Zhou Shuren made a serious note of the debt owed to the dental clinic in his heart, and smiled ingratiatingly, "I would not change my wife even if I lost my head."
Zhulan: "...even if you become a ghost, take me with you!"
Zhou Shuren laughed, "Yes, I won't let you go even if I become a ghost."
Zhulan, “… … ..”
If you don’t know, you might think she owes Zhou Shuren a lot of money!
Zhou Shuren pressed Zhulan's shoulders and said, "Don't get angry over insignificant people. It's not worth it. I'll deal with them when I'm done."
Zhu Lan sighed, "I'm not really angry, I'm just depressed that mistresses were legal in ancient times. By the way, I've told Li that there is no such thing as taking concubines in our family. You can talk to your sons, and don't tell me about taking concubines when you are old enough and don't have sons. I can't stand it."
She doesn't care about other people's families, but she has the final say in her own family. She has never seen two women coexisting in peace, and she doesn't want to have to go through a mess and a lawsuit in the future.
Zhulan thought for a moment and said, "Anyway, don't do this to me while I'm alive. When I die, the Zhou family can do whatever they want."
Children and grandchildren have their own blessings. She and Zhou Shuren, as cheap elders, had done enough for the Zhou family when they were alive. After their death, the descendants of the Zhou family will have to fend for themselves. At most, they can leave a way out for the Zhou family in the future. She and Zhou Shuren are not only worthy of their original selves, but also worthy of the Zhou family's cheap ancestors.
Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
If Zhulan hadn't told him, he really hadn't paid attention to this aspect. For the sake of peace at home and to prevent Zhulan from worrying too much, it is indeed necessary to establish rules.
In the eldest room, after washing up, Li sat on the kang and fiddled with the silver and money. Her mother had given her a lot of silver and money recently, and she gave her all the remaining money. Her savings had increased a lot.
Boss Zhou was depressed. Li was still panicking in the morning, but why did she ignore him in the evening? "You don't have anything to say to me?"
Li counted the silver with satisfaction and asked, "What did you say?"
Boss Zhou: "... ...about the maid."
Li looked at the head of the family, "Are you thinking about this?"
After saying that, Li looked at the head of the family's legs. No matter how thick the legs were, they still had to be broken.
Boss Zhou felt his legs getting a little cold and shook his head, "No, I swear."
Li said, "I don't believe you if you swear, but I believe what mother said. Mother said that there is no such thing as taking concubines in our family. If anyone dares to take a concubine, mother will ask father to break his legs. Oh, and drive him out of the house."
Boss Zhou: “… … ..”
Mom is indeed the cruelest person. It seems that she is very angry today, but Boss Zhou feels happy. He deserves it. The pawnshop will wait for dad to settle the score!
The next morning, there were more servants in the house. Although Zhulan did not make arrangements for the Ding and Wan families, housekeeper Ding also arranged for the two families to do work. Housekeeper Ding's wife Liu Ya was waiting at the door of the main house early in the morning.
Liuya's daughter-in-law brought hot water over, and Zhulan finally felt like a wife. She didn't even have to comb her hair herself, as Liuya's hair-combing skills were really good.
Zhulan looked at her blurry image in the bronze mirror. She was very satisfied with her hair bun, which was exactly the one she liked. After only seeing Liuya a few times yesterday, she had already memorized her preferences. No servant should be underestimated.
However, Zhou Shuren would not allow anyone to touch his hair, so it was still combed by Zhulan.
A few days ago, the second son of the Ma family cleaned the yard when it rained, but this February, he asked three newly hired servants to clean it.
In the kitchen, housekeeper Ding asked the eldest daughter-in-law Lixia to prepare breakfast. Xinghua brought three little maids to help, so Li didn't have to do it in the morning.
As the gatekeeper, Butler Ding arranged for his second son to look after the place, while his eldest son followed Butler Ding.
For breakfast, there were steamed buns with cabbage and sausage, boiled rice porridge, fried bacon, and some pickles made by Li.
The Zhou family doesn't like being served, so Zhulan asked Liuya to take her second daughter-in-law Mangzhong down.
Zhulan took a bite of the bun and her eyes lit up. "Butler Ding said that our eldest daughter-in-law Lixia is good at cooking without adding water. Her cooking skills are indeed good."
Zhou Shuren nodded in agreement, "It's really good."
Li didn't have to cook and had to eat ready-made food, so she was still a little uncomfortable. "Mom, what should I do in the future?"
Without the job of cooking, what else could she do? Li felt a strong sense of crisis.
Zhulan did not make any arrangements for the Ding and Wan families yesterday. Firstly, there was no rush, and secondly, she wanted to test Butler Ding. Butler Ding did not disappoint her.
In the morning, Zhulan knew what everyone was doing. "I'll make arrangements after dinner. Let's eat first."
The whole family got up very early today, all according to the time Zhou Shuren left for the yamen. Zhou Shuren didn't have breakfast yesterday, and Zhulan didn't say a word. The eldest couple scared themselves, and today they got up before dawn.
When Zhou Shuren went to the yamen, the driver was still February. Steward Ding did not dare to make any arrangements because the Ma family were the first batch of servants and he was afraid that he would not be able to handle them well.
Zhulan waited until February came back, and asked housekeeper Ding to call all the servants over and made arrangements for them, "The eldest of the Ding family, Guyu, will be responsible for the outside affairs in the future, and the two daughters-in-law of the Ding family, Lixia and Mangzhong, will be responsible for the kitchen."
Zhulan paused and continued to call out names, "Xinghua will be in charge of needlework in the future. You will teach the three little girls first. Eryue will take the three servants to clean the yard and raise horses. Lichun, the eldest of Eryue's family, will follow the master in the future. Wanjiu of the Wan family will be responsible for driving the carriage for the master in the future. My wife Juanhua will follow the first wife Li as a maid."
Zhulan was talking as she looked at the servants' reactions. Ma Eryue and Xinghua were surprised, as they both had people to manage and had some power in their hands. The Wan family was disappointed. Zhulan thought, she could only blame herself for not showing her ability when she gave them the chance.
Zhulan continued to make arrangements, "Wan's eldest daughter will follow the young lady on Dashu day, Xiaoshu day will follow Young Master Mingteng, and Ding's youngest son Xiazhi will follow Steward Ding to run errands. Do you understand?"
The servants said in unison: "Understood."
Zhulan pressed Li and said, "The eldest wife is in charge of all matters in the kitchen, the young lady is in charge of sewing, and the second son of the Ma family is in charge of the accounting."
Chang Lian also did some good things. He taught Yu Shui to read and write. Zhulan specially tested him and found out that this boy was the smartest among the Ma family and had a talent for arithmetic. Zhulan specially asked the eldest son to teach arithmetic so that he could be an accountant in the future. Relatively speaking, Zhulan trusted the Ma family more.
Zhulan's headache started again when she thought of the accountant. She had to separate the family property from the things under her name, and she also had to divide some of the silver and money. There were also a lot of things waiting for her to deal with.
Eryue and Xinghua, a couple from the Ma family, were really happy. The fact that they were in charge of the money was enough to show the trust of the master's family. Although they had some guesses, the mistress didn't say anything, so they were still worried.
After Zhulan assigned the people, she signaled everyone to disperse. After the servants left, Zhulan and Xuehan said, "Tomorrow we will clean up the yard next door for you to live in. You can move in with Jingzhe and Dashu."
Xue Han said: "Mother, why did you arrange Dashu to be my maid?"