Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 244
'Clang! '

A crisp sound came from the yard, which woke Fanning up from his deep sleep. He opened his eyes in a daze, the sky was just getting dark, who threw something into the yard?Could it be that breakfast was delivered again, didn't I stop ordering it?Or a feral cat making trouble?

Fan Ning suddenly remembered something, and sat up quickly. He just remembered that there was a little lady living in his yard, and he actually forgot about her?

Fan Ning quickly put on his clothes, opened the door and walked to the yard, only to see that the young lady was squatting on the ground to pick up a broken crock. This was a big crock used to buy water outside, and there was one in every house.

Seeing Fan Ning come out, Xiaodong quickly got up and bowed his head to admit his mistake, "I was not careful."

"It's okay! There are several more of this kind of earthen jar, why did you get up so early?"

"I've been up for a while. It's like this every day. Before dawn, I have to get up to boil water."

It was only then that Fan Ning discovered that a stove had been lit in the yard, and water was being boiled on it, steaming and about to boil, and there were washed dishes and cups in the basin by the well water.

"I want to make tea for the little official, but I can't find where is the tea?"

Fan Ning turned around and took out his tea pot from the study, and asked with a smile, "Do you know how to make tea?"

Xiaodong nodded, "I can fry tea, but I can't order tea!"

Fan Ning thought for a while, then put the tea pot on the table in the yard, handed it to her with another two hundred coins, and said, "The water quality in this well is not good, so I won't make tea today, you can buy a pot outside. Tea, buy two more breakfasts, and I will tell you something later?"

A glimmer of hope ignited in Xiaodong's heart, and he asked timidly, "Your official won't send me back?"

"Stay here for now! I'll talk to your little master later."

Fan Ning also considered this matter last night. After all, Zhu Pei had good intentions and immediately sent the maid back. It was obvious that she would not give Zhu Pei face, and it would definitely offend her. There is no need to offend her on this matter.

Xiaodong was secretly relieved, at least she didn't have to go back today. Although she didn't want to leave Zhu's house, she was even more afraid that this little official would send her back, and she would really be laughed at by the people in Zhu's house.

"I'm going to buy breakfast and tea right now!"

She took the money, took the food box and teapot, and ran out quickly.

Fan Ning washed up with hot water and put on his scarf again. At this time, Xiaodong came back with a pot of tea and a food box.

She brought Fan Ning's breakfast and tea into the room, and said with a smile, "Young official, it's very convenient to shop here, and you can find everything outside!"

"Sit down and eat together!"

"I'll go back to the house and eat."

Xiaodong ran back to the house with two buns.

Fanning shook his head, sat down and poured himself a cup of hot tea, and began to eat breakfast.

The breakfast is very good, a basket of fresh meat buns, a bowl of minced meat porridge, Fan Ning has eaten this breakfast at Xiao Wang Ji Shi shop, it is relatively clean and tastes very good, this little girl still knows how to buy things.

In addition to breakfast and tea, the remaining 150 Wen was also placed on the table.

Today Fan Ning plans to go to the Imperial College to take a look. After all, he didn’t go yesterday. Although he will officially join the job tomorrow, he should at least say something.

Then he planned to go to see the house. He now has 4000 taels of silver, which is enough to buy a nice house.

Originally, Fan Ning wanted to make a deal with Zhu Yuanfeng, but he found out that the market was actually controlled by big players, so he was not interested.

Fan Ning was worried that after he tasted the sweetness, he would not be able to stop his desire to get rich, and he would plunge into it. I am afraid that he would lose even his pants in the end. There are many opportunities to make a fortune, so there is no need to get involved in fields that he is not good at.

After breakfast, Xiaodong walked in timidly, "What do you want me to tell you, little official?"

Only then did Fan Ning take a closer look at her, and he could only say that she was very average-looking, her skin was neither white nor dark, her eyes were neither big nor small, but she looked more pleasing to the eye, and she was barely pretty, what a little girl!Looks relatively delicate, can be called delicate.

It is estimated that Zhu Pei will not find a beautiful lady to serve him. Fan Ning doesn't care much about the maid's appearance, as long as he is diligent and capable.

"What's your last name? Where are you from? Where are your parents?" Fan Ning still had to understand these most basic situations.

"Back to the small official, my surname is Jin, and Xiaodong is my baby name. My family is from Mou County in Kaifeng Prefecture. Both my parents work in Zhu's house. My father is a gardener and my mother is a cook. Work as a cook in the restaurant."

Fan Ning nodded. This is a typical generation of domestic servants. Several generations have worked in the same big family. There are many such cases in Song Dynasty. They all signed long-term contracts, and several generations have been attached to live in big families.

Of course, compared with the Tang Dynasty, the situation of the servants in the Song Dynasty is much better. At least the person is free. The master is not allowed to abuse the servants. , the woman can get married smoothly.

