Foster son and husband

Chapter 71 Income
On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, worship the Stove King, celebrate the new year, sweep the courtyard, it snows all over the world, the sky and the earth are white, there is nothing to do in the yard except sweeping the snow, every house is wiped every day, and the dust is only symbolic Make a show, after today, the taste of the new year will gradually become stronger.

Mei Niang tries to get up as early as possible every day, visits her son in the Qiuhua Courtyard, plays with him, waits for Mrs. Zheng to wake up, and then goes to greet her by her bed, rushes to Ziyun Hall at Chenshi, and listens to the old woman in charge. Handle government affairs.

The weather was cold, and she wanted to get up early to see her son. By the way, she wanted Rulan to sleep in comfortably. For three or four days in a row, she sent the little girl to pass the message, so that the third grandma didn't have to go out, and she just stayed in the warm room. Lan also listened to her words, hiding at home with Xu Junya every day, not going anywhere, living their two-person world sweetly.

On the night of the 27th of the twelfth lunar month, Cuixi, who was in front of Meiniang, went to Rulan's courtyard, and said with apology that the eldest grandma was sick again, and that she might not be able to get up tomorrow, so she bothered the third grandma to get up early tomorrow and go to Ziyuntang to take care of her affairs.

Ning Rulan said to Cuixi: "The prescription I gave is excellent, please try it!"

Cuixi said: "I have already taken the third grandma's prescription to pick up the medicine, and the servants will watch them cook the medicine soup when they go back!"

Ning Rulan nodded: "Let Grandma rest assured, I will take care of the affairs of the house!"

Cuixi saluted, took her farewell and came out. Taking advantage of the darkness, she went to the west courtyard again, found Mama Lin, confessed a few words, and then returned to Tsinghua University.

On the morning of the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, three maids came out of the courtyard of Tsinghua University, paying attention to the movement around them, and walked quickly to the courtyard on the west side. Mrs. Lin was on duty and let them out of Pingxiang. Old man Yu at the side door of Pingxiang opened the door and waited , as soon as they went out, they closed the door, walked back to the gatehouse next to them as if nothing had happened, and continued to sleep.

In the back street outside the side door, there was a carriage waiting for a long time. Lin Amao raised the curtain of the carriage, let the three girls get into the carriage, lowered the curtain, and sat down himself. With a flick of the long whip, the carriage rattled away.

In the carriage, Meiniang looked at Cuixi and Cuisi, frowned and said, "Otherwise, you should not come out with me in the future. I have a mask, but you don't. If the people in the Houfu see it, the consequences will be disastrous!"

Cuixi pulled the cloth bag over her shoulders, and said with a smile: "Girl, don't worry, let's buy a few more clothes, which are different from the ones in the Houfu, and rub some more rouge on the face, or put some rouge on it." If I’m sick, I’ll be a different person—look, I’ve brought eyebrow pencil, rouge, face powder or something like that!”

Mei Niang watched them make up, one blushed like a monkey's butt, the other had ailments on his forehead, chin and even the corners of his eyes, she died laughing:
"No, no, no! It's too ugly, just wipe it off! No matter, there are so many similar people in the world, if someone sees it, just refuse to admit it!"

As she spoke, she took off her double bun, Cui Si held the mirror in her hand, Cui Xi recombed her an elegant and delicate pile of clouds bun, ringed with pearls and emeralds, inserted a pinch of golden peacock and emerald hairpins, and exchanged another pink one. Purple soft satin embroidered with small clusters of flowery silk mid-length cotton gown, and a cherry-colored Shu brocade cloak with rolled rabbit fur trim, the clever little girl turned into a dignified lady in an instant.

Cuixi looked at Meiniang, and suddenly said: "Why have you forgotten? You can wear a veil!"

Cui Si said: "I've never seen anyone wearing a veil in winter, only in spring and summer!"

"When do we care? Wear it if you want!"

Cuixi said, Mei Niang smiled and nodded: "That's right, you can wear what you need, don't worry about other people's ideas. You prepare it yourself, each of you has silver on you, whatever outfit you want, whatever clothes you want, feel free to buy them all, and you can buy them all later. You often go out of the house, you need it!"

After a while, he arrived at the backyard of Cyclamen, and the old man Zou who was guarding the door stopped him and said, "Do you want to stay in the hotel or eat? The cars and horses in the hotel should stop to the left, and the food should go to the right!"

Lin Amao said: "You old man, you won't recognize me when I change clothes? I want the No. [-] parking space in Tianzi!"

Old man Zou blinked and looked at Lin Amao again, and quickly bowed and said, "The old man is dazzled and can't see clearly, he should hit him, he should hit him! So it's the little brother, but the little boss has arrived?"

"Exactly!"

Old man Zou led the carriage to the courtyard, Meiniang asked strangely, "How did you become a young master?"

Cuixi smiled: "The shopkeeper Lu told the people below that the new owner's surname is Cen, and he was originally from Uncle Cen's clan. You are young, and this old man Zou has been working in Cyclamen since his early years. He is considered a veteran of Cyclamen. Why don't I call you my little boss!"

Trish said: "Wait for me to go down and talk to him!"

Mei Niang stopped her and said, "Respect the old people! Cyclamen is credited with doing what it is today. You have also read the list, and the staff here have basically not changed much except for getting sick and retiring. Uncle and the previous old shopkeeper are very smart. They have a way of selecting and employing people, but the most important thing is to treat people kindly. I talked with shopkeeper Lu, and he has more or less inherited some ideas and methods of the old shopkeeper, which is very suitable for Cyclamen Development, you have to watch and learn with your heart.”

