After hearing her son's grateful words, Mrs. Zhou nodded and said, "Sure enough, good intentions are rewarded! From what I've heard, Ms. Yu is also a kind and righteous person. Please invite the guests in!"
The concierge stood outside the second door, anxiously and apprehensively waiting for a reply from inside. How he wished that the mother-in-law of the inner sect could spread the news of "I don't know" or "I don't see". But he didn't wait for the mother-in-law or maid from the inner sect to come, but what he waited for was the hurrying figure of the master.
"Where's Miss Yu?" Wednesday Young Master asked urgently as he passed by the concierge.
The concierge was sweating coldly in the winter, he stammered and said: "Master, Miss Yu is still waiting outside the gate..."
"Nonsense!! Zhou Dafu, you have been working as a concierge for more than 20 years, don't you even remember the way of hospitality in our Zhou Mansion?" Young Master Zhou paused anxiously, and then looked at it The concierge looked at him, saw the guilty and uneasy expression on his face, and immediately deduced that this dog slave must be underestimating people again!
This week, Zhou Dafu relied on being the son of Mrs. Zhou's nanny, so he did a lot of things in the concierge. But in the past, there was a nanny staring at her, so she was relatively restrained and didn't cause any trouble. On Wednesday, the young mother and son turned a blind eye and pretended they didn't see it. Who knew that this dog slave didn't know how to repent, and it got worse and worse in the past two years!
"You don't want to follow, take the board and go to the stables to raise horses!" Young Master Zhou knew that this servant must be seeing Yu Xiaocao dressed like a child, and that's why he treated her so slowly.
Zhou Dafu knelt down in front of Young Master Wednesday with remorse, knocked his head heavily on the ground, and begged for mercy: "Master, this slave knows it's wrong! Please see that slave mother has no credit for serving the second wife but also hard work, so give this slave another chance. Bar!"
Young Master Zhou walked past him non-stop, leaving a sentence: "Nurse can't protect you forever, her credits have already been overdrawn by you, an unworthy son!" After finishing speaking, he gave him a ruthless back.
Zhou Dafu regretted so much that his intestines would break. From the concierge with the most oil and water, to the groom who is the smelly and tired with the least oil and water, he fell from the sky to the ground all at once! Who would have thought that a little girl with an unattractive appearance would be so valued by the master!
The newly appointed concierge has always taken this matter as a warning, and has never treated anyone badly since he took office, especially the Yu family. This made Erfang's reputation unknowingly increased a lot... This is a later story.
On Wednesday, Shao dealt with the concierge and almost trotted all the way to the gate. As soon as he went out, he saw Yu Xiaocao who was talking to the big shopkeeper with his hands and feet stamped, his white and tender face was flushed with cold.
"Xiaocao, why are you here at this time? Follow me into the house to keep warm!" Zhou Zixu felt pity in his heart, and he was a little annoyed at the doorman who didn't have long eyes, regretting that he had just dealt with it lightly.
Yu Xiaocao took her hands out of her sleeves, rubbed her frozen face, gave him a hard look, and said, "My family grows some vegetables on the kang. My father said thank you for taking care of my family. Let me send some over here! Who knew that the threshold of your house is so high, Mr. Zhou, we ordinary people can’t get in..."
The big shopkeeper didn't expect that Miss Yu, who was always smiling on weekdays, turned out to be a little chili pepper, their future head of the Zhou family, she would sting if she wanted to! He coughed twice, and rescued his master: "Miss Yu, it's that slave who looks down on people and has nothing to do with the master..."
"Why doesn't it matter? This shows that he doesn't have a good eye for people, and he can't know how to handle people well!" Yu Xiaocao pointed to the bamboo basket on the donkey cart, and said to Young Master Wednesday with a grim expression, "Hey! That's for you guys." Hurry up and unload the food from home, I'm going back in a hurry!"
Young Master Zhou personally lifted the bamboo basket from the donkey cart, and said with a smile, "Okay! It's all my fault, okay! It's your first time visiting, so you have to go in and drink. Otherwise, if word spreads, say Our Zhou family doesn’t talk about etiquette!”
"Hmph! You've kicked the guests out, and you're afraid people will say it?" Yu Xiaocao still didn't have a good face, pointing to her little donkey, and said, "My little gray is drying here? If it freezes, you'll pay for it." Can you afford it?"
Knowing that the little donkey of the Yu family is as strong as a horse, and very human, it is extremely rare. He hurriedly said to the servants behind him, "What are you still doing? Hurry up and unload the donkey cart, and take Xiao Hui to the stables." Served with fine grains."
A few servants unload the donkey cart, unload the donkey cart, and lead the donkey. There was a slave obsequiously trying to pick up the bamboo basket in the master's hand, but Shao Zhou dodged it: "I'll just hold this basket, and do whatever I want!"
Just like that, Young Master Zhou Zhou personally invited Yu Xiaocao in with a bamboo basket. The second house of the Zhou family is a courtyard with four entrances. Next to the gate is a row of inverted houses where the servants live. After a few steps inside the gate, there is a tall screen wall, and after turning a corner, you enter the outer courtyard. The outer courtyard is a rectangular courtyard. Through the vertical flower gate is the main courtyard where the master lives. The second room of the Zhou family is sparsely populated, and only one person, Zhou Zhou, lives in the second courtyard. The third entrance is the courtyard where the elders live, where the hostess of the Zhou family lives—Mrs. Zhou, the mother of Young Master Zhou. The fourth entrance is the back room, which is usually occupied by the daughter of the boudoir, but it is also idle now.
