her nutrition during confinement, but she had a demure smile on her face at this time: "We have guests coming, so it would be a bad idea if we didn't come out to entertain them... The child hasn't slept yet, and is kicking his legs."
"Let me see……"
Gongsun Yi started teasing the child as if no one was around.
The first born is a son, and it can be seen that Gongsun Yi cares about him very much.
Zhu Hao and Jinghong stood up just as they sat down, looking awkward standing there.
Jinghong looked at Zhu Hao with his big eyes, as if asking, are we here at the right time?
Just stop sitting and go home!
Zhu Hao, however, was familiar with himself and ran over and said, "Master, can you give me a hug? I want to see my little junior brother."
Gongsun Yi smiled and said, "Why don't you say Zhu Hao, you are so sweet. Come on, give me a hug!"
He actually didn't take it from his wife and then hand it over to Zhu Hao, but let his wife hand it directly to Zhu Hao. He didn't care about the protection of men and women at all. Maybe there is not much that a small family can care about.
When Zhu Hao took the child in his arms and looked at it carefully, the child stared at the strange "brother" in front of him with wide eyes, and then he looked over at Jinghong's big head. The child was startled and immediately said "Wow"
A loud cry broke out.
"I……"
Jinghong felt the looks from around him and felt something was wrong.
I want to explain to myself, I didn’t do anything, why did the baby cry when he saw me?
Zhu Hao said: "It's too cold outside. It won't be good if you catch a cold. Master, you'd better carry your little brother into the house. He's so cute!"
Mrs. Gongsun took the child over and said with a smile: "You guys can talk, my mother is not here right now, so I can't serve tea..."
"It's okay, Master Wife. We are all children. We are not official guests. We don't need to serve tea. We can just sit down and talk to Mr. Gongsun."
Zhu Hao smiled and felt relieved, as if this was his home.
…
…
Sit down again.
Zhu Hao asked in a low voice: "Sir, I wonder where your daughter has gone?"
Gongsun Yi smiled and said: "Today the Laojun Temple in the city opened. My mother said she was going to ask for a safe visa, but she went out without cleaning up the courtyard carefully. I usually stay in my room to study... I'm also afraid of the noise.
To the child..."
Zhu Hao said: "If the teacher's wife goes back to teach, what will happen to the child..."
"Of course I will be taken care of by my mother at home."
Gongsun Yi said matter-of-factly.
Zhu Hao really wanted to say, there is no milk powder these days, what should you do when your child is hungry and wants to drink milk?
It's easy to say, but even if you make preparations in advance, such as expressing breast milk and putting it in a bowl, there is no good way to keep it fresh. If the weather is a little hot, it will easily deteriorate...
"Sir, how about this, hire a mother-in-law. The teacher's wife can take the children to school on weekdays, and let the mother-in-law take care of the children next door to the classroom during classes..."
Zhu Hao thought of a compromise.
Gongsun Yi looked embarrassed: "I'm afraid this is... inappropriate."
Zhu Hao knew that Gongsun Yi was worried about spending too much money.
Originally, I had to rely on my wife to go out to work to earn money to support the family, but the family environment may not improve, but in the end, I have to pay for the mother-in-law...
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "I will naturally bear these expenses. It just so happens that the school also wants to hire someone to wash and cook for the girls studying. It's all a matter of convenience."
Gongsun Yi's eyes widened when he heard this.
And such good things?
"In addition, we must also make arrangements for repairs in advance, and temporarily give repairs eight yuan per month...According to Mr. Gongsun's previous treatment in the palace, you see..."
Gongsun Yi couldn't help but swallowed when he heard this.
After working hard in the palace for a month, I could earn eight taels of silver. After entering the palace several times, I earned about 10 taels of silver, and my family situation was greatly improved.
Now Zhu Hao actually offers his wife the same salary as him... If he goes to teach, wouldn't he earn more than his wife?
"There is another thing. I will take care of one meal at noon. If there is any leftover food in the kitchen in the afternoon, I can ask the mistress to bring it back and deal with it. I will give you two buckets of rice, one catty of salt, five catties of eggs every month..."
