Huang Huzi's wife said, "I don't know either. On the first day I came here, Aunt Fan mentioned when she came to deliver food that the food delivered by the kitchen three times a day is for the head man of the family, and the mansion is not responsible for the family's food. I thought that since the man was not here today, he might not deliver food, so I cooked some myself. And even if he delivers it, I can save it for dinner, so it won't be a problem."
In fact, the kitchen also provides enough food for men. Not to say that they are 100% full, but they are 70% full at every meal. Every morning, they have a bowl of sweet potato brown rice porridge, and occasionally a boiled egg or meat buns, steamed buns, etc. Every day, lunch and dinner are a mixture of brown rice and rice, and a few potatoes are added. The dishes are also one meat and one vegetable. This food is much better than the days at home. At least here, you can see meat every day.
Therefore, she was very satisfied with this life. Moreover, she could share some of the food with her husband, and if it was not enough, she could cook for herself, but she didn't have to cook. So their family didn't have any burden.
Meng Ping's wife heard this and said, "Oh, why didn't I think of that?" Indeed, even if the kitchen sends it, we can still eat it in the evening.
Yang Haiyan didn't care what the private guards' wives were thinking. She was thinking in the study at the moment. The private guards' wives had come, so it was not a big deal to send meals to the private guards. She would not send meals every month in the future, but directly subsidize the food.
Yang Haiyan gave each private guard a food quota of about 200 wen. If food was subsidized, then five catties of rice, fifteen catties of brown rice, ten catties of sweet potatoes, and ten catties of potatoes would cost a total of 110 wen a month. For vegetables, ten eggs, forty catties of vegetables, two catties of meat, and two catties of spareribs would cost a total of 100 wen a month. In total, each private guard would have 190 wen a month.
This is much less troublesome than providing meals.
"Madam, Uncle Hong is here." Nanny Lian's voice rang out.
Yang Haiyan put down her pen: "Let him in."
Uncle Hong walked into the study in a proper manner: "Madam, are you looking for me?"
Yang Haiyan asked, "Uncle Hong, how much is one acre of land in the countryside?"
Uncle Hong was stunned. Although he didn't understand what Yang Haiyan meant, he said honestly, "Top-quality land costs 10 taels of silver per mu, medium-quality land costs 6 taels of silver per mu, and low-quality land costs 4 taels of silver per mu."
Yang Haiyan thought about it and took out one hundred taels of silver: "Go buy ten acres of medium-quality land." Although sixty taels of silver was enough, it was better to have more silver for buying things.
Uncle Hong took the silver and said, "Yes." But he asked again, "Madam, are you going to plant something?"
Yang Haiyan said, "Yes, I plant potatoes, sweet potatoes, radishes, etc., and then build a pig pen, chicken pen, and duck pen over there." With so many people in the family, it would definitely not be cheaper to buy these things outside than to raise and grow them at home. Moreover, she also had to "buy" other vegetable seeds and fruit seeds from the peddlers, so how could she do that without land
Uncle Hong: "Then I will go down and do it."
Yang Haiyan: “Thank you for your hard work.”
Not long after Uncle Hong left, his private guards and their families arrived, including Kun Zhang's mother and son, Meng Ping's wife, Meng Ping's daughters Meng Ju and Meng An, and Huang Huzi's wife.
Yang Haiyan was in the study, and her family came in politely: "Greetings, Madam." No one had learned the etiquette. When they were in their hometown, they lived in the countryside and towns, so when they were nervous, their greetings were not appropriate. They all lowered their heads, not even daring to raise them.
Yang Haiyan said in a gentle voice: "Don't be polite, please take a seat." In the study there was a wooden sofa that Yang Haiyan had customized. It was long and could accommodate several people.
Private Guard Family: "I dare not sit."
Yang Haiyan said: "It's okay, we still have to chat. If you don't sit down, I won't dare to keep you chatting for too long, otherwise it will be tiring to stand."
After Yang Haiyan said this, the private guards and their families sat down.
After they sat down, Yang Haiyan said, "Except for Captain Kun's family, the rest of you can introduce yourselves, how old are you this year, what do you do at home, and introduce yourself."
Meng Ping's wife said first: "Madam, my husband is Meng Ping, my maiden name is Qiu, I am 25 years old this year. I am used to doing farm work at home, and I can do all the farm work."
Yang Haiyan saw the legendary Meng Ping's wife, Meng Qiu. Her facial features were a bit rough, which made her look a bit masculine. Listening to her conversation, she was a typical rural lady. Looking at her eyes, she was quite upright.
Yang Haiyan felt that this was different from the Meng Qiushi she had imagined. A person who would come to ask about the monthly allowance and say that there was not enough food to eat, the Meng Qiushi she had in her mind... should be like Second Aunt Qin, or in other words, someone who was even more outstanding than Second Aunt Qin, was always the most outstanding person in the novel. But looking at Meng Qiushi, she seemed to be a carefree person.