While speaking, the carriage had stopped, and old man Zou had sent the young boy sweeping the yard to report to shopkeeper Lu. Lu Xiangfeng walked out of the backyard, stood beside the carriage and waited for the master and servant to get off the carriage.

After saluting, Lu Xiangfeng led Meiniang into a door. In front of him was a newly decorated passage. After a dozen or twenty steps, he came to a staircase made of walnut wood. The sense of straightness, it is very convenient for weak women to walk, it can be seen that Cen Guiquan spent a lot of thought when he made this place to hide his beauty.

Lu Xiangfeng said: "The girl's room has been redecorated and tidied up. I ordered a whole set of window screens, curtains and bedding from Wanfu Embroidery. Let me see if you like it? If not, you can change it."

Mei Niang said: "It's good to be clean and comfortable. I only come to sit for a while, maybe half a day, and I don't live for a long time, so I don't need to be too particular."

After looking at the rest room, Lu Xiangfeng's vision is not bad, and the embroidery is very suitable for several people's wishes. Seeing that Mei Niang was just walking around and had no intention of sitting down and resting, Lu Xiangfeng said:
"After the time of day has passed, there will be guests coming to the front building of Cyclamen to drink morning tea. For breakfast, all kinds of delicious snacks are prepared in the kitchen. The girl came early, and I think I haven't had breakfast yet. Let me send some to you. still……"

Mei Niang said: "Tell me about the situation in the store these few days, and I will go down to have breakfast by myself later, and I will use the original private room."

Lu Xiangfeng answered "Yes", went out to take the account book from the clerk, and reported to Meiniang the business situation in the past few days.

Meiniang saw that he had inherited Cen Guiquan's habits, and that the diary was detailed and organized, she nodded and said: "This is very good, I feel like I have come to the Cyclamen in person, and I can understand everything."

Looking at the account book, I was very surprised: "In just a few days, there is more than 1 taels of silver on the account?"

Lu Xiangfeng said: "Cyclamen is a time-honored brand. It has been in business for many years. The dishes and drinks are all high-quality. The taste is excellent and the price is fair. It is famous in the capital. Rich people, officials and gentry are only used to hosting banquets at Cyclamen regardless of weddings and funerals. Common people I am proud to be able to treat guests with wine at Cyclamen. After launching the girl’s hot pot banquet, the restaurant is full of people every day, and there are no empty seats. In the first two days, I finally declined individual guests, and finished the two banquets ordered last month. A few weddings and weddings popped up suddenly. At the end of the year, the host was unprepared and couldn’t do it by himself. When we found cyclamen, we always ordered them first, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to get so many ingredients, but they were struggling Please, I thought the girl said that we are in this business and should be convenient for others, so I bit the bullet and agreed, and hurriedly took people out of the city to the countryside in the snow, to find the nearest farmer who supplies us with food and supplies on weekdays, Fortunately, he had just stored a batch of ingredients and pulled back several large carts overnight. The road was slippery in the snow and injured a horse. The groom Liu Da twisted his foot, but at least he managed the banquet! Recently returned to the capital to visit relatives during the Chinese New Year The number of foreign officials has increased, and the number of foreign officials has increased, and they have received the wind and dust or invited friends to gather, and they have never stopped from noon to night every day. Even today and tomorrow's seats have been booked, and the money that comes in is just like this—this is only from the restaurant in front. Account book, there is another book at the inn at the back, please take a look, Miss, there are also several thousand taels of silver."

Mei Niang looked down at the account book and asked, "It's Chinese New Year, and there are still so many people staying in the inn, why don't they go back to their hometown for the Chinese New Year?"

Lu Xiangfeng smiled and said: "Except for the original merchants, all the people who have just rushed to the capital to take the exam have moved in in the past few days. The fourth floor must be full!"

Mei Niang raised her head, her eyes sparkled: "Yes! I forgot about the spring exam! These Juren came early, and they will stay until the end of February and the beginning of March before the exam starts, and all the food and lodging will be in our Cyclamen. In the year of the exam, there is a grand gathering for literati, where the examinees live, where literati, inkmen, dignitaries and dignitaries gather to pay each other, we..."

Lu Xiangfeng leaned over and bowed, and said with a smile: "Young lady has a lot of blessings. I will take over the cyclamen at this time. This will be the only one in the next year. If it is less, it will be enough to get the harvest of the cyclamen for one or two years!"

There was a sweet smile on Mei Niang's face, she pointed at Lu Xiangfeng and joked: "Next year will also be your prosperous year, the bonus I promised you will be indispensable, will it be enough for you to buy a house and marry a wife?"

Lu Xiangfeng blushed, bowed his head and said, "Young lady is making fun of me!"

It is rare for Meiniang to see a shy man, so she couldn't help laughing out loud: "Work hard, if you marry a wife next year, we Cyclamen will arrange a wedding banquet for free! Also, you have all worked hard for the banquet these few days, The wounded horse is taking good care of it, Liu Da let him rest, and pay the medical expenses as usual. Cyclamen, from top to bottom, will give out extra rewards. Let the tents prepare the red envelopes for the Chinese New Year, which is double the usual number Let’s just say that the girl is weak, not as capable and resourceful as when Uncle Cen was here, and I will thank you for your strong support in the future. I will let Cuixi and Cuisi deliver it to everyone on my behalf, and send it earlier so that they can do it earlier New Year's Eve preparations."

Lu Xiangfeng hurriedly bowed and said: "Miss is kind and kind, and considerate of the servants. I will replace the subordinates together. Thank you, miss!"

(End of this chapter)