Yang Haiyan smiled and said, "Don't be nervous. Take it. Also, my snack shop is short of one person. Are you willing to work there? The monthly salary is not high, 200 wen a month. And then every month, I will give you 20 jin of grain, 20 jin of vegetables, 2 jin of meat, and 10 eggs." It's about 100 wen, half of the private guard. But when the harvest comes, this money can be saved.
Kun Zhang felt that she was a little overwhelmed today. She was regretful that she could not go to the county town to do business, but she was overwhelmed by the reward of ten taels of silver. Then the lady gave her a job.
When Kun Zhang walked out of the main courtyard, she was still a little dazed.
Aunt Lian said, "Captain Kun's wife seems to be an honest person."
Yang Haiyan smiled and said, "Mammy, everyone is honest."
Aunt Lian also laughed. She didn't want to guess what the Madam was thinking. The Madam didn't give her the impression of a teenage girl.
Yang Haiyan thought that with Kun Zhang in the dim sum shop, Aunt Fan wouldn't have to run back and forth. She used to get up early every morning, go to the dim sum shop to make dim sum, then take Aunt Yu to buy groceries, and then run back and forth between Qianfu's house and the dim sum shop. She was really busy. But in the future, she wouldn't have to do that anymore and would just take care of the kitchen.
With Manager Ping's business, there are 20 kilograms of snacks added every day. It is obviously too much for Aunt Hong to handle it alone, but adding Aunt Zhang is just right.
Of course, only Aunt Fan and Aunt Hong knew about how to make dim sum. Kun Zhang only did the basics, such as kneading the dough. She kneaded the dough and gave it to Aunt Hong to mix with goat milk and butter. The two of them worked in different rooms, one doing the front process and the other doing the back process.
This way the recipe won’t be leaked.
When Kun Zhang returned to the servants' courtyard, she was already sober. She couldn't hide her joy and the curved corners of her mouth. But at this time, everyone else in the servants' courtyard was having lunch at home, so no one noticed her.
Kun Shi and Kun Daying, who had just returned from private school, had already served the food. The old hen from yesterday was stewed into soup at noon. The aroma of the soup was so strong that everyone who smelled it was greedy. In fact, meat was no longer so attractive to Kun Shi. After all, he had lived here for four months and could eat meat every day.
Kun Shi looked at Kun Zhang's happy face and asked curiously, "Why are you so happy? Are the snacks selling especially well today?"
Kun Zhang said mysteriously, "The madam rewarded me with ten taels of silver today and asked me to work in her pastry shop, paying me two hundred coins a month, plus food allowance."
Kun Shi was stunned: "Why did Madam give you a reward of ten taels of silver?" To be honest, he was not surprised, but frightened. "Although two hundred coins a month is not as much as selling snacks in the county town, it does save you the trouble of running back and forth, which is good. But why don't you go to the county town to sell snacks for no reason? Did Madam stop giving you the snacks?"
Kun Zhang explained the matter of Manager Ping: "This is a reward given to me by the madam."
Kunshi finally understood: "Madam has always been generous. As long as I am loyal to you, you should be loyal to her."
Kun Zhang said, "I know."
In the blink of an eye, it was the day of the three-day test.
Qin Siya was very nervous today. She stood in the study room after breakfast. She usually studied in the east wing, an unused room that was converted into a study room for her to learn Chinese characters. It was also Qin Shoucheng's study room.
Hearing a sound at the study door, she looked outside and saw that not only her sister-in-law had come, but her brother had also come. Her heart beat faster and faster and she became nervous.
Qin Siya asked with some embarrassment: "Why is Big Brother here?"
Qin Fang glanced at her and said, "Let me test you."
Qin Siya wanted to cry. Although it was just a word test, the test for her elder brother and elder sister-in-law was also thirty words, but when she saw her elder brother, her mind went blank. She looked at Qin Fang and asked cautiously, "Can the elder sister-in-law take the test instead?"
Qin Fang said: "No. There are many things in life, and you can't choose what you want. You have to learn to face it."
Yang Haiyan comforted him, "Don't be nervous, Siya. Show your real skills to your elder brother. Don't worry, your sister-in-law is watching you."
Qin Siya clenched his fists: "Yeah."
Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan sat down. Qin Fang opened the book on the table. It was Qin Siya's "Hundred Family Names". Because it was bought a few days ago, the book was brand new. Qin Fang didn't hesitate and asked first: "Did Aunt Lian teach you your own name?"
Qin Siya nodded: "I have taught you."
Qin Fang spread out a piece of paper and gave her a pen: "Can you write your own name?"
Nanny Lian and Yang Haiyan taught Qin Siya to recognize characters, and naturally they wanted her to know how to write them. So Qin Siya took the pen and wrote the three characters Qin Siya on the paper in a twisted way. Although the characters looked like earthworms crawling, Qin Fang didn't care. In his opinion, his sister could recognize characters and write them, which was a good achievement. As for whether the characters were well written, it would take time.
Qin Fang praised it with two words: "Not bad."