Looking at the courtyards, Yu Xiaocao couldn't help thinking of Ouyang Xiu's poem "How deep is the courtyard..."
The courtyard where Mrs. Zhou lives is simply and elegantly furnished, and it can be seen that the owner is a calm and indifferent person. A dexterous little girl outside the main room saw the master leading a little girl coming, she hurriedly lifted the curtain with a smile, and said crisply inside: "Madam, Miss Yu is here!"
A gentle voice came from inside: "Please—"
"Master, Miss Yu, Madam let you in!" The little girl smiled very sweetly, looked at Yu Xiaocao with a little curiosity, and immediately turned her gaze away.
Yu Xiaocao, who often talked with Princess Jing, had seen even bigger battles, so naturally she wouldn't be restrained. With a soft smile, she nodded to the little girl and followed Young Master Wednesday into the room.
There was a fireplace burning in the room, and as soon as he entered the door, a sense of warmth came over him, and Yu Xiaocao felt that he was finally alive again. Being left out for half a day in the cold weather, I really don't want to try it again.
Mrs. Zhou is not beautiful, but she is gentle and kind. She looked concerned and said: "My dear child, are you freezing? Get warm by the fireplace!"
Yu Xiaocao politely saluted Mrs. Tuesday, and then sat down by the fireplace graciously. Mrs. Zhou was slightly surprised, didn't she say that this little girl surnamed Yu came from a fisherman's family? Why is his speech and manner more calm and courteous than some of the ladies in the town
Yu Xiaocao chatted with Mrs. Tuesday without any pressure: "Ma'am, we farmers don't have any presents to hand out. Everyone wants to eat some fresh vegetables this winter. My family tried to grow some green leafy vegetables on the kang. , I didn’t expect it to be planted. My parents said that Mr. Zhou has taken good care of our family these years, so he picked a few handfuls of green vegetables and gave them to his wife and Mr. San to try something new.”
Sitting on the lower head of his mother on Wednesday, he lifted the quilt on the basket, revealing the green and tender vegetables inside.
Mrs. Zhou looked happy in her heart, and said with a smile: "I dare not say anything about taking care of her. If you want to say that your Yu family has given Xu'er a lot of help. This vegetable is so well grown, it looks very appetizing."
Qiu'er, Mrs. Zhou's close maid, smiled and said, "Miss Yu is really considerate of sending vegetables! Our wife is a vegetarian on weekdays, and the worst time is winter. Vegetables in winter, except for radishes and cabbage, can't be found. What a new trick. Every winter, our wife has to reduce a lot! With these vegetables, our wife can eat an extra bowl of rice at noon today!"
Yu Xiaocao showed two cute dimples on her lips, and said with big eyes, "If Madam doesn't mind, I'll bring you some more when you're almost done eating."
Mrs. Zhou hurriedly laughed and said, "I'm afraid your family doesn't grow much, so save some fresh ones for Chinese New Year?"
"Ma'am, don't look outside. The vegetables grown in our family can't be said to be enough for your family to eat. It's more than enough for you and the third young master!" Yu Xiaocao saw that Mrs. She is a small peasant girl and looks down on her, and she talks to her in an amiable manner, and her heart is completely relaxed.
Young Master Zhou also chimed in: "Mother, Xiaocao never speaks politely. When she said she would give it to us, she must be sincere. You, don't treat her as an outsider, see outsiders more often!"
"You child, you are not polite at all!" Mrs. Zhou gave her son a sideways glance, showing a helpless smile.
On Wednesday, Young Master Xipi smiled authentically: "Mom! If Xiaocao didn't want to, I would have sworn brother and sister with her. Didn't Mother often sigh that she didn't have a caring daughter? It's a pity that Xiaocao has already recognized her godmother..."
"You child, have you asked Ms. Yu's permission? You are doing something wishful thinking!" Mrs. Zhou also likes this girl who is neither humble nor overbearing and polite.
Yu Xiaocao hurriedly laughed and said, "Ma'am, you can just call me Xiaocao! Even if you don't recognize your god-in-law, the relationship between our two families won't change!"
The three chatted and laughed for a while, and the atmosphere was very warm. At noon, on Tuesday, Mrs. Yu insisted on keeping Yu Xiaocao for lunch. Yu Xiaocao showed her skills and cooked some delicious vegetarian dishes, such as "thousand shredded tofu" or "steamed cabbage heart with garlic vermicelli" Well, there are also "Sweet Baked Mushrooms", "Su Sansi", "Sweet Potatoes" and so on. Mrs. Zhou was full of praise for eating.
This time, in addition to vegetables, there are also ten catties of potatoes. Yu Xiaocao also taught several recipes of potatoes to Zhou's cook. In this way, Mrs. Zhou, who is a vegetarian, added a few more favorite dishes to her winter menu.
On Wednesday, Shao Shao saw business opportunities from potatoes. He learned from Xiaocao that there would be a lot of potatoes next year, so he preemptively booked them all. And bought all the recipes about potatoes in Yu Xiaocao's hands at a high price. I believe that in the coming year, the turnover of Zhenxiu Restaurant will hit a new high again!