On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, we worship the Kitchen God, celebrate the New Year, and sweep the yard. It has been snowing all day, and the sky and the earth are all white. There is nothing much to clean up in the yard except sweeping the snow. Every room is wiped every day, and the dustpan is just a symbolic gesture. After today, the New Year atmosphere gradually becomes stronger.
Mei Niang tried to get up early every day, visit her son at Qiuhua Courtyard, play with him, wait for Madam Zheng to wake up, then go to her bedside to greet her, and rush to Ziyun Hall before noon to listen to the housekeeper's reply and handle the affairs of the mansion.
The weather was cold, and she had to get up early to see her son and take care of the affairs at the same time, so she wanted Rulan to sleep in comfortably. For three or four days in a row, she sent a little maid to tell Third Grandma not to go out in the morning and just stay in the warm house. Rulan listened to her and stayed at home with Xu Junya every day, not going anywhere, living a sweet life of their own.
On the night of the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, Cui Xi, who served Mei Niang, went to Rulan's courtyard and said apologetically that the eldest grandmother felt dizzy again and might not be able to get up tomorrow. She asked the third grandmother to get up early tomorrow to take care of the affairs of Ziyun Hall.
Ning Rulan said to Cui Xi: "The recipe I gave you is excellent, you must try it!"
Cui Xi said, "I have already taken Third Madam's prescription and went to pick up the herbs. I will go back and watch them make the medicine soup!"
Ning Rulan nodded: "Let Grandma rest assured, I will take care of the affairs of the mansion!"
Cui Xi bowed, said goodbye and went out. Taking advantage of the night, she went to the west courtyard again, found Mother Lin, said a few words to her, and then returned to Tsinghua Courtyard.
On the morning of the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, just as the sky was getting light, three maids walked out of Qinghua Courtyard, paying attention to the movements around them along the way, and hurried to the west courtyard. Mrs. Lin, who was on duty, let them out of Pingxiang. Old Man Yu opened the door and waited at the side door of Pingxiang. As soon as they went out, he closed the door, walked back to the gatehouse next door as if nothing had happened, and continued to sleep.
There was already a carriage waiting in the back street outside the side door. Lin Amao pulled up the curtain and let the three girls get on. He lowered the curtain, got on and sat firmly, then flicked the whip and the carriage drove away.
In the carriage, Mei Niang looked at Cui Xi and Cui Si, frowned and said, "Otherwise, don't follow me out in the future. I have a mask and you don't. If someone in the Hou Mansion sees it, the consequences will be disastrous!"
Cui Xi pulled the bag from her shoulder over to her and said with a smile, "Don't worry, young lady. We can buy some new clothes, different from the ones in the mansion. And then put some rouge on your face or some dots on your face, and you will become a different person. Look, I brought eyebrow pencil, rouge, powder and so on!"
Mei Niang watched them put on makeup. One of them had a face as red as a monkey's butt, and one had sores on her forehead, chin, and even the corners of her eyes. She laughed to death:
"No, no! This is too ugly, wipe it off! Never mind, there are so many people like me in the world, if someone sees me, I'll just deny it!"
As she spoke, she untied her double hanging buns. Cui Si held the mirror and Cui Xi combed her hair into an elegant and delicate bun, and put on pearls and jade, and inserted a hairpin with gold thread and peacock emeralds. She changed into a pink and purple soft satin medium-length cotton robe embroidered with small flower petals, and put on a cherry-colored Shu brocade cloak with rabbit fur edges. The clever little girl turned into a dignified lady in an instant.
Cui Xi looked at Mei Niang and suddenly said, "How could you forget everything? You can wear a veil!"
Cui Si said, "I've never seen anyone wearing a veil in winter, they only wear it in spring and summer!"
"We don't care when. Wear it if you want!"
Cui Xi said, Mei Niang smiled and nodded: "That's right, wear it if you need it, don't care about what others think. You can prepare it yourself, everyone has silver on you, whatever clothes you want, just go and buy them, you will need them when you go out of the house frequently in the future!"
Soon we arrived at the backyard of Xiankelai. The gatekeeper, Old Man Zou, stopped us and said, "Are you going to stay at the hotel or have a meal? If you want to stay at the hotel, please park your carriage on the left. If you want to have a meal, please park on the right!"
Lin A-Mao said, "You old man, you don't recognize me when I change my clothes? I want the number one parking space!"
Old man Zou blinked and looked at Lin A-mao again, then bowed and said, "The old man's eyesight is blurry and he can't see clearly. He deserves to be beaten! He deserves to be beaten! It turned out to be the young old man, but has the young master arrived?"
"Exactly!"
Old Man Zou drove the carriage to the courtyard. Mei Niang asked curiously, "Why did you become the young master?"
Cui Xi smiled: "When Shopkeeper Lu told his subordinates that the new owner's surname is Cen, and he is originally from the clan of Master Cen, you are young, and this old man Zou worked in Xiankelai in his early years, so he is considered a veteran of Xiankelai. He took advantage of his seniority and called you the young owner!"
Cui Si said, "Wait for me to go down and say something to him!"
Mei Niang stopped him and said, "You should respect the elderly! They have contributed to the success of Xiankelai. You have also seen the list of people. Apart from those who retired due to illness or old age, there have been basically no major changes. Mr. Cen and the previous shopkeeper are very smart and have a way of selecting and employing people, but the most important thing is to treat people well. I have talked to Shopkeeper Lu. He has inherited some of the old shopkeeper's ideas and methods, which is very suitable for the development of Xiankelai. You should watch and learn from him carefully."
