After Li Shu and Baozi's maid smiled at each other, two maids brought tea on a small tea tray and invited Zhu Ping'an and Li Shu to have tea. Against the backdrop of the white bamboo teacup, the tea soup looked even greener and had a richer aroma.
The two maids were not very old, only about ten years old, and their childishness had not yet faded, but they were already very familiar with serving tea and pouring water. At this age, this would be exploitation of child labor, but in this dynasty it was normal. The maids were easier to train when they were young. If they were younger, they could not do the work. If they were older, they would be married soon. If they were matched with servants, it would be fine. If they were married, they would belong to someone else's family and would not serve for long. This age was just right.
"Thank you very much."
Zhu Ping'an was not used to being served, so he took the teacup and said thank you.
When the two maids heard Zhu Ping'an say thank you, their round faces turned red, they hung their heads, and said awkwardly, "You're welcome, son-in-law."
Li Shu glanced at the two maids, then looked at Zhu Ping'an and said with a smile, "My husband doesn't have any maids to serve him yet, why don't we let these two maids serve him tea and water and make the bed?"
Ahem...
Zhu Ping'an was sipping tea. After hearing what Li Shu said, he choked and coughed before he could drink it.
"Thank you, but no, I'm used to being alone. I'm not used to being served by others." Zhu Ping'an refused without even thinking about it. Why should he need someone to serve him when he had hands and feet, especially two child laborers? He didn't have any special habits.
"A sixth-rank official has no maids or servants to serve him. Don't be afraid of being laughed at by your colleagues if you tell others about it." Li Shu looked at Zhu Ping'an with a smile, her big watery eyes as bright as the stars in the sky.
"Don't be afraid." Zhu Ping'an shook his head indifferently.
"You're really ungrateful." Li Shu curved her eyebrows, tilted her nose slightly upwards, said coquettishly, and then rolled her eyes at Zhu Ping'an.
Seeing her young lady chatting with her husband, the maid Baozi glanced at the two little girls and waved her hand slightly, signaling them to leave and not disturb the young lady and husband. The two little girls saw Baozi's gesture and bowed their heads and left.
In the eyes of the two little girls, Baozi, the little maid, is half their master.
Baozi's status in the family is not low, especially recently her status has been raised. Now Baozi is not only Li Shu's personal maid, but also a maid who is in the same room with her. Li Shu has four personal maids, including Baozi, but Baozi is the only maid in the same room with her. This is decided by the mansion.
A maidservant in the same room is between a concubine and a maid. Her status is slightly lower than that of a concubine, but higher than that of all maids.
After a maidservant has a status, she becomes a concubine. Although a maidservant has no status, in some aspects, she does the same things as a concubine, except that she has no status.
Tongfang Yatou literally means a maid who serves the same room. In ancient times, the bedroom of a Tongfang Yatou was connected to the bedroom of the master and mistress. When the master and mistress were having sex in the boudoir, the Tongfang Yatou could serve them on the side, and if the master asked, she could also join in a threesome. Of course, it was probably not so open in ancient times. More often, when the mistress had her period, the Tongfang Yatou would take over the mistress's bed duties.
A dowry maid and a maid who serves as a concubine are two different things. Now all the maids in this house are dowry maids. As long as the maids are brought by Li Shu, they are all dowry maids. However, there is only one maid named Baozi who serves as a concubine.
Therefore, the little maid Baozi can be said to have the highest status in the mansion except for Zhu Ping'an and Li Shu.
Li Shu had just left home in a hurry, and it had been a while since then. She was worried that her mother Chen would miss her, and there were probably people at home visiting her new daughter-in-law, and it would be a shame if the new daughter-in-law was not at home. So after drinking tea, Li Shu went back to the house opposite with Zhu Ping'an.
At this time, the maid Baozi was going to follow, but Li Shu refused, saying that there was no one to serve at home, and if she took the maid with her, it would be too conspicuous and would create a sense of distance. So, Li Shu let the maid Baozi stay in the house and assigned her to tidy up the house.
The two houses are right opposite each other and can be reached in just three or five steps.
When he got home, there were indeed many women from the village at home. His mother, Chen, was talking to them with great joy, probably showing off again. Seeing this, Zhu Pingan couldn't help but smile. Zhu Pingan knew all these women, so he smiled and went forward to greet them, calling them by their names one by one and introducing them to Li Shu, who followed suit and called them sweetly.
After this group of people left, the house finally became quiet. Mother Chen asked Zhu Pingan to take Li Shu around the house. Because the house was much larger than when they left, Zhu Pingan also took Li Shu to the backyard to have a look.
The family had originally planned to build a wedding house for Zhu Ping'an and Li Shu in this backyard, but the rich man Li felt sorry for the girl and felt that the place was a little small, so after discussion, they built a new house opposite.
Now the backyard is conveniently used to grow a vegetable garden and a pigpen, and the remaining space is also used to grow some flowers and plants.
Lush green vegetables and colorful flowers give people a feeling that the garden is full of spring and cannot be contained.
A few fat black and white pigs in the pigsty saw someone entering the backyard and thought they were here to be fed. They stretched out their trotters and lay on the pigsty, humming eagerly towards Zhu Pingan who was walking ahead. They were very enthusiastic.
There are a few tall flowers planted in front of the pigpen, which set off the fat and cheerful pig heads, making it look particularly funny.
"Hehehe... Look, your relatives are greeting you." Seeing this, Li Shu couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle.
"If I hadn't married you, how could I become relatives with them?" Zhu Ping'an said slowly without turning his head.
"You... are boring and stingy..." Li Shu pouted and complained.
Uh, it seems like you said it first... ... Listening to Li Shu's scolding, Zhu Pingan was speechless.
"Hey, Zhu Ping'an, you have to give in to me in the future." Li Shu walked up to Zhu Ping'an, raised her pretty face and said seriously.
"Why?" Zhu Ping'an glanced at Li Shu.
Zhu Ping'an thought that this girl would bring up what her mother Chen said at noon as support, or talk about the island's grace of feeding blood and saving her life... However, Li Shu's answer was far beyond Zhu Ping'an's expectations.
"You are five feet two and I am only five feet tall. When you talk to me, you have to lower your head first, just like now."
Li Shu smiled and raised her pretty face, stretched out her slender jade finger and pointed at Zhu Ping'an's lowered head. Her ink-black eyes were dark and her face was full of mischievousness.
At this distance, she looks even more charming. (To be continued.)