Hearing her brother's praise, Qin Siya was somewhat relaxed. Next, Qin Fang began to test the characters in "Hundred Family Surnames". Qin Siya didn't remember every character of the thirty characters she learned in the first three days. She had been reviewing for today's exam. When she forgot something, she asked Qin Shoucheng. It was her first time to take the exam, and she was under a lot of pressure. She didn't dare to relax for a moment. Because of this pressure, the test results today were quite good. Although she didn't remember thirty characters, she still remembered twenty-three characters. Qin Siya was a little dissatisfied with herself. Why did she only remember twenty-three characters
Yang Haiyan took out two coins and said, "Si Ya, this is your reward. Although you didn't remember 30 words, it's good enough for you to remember 23 words since you just learned to read. Try to remember more next time you take the test."
Qin Siya took the two cents: "Thank you, sister-in-law." She touched the money happily. This was the first time she touched a copper coin, and she was reluctant to hide it.
Yang Haiyan looked at her, smiled and shook her head: "I'll give you a day off today. You don't have to study or learn needlework. If you recognize 23 words, you can get 11 yuan of snacks as a reward. I'll ask Aunt Fan to bring them to you later."
Qin Siya asked hurriedly: "Are they the small cakes and biscuits we had before?" Aunt Fan gave them to us the day after we arrived, but there were no more after that, so Qin Siya missed them very much. But she was obedient and didn't mention them to Yang Haiyan.
Yang Haiyan: "Yes. My sister-in-law promised you that for every two words you learn, I will reward you with a piece of cake." The reason why she didn't give it to the two children afterwards was because she treated it as a reward. If she gave it to the children every day, it would not be a rare thing. Only when they can't eat it will they cherish it.
Yang Haiyan didn't like these small cakes and cookies, so she didn't have any at home. If she wanted to give them to Qin Siya, she had to go to the store to get them. Thinking of this, Yang Haiyan said to Qin Fang, "Husband, there's a market in town today. Shall we go shopping?"
Qin Fang said, "Okay." He would be going to the military camp in two days, and he would have less time to spend with her, so he might as well take the opportunity to go for a walk with her.
So the couple went out without taking the servants with them. But before leaving, Yang Haiyan went back to the house to get the pearls she had bought earlier.
Because there were many peddlers at the market, the town had twice as many people as usual. But most people just came to see and join in the fun.
Qin Fang said: "In previous years, when there was a market, if we were not on duty in the barracks, we would come and join in the fun."
Yang Haiyan was curious: "Have you been here before? Have you bought anything?"
Qin Fang shook his head: "I didn't have the money to buy it in the past few years, and even after I started getting a monthly allowance, I couldn't bear to buy it." At this point, he thought of something, he had never given her anything. So, he looked around the stalls in the market to see if there was anything he could afford and suitable for her.
Qin Fang counted the money in his hand. After he became a captain, his monthly pocket money went from 100 coins to 1 tael of silver. Now he had saved more than 5 taels of silver. What could he buy for his wife? Bracelets? Jewelry? Hairpins? Clothes? He thought about it from beginning to end, and then looked at the stalls one by one. When he saw one of the stalls, he suddenly had an idea.
With an idea in mind, Qin Fang stopped looking at these things.
You don’t have to buy things when shopping, so the two of them went to Yongji.
When the shopkeeper saw that it was Qin Fang and his wife, he came to greet them warmly: "Mr. Qin, Mrs. Qin, what brings you here today?"
All the things sold in Yongji are women's products, such as soap, rouge, powder, and accessories. However, because it is in the town, the prices are relatively moderate. Occasionally, there are a few expensive items, which are also considered the treasures of the town. No matter how expensive, the people in the town can't afford it, and even if they can afford it, they are reluctant to buy it.
Yang Haiyan smiled and said, "Shopkeeper, you are too polite. I came here today to ask you, are all the jewelry in your shop sold as finished products? Do you process the jewelry?"
The shopkeeper said, "It depends on what kind of jewelry it is."
Yang Haiyan took out the pearls and said, "When I bought these pearls, they didn't have holes. Can you make holes in them?"
The shopkeeper took a look and said, "Sorry, Mrs. Qin, we can't do it here. We have to take it to the county town for processing."
When Yang Haiyan heard this, she didn't have much hope. It seemed that she had to buy a hole puncher on the platform and punch the holes herself. Although the punching was not successful, she had to buy the string for stringing pearls here. The string on the platform was different from the ancient string.
After buying the thread, the couple left.
After leaving Yongji, Qin Fang asked, "Going to the county town?"
Yang Haiyan shook her head: "No hurry, there will be a county fair in early April, and it will be in time to go then."
The two of them walked around and returned to the family quarters. There were a few women following them. They were not following them, but just happened to be behind them. When they saw them in front, the women muttered, "This Lord Qin is really nice. He even accompanied his wife to the market."
"That's right. By the way, Master Qin has been married for more than half a year, and Mrs. Qin is still not pregnant... Is she going to lay eggs?"