As they were talking, the carriage had stopped. Old Man Zou had already asked the boy who was sweeping the yard to report to Manager Lu. Lu Xiangfeng walked out of the backyard and stood beside the carriage, waiting for the master and his servants to get off.
After the greetings, Lu Xiangfeng led Mei Niang into a door. In front of them was a newly painted passage. After a dozen steps, they came to a walnut staircase. The staircase was narrow but stable and reliable, without any sense of cramped or steepness. It was very convenient for a weak woman to walk. It was obvious that Cen Guiquan had put a lot of thought into making this place to hide his beauty.
Lu Xiangfeng said, "The young lady's room has been renovated and tidied. We have ordered a complete set of curtains, curtains and bedding from Wanfu Embroidery Shop. Please take a look and see if you like it. If not, we can change it."
Mei Niang said, "As long as it's clean and comfortable, it's fine. I'm only here for a while, half a day at most, and I won't stay long, so there's no need to be too particular."
After looking at the rest room, Lu Xiangfeng had a pretty good eye, and the embroidery he chose was to the liking of several people. Seeing that Mei Niang was just walking around and had no intention of sitting down to rest, Lu Xiangfeng said:
"After the hour of Chen, guests will come to the front building of Xiankelai to drink morning tea and have breakfast. The kitchen has already prepared a variety of delicious snacks. The girl came early, so I think she hasn't had breakfast yet. Let me ask someone to bring some up, or..."
Mei Niang said, "Tell me about the situation in the store these days. I will go downstairs to have breakfast later. I will use the original private room."
Lu Xiangfeng replied "yes", went out, took the account book from the waiter, and reported the business situation of the past few days to Mei Niang.
Mei Niang saw that he had inherited Cen Guiquan's habit of keeping a detailed and organized record book, so she nodded and said, "This is very good. It feels like I am here in person at Xiankelai. I can understand everything."
Looking through the account book, he was very surprised: "In just a few days, there are more than 10,000 taels of silver in the account book?"
Lu Xiangfeng said, "Xiankelai is a time-honored restaurant that has been in business for many years. The dishes and drinks are all of the best quality, with excellent flavors and reasonable prices. It is one of the most famous restaurants in the capital. The rich and the officials are used to having banquets at Xiankelai for weddings and funerals, and the common people are proud to be able to have banquets at Xiankelai. After launching the girl's hot pot banquet, the restaurant is packed with guests every day. Two days ago, we finally declined individual guests and finished the two banquets booked last month. Suddenly, several weddings and funerals popped up. At the end of the year, the host family was unprepared and could not hold them themselves. When we found Xiankelai, we always ordered first and then made them, otherwise we could not get so many ingredients, but they begged us so hard, I thought. The girl said that we are in this business and should help others, so I bit the bullet and agreed. I led people out of the city and went to the countryside in a hurry, and found the farmer who usually supplies us with food and goods. Fortunately, he had just stored a batch of food, and pulled back several carts overnight. The road was slippery in the snow, and one horse was injured. The groom Liu Da twisted his foot, but at least the banquet was held! Recently, more and more foreign officials have returned to the capital to visit relatives for the New Year. Receptions or gatherings with friends have never stopped from noon to night. Even the seats for today and tomorrow have been booked. The money came in this way-this is just the account book of the restaurant in front, and there is another one for the inn in the back. Please take a look at it, there are also several thousand taels of silver. "
Mei Niang looked down at the account book and asked, "It's New Year's Day, and there are still so many people staying in the inn. Why don't you go back home to celebrate the New Year?"
Lu Xiangfeng smiled and said, "In addition to the merchants who originally stayed here, the people who have moved in over the past few days are all candidates who have just arrived in the capital to take the exam. The spring exam is coming soon, and more people will come to stay. We have to fill up the first to fourth floors of our hotel!"
Mei Niang raised her head, her eyes sparkling: "Yes! I forgot about the spring exam! These candidates came early, and they will stay until the end of February or the beginning of March before the exam. They will eat and live in our Xiankelai. In the year of the exam, it is a grand gathering of literati. The place where the candidates live is where literati, dignitaries and nobles gather to pay tribute to each other. We..."
Lu Xiangfeng bowed and smiled, saying, "Miss, you are very blessed. If you take over Xiankelai now, this alone will be enough to equal the harvest of one or two years when Xiankelai came here!"
Mei Niang smiled sweetly, pointing at Lu Xiangfeng and jokingly said, "Next year will also be your prosperous year. The bonus I promised you will be enough for you to buy a house and get married, right?"
Lu Xiangfeng blushed and lowered his head and said, "Girl, you are making fun of me!"
Mei Niang rarely saw a shy man, and she couldn't help laughing out loud: "Work hard, if you get married next year, we at Xianke will organize the wedding banquet for free! Also, you have all worked hard these days to prepare the banquet, take good care of the injured horse, let Liu Da rest, and give him medical expenses as usual. Xianke will give out extra bonus silver from top to bottom. Ask the accountant to prepare the red envelopes for the New Year, twice as many as usual! I've heard that you are weak, not as capable and calculating as Master Cen was, so you will have to rely on your support in the future. I'll ask Cui Xi and Cui Si to deliver them to everyone on my behalf, and send them out early so that they can prepare for the New Year early."
Lu Xiangfeng bowed and said: "Young lady, you are kind and considerate, I will thank you on behalf of the people below!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.) (To be continued)