After Zhu Hao finished speaking, Gongsun Yi was elated and suddenly asked in a low voice with some unconfidence: "Zhu Hao, aren't you... Yanxiao?"
Even Jinghong couldn't help but look over.
Is this move too generous?
It’s just teaching women’s studies. Do you need to be paid such a generous salary?
Zhu Hao said: "Once you are a teacher, you will always be a teacher. Mr. Gongsun, you have to prepare for the provincial examination. Your family must be very poor, so you should do your best as a student."
After hearing this, Gongsun Yi looked touched, but felt a little ashamed and said: "Zhu Hao, in fact, we are called teacher and student, but many times you are my husband, and I have learned a lot from you... I didn't expect it.
Now you want to help me...it makes me feel a little embarrassed."
Zhu Hao smiled.
This is exactly the purpose of his coming to pay New Year greetings.
It seemed that Gongsun Yi could not return to the palace, but Zhu Hao felt that Gongsun Yi and his wife still had some shining points. If the palace did not take them in, Zhu Hao wanted to recruit them for his own use.
Now that you are thinking of conquering him, why not give him some benefits to show his gratitude for your kindness? If you come a few more times, he will naturally be convinced and come to you obediently.
Moreover, women’s education is of no use to others. In this era, private schools make money by collecting tuition fees. Even if they teach only male students, they will earn very little tuition. Girls... there are very few families that can afford tuition.
And few.
But for Zhu Hao, this is a way to cultivate talents. Zhu Hao is training the backbone of the future workshop and business system. He is not recruiting students, but apprentices. Although he is said to be a female apprentice, the meaning is completely different.
Eight pieces of silver is worth a lot to Zhu Hao.
You can win people's hearts and make the best use of their talents, so why not do it?
"Mr. Gongsun, if you take the provincial examination... I don't mean any harm, I'm just saying that if you don't pass the exam this time, you can come over to help and open another class... Then I will offer you a higher salary than the teacher's wife.
Do you like it?"
After Zhu Hao finished speaking, even Jinghong, who was inexperienced in world affairs, saw Gongsun Yi's eyes light up.
It felt like Gongsun Yi was no longer in the mood to prepare for the exam. How great it would be to follow Zhu Hao. The couple earned two taels of silver a month... In one year, it would be more than 20 taels. The quality of life has improved sharply. If you have this salary, you can spend so much time.
What provincial examination should I take?
Thousands of troops have to cross the single-plank bridge, but they still have to beg for nothing... The family works with Zhu Hao, has enough food and clothing, eats delicious food and drinks spicy food, isn't it delicious?
"this……"
His heart was filled with joy, but Gongsun Yi could not express that he did not even have the courage to take the imperial examination.
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "There are a few taels of silver in the box I gave you earlier, which I will use to support my husband and my wife's family expenses. These are not included in the training. I hope my wife can start teaching soon."
"It won't take long...I will settle things at home as soon as possible."
Gongsun Yi almost wanted to let his wife go to school today, but he thought it was too hasty. He still had to show the restraint that a teacher should have in front of the two children.
But the smile on his face betrayed his true thoughts.
Zhu Hao stood up: "Then we won't disturb you anymore. Jinghong, do you have anything else to say to your husband?"
Jinghong shook his head, then followed Zhu Hao and left with Gongsun Yixiang seeing him off.
Out the door.
Zhu Hao and Jinghong walked around the corner and were about to say goodbye. Jinghong said, "Zhu Hao, do you still remember what I said to you years ago?"
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "Of course I remember. It will be okay for you to enter the palace after the new year, right?"
Jinghong sighed: "It's not a big problem, but I have to stay in Anlu alone. My father can at most leave a servant here to support me... From now on... will you also..."
Judging from Jinghong's point of view, you have settled your husband and mistress so well, shouldn't you also consider settling your classmates and friends?
From now on, when I am alone in Anlu, I still expect to hang out with you.