Red apricots make spring

Chapter 55
An hour later, Ruan Rou was sent out of the restaurant by the shopkeeper of Zhiweizhai with two 100 taels of silver bills in his arms.The waiter stood behind the fat shopkeeper, watched Wen Rou go away, and then smacked his tongue: "Shopkeeper, do you really buy such a big price of food?"

"Idiot!" The fat shopkeeper was already heartbroken. When the waiter said this, he turned his face and scolded: "You don't know that you bought her five food orders last time, and you can earn more every day these days." More than a dozen taels of silver? These 200 taels of silver are worth the money! Just wait and see, I will get back my money in a short time!" His fat face was shaking and shaking, and he kept talking, but he didn't know what it was. The explanation to the waiter is still self-comforting.

"Then, can the shopkeeper raise my wages?" The waiter smiled and salivated, but he spat at the fat shopkeeper and said, "Delicious and lazy food! You eat a lot, and you still want to raise your wages? Go to work!"

Rourou naturally didn't hear the conversation between the fat shopkeeper and the waiter, she was walking on the street at the moment, feeling happy in her heart!She didn't expect that she has learned all about asking for prices, thanks to the reminder from the shopkeeper of Zhiweizhai that the price of the sweet and sour carp is low.I think when she was in the Zhao Mansion, she was anxious to figure it out. She was willing to sell a meal for two silver. Now that she really came out, she realized that the outside world is very vast. For the poor, 200 silver may be saved for several lifetimes. Not less than a huge sum of money, but for a successful businessman like the shopkeeper of Zhiweizhai who makes a lot of money in business, it is really not much. In less than a month, he earned back the money he spent on buying food.Rou Rou blackmailed him with peace of mind, it was like robbing the rich and giving to the poor!

I cut a catty of pork at the meat stall, and bought some pig’s feet and liver, and carried it with a straw rope, I went home excitedly. Unexpectedly, as soon as I turned into the alley, I saw two people standing at the door of my house. One of them looked like a housekeeper of the Zhao residence, and the other was dressed as an official, she was startled, hurriedly quickened her pace, and went up to her.

Mother Wen stood in front of the door talking to these two people, looking panic-stricken, seeing Wen Rou coming back, as if she had seen a savior, she hurriedly pulled her over and said, "Rou'er, you came back just in time..."

"Mother, you carry these things into the house first." Wen Rou interrupted her, and when she handed the things in her hand to her, she took a deep breath to ease her emotions, then turned her head and smiled at the two people who came to the door He said: "Steward Zhao, how did you find this place? And this official, please come in and have a cup of tea."

"No." The housekeeper of the Zhao residence looked at Wen Rou and said, "I came to you to ask something."

"What's the matter? The housekeeper just asks!" Rou Rou answered frankly, but she couldn't help but feel a little uneasy in her heart, but fortunately, the official servants who came to the door with the Zhao family's housekeeper were not the two people she met on the street that day, so she finally didn't have to. Fear of being recognized.

"Has Xiaohuan ever come to look for you?" The housekeeper of the Zhao residence threw the ashes on his sleeves and asked casually, but he kept paying attention to the gentle reaction from the corner of his eyes.

"Xiaohuan?" Wenrou was stunned for a moment, and said in surprise: "Unmarried maids in the mansion are not allowed to go out, how could she come out to look for me?" She said with a smile: "I just want to ask the housekeeper, I will redeem myself That day, Sister-in-law Liu made such a big commotion, I don't know if Xiaohuan was involved, how is she doing now? It's finally a sisterhood, I'm out of the house, I miss her these few days." Hey, it's not easy to lie It's too much work!

Hearing Ruan Rou's words, the housekeeper of the Zhao Mansion frowned into Chuan characters, hesitantly said: "You really haven't seen her?"

"Look at what you said, if I met her, how could I hide it from you?" Rourou said hesitantly: "Is something wrong with Xiaohuan?"

"Her?" the housekeeper of the Zhao residence flicked his sleeves and shouted angrily, "Escaped! We were so tired that we searched for several days, but we couldn't find it!"

"What! She escaped?" Wen Wen was shocked and said: "Why is this girl so stupid? Even if her mother did something stupid, she shouldn't be so stupid! She is a girl who has never been out of the house. , where can I go? What if I get lost in the photo shoot? Butler, she must be scared. If she finds her, I beg you to say something nice to her. I beg my wife, Forgive her this time!"

The steward of the Zhao residence glanced at her, and didn't answer her words, but said: "Second madam thought you were on good terms with her, so I asked you to ask, but you moved, I asked for a long time, and I finally found out." Find it here! You are talking about it, why do you move if you have nothing to do? Didn't you say that you will marry someone after you redeem your body?"

Asked the point!Rourou felt a little flustered, but fortunately she had already considered this issue and had a way to deal with it, so she lowered her head and said a little embarrassedly: "My...that person is a businessman...he took a business order and went out. Therefore, we decided to live in the spring next year. Before he left, he saw that the house I live in was too dilapidated, so he rented this house and moved in. He said he would give it to my mother when he came back. I bought a residence with my younger brother, but I didn't expect the housekeeper to come looking for me."

The steward of the Zhao family could not find any flaws in her words and deeds, let alone that this little girl of fourteen or fifteen years old would have such a calm mind to tell a set of big lies, just as if she really didn't know , waved his hand, and wanted to leave.But the official who accompanied him was not happy, stopped him and said: "It took such a long time, is this a waste of time?"

"Then what does the official mean?" The housekeeper of the Zhao residence hurriedly laughed along with him, not daring to offend him.A few days ago, the second wife asked Zhao Kang to go to the yamen to find an artist to draw Xiaohuan's portrait, who knew that Zhao Kang was not very respectful to the artist, and even gave the money for the brush that the second wife rewarded him. Zhao Kang didn't say anything when he went back to work. After searching for several days, but no one was found, the second wife found out about this matter, and asked Zhao Kang to be dragged down to beat fifty boards. , almost lost his life!He didn't dare to rely on his status to repeat the same mistakes.

"Since you're here, let's go in and search!" The officer waved his hand, pushed Wen Rou away, and rushed into the door.

Rourou was very anxious, although she told Xiaohuan to stay in the old widow's room next door when she went out, but she didn't know if she did so, what if she was found out?But until now, she has no other choice, so she has no choice but to bite the bullet and follow behind the officer, accompany him in the search, and from time to time, she has to chat with the housekeeper of the Zhao family, asking about Xiaohuan's situation with concern.

The official searched inside and outside, upstairs and downstairs, but except for the gentle family members, they didn't even see ghosts, so they had to call out Wen's mother and Wen Gang, and asked them if they had seen Xiaohuan's portrait. Pass.

Rourou looked at it from the sidelines and was shocked. She didn't look like the portrait this time, but she had a half-dozen likeness with Xiaohuan, but she was anxious and couldn't say anything out of her mouth. Fortunately, Mother Wen and Wen Gang had been "taught" by her a long time ago. However, each of them shook their heads and said that they had never seen it. Although their expressions were a little panicked, the people in ancient times were simple, and there were many people who were speechless when they met officials. This kind of expression was more natural. If there was any flaw, he had to turn around and walk out the door with the butler of the Zhao residence.

"Would you like to have a cup of tea while sitting down?" Rourou breathed a sigh of relief, but she had to leave them alone. Seeing the housekeeper of Zhao's house waving to her and stepping over the threshold, she was about to close the door and calm down, but who knew But when he heard the officer knocking on the door of the old widow's house next door, his heart that had just let go suddenly hung up again.

(End of this chapter)