This kind of civilian thinking has been deeply rooted in the bones of the people of Song Dynasty. Even domestic servants who are engaged in lowly work will not regard themselves as slaves, but just a job for them.
This is also evident in Xiaodong. Zhu Pei first got her parents' consent before letting her serve Fan Ning. Her wages also increased from 120 Wen to [-] Wen per day, which is the salary standard for a maid in Zhu's house. Of course, all her salary goes to her parents, saving it for her brother to marry a wife.

"How much do you know about me?" Fanning asked again.

Xiaodong shook her head, she didn't know anything about Fan Ning's situation, she thought she was here to serve such a vicious man, but when she found out that he was just an elegant boy of thirteen or fourteen, she immediately felt at ease. few.

Fan Ning smiled slightly and said, "My surname is Fan. I'm from the same town as Mr. Zhu. I'm this year's Jinshi of the Tongzi Division. I'm an official in the Imperial Academy now. You can call me a small official in the future. You can continue to live in the house there, but I guess In a month or two, I will be moving, of course I will still be in the capital, just a different place."

Xiaodong was taken aback, this little official was actually a Jinshi master, her father said that they were all Wenqu stars, the most powerful scholars, and she was filled with awe of Fanning in her heart.

"Your official has any special requirements, you can tell the maidservant!"

Fan Ning was amused in his heart. Special requests have a different meaning in future generations. He pointed to the study and said to her, "You can go anywhere in this room, and I ask you to clean up my bedroom, but the study can't work without me. With your permission, you cannot enter my study in the future."

"I know, the Zhu family also has the same rule, the master's study is not allowed."

Fan Ning nodded. The maids of rich families know the rules and are more worry-free. He continued: "I don't need you to cook here. You are responsible for cleaning the room, doing laundry, boiling water, frying tea, and going out to buy food and things for me, etc. Wait, I will pay for your food and clothing. Of course, there will be a separate room. By the way, I tend to oversleep. You wake me up every morning. I can’t think of anything else for the time being. Do you have any questions? "

Xiaodong hesitated and said: "If the little official is not here, can I go to Zhu's mansion to see my mother?"

"Of course, I usually don't come back at noon. Most of them go out early and return late. However, you'd better come back early in the afternoon."

"Little servant remembers!"

At this time, Fan Ning remembered something again and asked her, "How do you set your wages?"

"My salary is paid by the Zhu family, so I don't need to worry about the small officials."

"That won't work, how much do you earn a month?"

"Reporting to the little official, the maidservant used to get the ninth-class salary at Zhu's house, but this time she came to the little official's place and was promoted to the fifth-class salary, 120 Wen per day, two classes higher than my mother, and the same as my brother."

Fan Ning was also taken aback. The monthly salary alone was three hundred and six hundred wen, plus food and clothing. At least five tenths a month was required, which was almost [-]% of his monthly salary. Let the Zhu family bear the wages!

In fact, Fan Ning didn't know that maidservants in the capital city can also be very cheap. Many middle-level people invite maidservants from their hometowns, and they will never invite maidservants from Kaifeng Mansion. Local maids are even more expensive.

The maids in my hometown gave up to fifty Wen a day, and even thirty or forty Wen for the stingy ones, and it didn’t cost much for food and clothing. It’s just because the Zhu family has strong financial resources, so the wages are relatively high.

Fan Ning said with a smile: "The Zhu family has the rules of the Zhu family, so I won't break them. In addition, I will give you consistent money every month as your pocket money."

Xiaodong was overjoyed, all her money was taken away by her parents, and she never had any pocket money on her body. She never thought that she would still have pocket money when she came here. At this moment, she began to feel glad that she came to the right place.

Xiaodong hurriedly offered a blessing, "Thank you, little official!"

Fan Ning took ten pennies from the box and put them on the table, and said to her, "One penny is your pocket money for this month, and the other nine pennies are daily expenses, including buying water every day, toilet cleaning, and meals. Money, firewood money, etc., you just use it, ask me if it’s not enough, you don’t have to save for me, I can afford it.”

After a pause, Fanning asked again: "Do you know where to buy water?"

Xiaodong nodded, "I asked about it when I was buying breakfast. In the Duan's grocery store diagonally across the street, I order water and toilets from him. I don't know about the others, but I can ask."

Fan Ning saw that she was quite clever, and he was quite satisfied in his heart. Seeing that it was getting late, he got up and said, "I'm leaving, today you clean up, wash and dry, and take care of all the chores. Go to eat by yourself at noon, and if I come back late at night, you can also eat by yourself."

"Little official, how much is my meal deposit?"

Fan Ning frowned, "How much is the Zhu family?"

"Zhu's family has a cook, so they usually don't eat out, but when my father goes out to do errands, he pays [-] Wen a day for food, and the little housekeeper pays [-] Wen, but I don't know about the big housekeeper."

Fan Ning laughed, "You are also my little butler, I will give it to you according to the little butler's rules, count you a hundred coins, you arrange it yourself, but I want to tell you, don't lose yourself in terms of food Otherwise, if you are pale and emaciated, the Zhu family will say that I am stingy."

Xiaodong was moved in his heart, pinched the corner of his clothes and whispered: "I see."

After making arrangements, Fan Ning left the residence and hurried to the Imperial College.

(End of this chapter)