Simply put, I'm not that smart and I just say whatever I think.
Could it be that I read too much novel and therefore overthink it
Mrs. Meng Qiu continued, "Madam, this is my daughter, Meng Qiu, which means autumn. She is eight years old this year. My daughter is also very capable. She can cut grass for pigs, feed chickens, and cook. This is my sister-in-law Meng An. Meng An is a poor person. She originally had a fiancé. In January of the new year, the beast was spotted by a girl from a wealthy family, and then became a live-in son-in-law, breaking off the engagement with Meng An.
It would have been fine if the engagement was cancelled, but that beast insisted on spreading gossip about Meng An, making everyone think that the cancellation of the engagement was Meng An's fault. So the family sent a letter to Meng Ping, asking Meng Ping what to do. When Meng Ping returned home, he brought Meng An with him.
When Yang Haiyan heard this, she thought of the time in January when Meng Ping came to ask for a vacation and said he wanted to go home. She didn't think twice at the time and agreed. Now that she thought about it, it turned out that something happened to her sister, and this was related to the public, so as a brother, it was natural for him not to say much. Now that his sister was here, he naturally had to explain everything to her.
Yang Haiyan nodded and looked at Meng An. The little girl lowered her head and was a little reserved. Seeing that she was looking at her, Meng An stood up and said nervously, "Meng An came here with my brother this time and disturbed the madam's house."
Yang Haiyan said, "It's okay." Originally, she had thought of various scenarios. In novels, there were often young girls who rushed to become concubines of their masters. She wondered if this girl had the same intention, but now it seems that maybe not.
Then she looked at the other one.
Huang Huzi's wife said, "Hello, ma'am. I am from Huang Huzi's family. My maiden name is Xu and I am twenty-four this year. On the third day after I married Huang Huzi, he came to serve in the army, so I have lived in my hometown with my parents-in-law for the past few years. My parents-in-law are getting older, so I do all the work in my hometown."
Nanny Lian's impression of Huang Xushi, speaking of it, Huang Xushi is indeed more knowledgeable than Meng Qiushi. However, Huang Xushi is also smarter than Meng Qiushi.
Yang Haiyan continued, "Your men are the master's private guards, and they are provided with food and lodging in the mansion, plus a monthly salary. You are not servants in my mansion, and I did not hire you. Therefore, the mansion will not arrange your meals. I believe you should understand this."
Kun Zhang: "I understand."
Huang Xu: "I understand."
This is indeed understandable. No family that hires a handyman would be responsible for the food of the handyman's family.
Mrs. Meng Qiu: "Madam, we understand, but there are four people in our family, and the food that Meng Ping provides is not enough. We have to use the money Meng Ping earns to buy food. If we were in our hometown, it would be fine. We have land and can grow our own food. But here we don't have any land, what should we do? We have to spend money to buy everything." Where can we save money
Yang Haiyan had a deeper opinion of Meng Qiushi. Maybe she was a machine gun that could not hide her words. However, she did not show it on her face: "Then have you ever thought about finding a job for yourself?"
Mrs. Meng Qiu: "But... But I can't do anything except farm work. I can only wash clothes, sweep the floor, and go to the fields. I can't do other... other rich jobs."
Yang Haiyan looked at Kun Zhang and the others again: "What about you? Have you ever thought about finding a job for yourself?"
Kun Zhang had just arrived, but she said, "I plan to rest for two days, and then go to the town to see if there is any work."
Mrs. Huang Xu: "My wife had the same idea." In fact, her idea was to wait for the madam to come back and see if there were any plans for them. If not, she would think of a solution herself.
Meng An said, "I... I have thought about finding a job. I went to the town these days and found that there are people who specialize in doing laundry. The town also collects firewood. I asked and they charge nine cents per bundle for firewood. I... I thought, I can do laundry or collect firewood."
Yang Haiyan thought Meng An's words made sense when she heard this. She praised him very much, "You are really motivated. This job is really good. Firewood has always sold very well in the town because we have family housing here and need firewood. In addition, there is a two-month winter disaster at the end of the year. During the winter disaster, there is no one outside, so firewood must be prepared in advance."
Meng An felt a little embarrassed after receiving Yang Haiyan's praise.
After getting to know the family members for a while, Yang Haiyan said, "I am a little tired too, you can leave now."
"yes."
The family members all withdrew.
After the family members left, Aunt Lian was curious: "Madam, are you not going to settle them down?"
Yang Haiyan: "No rush. I have to hire people anyway, and I can settle them down, but there's no rush."
At the beginning of the afternoon, Qin Fang returned with five private guards, riding three horses into the family quarters, looking quite impressive. There was a prey hanging on each horse.
Boom boom boom…
Someone is knocking on the door.
Because the private guard and Uncle Hong were not there, Aunt Fan was watching the door. When she heard the knock, she went to open the door and asked, "Who is it?"
Qin Fang: "Me."