After receiving Liu Shichu's letter, Cui's mother was angry for a long time, but she only dared to be angry by herself and did not dare to bother Cui Ying and his wife again.
As for her and Jiang Wenyue, both mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, being unable to manage the household? What else could they do? Of course, they had to let the housekeeper take care of it.
However, neither of them was a smart person, nor did they have the patience to look at or check the accounts. Jiang Wenyue didn't want to know about things like two cents for an egg and one cent for a bunch of vegetables. She was disgusted by the account books filled with daily necessities and the smell of oil smoke. She only read some high-brow poems and songs.
Although she had been married once when she was young, she was still a young wife at that time, and the power of housekeeping was firmly in the hands of her mother-in-law, so it was never her turn to be the housekeeper.
After she became a widow after her husband died, she had a loyal maid who came with her dowry to take care of the household affairs, so she didn't have to worry about anything. However, after she married Gui Anhua, she said that she had wasted the loyal maid for more than ten years and could not waste her time any longer, so she married the loyal maid off. As a result, the loyal, smart and capable maid was never around her, and she could only let one of the maids who came with her dowry to take care of the household affairs.
The dowry nanny is not as loyal as a loyal maid who always considers her master. On the contrary, the dowry nanny has a family and naturally has her own selfish desires. Now that she has the power of housekeeper, the mistress and the old mistress don't care about anything, and they don't even bother to look at the account books. She says the price of rice is what it is, and there is no telling how much profit can be made from it. She is like a mouse in a rice jar, she can eat whatever she wants and she is so happy that she starts to float in the air.
As a result, the Cui family's household money began to be spent like water, and it was consumed very quickly. Although there were only two formal masters, Jiang Wenyue and Cui's mother, and dozens of servants, the money consumed every month was almost the same as the money used by the whole family before the separation, and sometimes even more.
The dowry nanny's methods of secretly taking advantage of the situation were not very sophisticated. In particular, the kitchen helpers and the embroiderers in the needlework room soon found out that the dowry nanny was embezzling money. After a while, when they saw that Jiang Wenyue hadn't discovered anything, they became bolder and began to collude with the dowry nanny and become greedy together.
It takes some means to discipline servants. Jiang Wenyue handed over the housekeeper power to the dowry nanny, but the dowry nanny was not reliable. As a result, the servants of the Cui family gradually began to be lazy, perfunctory in their work, and even pretended to obey.
A smart and capable mistress can manage the servants in the house and make everyone do their job; however, an incompetent mistress will be fooled by cunning servants and even the family's wealth may be cheated away by them.
Liu Shichu and Jiang Wenyue are the typical examples of the difference between a capable mistress and an incompetent mistress.
When Liu Shichu was still in the Cui family, how could the Cui family's servants dare to be lazy, even cheat their superiors and subordinates, and embezzle their masters' money? Everyone could only do their own work conscientiously, and dared not slack off at all, for fear of making mistakes and being driven away.
And what about Jiang Wenyue? A good servant could be indulged and become worse and worse. It was really a good hand that could be played badly.
Of course, maybe Jiang Wenyue really didn't have the energy to care about other things, because her belly was getting bigger and bigger, so big that it was a little abnormal. She was worried about it, and Cui Anhua was not around to comfort her or accompany her. Therefore, she felt aggrieved and cried all day long. Apart from worrying about her children and missing her husband, she couldn't think of anything else.
Liu Shichu had no idea that Jiang Wenyue was so miserable, but she was living a happy life.
Ever since Qi Zhixi came to the tavern as a waiter, the tavern's business has improved a lot, especially the female customers, which have increased by one third compared to before, and most of them are young girls.
These girls are not interested in wine, but only in Qi Zhixi.
Although Qi Zhixi was just a waiter, he was really good-looking, with a slender figure, handsome eyebrows and eyes, and even a dimple when he smiled. He was handsome and cute, with a gentle and elegant temperament. He didn't look like a waiter at all. If you didn't know him, you would think he was a young master from some family.
Although the young girls knew that Qi Zhixi was of humble status and was not considered as their husband, they did not want to marry him. They just wanted to see more of him. After all, he was pleasing to the eye and had a humorous and kind personality. When he served them wine, he introduced them in a very clear and logical way, and he always had witty remarks when talking about the stories behind the wine, which made the girls laugh.
Therefore, Qi Zhixi was very popular, and the girls always specially called him to serve them. Over time, he inexplicably became the "girls' friend", which aroused the envy and jealousy of other guys in the store.
When Liu Shichu came to the store, he happened to see Qi Zhixi in the women's room, pouring wine for the female guests and talking with a smile. The female guests were laughing so hard that their bodies were shaking and their pretty faces were blushing.
Liu Shichu looked at him steadily for a while. When Qi Zhixi came out after serving that table of guests, he saw Liu Shichu. He immediately smiled brightly, and the dimple on his left cheek was deep and particularly beautiful.
"Mrs. Liu, you're here?" He walked up to Liu Shichu and said with a smile. He did not have the nervousness or restraint that an employee would have when seeing his boss. Instead, he was very comfortable, as if he was not aware of the difference in status between them.
Liu Shichu sometimes wondered, was it because he was a scholar before and did not sell himself to himself, that is why he was neither humble nor arrogant when facing himself
Not only was he so at ease when facing Liu Shichu, Qi Zhixi also always got along very well with other guests of high status and identity. There were even a few guests who came to drink who were high-ranking officials in the court. However, Qi Zhixi was able to magically cater to their interests and chat with them, and he could even express some brilliant opinions on officialdom and political affairs.
Such a waiter is really worth hiring. Not only do the female customers like him, but even the male customers can ignore the difference in status and get along well with him. There are even a few customers who appreciate him so much that they want him to be their staff instead of just being a waiter in this pub, burying his talent.
But surprisingly, Qi Zhixi actually refused their recruitment and was willing to stay here as a waiter.
Liu Shichu learned all these things about Qi Zhixi from the shopkeeper and other employees. Although Liu Shichu always knew that he was not an ordinary person, he was still very surprised to know that he refused the opportunity that was equivalent to rising to fame overnight.
"I heard that a senior official who appreciates you wants to recruit you as his aide. Why don't you agree? Wouldn't it be a pity to reject such an opportunity?" Liu Shichu asked him.
Qi Zhixi's watery peach blossom eyes curved and said, "Boss, I like to live a simple and comfortable life, but if I become someone's staff, I will have no control over my own affairs. If I know too many secrets, I may even die. I am very afraid of death... and those twists and turns in the officialdom are too difficult to deal with. I am afraid of trouble."