Chapter 184 No Longer Miss Cao

Cheng Wanwan agreed.

The girl's name is Cao Yingying. She is fifteen years old and from Hekou Town. As for what her family does, she refused to say a word.

There are now nine people in this family. Cheng Wanwan is the oldest. In her eyes, everyone else is a child, and there is no concept of strict separation between men and women.

Although Wu Huiniang was young, she was a woman and pregnant, so she didn't need to worry too much about avoiding certain things.

Now that a fifteen-year-old girl has come to live with us, many things are not as convenient as they used to be.

Cheng Wanwan said, "Dashan, you'll be sleeping in the new house these next few nights. There's a lot of timber and bricks in the yard there, and someone needs to keep watch at night."

There are patrols in the village every night, so there's no need to specifically send people to keep watch. This is just Cheng Wanwan's excuse.

She continued, "Yingying, you can sleep with your sister-in-law."

Cao Yingying nodded obediently.

Cheng Wanwan thought for a moment and continued, "The new house is too big. It's a bit creepy for your eldest brother to sleep alone. Er Gou, you go and keep watch too."

Shen Zheng chuckled and replied, "Auntie, I'll go too."

This area is muddy and uneven, and it always feels uncomfortable to sleep on at night.

The new house has a heated earthen bed, which is flat and smooth, and should be much more comfortable to sleep on.

Shen Zheng dragged Cheng Zhao along, so in the end, there were five people on night watch: Zhao Dashan, Zhao Ergou, Shen Zheng, Cheng Zhao, and the pageboy Afu.

Cheng Wanwan asked Wu Huiniang to find Cao Yingying a clean set of clothes to change into.

Everyone in the family had two new outfits made, but Wu Huiniang, because of her pregnancy, hadn't worn any and kept them at the bottom of a chest.

She took one out and gave it to Cao Yingying.

Cao Yingying shook her head, picked up the patched clothes from the bedside, pursed her lips and said, "Can I wear this?"

This is Wu Huiniang's everyday clothes, with dozens of patches of various sizes. She herself feels that every part of it is drafty when she wears it, so how could she give this clothes to a guest?

Moreover, this girl is very pretty and has delicate features. She looks like a young lady from a wealthy family. A young lady from a respectable family would never wear tattered clothes.

Before Wu Huiniang could say anything more, Cao Yingying began to take off her clothes.

"..." she quickly said, "Wait a minute, I'll go out first."

This girl doesn't even know to hide from people when she changes clothes.

She quickly pushed the door open to make room for them.

Cao Yingying took off her clothes and struggled to put on the patched clothes. After she finished, her eyes were red.

At home, she was always dressed and helped with dressing, so she never had to do these things herself.

If her father were still at home, she wouldn't have ended up in this situation.

She cried silently for a while, then wiped away her tears and bent down to pick up the dirty clothes from the ground.

She told herself that she was no longer Miss Cao, but a little maid living under someone else's roof, and she had to learn to do everything.

She could go home as long as her father returned to Hekou Town.

She walked into the yard, looked around blankly, and had no idea how to wash the clothes.

Wu Huiniang, heavily pregnant, walked over and told her, "The wooden basin is over there, and the water vat is over there too. There's wood ash in the kitchen; just put it in and wash together."

My mother-in-law said that everyone in this house must do their own things.

So even though the little girl seemed to have no idea how to wash clothes, Wu Huiniang didn't plan to help. At most, if the little girl didn't wash them properly, she would wash them again for her.

Cao Yingying carried the clothes to the water tank and began washing them in a very professional manner.

Cheng Wanwan saw it from afar and felt slightly relieved. Although she was a pampered little girl, she had a decent temperament.

She pulled Shen Zheng and Zhao Ergou aside and asked seriously, "Whose idea was it to go to Yihonglou today?"

Shen Zheng lowered his head guiltily.

"Xiao Zheng, didn't I tell you not to take Er Gou and the others to places like this?" Cheng Wanwan said earnestly. "You don't need to explain. Of course I know that they went there in broad daylight to do business. No matter how big the business is, you're not allowed to go there again, understand?"

This place is frequented by people from all walks of life, and those who frequent such occasions are no ordinary individuals.

It's one thing to go off to do business, but to be so bold as to rescue someone from a brothel is another.

Could someone who can run a brothel be some insignificant figure?

She softened her tone and said, "Let Dashan and Sanniu handle the deliveries to town for now. We'll talk about it again once things calm down."

Shen Zheng immediately nodded: "I will never go there again."

Zhao Ergou dared not disobey: "I will listen to Mother."

Cheng Wanwan patted the two of them on the shoulder: "Go ahead and get busy."

She walked to Cao Yingying's side and helped her wring out the wet clothes and hung them on bamboo poles to dry.

She said, "In our family, no one eats for free."

“My father will give me money when he comes back,” Cao Yingying said hurriedly. “If you don’t believe me, Auntie, take this jade pendant. It’s a keepsake left by my mother. I will redeem it with money later.”

She took out a blue jade pendant that was hanging around her neck.

Cheng Wanwan smiled and said, "The young master Shen who saved you is indeed the magistrate's son. He lives in my house and will also have to do chores. It has nothing to do with whether or not we pay him. You are a young girl, so I won't assign you any heavy work. From now on, you will be responsible for feeding the rabbits and goats in the house. What do you think?"

Everyone in the family has to work.

Zhao Dashan was in charge of everything in the fields.

Wu Huiniang took over the cooking and all sorts of chores.

Zhao Ergou was in charge of the business, and he would come back in the afternoon to help in the fields.

Zhao Sanniu had to patrol, chop firewood, and do all kinds of rough work.

Zhao Sidan was in charge of feeding the chicks, ducklings, and goslings, and also took the wolf and dog for a walk.

Besides studying, Cheng Zhao taught, and when he got home, he would give Zhao Ergou and Zhao Sidan extra tutoring.

Shen Zheng took on the job of pounding rice. Rice is prone to getting infested with insects, so it is usually pounded in advance when it is ready to be eaten.

Afu is responsible for carrying water. There are many people in his family, so he has to carry water many times a day. In addition to carrying water, he also goes to the mountains to pick dry grass and dig wild vegetables.

Cao Yingying put the jade pendant back.

She glanced at the goat and was a little frightened. The goat was so thin, with a huge belly and sharp horns; it looked terrifying.

But when she saw the two small, fluffy rabbits beside her, she immediately smiled and nodded vigorously: "I will definitely take good care of them."

Cheng Wanwan carefully told her what rabbits and goats like to eat, and she wrote it down carefully.

The dinner at home was very plentiful.

The wild boar wasn't sold entirely; some was kept for home consumption. A steamed pork rib dish, a braised pork belly dish, a pork blood tofu dish, a plate of braised dishes, and a special pork tripe soup for pregnant women, along with essential green vegetables—a whole table full of food.

Cao Yingying was somewhat surprised.

The house looked shabby and small, and she thought they could only afford to eat wild vegetable porridge, but she didn't expect the food to be so rich.

After everyone started eating, she picked up a piece of braised pork and tasted it, and was immediately stunned.

This tastes even better than what the Cao family's chef makes.

The chef of the Cao family was a chef her father invited from the northern capital. His ancestor was an imperial chef. Her father often invited people to his home to taste the chef's cooking skills, and everyone praised him highly.

But the braised pork made by any random woman in the village was even better than that made by the descendants of the imperial chefs?